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—Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) and title page for volume 2 of his treatise from 1796 on the nebular hypothesis for the origin of the Solar System that contained innovative considerations on cosmic hazard.
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Derek V. Ager (1923–1993), the famous British paleontologist and stratigrapher, is presented at length by his former student as the father of neocatastrophism. The ideas of violent events and processes as geological agents were revived following a long-term predominance of the paradigm of uniformitarianism (“natural processes are steady across time...
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Context 1
... observational and empirical, usually detailed and local, and primarily descriptive rather than causal in its aim" (Rudwick 1997, p. 5). Consequently, in contrast to the "mere cabinet naturalists" and Cuvier dedicated his principal work to Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827), one of the most influential mathematicians and astronomers in history ( Fig. 1; see Rudwick 1997, p. 166-168). Paradoxically, in his landmark treatise from 1796, Laplace, the founder of the analytic theory of probability, considered in depth the possibility of a comet collision with Earth. For Laplace, on a historical timescale ("in the course of a century"), the likelihood of such a cosmic calamity was very low ...
Context 2
... but giant cosmic objects, with diameters of ~10 km, impact only every 100 Ma (e.g., fig. 1 in Chapman 2004). On the other hand, in developing the probabilistic Laplacian approach, Olbers (1810, p. 429) had already approximated the comet "shock" recurrence period as ~220 Ma (compare the giant comet collision frequency of Napier ...
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Citations
... However, the eminent Pierre Simone Laplace drew attention to the inevitable occurrence of apocalyptic cataclysms in Earth's geological history that could be caused by comet strikes; this was later assigned by him-after establishing the icy nature of comet nuclei-to "local revolutions" (Laplace 1808: 213-214). In fact, this probabilistic rationale corresponds to the recent theory of rare geological events (Racki 2015). At the time, however, this intriguing scenario for geology was ignored by the contemporaneous catastrophic school. ...
The mid-nineteenth century is not regarded as the time when the theory of extraterrestrial catastrophism developed. However, two German scholars independently introduced original concepts of terrestrial impacts of large celestial bodies at that time. Ludwig Pfeil (1803-1896), a self-educated wealthy landowner, and Karl Reichenbach (1788-1869), an eminent scientist and industrialist, independently proposed in the 1850s that the Earth is an aggregate of meteoritic masses and has experienced many impact-induced cataclysms throughout its geological history. Until 1891, Pfeil analyzed the effects of the collision of a comet's gaseous body with Earth. He tried to simulate the effects of tsunami waves generated by impacts into the ocean and inferred the route of "cometary currents" from the morphology and orientation of coastlines and associated mountain ranges. Reichenbach speculated about fertilization of the terrestrial surface by extraterrestrial dust in the context of an accretionary origin for Earth that also manifested in meteoritic sources of volcanic extrusions. He linked the Mesozoic succession of "buried living worlds" to geological catastrophes, caused by successive meteorite impacts. These cosmic bombardment concepts were comprehensively criticized by contemporary researchers, but soon found many conceptual successors in the German-speaking science community. Therefore, Pfeil and Reichenbach should be regarded as pioneers of the impact theory.
CORRECTION published 10 December 2021: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00531-021-02133-6
... This debate, however, left a lasting reluctance to embrace catastrophes as viable explanations for substantial geomorphic features (Gould, 1987;Baker, 1998). Viable catastrophic theories of change were proposed long ago in the form of meteorite collisions (bolides) by Laplace and abrupt extinctions by Cuvier (Racki, 2015), but were rejected due to problems with paranormal methodologies that many catastrophists evoked. A catastrophism that rejects supernatural explanations is best distinguished from the early theories as 'neocatastrophism,' which has become a viable geologic philosophy and is experiencing rapid growth. ...
A synthesis of the rapidly growing field of anthropic geomorphology is presented that includes impacts on geomorphic systems, impacts of climate change, effects of geomorphic systems on society, and natural hazards. Conceptual models of anthropogenic geomorphic impacts that join human and physical factors are narrow in scope relative to the broad scope of this synthesis. A distinction is drawn between anthropogenic geomorphology, the prevailing subdiscipline that is focused on human effects on landforms, and a broader field of anthropic geomorphology, which includes anthropogenic geomorphology but also considers questions of management, restoration, and sustainability that apply to geomorphology and the effects of landforms may have on humans through hazards and human behavior. After brief reviews and background discussions of anthropogenic geomorphology, impacts of climate change, and hazards, the chapter closes with a discussion of restoration and other options for management of geomorphic systems.
