Question #17ebb
1 Answer
uniformitarianism is the underlying theory that is foundational to the current geological thinking.
Explanation:
Since it was proposed by James Hutton in the 1700's uniformitarianism has been the core philosophy of geological thinking.
Continental drift and plate tectonics were resisted as late as the 1970's because initial theories went against the idea of uniformtarianism. Plate Tectonics theory was modified to reflect the ideas of slow uniform changes before it was accepted by the "mainstream" scientific community. This was despite the empirical evidence in favor of Contientental drift and plate tectonics.
A scientists in the 1920's proposed the theory of the Missoula flood. His interpretation of the geological evidence indicated that there had been a catastrophic flood when an Ice dam broke near Missoula Montana. The theory was totally rejected by the scientific community and he lost his job as a scientist.
His theory was proven correct in the 1970's by the use electron microscopic evidence of the granite boulders found in Oregon and Washington that matched the granite in Montana. However rather than a single flood that was first proposed the theory was renamed and changed to a theory of multiple floods over long periods of time.
The theory of punctuated equilibrium in biology has also been resisted because of its failure to adhere to uniformitarianism.
The overwhelming adherence currently in the geological thinking to the theory of uniformitarianism makes the consideration any rival ideas difficult . Theories that do not adhere to the underlying theory of uniformitarianism are often resisted despite empirical evidence or rejected.
