释义 |
catastrophism /kəˈtastrəfɪz(ə)m /noun [mass noun] GeologyThe theory that changes in the earth’s crust during geological history have resulted chiefly from sudden violent and unusual events. Often contrasted with uniformitarianism.This catastrophism was, on the evidence available, an attractive idea, but there was no discussion of the source of the energy to bring these upheavals about, nor any explanation of why and where they occurred as they did....- He rejected any notion of regional or global catastrophism; earthquakes, volcanoes and floods in the past were no more frequent or powerful on average compared to those in the present.
- The idea paved the way for the widespread acceptance of Alvarez's theory about the demise of the dinosaurs and heralded a return to the ideas of catastrophism.
Derivativescatastrophist /kəˈtastrəfɪst / noun & adjective ...- No geologic catastrophist, Rousseau tried to portray nature's ‘deep time‘: the very slow changes that accompany more visible seasonal variations.’
- Most years - according to the coherent catastrophists - the Earth's orbit crosses that of the Taurid Complex at a point where there is little debris, resulting in a pre-Christmas spectacle and little else.
- But they believed that much of the geological record was formed quickly and catastrophically, as the early nineteenth-century catastrophists had believed.
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