"It has long been
known that legends of a great flood, in which almost all men perished,
are widely diffused over the world."—*George Frazer, Folklore
in the Old Testament, Vol. 1 (1919), p. 105.
One survey of 120 tribal
groups in North, Central, and South America,
disclosed flood traditions among each of them (*International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 822).
(1)
There was general wickedness among men.
(2)
God saw that a flood was necessary.
(3)
One family with eight members was protected.
(4)
A giant boat was constructed.
(5)
The family, along with animals and birds, went into the boat.
(6)
The flood overwhelmed all those living on the earth.
(7)
The deluge covered all the earth for a time.
(8)
The boat landed in a high mountainous area.
(9)
Two or three birds were sent out first.
(10)
The people left the boat with all the animals.
(11)
The survivors worshiped God for sparing them.
(12)
A promise of divine favor was given that there would not be another worldwide
flood of waters.
Another survey of ancient Flood
literature and legends is discussed by B. Nelson in The Deluge Story in Stone
(1968). In this tabulation, the stories and writings of 41 different
tribal and national groups were given.
First,
we will list these 41 groups, many of which were ancient
races. ("A and B" indicate two different sub-groups; example: Fiji A and
B.)
Assyria-Babylonia (A and B),
Alaska, Andaman Island, Asia Minor, Aztecs, Brazil, Cherokee, China, Cree,
Egypt, Esquimaux (Canada), Fiji (A and B), Greece, Hawaii, India (A and B),
Italy, Lapland, Lenni Lenape, Lithuania, Leward Islands, Mandan, Michoacan,
Nicaragua, Papagos (Mexico), Persia (A and B), Peru, Pimas, Russia, Scandinavia
(A and B), Sumatra, Syria, Takoe, Thlinkut (A and B), Toltecks, Wales.
Second,
we will list twelve points in their legends, according to the
number of times each is included by each of the 41 groups.
Destruction by a flood—41 times.
Some humans saved—38 times.
A boat saved them—36 times.
Universal destruction by the flood—24
times.
One family was especially favored for
protection— 15 times.
The flood was caused by man’s transgressions—14
times.
The flood came as a result of a divine
decree—10 times.
Birds were sent out first—9 times.
Animals were saved by the boat also—8
times.
The survivors worship God after leaving the
boat—7 times.
The boat landed in a high mountainous area—6
times.
After leaving the boat, God spoke favor to
the saved—5 times.
An even larger collection of
Flood stories is to be found in *Sir James G. Frazer’s book, Folklore in the
Old Testament (1919), Vol. 1, pp. 146-330. There are 11 Hellenic stories
from ancient Greece, 6 European stories, 29 Persian and Indian stories, 31
Australian, Southeast Asia, and Pacific stories, 63 North, Central, and South
American stories, and 3 African stories related in 185 pages of Frazer’s book; a
total of 143 Flood stories. You will find them listed in Donald W. Patten (ed),
Symposium on Creation IV (1972), pp. 36-38.
An excellent five-page analysis
of confusion-of-tongues legends will be found in James E. Strickling,
"Legendary Evidence for the Confusion of Tongues, "in Creation Research
Society Quarterly, September 1974, pp. 97-101. Quotations from a number of
sources are given.
"There are many descriptions
of the remarkable event [the Genesis Flood]. Some of these have come from
Greek historians, some from the Babylonian records; others from the
cuneiform tablets [of Mesopotamia], and still others from the mythology and
traditions of different nations, so that we may say that no event has
occurred either in ancient or modern times about which there is better
evidence or more numerous records, than this very one . . It is one of the
events which seems to be familiar to the most distant nations—in Australia,
in India, in China, in Scandinavia, and in the various parts of America."—Stephen
D. Peet, "Story of the Deluge, "American Antiquarian, Vol. 27, No. 4,
July-August 1905, p. 203.
NOAH’S NAME—If the story of the Ark and the
Flood is to be found among 120 different tribes of earth, should we not expect
that Noah’s name would be remembered by some of them also?
Noah’s name is found
in the stories and languages of mankind.
If so, that would be a striking cultural evidence of the
worldwide Flood which, itself, left so many physical evidences upon our globe.
Not only do the rock strata and their fossil contents vindicate the veracity of
the Flood story, but the languages of man do also! Here are some interesting
facts
Sanskrit (of ancient India)
is a basic language, dating back nearly to the time of the Flood. According
to the legends of India, Ma-nu was the man who built the boat and then,
with seven others, entered it and were saved. Ma is an ancient word for
"water." Ma-nu could then mean "Noah of the waters." In Sanscrit, Manu
later came to mean "mankind."
The most ancient man in the
Germanic tribes was called Mannus. Mannus was also the name of the
Lithuanian Noah.
In the Hebrew,
"karat" is the same as "Armenia." The prefix Ar
means mountain, so "Armenia" probably means the mountain of Meni.
According to Genesis 8:4, Noah landed somewhere in the Ararat mountains.
The legendary founder of the
first Egyptian dynasty was Menes, and Minos was the man who
is said to have been the first man of Crete. The nearby Greeks said that
Minos was the son of their god, Zeus, and the ruler of the sea.
The English (as well as
all Germanic) words for man comes from the Sanskrit, manu.
The Egyptian god, Nu
was the god of waters who sent a flood to destroy mankind. They identified
Nu with the rain and the atmosphere. Summerians taught that Anu was the
god of the atmosphere. The rainbow they called "the great bow of Anu."
In ancient Africa, the
king in the Congo was called Mani Congo. Later, Mani became the
title of respect given to all leading men of the country.
In Japan, manu became
maru, a name included in most Japanese ship names. Chinese mythology
taught that Hakudo Maru came down from heaven to teach men how to build
ships. We know that Noah was the first shipbuilder and that all ancient and
modern hulls are basically designed in the same manner. The ancient boats
were copied from an archtype. The Ark was the great pattern boat. Men
who had to traverse the coasts of the new oceans knew that, nestled in the
mountains of Ararat, was a boat which had successfully done it. They carefully
copied its structural design.
In Japanese, Maru also
means a protective circle or enclosure of refuge. The first people to inhabit
Japan were called Ainu, and mai means "original man" in some
Australian aboriginal languages.
