What term names the view that Earth’s surface features were formed by catastrophic events rather than slow, gradual processes?

What term names the view that Earth’s surface features were formed by catastrophic events rather than slow, gradual processes?

• A. Catastrophism
• B. Uniformitarianism
• C. Continental Drift
• D. Convection

Answer: (A)

This question tests how geologists classify explanations for how Earth’s surface features were formed. The view that these features were created by sudden, dramatic events is catastrophism. It holds that major landscape changes happen during rapid episodes—floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or meteor impacts—that can quickly produce distinct rock layers and fossil patterns in a relatively short time frame. By contrast, uniformitarianism argues that the same processes we see today—erosion, sedimentation, weathering—act gradually and consistently over long timescales to shape the planet. The other terms refer to different ideas entirely: continental drift concerns the movement of continents, and convection describes heat-driven flow inside Earth that powers those movements. So the term matching the description is catastrophism.

This question tests how geologists classify explanations for how Earth’s surface features were formed. The view that these features were created by sudden, dramatic events is catastrophism. It holds that major landscape changes happen during rapid episodes—floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or meteor impacts—that can quickly produce distinct rock layers and fossil patterns in a relatively short time frame. By contrast, uniformitarianism argues that the same processes we see today—erosion, sedimentation, weathering—act gradually and consistently over long timescales to shape the planet. The other terms refer to different ideas entirely: continental drift concerns the movement of continents, and convection describes heat-driven flow inside Earth that powers those movements. So the term matching the description is catastrophism.