catastrophists

Catastrophists are scientists who advocate catastrophism, the view that Earth's major geological and biological features arise primarily through sudden, short‑lived, violent events rather than through slow, gradual change. They emphasize abrupt changes and discontinuities in the rock record, extinctions, and rapid landscape remodeling caused by floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and climate shifts.

Historically, catastrophism arose in opposition to early uniformitarianism. In the 17th to 19th centuries, Georges Cuvier argued that repetitive catastrophes could explain fossil extinctions and stratigraphic boundaries. William Buckland and other early geologists helped disseminate the view. The rival concept, uniformitarianism, proposed that the same processes observable today have operated throughout Earth’s history, often at a slow pace. The modern synthesis recognizes that geology features both abrupt events and gradual change.

In contemporary usage, catastrophism is considered a historical term; however, catastrophic events are acknowledged as important triggers of rapid geologic and biological change. Examples include mass extinctions linked to asteroid impacts or volcanic episodes, which can produce large-scale sedimentary deposits and shifts in life’s diversity. The classification as "catastrophists" is mainly of historical interest rather than a current primary school of thought.