Among the North American
Indians, manu became minne, meaning "water" for the Sioux; hence our
Minneapolis (city of water) and Minnesota (sky-blue water). Minnetoba
(our Manitoba, Canada) meant "water prairie" to the Assiniboines.
In South America, we find
the Nahuatl, managuac (our Managua, capital of Nicaragua) which means
"surrounded by ponds." The fabled city, Manoa (meaning "Noah’s water"), was
supposed to be the capital of the god El Dorado. A number of important rivers in
South America are derived from manu: The Amazon (named after the Manau),
the Manu in Peru, and also the Muymanu, Tahuamanu, Pariamanu, Tacuatimanu, etc.
In all of these, manu means "river" or "water."
The Egyptians invented
their picture writing— hieroglyphics, we call them—soon after the Flood. Their
word for water was a wavy line. When the alphabet was later developed, that
symbol became the letter "m," for mayim, the Semitic word for
water. It later became the Greek letter Mu, the Roman letter
Em, and our Western M.
The Assyrian name for
"rain" was zunnu. The Roman god, Janus (our January), was
originally the Estruscan father god of the world and inventor of ships.
This could have easily have been derived from the Hebrew word for "God of
Noah," and by the Estruscans pronounced Jah Nu.
The Greek sea-goddess was
naiade, which meant "water goddess."
The ancient Norse of the
Scandinavians called their ship god, Njord (Niord), who lived at Noatun,
the great harbor of the god-ships. Noa in Norse is related to the
Icelandic nor, which meant "ship."
The original Sanskrit word
for "ship" was nau, which later passed into our English word, navy,
nautical, nausea (sea sickness).
(We are indebted to Bengt Sage
for the above information. See "Noah and Human Entomology" in Creation
the Cutting Edge, pp., 48-52. The publisher, Creation Life Publishers
[Master Books], in El Cajon, California has many, many other excellent books.
Write them for a book order sheet.)
THE FLOOD IN CHINESE—According
to Harvard’s Chinese-Japanese Yenching Library, written Chinese is
Dated at approximately 2500 B.C. This
correlates closely with the end of the Flood. It
is of interest that two of the earliest written languages—Egyptian and
Chinese—were both picture writing.
CREATION AND THE FLOOD IN CHINESE—In very
early times, events from the Creation and Flood were interwoven into the picture
writing of this ancient written language.
Creation and the Flood in Chinese
Because of its
ancientness, the pictorial Chinese script has information for us from the very
earliest times. In
picture writing, it portrays facts recorded in the book of Genesis.
C.H. Kang and Ethel A.
Nelson did intensive research into that script and
wrote the book, The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were
Found Hidden in the Chinese Language. This is a fascinating volume, one you
will want to read for yourself. Here are a few insights from the book:
(1) The Chinese character for
Devil is formed from three other characters: man, garden,
and private (Genesis 3:1-7).
(2) Tempter is a
combination of three words: devil, cover, and tree
(Genesis 3:1-6).
(3) Righteousness
combines sheep, I or me, and hand (Genesis 4:2-5).
(Genesis 4:2-5). (Genesis 4:2-5).
(4) The Chinese word for
Total is a uniting of eight people, who join hands over
the earth (Genesis 7:7,13; 8:13-16).
(5) Boat, in
Chinese, brings together two words into one. The two words are vessel
and eight (Genesis 7:7,13; 8:13).
(6) Rebellion and
Confusion have the same script: a linking together of the words
for tongue and walking (Genesis 11:4-9).
(7) One example of the unusual
discoveries is Garden or Field which is a square. Inside the
square are four straight lines radiating outward in a "plus sign" shape.
According to Genesis 2:9-14, a river flowed outward in four streams and
watered the entire garden.
Kang and Nelson revealed dozens
of other Chinese words suggesting a relationship to Genesis. You will find the
entire book very interesting. (In 1997, Dr. Nelson, Dr. Ginger Tong Chock, and
Richard E. Broadberry released God’s Promise to the Chinese, a book which
updated the study using oracle bone characters, the most ancient Chinese writing
known.)
As they arrived in their new home
after the scattering from the tower of Babel, and formulated their picture
writing, the Chinese placed in their "picture words" recollections of
those important earlier events: the Fall of Man, the early sacrificial system,
the worldwide Flood, and the Tower of Babal. These are four of the
outstanding events described in Genesis 3 to 11.
You may recall our earlier
mention that the Chinese recorded the solar eclipse of 2250 B.C., the
earliest exact historical date in history and confirmed scientifically
(see chapter 4, Age of the Earth). Biblical records indicate the Flood
occurred very close to that time.
THE SIZE OF NOAH’S ARK—Based
on the Hebrew cubit of 18.5 inches [563.88 cm], it has been estimated that
if that great boat—the Ark—was only
one-half the size stated in Genesis 6:14-16—and omitting water creatures—it
could still have held two or seven of each basic kind of animal and bird. The
remainder of the boat was probably used for food storageif
that great boat—the Ark—was only one-half the size stated in Genesis 6:14-16—and
omitting water creatures—it could still have held two or seven of each basic
kind of animal and bird. The remainder of the boat was probably used for food
storage. But that estimate is based on
the smaller Hebrew cubit in the dimensions of the Ark. However, it is very
likely that Moses used the cubit of his time—the Egyptian cubit—when
giving the dimensions of the Ark. This would make that giant boat even larger.
Here is the data: But that estimate is based
on the smaller Hebrew cubit in the dimensions of the Ark. However, it is very
likely that Moses used the cubit of his time—the Egyptian cubit—when
giving the dimensions of the Ark. This would make that giant boat even larger.
Here is the data:
According to Genesis 6:15, the
Ark was 300 cubits long, 59 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. The Babylonian
cubit was 19.8 inches [603.504 cm], the later Hebrew regular cubit
was 17.5 inches [533.4 cm], and the Egyptian cubit was 20.65 inches
[629.12 cm].
Based on the Hebrew
cubit, the dimensions of the
Ark would have been 437.5 feet [1,333 dm] long, 72.92 feet [222 dm] wide, and
43.75 feet [133 dm] high. With three decks in the Ark, it had 95,747 square feet
[29.18 dkm2], and a total volume of
1,395,734 cubic feet. Its cubic tonnage would be 13,960 [1042 mt3].
