Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The doctrine that major changes in the earth's crust result from sudden catastrophes, such as the impact of a large meteor, rather than from gradual evolutionary processes.
- noun The doctrine that changes in the earth's fauna and flora result from major catastrophic events that cause the die-off of many organisms and are followed by the appearance of new types of organisms.
- noun The prediction or expectation of cataclysmic upheaval, as in political or social developments.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The theoretical view of geological events which has as its essential basis the idea of a succession of catastrophes: the opposite of
uniformitarianism . Seecatastrophe , 3, and cataclysm, 2.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Geol.) The doctrine that the geological changes in the earth's crust have been caused by the sudden action of violent physical causes; -- opposed to the doctrine of
uniformism .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geology The doctrine that sudden
catastrophes , rather than continuous change, cause the main features of the Earth's crust
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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For the idea of catastrophism had not concerned the destruction of species merely, but their introduction as well.
A History of Science: in Five Volumes. Volume III: Modern development of the physical sciences 1904
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Under this topic we can also treat two terms from geology, namely catastrophism and uniformitarianism.
Reasons to Believe - 2009
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As a bonus, reading original documents will disabuse you of the notion of catastrophism.
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The most striking fact in the development of modern geology is the renewed interest in catastrophism.
Modern Science in the Bible Ben Hobrink 2011
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The most striking fact in the development of modern geology is the renewed interest in catastrophism.
Modern Science in the Bible Ben Hobrink 2011
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As a bonus, reading original documents will disabuse you of the notion of catastrophism.
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The most striking fact in the development of modern geology is the renewed interest in catastrophism.
Modern Science in the Bible Ben Hobrink 2011
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A better example of modern superstitions that allow easier exercise of power include things like global warming catastrophism.
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Retailing | Matt Maxwell looks at catastrophism and the comics market.
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The most striking fact in the development of modern geology is the renewed interest in catastrophism.
Modern Science in the Bible Ben Hobrink 2011
stpeter commented on the word catastrophism
Contrast with uniformitarianism.
January 10, 2007