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水成說與火成說

Neptunism and Plutonism

水成說與火成說是18世紀有關地球如何形成的2個重要理論。水成說認為世界曾被洪水淹沒數次，每次都會在水底堆積或結晶出堅硬的岩石，然後在洪水退去後出露地表。火成說則否定水成說的觀點，並且認為岩石的形成與火山活動下的岩漿冷卻、固化有關。相對於水成說嘗試與聖經做結合，火成說的理論呼應了當時熱學的發展。

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目前我們已知，三大岩類中的火成岩的形成方式符合火成說的觀點，但沉積岩的形成方式可用水成說來解釋，也就是說，兩個學說各有合理與不完美之處。但科學理論總是在不同觀點的爭辯下，才能更接近真實。

Neptunism and Plutonism were two major theories about the formation of the earth in the 19th century. Neptunism states that the world was flooded multiple times; each time, hard rocks formed at the bottom of the water through sedimentation or crystallization. The rocks then became exposed after the floods subsided. Plutonism, on the other hand, refutes Neptunism and proposes that the formation of rocks had to do with the cooling and solidification of magma through volcanic activities. Unlike Neptunism, which attempted to reconcile with Biblical narratives, Plutonism was aligned with the development of thermal physics at the time.

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We now know that among the three major rock types, the formation of igneous rocks agrees with Plutonism. However, the formation of sedimentary rocks can be explained with Neptunism. As such, both theories had their reasonable points and imperfections. After all, scientific theories approach the truth through the debate of different perspectives.