Based on the
Egyptian cubit used in the time of Moses,
the measurements of the Ark would be 516.25 feet [1,573 dm]
long, its width would be 86.04 feet [262 dm] wide, and its height
would be 51.625 feet [157 dm]. On this basis—with three stories—its
square footage would be 1,332,545 square feet [123,793 m2]
, and its volume would be 2,293,087 cubic feet [64,894 m3] . Its cubic
tonnage would be 22,930 [17110 mt]
The Ark was a barge, not
a ship with sloping sides, so it had a much larger carrying capacity.
It has been reckoned that, even if measured by the smaller 18.5-inch [563.88 cm]
cubit of later times, the Ark would have been so huge that 522 modern railroad
box cars could have fitted inside it! One each of every species of air-breathing
creatures in the world today could be comfortably carried in only 150 box cars.
For 4,000 years after the Ark was
constructed, ships rarely exceeded 150 to 200 feet [457-6,096 dm] in length.
It was not until 1854 that a ship was built with a longer length than the
Ark: the Eturia, a Cunard liner constructed in England. It was not until
after World War II that ships were built which had a larger volume and cubic
tonnage—the ocean-going oil supertankers.
FLOOD CHRONOLOGY—In
a chapter of this nature, we should provide the Biblical dating of the Genesis
Flood. Although it is impossible to provide exact dates, in accordance
with conservative Biblical chronology, Creation occurred at approximately 4004
B.C. (4,000 years before the birth of Christ). The Flood began
1656 years later (1656 A.M. [anno mundi - year of the world]),
which would be approximately 2348 B.C. That is the closest
approximation we can arrive at.
Here, according to
Genesis 7 and 8, is a brief chronology of events during the Flood
(the following figures are based on a
thirty-day month):
40 days—Rain
fell for forty days (7:4, 12, 17).
110 days—The
waters rose and reached their greatest height at some time during or at the
close of another 110 days (Geneses 7:24).
74 days—The
"going and decreasing" of the waters occupied 74 days, then the tops of the
mountains were seen (8:5, note the margin).
40 days—Forty
more days passed and then Noah sent out the raven (8:6-7).
7 days—Seven
days elapsed and then Noah sent out the dove for the first time, but the "waters
were still on the face of the whole earth" (8:8; cf. 8:10, "other seven
days").
7 days—Seven
days later, the second dove was sent out the second time and found the olive
leaf, because "the waters were abated" (8:10).
7 days—After
seven more days, the dove was sent out a third time and did not return, because
"the waters were abated" (8:12).
29 days—The
total so far is 285 days, but
comparing the dates in 7:11 with the next event in 8:14 yields a total of 314
days. During that additional 29 days, Noah waited until "the waters were
dried from off the earth" to remove the covering from the Ark. By that time the
raven ceased to "go to and fro" (8:7).
57 days—From
the time when the covering of the Ark was removed, to the day they and the
animals left the Ark, 57 more days elapsed. When the "earth" was adequately
"dry" Noah left the Ark (8:14).
371 days—From
the time that the rain first began falling until the Ark was vacated, would be a
total of 371 days.
Some suggest that the flood
waters reached their maximum height in 40 days while others think that they
continued to rise for the first 150 days.
The fresh olive leaf (which was
found shortly after the Ark beached in the Ararat Mountains) would have had as
much as four months to sprout from an asexually propagated olive branch buried
near the surface of the soil.
CREATION STORIES—Before
concluding this section, it is of interest that, not only are Flood
stories found worldwide, but Creation stories are also. In both we find
parallels to the accounts given in Genesis. We would not have room here to
discuss this; but, for example, man was created from clay, and there was an
ominous serpent that caused mankind great trouble. It is frequently thought to
have been winged.
"An extraordinary number of
religious traditions among diverse peoples—Jews, Christians, Moslems, Native
Americans, Polynesians, Austrahari aborigines—describe living things as
having been originally shaped from clay."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of
Evolution (1990), p. 84.
"Dragon legends have
persisted for centuries in Norse epics, medieval English ballads, Wagnerian
operas, Japanese art and Chinese folktales."—*Op. cit, p. 145.
3 - CONDITIONS BEFORE THE FLOOD
What were
conditions like prior to the Flood? There are several pre-Flood evidences that
we find today:
WARMER CLIMATE—Fossil-bearing
rocks from all "ages" reveal that a worldwide warm climate once existed,
with no distinct climatic zones such as we now have. For example,
palm trees and giant ferns grew in the far north and far south. These were
buried at the time of the Flood, revealing what the local climate was like prior
to that time.
"It has long been felt that
the average climate of the earth throughout time has been milder and more
homogenous than it is today. If so, the present certainly is not a
very good key to the past in terms of climate."—*R.H. Dott and *R.L.
Batten, Evolution of the Earth (1971), p. 298.
Prior to the Flood, the
climate worldwide was warm and uniformly pleasant.
"In those days [when the
dinosaurs lived] the earth had a tropical or sub-tropical climate over much
of its land surface, and in the widespread tropical lands there was an
abundance of lush vegetation. The land was low and there were no high
mountains forming physical or climatic barriers."—*E.H. Colbert,
"Evolutionary Growth Rates in the Dinosaurs," in Scientific Monthly, August
1949, p. 71.
"Climatic conditions were
then much more uniform over the earth than now. Considerable limestone
formations, of Cambrian age at high latitudes, indicate strongly that they
were there deposited in relatively warm or temperate waters."—*W.J.
Miller, An Introduction to Historical Geology (1952), p. 116.
"The general distribution and
character of the rocks and their fossil content point to more uniform
climatic conditions than those of today. Fossils in the Arctic rocks are not
essentially different from those of low latitudes."—*Op. cit., p. 143.
"In the case of the Devonian,
such evidence is indicative of a worldwide mild climate."—*O.D. von
Engeln and *K.E. Caster, Geology (1952), p. 596.
"As for the earlier Paleozoic
periods, the character and distribution of Mississippian fossils rather
clearly prove absence of well-defined climatic zones like those of today."—*W.
J. Miller, An Introduction to Historical Geology (1952), p. 169.
Even evolutionists recognize that
coal was formed from deposits of massive amounts of vegetation, primarily trees.
It is now known that large coal deposits exist today in the continent of
Antarctica. This is another evidence of an earlier, worldwide warm climate.
"There would have been no
white polar caps or reddish-brown desert regions, for thick green vegetation
covered almost all of the land areas, even in polar regions (thick coal
deposits have been discovered in the mountains of Antarctica)."—John C.