... LIP-large igneous province. equilibrium") approaches, more or less clearly formulated by Laplace, Cuvier, Scrope, and Élie de Beaumont before the 1830s, were greatly successfully revitalized 150 yr later by Newell (1963), Ager (1973Ager ( , 1993 and Alvarez et al. (1980), subsequent to the theory of Gretener (1967;see Hooykaas, 1970;Hsü, 1989;Kolchinsky, 2002;Palmer, 2003;Şengör, 2003;Racki, 2015). (3) The main cognitive steps toward a volcanic supergreenhouse scenario included such key conclusions as the following: (a) Volcanic eruptions are a natural process, recording heat venting from a centrally placed burning core, itself a relic of an initial incandescent state from the nebular setting. ...
Although the prime causation of the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) mass extinction remains conjectural, such destructive factors as the spread of anoxia and rapid upheavals in the runaway greenhouse climate are generally accepted in the Earth-bound multicausal scenario. In terms of prime triggers of these global changes, volcanism paroxysm coupled with the Eovariscan tectonism has been suspected for many years. However, the recent discovery of multiple anomalous mercury enrichments at the worldwide scale provides a reliable factual basis for proposing a volcanic–tectonic scenario for the stepwise F–F ecological catastrophe, specifically the Kellwasser (KW) Crisis. A focus is usually on the cataclysmic emplacement of the Viluy large igneous province (LIP) in eastern Siberia. However, the long-lasted effusive outpouring was likely episodically paired with amplified arc magmatism and hydrothermal activity, and the rapid climate oscillations and glacioustatic responses could in fact have been promoted by diverse feedbacks driven by volcanism and tectonics. The anti-greenhouse effect of expanding intertidal–estuarine and riparian woodlands during transient CO2-greenhouse spikes was another key feedback on Late Devonian land. An updated volcanic press-pulse model is proposed with reference to the recent timing of LIPs and arc magmatism and the revised date of 371.9 Ma for the F–F boundary. The global changes were initiated by the pre-KW effusive activity of LIPs, which caused extreme stress in the global ecosystem. Nevertheless, at least two decisive pulses of sill-type intrusions and/or kimberlite/carbonatite eruptions, in addition to flood basalt extrusions on the East European Platform, are thought to have eventually led to the end-Frasnian ecological catastrophe. These stimuli have been enhanced by effective orbital modulation. An attractive option is to apply the scenario to other Late Devonian global events, as evidences in particular by the Hg spikes that coincide with the end-Famennian Hangenberg Crisis.
... LIP-large igneous province. equilibrium") approaches, more or less clearly formulated by Laplace, Cuvier, Scrope, and Élie de Beaumont before the 1830s, were greatly successfully revitalized 150 yr later by Newell (1963), Ager (1973Ager ( , 1993 and Alvarez et al. (1980), subsequent to the theory of Gretener (1967;see Hooykaas, 1970;Hsü, 1989;Kolchinsky, 2002;Palmer, 2003;Şengör, 2003;Racki, 2015). (3) The main cognitive steps toward a volcanic supergreenhouse scenario included such key conclusions as the following: (a) Volcanic eruptions are a natural process, recording heat venting from a centrally placed burning core, itself a relic of an initial incandescent state from the nebular setting. ...
This volume covers new developments and research on mass extinctions, volcanism, and impacts, ranging from the ancient Central Iapetus magmatic province linked with the Gaskiers glaciation to thermogenic degassing in large igneous provinces, the global mercury enrichment in Valanginian sediments, and the Guerrero-Morelos carbonate platform response to the Caribbean-Colombian Cretaceous large igneous province. This section is followed by a series of end-Cretaceous studies, including the implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary event in shallow platform environments and correlation to the deep sea; the role of wildfires linked to Deccan volcanism on ecosystems from the Indian subcontinent; rock magnetic and mineralogical study of Deccan red boles; and factors leading to the collapse of producers during Deccan Traps eruptions and the Chicxulub impact.
