Catastrophism

Catastrophism is the theory that Earth has been affected by sudden, short-lived, violent events that were sometimes worldwide in scope. The Biblical story of the Great Flood is a prime example of catastrophism. Earth's history was viewed as the result of an accumulation of catastrophic events over a relatively short time period. It was basically the only way to rationalize the observations of early geologists with a believed short history of Earth during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Reference

• Lewin, R. (1993). Complexity, Dent, London, p. 75.
• Palmer, T. (1994) Catastrophism, Neocatastrophism and Evolution. Society for Interdisciplinary Studies in association with Nottingham Trent University. ISBN 0-951430-71-8 (SIS) ISBN 0-905488-20-2 (Nottingham Trent University)