Geology theories

scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere

evolution of Earth throughout times

scientific dating of the age of the Earth

thumb|The discoveries of different layers of fossils, such as those containing Palaeotherium and [[Anoplotherium (pictured), by Georges Cuvier led him to believe that series of catastrophic events wiped out worlds before the modern one.]] In geology, catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism (sometimes called gradualism), according to which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, brought about all the Earth's geological features. The proponents of uniformitari

Gradualism, from the Latin ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. Uniformitarianism, incrementalism, and reformism are similar concepts.

volcanic supereruption 74,000 years ago in Indonesia

first key scientific test of the seafloor spreading theory of continental drift and plate tectonics.

Suggested composition of the ocean in the middle to late Proterozoic