Whitcomb, Early Earth (1986), p. 22.
The Antarctic once had
an abundance of vegetation and large trees, as is
shown by "widespread discoveries of coal and petrified wood." The Arctic
regions were once tropical:
"Geologists mine coal for
science in . . the Horlick Mountains [of the Antarctic]. The Ohio State
University scientists found coal that dates from the Permian Period, about
250 million years ago, when Antarctica had a comparatively warm climate."
"Five geologists last year drilled and blasted 20 feet to bring out
virtually unweathered Antarctic coal. Widespread discoveries of surface coal
and petrified wood show that Antarctica had luxuriant vegetation 250 million
years and more ago."—*D.M. Tyree, "New Era in the Loneliest Continent,"
Natíonal Geographic, February 1963, pp. 288, 296.
"Baron Toll, the Arctic
explorer, found remains of a saber-toothed tiger and a 90-foot [274 dm] plum
tree with green leaves and ripe fruit on its branches over 600 miles [966
km] north of the Arctic Circle in the New Siberian Islands. Today the only
vegetation that grows there is a one-inch high willow."—Joseph C. Dillow,
The Waters Above (1982), p. 346.
"Fossil plants found by
Chilean scientists on King George Island puts Antarctica’s ancient past in a
temperate clime. Further proof of the continent’s warm ancestry lies in its
coal, the transformed remains of forests long dead."—*W.R. Curtsinger,
"Antarctica’s Newer Side," National Geographic, November 1971, p. 653.
"Dr. Jack A. Wolfe in a
[1978] U.S. Geological Survey Report told that Alaska once teemed with
tropical plants. He found evidence of man-groves, palm trees, Burmese
lacquer trees, and groups of trees that now produce nutmeg and Macassar
oil."—*Op. cit. p. 348.
WATER VAPOR—What
produced the changeover from a worldwide warm climate to our present climate
zones that vary between very hot to icy cold? It was probably a change in the
earth’s atmosphere.
There are three factors in the atmosphere that
provide us with whatever greenhouse-type climate we have today: ozone, carbon
dioxide, and water vapor. If, prior to the Flood, one or more of
these were more abundant in the air above us, a profound change in our worldwide
climate would occur. The most powerful of the three is water vapor. Indeed, a
lot of the water in our present oceans, came out of the skies at the time of the
Flood!
THE VAPOR CANOPY—The pre-Flood atmosphere
contained an immense amount of moisture, which made the entire planet warm.
The Vapor Canopy
A universal water-vapor blanket
must have covered our planet in ancient times. It is called the "vapor
canopy." The evidence is clearly available that tropical plants were
once in the far north and south. Only a great increase in encircling water
could possibly explain that earlier worldwide warm climate.
"An increase of water vapor .
. would raise the temperature of the earth’s surface . . and would increase
the temperature of the air at a height of four or five miles [6-8 km] more
than that at the surface, and so lessen the decrease of temperature with
height."—*C.E.P. Brooks, Climate Through the Ages (1949), p. 115.
Apart from a massive increase in
pre-Flood water vapor, the situation we find in the rock strata is
unexplainable.
"There is little evidence
that climatic belts existed in the earlier history of the earth, yet
climatic zonation, both latitudinal and vertical, is clearly apparent in all
parts of the earth today. This anomalous situation is difficult to explain.
"It is impossible to
reconstruct a super-continent which could lie entirely within one climatic
regime. Any rotating planet, orbiting the sun on an inclined axis of
rotation, must have climatic zonation. It is obvious, therefore, that
climatic conditions in the past were significantly different from those in
evidence today."—*Edgar B. Heylmun, "Should We Teach Uniformitarianism?"
in Journal of Geological Education, January 1971, p. 36.
"The principle atmospheric
absorber for the entrant sunlight is water vapor. Absorption by ozone being
a minor factor qualitatively, the other gases are virtually transparent.
Absorption of the outgoing radiation from the earth is again largely due to
water vapor, with carbon dioxide and ozone playing lesser roles . . The part
absorbed tends to warm the atmosphere, and just as the warm glass of the
greenhouse tends to raise the temperature of the interior, the water vapor
tends to raise that of the earth’s surface below it. This surface, or any
object on it, is constantly exchanging radiation with the water vapor in the
atmosphere, so the temperature of the surface is closely dependent upon the
amount and temperature of this vapor."—*Harold K. Blum, Time’s Arrow and
Evolution (1951), p. 57.
"Calculations show that a
50-percent decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air will lower
the average temperature of the earth 6.9 degrees Fahrenheit. We can be
reasonably sure that such a sharp drop in temperature would cause glaciers
to spread across the earth."—*Gilbert N. Plass, "Carbon Dioxide and
Climate," in Scientific American, Vol. 201, July 1959, p. 42.
It has been suggested that our
planet was not inclined 23 degrees prior to the Flood. But, if the earth was not
then on an inclined axis (which may well not be true), worldwide yearly
temperatures would be even more extreme than now! The only solution to the
problem is that a sizable portion of the water in the oceans was once in the
skies overhead.
LOWER SEA LEVELS—Before the
Flood there were probably only broad rivers. The enormous concave ocean basins
we have today—in some places over five miles [8 km] deep—were not needed
then. The entire earth must, indeed,
have been very beautiful.
There are several lines of
evidence that tell us that, at some earlier time, the ocean basins FILLED with
water. Here are some of them:
(1) Seamounts
were first discovered by a naval captain during
World War II. As a personal research project while on trips back and forth
across the Pacific, Harry H. Hess, commander of an attack transport, the U.S.S.
Cape Johnson, kept his deep-water echo sounder turned on all the time.
Continuous profiles of the sea bottom were recorded on graph paper. Analyzing
the data, he discovered extinct volcanoes hundreds of feet beneath the sea
with their tops flattened off.
None of them broke the surface of the
ocean. The name "seamounts" was given to these formations. (An alternate
name for them is "guyots.") What could have caused them?
Volcanic activity began before the Flood
ended. The volcanoes in the basin of the ocean, which became extinct before the
seas had filled, had their summits eroded away—flattened out—by storm and
wave action as sea level reached those summits. The oceans kept filling
and the horizontal tops became submerged, some distance below the surface.
