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The principle of uniformitarianism was introduced by Scottish geologist James Hutton in the 18th century and popularized by geologist Charles Lyell in the 19th century. Uniformitarianism suggests that the geological processes we observe occurring today have been at work throughout Earth's history.
Uniformitarianism is the principle in geology that the same natural processes that operate today have also operated in the past, allowing scientists to interpret past geological events based on current observations.
uniformitarianism
The principle of uniformitarianism states that geologic processes that occur today are similar to those that have occurred in the past.
Catastrophism was the theory that the Earth had largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This was in contrast to uniformitarianism (sometimes described as gradualism), in which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, created all the Earth's geological features.