Cataclysm theory
The cataclysmic theory ( lat. Cataclysmus , to Greek kataklysmos "flood"), also catastrophe theory or catastrophism , describes a geoscientific theory of the 18th and 19th centuries, which repeated the sequence of living beings and communities observed within the upper crust of the earth as a result of worldwide catastrophes ( cataclysms ) with each subsequent new creation thought.
definition
The theory is based on the assumption that the difference in fauna and flora between the individual geological times can only be explained by the occurrence of great cataclysms, which suddenly and without any intermediate stages would have destroyed the majority of the living beings in an area. Subsequently, animals and plants were either created through new creation or immigrated from other areas.
Representatives and counterparties
The most exposed proponent of the cataclysm theory was the French natural scientist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). Cuvier has long been considered the best-known proponent of catastrophism, according to which major catastrophes repeatedly destroyed a large part of living beings in the history of the earth and new life emerged from the remaining species in subsequent phases. The legend that Cuvier postulated a new creation by God after every catastrophe was spread by his opponent, the British geologist Charles Lyell (1797–1875).
Cuvier joined the Linnaeus species term . The individual species were created independently of each other and are unchangeable. He was an opponent of Lamarck's theory of descent (theory of descent) and the theory of inheritance of acquired traits. He consequently represents the principle of constancy of species. However, during his paleontological research he recognized that the shapes of the individual layers of the recent fauna are all the more dissimilar the deeper - i.e. older - layers are viewed. He interpreted this to mean that the individual groups of organisms in the layers developed independently of one another. The history of the earth thus breaks up into completely independent periods, separated by cataclysms. These cataclysms each led to local mass deaths, and strange forms then immigrated from other regions.
Cuvier had a great social influence (see also the Paris Academy Controversy of 1830), and his cataclysmic theory found many epigones during the first half of the 19th century. So here is z. B. Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny (1802-1857), who returned to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris after several years of traveling through South America and wrote a multi-volume account of the fossils of France, including a volume on the Jura . He divided this into ten stages, which he clearly delimited from each other in the sense of cataclysms.
Lyell, on the other hand, introduced the principle of actualism into geology , which says that in the history of the earth only those forces that can still be observed today have worked on the formation of the earth . Currentism does not explain the often abrupt transitions between different strata sequences and faunal sections as the result of sudden and brief catastrophes, but as gaps in tradition and as a result of the extraordinarily long duration of geological processes. Actualism was one of the prerequisites for the development of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution .
Assessment from today's perspective
A surprising revival of the ideas of the cataclysmic theory and thus a relativization of the principle of actualism brought the realization in the second half of the 20th century that the earth, like other celestial bodies, has been exposed to the impact of large meteorites , asteroids and comets many times in its history that actually caused worldwide catastrophes of the greatest magnitude.
For several years there has been increasing evidence that in addition to cosmic catastrophes - such as asteroids and comet hits, radiation outbreaks from near-Earth supernova events or orbital changes in the solar system - earth-bound processes can also cause short-term, serious planet-wide changes in the sense of the cataclysm theory. These include, for example, caldera eruptions ( Yellowstone - Caldera ) with subsequent volcanic winter , as well as super earthquakes and tsunamis associated with them .
Today it is certain that there were repeated geological disasters and that the mass extinctions are connected to them, although many details are still controversial. In contrast, the theory of evolution has established itself as an explanatory model for the appearance of new species .
From today's perspective, the doctrinal academic dispute has been overcome. The cataclysm theory (catastrophe theory) is to be seen as a useful addition to the theory of evolution and an indispensable prerequisite for understanding the development of life on earth.
Web links
- Apocalypse primeval times , Germany 2013, zdf info
- Disasters in the Earth's History , Great Britain 2008, zdf info
Individual evidence
- ↑ Georges Cuvier: Discours sur les Révolutions de la surface du Globe, et sur les changemens qu'elles ont produits dans le règne animal . Dufour et d'Ocagne, Paris 1825 (German: Cuvier's views of the primeval world , Weber, Bonn 1822; The upheavals of the earth's crust in a scientific and historical relationship , 2nd edition, 2 volumes, Weber, Bonn 1830) - full text in Google - Book search
- ↑ Herbert Wendt: I was looking for Adam. The discovery of man. New through u. exp. Ed., Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1978, 502 p .; ISBN 3-499-16631-3 (rororo non-fiction book)