This would also explain some of the
coral atolls in the Pacific. Coral only grows near
the surface, yet the remains of earlier coral are to be found deeper in
the ocean. It has been said that low-lying and partially or totally
submerged volcanoes, in the center of these coral formations, probably sunk at
some time in the past. That is possible. Or they could have been covered by
the rising ocean.
Oceanic volcanoes could also have blown
their tops, as Krakatoa did a century ago, but such explosions would not lower
the tops as far down as they presently are, nor would they flatten the tops.
As the oceans neared their present level, infilling would slow and coral would
have time to build atolls above those particular guyots.
(2) Similarities between plants
and trees of now widely separated areas.
Vegetation in Brazil has a number of remarkable similarities to that of
western Africa. Climatic conditions may be the sole cause of this similarity
of vegetation on separated continents. But the possibility that the South
Atlantic in ancient times may not have existed as a broad ocean could
also be a factor.
It is clear that remarkable evidence of a
former worldwide Flood is abundant. Wherever we turn we encounter new insights
into its effects. A sizable amount of additional evidence will be found in the
appendix (at the back of this chapter, Effects of the Flood, on our
website). The Whitcomb and Morris’ book, The Genesis Flood, will also
provide you with much additional scientific data on this topic.
4 - EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD
With the exception of
its initial Creation, our world has been changed more by the Flood than by any
other event in the history of this planet.
There is hardly a place where you and I can look, which has not been drastically
affected by the Flood and its immediate aftereffects: the deserts, the seas, the
river canyons, the hills, the plains, and the mountain ranges. Here are
several examples of these effects:
CONTINENTAL SHELVES—The
continental shelves that surround all the continents on the globe are another
evidence of a lower—or a gradually rising-sea level at some earlier time.
These are ledges protruding out from land beneath the oceans. From
shoreline at the edge of the continents, the sea slowly becomes deeper for a
number of miles. This outward extension can be as much as 750 miles [1206.9 km],
but the average width is about 42 miles [67.59 km]. Then, at a definite,
higher first point, it descends gradually to a lower second point
which has a maximum depth of about 300 feet [914 dm] to about 1500 feet
[1,310 dm], with a mean depth of about 430 feet [4,572 dm]. Beyond this second
point, it then descends more rapidly to the sea bottom.
Here are four
possibilities for the origin of continental shelves:
(1) The first or second point
of sudden change may mark the ancient sea level.
(2) The second point
may also mark the freeze point, the place where the gradually filling sea
greatly slowed for a time as the rapidly obscuring volcanic dusts in the skies
caused the polar areas to begin capturing large quantities of water and
transform it into thick masses of ice. During that time of slower infilling,
gigantic waves and storms could have eroded out massive sections.
Above the first point
where the drop is much more shallow, the storms of the main Flood may have
subsided and the gentler seas may have caused less erosion as infilling was
completed.
(3) The first point
edge of the shelves may also mark the point of orogeny (mountain
building), the point where the continental blocks began uplifting and/or
the—what is now marine—blocks lowered as the result of fault slippage.
(4) The water in the oceans rose
to a certain height. Then, later, at the time of glacial-melt, as the
ice sheets melted, this water flowed into the seas brought the water level up to
its present height.
Those are the possibilities, but
however it may have happened, it took the Flood to produce the continental
shelves.
"The ocean basins can thus be
characterized as overfull—water not only fills the ocean basins proper
[coming up to the continental shelves], but extends out over the low margins
of the continents [overflowing the shelves]."—*J.V. Trumbull, et. al.,
"An Introduction to the Geology and Mineral Resources of the Continental
Shelves of the Americas" in U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1067 (1958), p.
11.
"Perhaps the ocean volume
increased enough to explain most of the relative sinking of the seamounts.
If the latter idea is correct, something on the order of a 30 percent
increase in the volume of the oceans must have occurred during the last 100
million years."—*Edwin L. Hamilton, "The Last Geographic Frontier: The
Sea Floor," in Scientific Monthly, December 1957, p. 305.
Later in this chapter, in the
paragraph section "Mountain Building," indication is given that the
mountains and continents rose both during the latter part of the Flood (late
Pliocene) and again just after it (Pleistocene). This twofold uplift
might help explain the two continental shelf point pauses in rising ocean
levels.
SEAMOUNT CORALS—Coral
and foraminifera are small plants containing sizable amounts of
calcium, which grow close to the surface of the sea. Deposits of these
small creatures have been found on the flat-topped seamounts. At some
earlier time coral were growing on those deeply submerged seamounts! This is an
important point, since coral cannot live below a depth of 200 feet [609
dm]. At some earlier time, the sea must have been far below its present sea
level.
The 100 million year estimate,
given by *Hamilton in the above quotation, is based on the fact that coral can
only live and grow near the ocean’s surface. Evolutionary theory has assigned
those deposits to the late Cretaceous or early Tertiary, but a sudden
infilling of water by the Flood could answer the point just as well. It is of
interest that a full 30 percent of the oceans lies above those coral deposits
on the submerged seamounts!
"For some reason that is not
known, probably having to do with isostatic adjustment or subcrustal forces,
the whole great undersea range sank and, initially, sank fast enough to kill
the reef coral when the coral dropped below its life zone of upper water."—*Op.
cit., p. 303.
Evolutionists think that the
cause was a lowering of the ocean basins. But that solution would only add 70
percent more water to those oceans! Something more beside seafloor sinking is
needed.
Submarine canyons
are yet another evidence that lower seas
gradually filled and became our present large oceans. We will discuss these
canyons later in this chapter.
ORIGIN OF THE OCEANS—The
Flood, described in Genesis 6-9, has had more profound effects on our planet
than probably any other single event since its initial creation, with the
exception of the Fall of man. An astounding example of this is the vast oceans
which surround the continents on every side.
With our present
continents and deep ocean basins, if all the water in our present atmosphere
were to suddenly fall as rain, it would cover the entire surface of the globe to
an average depth of only two inches (*C.S.
Fox, Water, 1952). Prior to the Flood, we apparently had a far greater
amount of moisture in the atmosphere. That would have given a more uniformly
warm climate to the entire world, and would explain why fossils of tropical
plants have been found in the far north and south. Massive amounts of water
poured out of the skies. In addition, large amounts of water apparently were
released from within the earth. Because of that, we now have so much water
in our oceans that, if the land were leveled out, "the Earth would be
completely covered by water about 0.75 mile [1.2 km] deep"
(Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1987, p. 27). Another estimate
figures it at 1.7 miles [2.7 km]: CRSQ, September 1987, p. 54.
