Claim CD200:
The evolution model is associated primarily with uniformitarianism, but
evidence of catastrophism makes the uniformitarian assumption untenable.
Source:
Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR: Master
Books, pp. 91-100.
Response:
- Modern uniformitarianism (actualism) differs from nineteenth century
Lyell uniformitarianism. The prevailing view in the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries was that the earth had been created by
supernatural means and had been shaped by several catastrophes, such as
worldwide floods. In 1785, James Hutton published the proposal that
Earth's history could be explained in terms of processes observed in
the present; that is, "the present is key to the past." This was the
beginning of uniformitarianism. Charles Lyell, in his Principles of
Geology, modified Hutton's ideas and applied this philosophy to
explain geological features in terms of relatively gradual everyday
processes.
Geologists today no longer subscribe to Lyell uniformitarianism.
Starting in the late ninteenth century, fieldwork showed that natural
catastrophes still have a role in creating the geologic record. For
example, in the later twentieth century, J. Harlan Bretz showed that the
Scablands in eastern Washington formed from a large flood when a
glacial lake broke through an ice dam; and Luis Alvarez proposed that
an asteroid impact was responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs 65
million years ago. Actualism (modern uniformitarianism) states that
the geologic record is the product of both slow, gradual processes
(such as glacial erosion) and natural catastrophes (such as volcanic
eruptions and landslides). However, natural catastrophes are not
consistent with creationist catastrophism, such as "Flood geology."
First, they are much smaller than the world-shaping events proposed as
part of the creationists' catastrophism. More to the point, they still
represent processes observed in the present. Meteorites, glacial
melting, and flash floods still occur regularly, and we can (and do, as
in the examples above) extrapolate from the observed occurrences to
larger events of the same sort. The scale of events may change, but
the physical laws operating today are key to the past.
Links:
University of Oregon. n.d. Uniformitarianism.
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/2003/glossary/uniformitarianism.html
Further Reading:
Lyell, Charles, 1830. Principles of Geology. London: John Murray.
http://www.esp.org/books/lyell/principles/facsimile/title3.html
created 2003-8-16, modified 2004-9-9
