for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
Course Navigator
Organism: Definition & ExplanationNext Lesson 

Uniformitarianism: Definition, Principles & Examples

Chapter 1 /  Lesson 9   Transcript
Start Your Free Trial Today

An error occurred trying to load this video.

Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support.

Coming up next: Organism: Definition & Explanation

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Take Quiz Watch Next Lesson
 Replay
Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds
  • 0:00 Definition of…
  • 1:40 Significance of…
  • 3:10 Modern View of…
  • 4:25 Lesson Summary
Add to Add to Add to

Want to watch this again later?

Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course.

Login or Sign up

Timeline
Autoplay
Autoplay

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Charles Spencer

Charles teaches college courses in geology and environmental science, and holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies (geology and physics).

Uniformitarianism is an important concept in geology that addresses the consistent behavior of geological processes over time. Learn about the concept and significance of uniformitarianism in this lesson, and then test your knowledge with a quiz.

Definition of Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism is the name given to the idea that natural processes behave more or less in the same way today as they have throughout the past, and will continue to do so in the future. Although it can apply in any science, it was a cornerstone for the development of the science of geology.

The term was first used by William Whewell in the forward he wrote to Principles of Geology: the first textbook about the study of the earth, written in 1830 by Charles Lyell. But the concept dated to the late 1790s writings of James Hutton.

Hutton, a Scottish minister and naturalist, wrote about the relationships he saw between two beds of sandstone exposed at Siccar Point in Scotland. There, he observed horizontal beds of sandstone resting atop layers of sandstone tilted nearly vertically. In the prevailing view of the day, called catastrophism (a term also coined by Whewell in his forward), these beds had been deposited in a large, short-lived event.

Hutton didn't see it that way. He saw a cycle of deposition, erosion, and deposition that had occurred over a significant amount of time, and concluded that the older bed (the one on the bottom) had been deposited horizontally, then tilted and eroded prior to deposition of the younger one.

What was insightful about his thinking was that he based this interpretation on his observations of how modern rivers eroded and deposited sand along the coast of Scotland. He also realized that the sandstone beds had been formed from sand deposited in exactly the same way (in other words, slowly).

Significance of Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism (which also came to be known by the term gradualism) competed for acceptance with catastrophism and eventually displaced it. But you might be asking yourself: Why was it such a big deal?

The answer is that Hutton was the first person to recognize (at least in published work) that we could understand much about how geologic features (such as valleys, sedimentary rocks, and mountains) came to be by observing the events of the present day. Uniformitarianism gave us a tool to interpret the geologic past. In fact, geologists sometimes summarize the concept in the phrase: The present is the key to the past.

The concept is applied to all types of geologic processes. For example, rivers erode valleys and build deltas gradually. Mountains rise at an imperceptible rate and erode just as slowly. Stalactites require uncounted years to form (as do the caves in which they are found). Rocks weather bit by bit, and the resulting sediment is deposited incrementally, layer upon layer, to eventually become sedimentary rocks.

The other big idea inherent in uniformitarianism is that Earth is a very old place. For slowly operating processes (like river deposition) to create geologic features (like a delta) required a much more ancient age for Earth than catastrophism assumed. So, the idea of the immensity of geologic time (sometimes called deep time) also began with Hutton's work.

Modern View of Uniformitarianism

Modern geologists interpret the idea in a slightly different way than it was originally conceived, but it is still an indispensable concept in interpreting the geologic history of our planet.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account

Register for a free trial

Are you a student or a teacher?

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a Member  Back
What teachers are saying about Study.com
Free 5-day trial
Description

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.

To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school.

Browse Articles By Category

Browse an area of study or degree level.

Recommended Articles
You are viewing lesson Lesson 9 in chapter 1 of the course:

 Back To Course

College Earth Science: Help and Review

23 chapters | 247 lessons | 1 flashcard set

Ch 1. Earth Science Basics: Help and Review
Ch 2. Geologic Time: Help and...

Uniformitarianism: Definition, Principles & Examples Related Study Materials

Create an account to start this course today
Try it free for 5 days!
Create an account

Explore our library of over 75,000 lessons

Browse by subject
Support