There are
evidences that much of the present sea bottom was once dry land:
"There are fossil
landforms preserved in the depths of the sea, where they are disturbed only
by light currents and the slow rain of pelagic material from the waters
above."—*E.L. Hamilton, "The Last Geographic Frontier: The Sea Floor," in
Scientific Monthly, December 1957, p. 303.
Immense upheavals as
well as sinkings of land must have taken place in order to provide a place to
hold the oceans. If that had not occurred, the entire earth today would be under
water and there would be no continents.
Very frankly, this was an act of Divine providence. The
ocean basins had to sink, and the continents rise—or there would be no dry land
after the Flood.
By the end of the Flood year,
recorded in Genesis 7 and 8, "the valleys [basins] sank down" and the
great masses of water which "were standing above the mountains" "fled" and
"hurried away. . to the place which Thou didst establish for them. Thou hast set
a bound [the shorelines] that they may not pass over; that they return not
to cover the earth." Psalm 104:6-9.
SUBMARINE CANYONS—Another
relic of the Flood is the great canyons cut into the ocean floor.
These are to be found just below where each of our major rivers dumps into
the ocean. Known as "submarine canyons," those canyons
could only have been made if the floor of the ocean basins sank, the ocean level
was then lower, and was gradually filled by rain from the skies and by
water pouring down into it from these waterways. One example is the canyon in
the ocean just opposite the Hudson River in New York.
The evolutionary
position, that the oceans did not fill, leaves them no solution to the origin of
submarine canyons.
"The difficulties encountered
in explaining the lowering of sea level necessary for the canyons to have
been cut by streams [with a volume of water such as we have today] seem
insurmountable . . If Tolstoy’s conclusion that Hudson Canyon extends down
to a depth of 15,000 feet [4,572 m] [!] is correct, the magnitude of
lowering of sea level to permit subaerial canyon cutting seems beyond any
possibility of realization."—*William D. Thornbury, Principles of
Geomorphology (1954), p. 472.
You will find these diagonal
canyons, cut into the continental shelves, out beyond the mouths of all the
great rivers of the continents: the Colorado, Columbia, Amazon, etc.
Such colossal river
currents could not run downward, if the oceans were earlier at their present
height. Scientistists cannot account for those
canyons. Some suggest "turbidity currents," as the answer while others recognize
that something far greater was involved. .
"Can we, as seekers after
truth, shut our eyes any longer to the obvious fact that large areas of sea
floor have sunk vertical distances measured in miles."—*Kenneth K.
Landes, "Illogical Geology," in Geotimes, March 1959, p. 19.
Brown discusses their
immense size and significance.
"On the ocean floor are
several hundred canyons. Some of these submarine canyons rival the
Grand Canyon in both length and depth. One canyon is three times deeper than
the Grand Canyon. Another is 10 times longer, so long that it would stretch
across the United States. Many of these V-shaped canyons are extensions of
major rivers. Examples include the Amazon Canyon, the Hudson Canyon, the
Ganges Canyon, the Congo Canyon, and the Indus Canyon.
"How did they get there? What
forces could gouge out canyons that are sometimes 15,000 feet below sea
level? Was the ocean floor raised or the ocean surface lowered by this
amount so ancient rivers could cut these canyons? If so, how? Canyons on the
continents were supposedly formed by the cutting of fast flowing rivers and
surface drainage. However, the [current] flows measured in submarine canyons
are much too slow—generally less than one mile per hour. Frequently the flow
is in the wrong direction. Submarine landslides or currents of dense, muddy
water sometimes occur. However, they would not form the long, branching (or
dendritic) patterns that are common to river systems and submarine canyons.
Besides, experiments with mud-laden water in actual submarine canyons have
not demonstrated any canyon-cutting ability."—Walter T. Brown, In the
Beginning (1989), p. 63.
HIGHER LAKES—It is quite clear that
at some earlier time there was much more water in the enclosed lake basins of
the continents.Anyone who has
ever driven into the Salt Lake City area cannot help but notice the high-water
marks on the surrounding mountains. Four distinct marks are to be seen, the
highest of which is about 1,000 feet [3,048 dm] above the present level of Great
Salt Lake. At some earlier time an area of 20,000 square miles [51,798 km2]
was covered by this ancient lake (scientists call it "Lake Bonneville").
Another basin of an ancient
lake ("Lake Lahontan") is to be found in Nevada; it once filled 8,400
square miles [21,755 km2].
*Flint, in Glacial and Pleistocene Geology, lists 119 ancient lakes
which are now dry or nearly so.
Such raised beaches
and terraces formed by ancient lakes are to be found all over the world...
"There are many examples
outside the United States of similar lake expansions during pluvial glacial
times. Lake Texcoco in Mexico was at least 175 feet [533 dm] higher than it
is now; Lake Titicaca in South America was 300 feet [914 dm] higher; the
Dead Sea was 1400 feet [4,267 dm] higher, and as many as 15 abandoned strand
lines have been observed around it; the Caspian Sea was at least 250 feet
[762 dm] higher and was apparently confluent with the Aral Sea to the east
and the Black Sea to the West."— *W.D. Thornbury, Principles of
Geomorphology (1954), p. 418.
LARGER RIVERS—There
was also a far greater volume of water flowing at some earlier time in the
rivers. It is common today to see small streams flowing between the steep, high
sides of large canyonsThere was also a far greater
volume of water flowing at some earlier time in the rivers. It is common today
to see small streams flowing between the steep, high sides of large canyons.
Obviously, at some earlier time gigantic waterways must have
flowed there for a time. In addition, extensive deposits of sediments
(alluvium) left by these ancient rivers are to be found at higher levels.
We consistently find
valleys with small streams in their center, with
evidences that once a very large river coursed down the center of the valley.
"If a stream, or more
correctly the size of the stream meanders [the serpentining of the stream
back and forth within its base floodplain], is too small for the size of the
valley, the stream is said to underfit; if too large, it is referred
to as overfit. It is difficult to cite examples of overfit rivers, or
streams with floodplain too small for the size of the stream. Hence there
may well be a question whether overfit streams exist . . The underfit
condition can persist indefinitely; hence many examples of such streams
exist."—*W.D. Thornbury, Principles of Geomorphology (1953), p. 156.