... . . . the various fragments of which the surface of the earth is composed to have fallen successively from heaven, in the manner of meteoric stones, and alleges that they still retain the marks of their origin in the unknown species of animals whose exuviae they contain. (as translated in Cuvier 1815, p. 47) We can note that the founder of catastrophism doctrine, as the celebrated father of uniformitarianism, Charles Lyell, accordingly precluded participation of extraterrestrial factors in Earth history (Lyell 1830;see Romano 2015), while leading astronomers of those time exposed the inevitability of such interactions (see Racki 2015). ...
... 198-199; see also Verschuur 1996, pp. 156-158;Racki 2015). The catastrophic theme was presented merely as science fiction by Flammarion (1894). ...
... . . . the various fragments of which the surface of the earth is composed to have fallen successively from heaven, in the manner of meteoric stones, and alleges that they still retain the marks of their origin in the unknown species of animals whose exuviae they contain. (as translated in Cuvier 1815, p. 47) We can note that the founder of catastrophism doctrine, as the celebrated father of uniformitarianism, Charles Lyell, accordingly precluded participation of extraterrestrial factors in Earth history (Lyell 1830;see Romano 2015), while leading astronomers of those time exposed the inevitability of such interactions (see Racki 2015). ...
... 198-199; see also Verschuur 1996, pp. 156-158;Racki 2015). The catastrophic theme was presented merely as science fiction by Flammarion (1894). ...
Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774-1852), the Bavarian medic, physician and astronomer, enfant terrible of German science, is known for his insightful observations and many extravagant conceptions. However, since the seminal monograph of Baldwin (1949), he is also referenced for early contributions to the meteoritic origin concept of lunar craters. His most commonly cited paper of 1828 is analyzed here for the first time in some detail. For Gruithuisen, impact phenomena were only an outcome of a more general cosmogenic theory, which assumed planet and satellite growth by concentric shell-like coalescence of the cosmic bodies. The aggregation theory thus defined was initiated in 1794 by Chladni, developed by the Bierberstein brothers and Anton Zach. Gruithuisen was notably the first person to formulate a nascent concept of lunar crater mechanics. This cratering process, as he thought, is based on an uneven gravitational subsidence of concentrically-layered spherical impactors (= the solid core of comet) into the plastic sediments. Only the more resistant and heavy central portion of the body was submerging deeper, and, therefore, circular terrace-like rim of the ring mountains was formed. Gruithuisen tried also to recognize terrestrial equivalents of large-scale crater-like mountains on the Moon, and speculated on other impact consequences, such as a catastrophic influence on the history of the biosphere and a cometary source of the terrestrial hydrosphere. These ideas found several conceptual followers in the vital German science of the last decades of 19th century. Thus, despite principal errors in the gravitationally penetrative cratering model, we confirm the claim of recognition of Gruithuisen as one of the founders of the impact hypothesis.
... The above quoted assignment of Julius Kaljuvee to the slowly reviving catastrophic school is indeed paired with several conceptual links between him and the French fathers of this theory. Particularly, the above quoted Kaljuvee's claim on inevitable probability of large-body impacts ("the geological ages are already so long that collisions of the Earth with bodies of medium asteroid size may be a fact"; Kaljuvee, 1933, p. 113) is in a clear correspondence with unrecognized conclusion of Laplace (Racki, 2015). This leader of French Revolution science analyzed the likelihood of a comet collision with Earth in his landmark astronomical treatise of 1796. ...
... On a historical timescale ("in the course of a century"), Laplace supposed, the probability of such a cosmic disaster was minimal (Laplace, 1796, p. 61), but he finally concluded, "Nevertheless, the small probability of this circumstance may, by accumulating during a long succession of ages, become very great". So, extraterrestrially-driven catastrophes were inescapable in the geological time (formulated as theory of rare events 170 years later by Gretener, 1967;see Shoemaker, 1962, Hsü, 1989Racki, 2015), and eventually proven by Alvarez et al. (1980). In this context, Kaljuvee's brief considerations on evolutionary consequences of the impact catastrophes were placed in the broad conceptual setting of Cuvier's (1812) extinction doctrine. ...
... For Kaljuvee, inspired by Alfred Wegener, the geological history should be seen holistically in the context of integrated geological, climatic and biological phenomena, but primarily controlled by falling large cosmic bodies in intervals of millions of years (= of periodic geological revolutions). In the Kaljuvee's considerations it is evident that the direct or indirect links to various catastrophic notions, refuted at that time but regained in the mainstream model science after success of the meteoritic hypothesis by Alvarez et al. (1980;see discussion and other examples in Maher, 1998;Racki et al., 2014;Racki, 2015;Jagt-Yazykova and Racki, 2017). Despite their peripheral starting point, several revived Kaljuvee's ideas re-appeared therefore expectedly in the neocatastrophic paradigm in geology for the 21st century (see Rampino, 2017). ...
