the principle which states that physical forces working today to alter the earth were also in force and working in the same way in former times.
A basic geologic principle. Processes that act upon the Earth today are the same processes that have acted upon it in the past. The present is the key to the past.
The hypothesis that current geologic processes, such as the slow erosion of a coast under the impact of waves, have been occurring in a similar manner throughout the Earth's history and that these processes can account for past geologic events. See also catastrophism.
The theory that geologic events in the past were caused by natural processes which are operating at the present time.
The theory stating that geological processes operate the same today and at the same speed as they did in the past.
The belief that the landscape of the earth was formed, and is still forming, slowly over time. This slow development is punctuated with the occasional catastrophic event such as meteorite impacts. No entries for this letter.
the fundamental principle that geological processes and natural laws now operating to modify earth's crust have acted in much the same manner throughout geologic time and that past events can be explained by forces observable today; "the present is the key to the past"
Methodological assumptions that the laws of chemistry and physics have remained constant throughout the history of the earth, and that past geological events occurred by processes that can be observed today.
The idea that geological processes have remained uniform over time and that slight changes over long periods can have large-scale consequences; proposed by James Hutton in 1795 and reÞned by Charles Lyell during the 1800s. The principle on which modern geology was founded: processes operating today on the earth operated in much the same way in the geologic past. Sometimes expressed as "the present is the key to the past".
A theory derived from the work of James Hutton and championed by Charles Lyell during the nineteenth century. It suggests that the Earth is unchanging except for a series of cycles such as the rock cycle, and that the same processes that act on the surface of the Earth today have been the same throughout the past. Uniformitarianism does not allow for the influence of catastrophies, and views the processes of the Earth as being gradual and unchanging.
Is a theory that rejects the idea that catastrophic forces were responsible for the current conditions on the Earth. The theory suggested instead, that continuing uniformity of existing processes were responsible for the present and past conditions of this planet.
Uniformitarianism, in the philosophy of science, is the assumption that the natural processes operating in the past are the same as those that can be observed operating in the present. Its methodological significance is frequently summarized in the statement: "The present is the key to the past." Uniformitarianism is most closely associated with geology, but it is also used in astronomy, paleontology, and other sciences whose objects of study are in the past and (as a result) beyond the reach of direct observation.