"Valleys commonly appear to be far too
large to have been formed by the streams that utilize them."—*O.D. von
Engeln and *K.E. Caster, Geology, pp. 256-257.
Then there are the
massive flood plains, remnants of earlier gigantic river overflows.
There is an enormous flat area on both sides of the Mississippi River. This is
its flood plain, and it extends for many miles. In
ancient times, this was part of a gigantic river, now referred to as the
"Teays River.". There is an enormous flat area on both sides of the
Mississippi River.
IMMENSE EROSION AND
SEDIMENTATION—(*#1/6 Water Power*)
Tremendous quantities of water flowed outward from the land, and it took a
lot of soil and sediment with it. In many parts of the world, only sand remains.
Tremendous quantities of water flowed outward from the land, and it took a
lot of soil and sediment with it. In many parts of the world, only sand remains.
This would be but another result of the Flood. We see evidences of it today as
we look at our mountains, plains, deserts, and waterways. Consider
the Grand Canyon of Arizona.
One important result of all this was the burial of so much
vegetation and animal life. There are places in our world where fossil-bearing
sedimentary rock is several miles deep.
From bottom to top, the sedimentary rock provides fossil evidence of a gigantic
yet rapid catastrophe. Prior to the Flood this sedimentary strata did not exist.
WAVE EROSION—Water is
powerful, not only when it is running, but when it strikes a surface head on.
Ocean waves can be very destructive, as we are told by Rachel Carson in The
Sea Around Us. *King also mentions this:
"Waves are seldom more than
twenty-five feet high; but violent storms may raise them to sixty feet, and
there are unverified reports of even greater heights . . The immense
striking power of a wave cannot be realized until it hits an object that
cannot float with it. Waves striking the shores of Tierra del Fuego can be
heard for twenty miles [32 km]. Spray from a storm wave has been hurled to
the top of a lighthouse nearly 200 feet [609 cm] above sea level. The force
of waves striking the shore can be measured, and has been found to reach
three tons per square foot [2.7 mt per .09 m2]."—*Thomson King, Water
(1953), p. 49.
Terrible storms raged during the Flood.
Immense quantities of water were flowing, grinding, wearing
away surfaces. Massive wave action took its toll also. All this resulted
in an astounding rate of erosion, which produced sediments which resulted in the
thousands of feet of sedimentary rock strata which we see today.
ROCK STRATA—Several evidences in the
sedimentary rock strata indicate that the sedimentary rock strata were all laid
down rapidly at one time, thus indicating a single worldwide Flood occurredSeveral
evidences in the sedimentary rock strata indicate that the sedimentary rock
strata were all laid down rapidly at one time, thus indicating a single
worldwide Flood occurred.
(1) Sedimentary
rocks, sometimes deep ones even down to the Cambrian, are in an
unconsolidated state. That is, they have not been pressed together into
solid rocks. Yet if these stones had been lying under millions of tons of
overrock for millions of years, they would long ago have consolidated.
(2)
The fossils and the rock strata indicate rapid deposition, due to
a sudden worldwide Flood, rather than being slowly laid over a period of long
ages. We discussed this in detail earlier in this chapter in the section,
Fossils and Rock Strata. There are thousands of cubic miles of such
materials, yet hardly any of it is being made today. The entire process took
place rather quickly at some past time.
(3)
The strata are confused and often crushed. If slow, uniform
layering occurred as a result of erosional forces, the layers would also be
uniform and fairly flat. As it is, what we see is the result of a terrific
upheaval.
(4)
Geologists well-know that rivers only cut through hard
materials when they rush fairly straight down steeply slanted surfaces. In
contrast, rivers that meander serpentinely are slow-moving waters going through
more level land and can then only cut through softer materials. But what we
find is evidence that, at some past time, meandering cut through, what is
today, thick rock—at such locations as the Colorado River, in the Grand
Canyon of Arizona, and the San Juan River in Colorado.
Such river canyons were not cut by rivers "over millions of
years," but instead were quickly cut through while they were still soft and
their strata had only recently been laid.
VARVE DATING—"Varved clays"
are banded sediments, with each band quite thin with light and dark color
gradations between them. "Varve chronology" is another evolutionary
means of dating the sediments, for evolutionists theoretically interpret each
varve as an annual (one year) deposit. But we find pebbles, plants,
insects, and dead animals in the varves. How does one explain a dead
fish lying on the bed of a lake for about two hundred years without rotting
while the slowly accumulating sediments gradually cover it and then fossilize
it? Where does this occur in modern lakes? There is a lot more that could be
said on this topic, but the above should be sufficient to disprove the theory of
"varve dating."
FACTS ABOUT THE DINOSAURS—Very
high up in the theoretical column of rock strata we find the Mesozoic, which
includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. In these levels we find the
dinosaurs. Apparently reptilian in nature, many of these were
gigantic creatures. The dinosaurs died as a result of the Flood.
"One of the important
contemporary scientific debates is about the causes of the mass extinctions at
the close of the Cretaceous epoch, about 65 million years ago . . Scientists
refer to this crucial, enigmatic transition in the history of life as the K/T
boundary. The Cretaceous epoch is abbreviated as K to distinguish it
from the earlier Carboniferous (coal-forming) epoch, abbreviated as C.
Sedimentary rock layers above the Cretaceous, which include the fossil record of
the Age of Mammals, are traditionally called Tertiary or T."—*R.
Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990), p. 246.
It has been suggested that the
dinosaurs were killed by volcanoes, climatic changes, or the eating of their
eggs by other animals. Yet far more delicate wildlife have survived volcanoes,
climatic changes, and egg predators. Evolution has no answer to the
extinction of the dinosaurs.
"These are some of the
theories that have been advanced to explain the sudden extinction of
dinosaurs throughout the world. Each theory will explain the death of some
dinosaurs in some places, but attempts to apply any of them, or combinations
of them, to worldwide extinction have failed. This dinosaur story is like a
mystery thriller with the last pages torn out. That is true and the
paleontologist knows it. He also knows the riddle will probably never be
solved."—*J.M. Good, *T.E. White, and *G.F. Stucker, "The Dinosaur
Quarry," U.S. Government Printing Office (1958), p. 26.
