Catastrophes and Earth History: The New Uniformitarianism : the New Uniformitarianism

This book, based on papers from a symposium at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, shows the necessity of developing a new philosophy in place of the classical uniformitarianism based only on processes familiar in human experience. Originally published in 1984. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Contents Foreword Introduction Part I. The Concept of Catastrophe as a Natural Agent Chapter 1. Toward the Vindication of Punctuational Change Chapter 2. Perfection, Continuity, and Common Sense in Historical Geology Chapter 3. Reflections on the "Rare Event" and Related Concepts in Geology Chapter 4. The Stratigraphic Code and what it implies Chapter 5. Statistical Sedimentation and Magnetic Polarity Stratigraphy Part II. The Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary: A Case in Point Chapter 6. Mass Extinction: Unique or Recurrent Causes? Chapter 7. The Two Phanerozoic Supercycles Chapter 8. The Fabric of Cretaceous Marine Extinctions Chapter 10. Changes in The Angiosperm Flora Across the Cretaceoustertiary Boundary Chapter 11. Palynological Evidence for Change in Continental Floras at the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Chapter 12. Mammal Evolution near the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Chapter 13. Terminal Cretaceous Extinctions Of Large Reptiles Part III. CATASTROPHIC PROCESSES IN THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD Chapter 14. Low Sea Levels, Droughts, and Mammalian Extinctions Chapter 15. Eustasy, Geoid Changes, and Multiple Geophysical Interaction Chapter 16. On two Kinds of Rapid Faunal Turnover Chapter 17. The Phanerozoic “Crisis” as Viewed from the Miocene Part IV. Catastrophes and the Real World Chapter 18. Marine Mineral Resources and Uniformitarianism This book, based on papers from a symposium at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, shows the necessity of developing a new philosophy in place of the classical uniformitarianism based only on processes familiar in human experience. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.