The article comprehensively presents little known Estonian contribution to the recognition of first meteorite impact structures in Europe, related to works of Julius Kaljuvee (Kalkun; 1869–1940) and Ivan Reinwald (Reinwaldt; 1878–1941). As an active educator specialized in geoscience, Kaljuvee was the first to hypothesize in 1922 that Kaali lake cirque in Saaremaa Island, Estonia, was created by meteorite impact. Thanks to mining engineer Reinwald, this assumption was accepted since 1928 due to the exhaustive field and borehole works of the latter (also as a result of exploration by several German scholars, including renowned Alfred Wegener). The impact origin of Kaali structure was proved finally in 1937 by finding of meteoritic iron splinters (as the first European site). Reinwald was not only outstanding investigator of meteorite cratering process, but also successful propagator of the Estonian discoveries in Anglophone mainstream science in 1930s. In addition, in his 1933 book, Kaljuvee first highlighted an impact explanation of enigmatic Ries structure in Bavaria, as well as probable magmatic activation in distant regions due to “the impulse of a giant meteorite”. He also outlined ideas of the inevitable periodic cosmic collisions in geological past (“rare event” theory nowadays), and resulting biotic crises. In a general conceptual context, the ideas of Kaljuvee were in noteworthy direct or indirect link with concepts of the great French naturalists – Laplace, Cuvier and Élie de Beaumont. However, some other Kaljuvee’s notions, albeit recurrent also later in geoscientific literature, are queer at the present time (e.g., the large-body impact as a driving force of continental drift and change the Earth axis, resulting in the Pleistocene glaciation). Thus, the Kaljuvee thought-provocative but premature dissertation is rather a record of distinguishing erudite activity, but not a real neocatastrophic landmark in geosciences history. Nevertheless, several concepts of Kaljuvee were revived as the key elements in the current geological paradigm.
... To sum up this discussion, we can state the following. In spite of its merely historical significance, Mulder's (1911a) paper is one of many examples of an 'ahead-of-its-time' hypothesis (for others in geosciences see Baldwin and Wilhelms, 1992;Racki et al., 2014;Racki, 2015;Jagt-Yazykova and Racki, 2017, and references therein). That it remained almost forgotten for more than a century can probably be explained by the language barrier (even for German publications) and the limited circulation of scientific results in the early twentieth century. ...
Following the first scientific descriptions in the late nineteenth century, the origin of the curious
structure currently known as Meteor Crater (or Barringer Crater) in Arizona (USA) remained controversial until well into the twentieth century. Within the context of commercial mining, Daniel Moreau Barringer’s view that it recorded a substratum-penetrative meteorite impact (with the cosmic body still preserved) was commonly discarded. Marten Edsge Mulder (1847–1928), Dutch professor of medicine, found fault with Barringer’s non-explosive model. In 1911, Mulder advanced, in an ignored paper written in Dutch, a novel model of an explosive meteorite (‘meteor’ in Mulder’s terminology), during which the meteoroid front had been initially hollowed out in a bowl-like fashion on its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result of the greatly compressed gases in this reshaped part, the bolide would eventually disintegrate in a bomb-like blast. Even though his model is, physically speaking, just as implausible as other early interpretations, Mulder concluded that only a limited (if any) primary mass of iron-nickel would have been preserved at Meteor Crater. In doing so, he predicted the bankruptcy (in 1929) of a mining business set up on the basis of Barringer’s concept that large meteorite-hosted ore
resources would be found at the crater site. In a single discussion of this original contribution (in 1913) by his fellow countryman, Jan Frederik Niermeyer, professor of geography, a seismically induced origin of the unique structure is preferred - another unnoticed Dutch contribution to the early interpretations of this ”natural curiosity”.
... Naturally, in those days they were strongly criticised, satirised or just simply ignored. Many scholars from the nineteenth, or even from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were pioneers of scientific theories that became subsequently accepted by the scientific community (see examples in Racki (2014Racki ( , 2015, and references therein). For example, a short note in Russian, published in 1916 by the young Estonian astronomer Ernst Julius Öpik, was among the seminal contributions to the inadequate understanding of meteorite cratering mechanics of the time, but mostly because of the language barrier and the troubled times, it remained almost unread and was often quoted erroneously . ...
