Catastrophism

Catastrophism, at the barest level, is a hypothesis that holds catastrophic events, such as impacts between asteroidal, cometary, or planetary bodies and the Earth, are responsible for the geologic and biologic formation of the planet as it is today, as well as the re-shaping of human culture and history, and, in some forms, asserts that accounts of these events may be found in ancient religious texts, as per the example of the Great Flood described in various world traditions (or the sinking of supposed lost continents, such as Atlantis, Kumari Kandam, Lemuria, or Mu). The term "catastrophism" should not be taken to refer to a particular theory or understanding, so much as it encompasses many disparate hypotheses that principally argue catastrophic events are the principal cause and originating point for further global (and local) developments.