Final answer:
Uniformitarianism is the process of using geologic processes occurring in the present to understand the geologic processes of the past.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process of using geologic processes like volcanoes, earthquakes, and weather patterns to understand the geologic processes of the past is called uniformitarianism. Uniformitarianism is the concept that Earth's surface was shaped in the past by slow-moving geological processes that are still occurring today. It suggests that the same geologic processes operating now have also operated in the past and at the same rate.