... Of course, the fate of being forgotten not only affected Amalitsky and Sobolev, but also other scientists such as Pavlov and Mikhail A. Usov, a young Siberian geologist from Tomsk University who discussed as early as 1916 a worldwide catastrophe as a result of a traptype volcanic eruption and meteorite impacts (see Usov, 1916;Racki, 2014). The attractive working hypotheses put forward by the visionary Russian scholars, forgotten for many generations, are now widely propagated (Ager, 1993;Courtillot, 1999;Palmer, 2003;Nield, 2007; see also Racki, 2015), and are prominent examples of being 'ahead of their time' (see Hook, 2002). The present note should be seen as a step towards recognizing their proper place in the history of science. ...
The great palaeontological achievements of the Russian scientists Amalitsky and Sobolev, who worked in Russia and Poland at the turn of nineteenth and twentieth centuries, have previously been outlined in detail. However, their original and surprisingly modern concepts of the development of life on earth have received far less attention. Amalitsky was one of the first scholars who considered the intimate relationship between floral and faunal evolution and the interdependence between a developing biosphere and geological processes. In fact, he documented, for the first time, the existence of a single palaeobiogeographical province during the Permian Period, which we now refer to as the supercontinent Pangaea. In 1896, Amalitsky’s main idea was that there were extended periods of gradual change in topography and biosphere of the earth, but that it was orogenic activity that had a marked impact on biotic crises. His pupil at Warsaw University, Sobolev, followed up on his work, and in fact came up with the theory of neocatastrophism in 1928. Thus, Sobolev’s model predates the concept of cyclic evolution of the biosphere in dependence on orogenic cycles, with a prime role for volcanism, which is currently well known as the “volcanic greenhouse”. Sobolev also recognised four main mass extinctions, i.e., the late Ordovician, the late Devonian, the late Triassic and the Cretaceous/Paleogene ones, but somehow he ‘missed out on’ the end-Permian catastrophe.
... The history of Earth sciences frequently offers examples of unknown pioneers of present-day theories (e.g. Berner & Maasch 1996;Rampino 2011;Racki 2014Racki , 2015a, especially in the continental European context (Laudan 1987). These 'white spots' are also exemplified by the forgotten geological ideas of Hugo Kołła˛taj (1750Kołła˛taj ( -1812 Fig. 1), a recognized statesman and progressive Catholic writer, prominent intellectual and ideologue of the Polish Enlightenment, who was deeply engaged in fruitless efforts to save the failing Polish Kingdom. ...
... The main goal of this introductory contribution, being an expanded and much modified version of a previous article in Polish (Racki 2015b), is to correct this unfair historical recognition of Kołła˛taj's ideas, and to place them into a more general international context. The author has previously brought to light examples of such historically meandering roads of World Science (Racki 2014(Racki , 2015aRacki et al. 2014). ...
... Similar examples can be found in large numbers (e.g. Racki 2014Racki , 2015a; see also the Stigler law, http://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Stigler's_law_of_eponymy). ...
The overlooked geological ideas of Hugo Kołłątaj (1750-1812), who was well known as a progressive Polish Enlightenment statesman and Catholic writer, are here presented. Following the Kościuszko insurrection, he was imprisoned in Olomouc from 1795 to 1802. While there he wrote a great treatise (probably finished in 1807) on the natural setting of the prehistory of the people in Polish territories. More than half of his voluminous manuscript dealt with the history of the Earth. Unfortunately, this monumental work in three volumes was published in Polish only, in 1842. This comprehensively heuristic discourse presents a truly intellectual apogee of " the Heroic Age of Geology ". Kołłątaj advocated a continuous, step by step investigations of natural processes in terms of their contemporary actions, and considered them extensively in reference to permanent physical laws in geological history, although essentially in connection to Noah's Deluge. Kołłątaj clearly proposed the in-depth inductive actualistic analysis of geological processes, but combined it with some elements of the non-gradualistic model (spasmodic sedimentation), as a key to the proper understanding of the Earth and the history of the biosphere and mankind. Consequently, he distinctly pioneered the commonly celebrated methodological uniformitarian approach, as proposed by Charles Lyell in the 1830s.