Here are two
possibilities for the extinction of the dinosaurs:
(1) No dinosaurs were taken
onto the Ark. We have reason to believe that mankind was larger,
stronger, and longer-lived before the Flood. It was seen best not to have these
giant reptiles wandering over the earth’s surface afterward, when mankind would
become smaller and weaker. Why have dinosaurs taken onto the Ark if they are
only going to become extinct not long afterward?
(2) Some Creationists believe
that some young dinosaurs may have been taken into the Ark and died out
within a short time after the Flood ended. Other animals have become
extinct after the Flood; dinosaurs could have also. It has been suggested that
the cold climate that reigned for a time after the deluge caused them to die
out.
A few of the dinosaur-type
species were taken onto the Ark. This definitely included crocodiles,
alligators, and komodos, and could also have included the young of what today
are referred to as "dinosaurs." After the Flood the dinosaurs became extinct
while other dinosaur-type creatures, the crocodiles, alligators, and komodos did
not. There is some indeterminate evidence that some dinosaurs were alive for
a time after the Flood.
A provocative recent
discovery may provide additional insight as to the cause of the disappearance of
the dinosaurs. One major short-term effect was a rapid cooling after the Flood,
caused by volcanic air pollution which kept warming sunlight from reaching the
earth for a number of years.
"Whatever triggered this
decline [in worldwide temperature at some earlier time] may also be a factor
in the extinction of the dinosaurs (which were probably adapted to mild and
equable climates) and put a premium on the warm-blooded birds and mammals,
which can maintain a constant internal temperature."—*Asimov’s New Guide
to Science (1984), p. 204.
That worldwide
coolness, immediately after the Flood, may have
eliminated the dinosaurs by causing their eggs to hatch out all males or all
females.
"Crocodilians and turtles
share a special reproductive trait that is not found in any other living
group of reptiles. In all other vertebrate species [including snakes], the
sex of offspring is determined by genetics; in crocodilians and turtles, it
is determined by environment. Amazingly, whether an egg will develop into a
male or female depends on the temperature at which it was incubated! Hotter
conditions produce females in most turtles, and males in crocodilians.
Hatched under lower temperatures, turtle eggs yield mostly males and
crocodile eggs females . . This apparently opposite effect may be related to
body size; in both cases, high temperatures produce larger individuals.
Female turtles are larger than males . . Male crocodilians are the larger
sex . .
"[If dinosaurs were
heat-sexed like turtles and crocodiles (instead of like snakes which are
genetically determined), then] changes in climate could have produced a
preponderance of one or the other sex [in dinosaurs], causing genetic
bottlenecks and sharp curtailment of breeding. Dinosaurs may have become
extinct, then, because their eggs produced too many individuals of one sex.
"Recent studies by Graham
Webb in Australia, shows that [turtle] sex ratios are maintained by
distribution of eggs in a single nest. The top layer of eggs all developed
into males, the middle layers produced a 50-50 ratio of sexes, and the
bottom layers all hatched into females."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of
Evolution (1990), p. 101.
It is also of interest that a
majority of the larger dinosaurs were vegetarians, and many of the
carnivorous dinosaurs prayed upon other dinosaurs. This would explain
why dinosaurs could exist on the earth contemporaneously with man—before the
Flood and perhaps after it,—without being a major threat to him.
"Dinosaurs were mostly
vegetarians, despite their enormous size and decidedly carnivorous
appearance. One exception was the mammoth Tyrannosaurus rex, which
apparently ate other dinosaurs." —*Asimov’s Book of Facts (1979), p. 136.
Oddly enough, the
dinosaurs are often displayed in museums as an outstanding proof of
evolution,—when, in fact, they are no proof at all!
(1) They were all non-evolving, distinct species, and
(2) their sudden disappearance from our planet cannot be explained by
evolutionary theories.
As with many animals,
the dinosaurs apparently gathered into groups in time of danger.
The rising waters of the Flood finally overtook and buried them beneath water
and sediment. Today, we find their bones in so-called "dinosaur graveyards."
The entombment of such vast numbers of these large creatures demands a
terrible worldwide catastrophe.
The fact that they
collected together in the crisis, before dying, indicates that they were drowned
by the Flood, rather than dying afterward.
Tell those you meet that the dinosaurs are another evidence of the Flood and
another denial of evolution.
"As the layer [cutout of a
New Mexico hillside] was exposed, it revealed a most remarkable dinosaurian
graveyard in which there were literally scores of skeletons, one on top of
another and interlaced with one another. It would appear that some
catastrophe had overtaken these dinosaurs, so that they all died together
and were buried together."—*Edwin Colbert, Men and Dinosaurs (1968), p.
141.
In Wyoming, dinosaur bones were
found "piled in like logs in a jam." In the Dinosaur National Monument in
Utah and Colorado (the Morrison formation of the Jurassic), over 300 dinosaurs
of many different types have been dug out.
"Innumerable bones and many
fine skeletons of dinosaurs and other associated reptiles have been quarried
from these badlands, particularly in the 15-mile [24 km] stretch of river to
the east of Steveville, a stretch that is a veritable dinosaurian
graveyard." —*Edwin Colbert, The Age
of Reptiles, p. 141.
Evolutionary theory declares that
the "age of the dinosaurs"—and the death of the dinosaurs—occurred millions of
years before man evolved on this planet. But there is clear evidence that
dinosaurs and humans were living on earth at the same time. In chapter
13, Ancient Man, we went into detail on the events at Glen Rose,
Texas, where human footprints intermingled with dinosaur tracks in the same
stratum of mud—sometimes with human footprints on top of the dinosaur tracks.
This is known as the Cretaceous Glen Rose formation, located in flat
limestone beds near the small town of Glen Rose, Texas, and is found for some
distance along the Paluxy River, west of town. The tracks occur in trails, and
in two or three instances, the dinosaur and human trails cross each
other,—with two known instances in which human and dinosaur tracks actually
overlap each other. Books and films of these tracks have been produced. (See
the excellent book, Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs and the People Who
Knew Them, by John Morris, 240 pp.)
There is a simple
answer to the question of why dinosaurs are only found in the strata of the
Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous—the three divisions of the Mesozoic Era.
On the basis of Flood geology, the answer is simple enough:
They could run faster than conifers, trilobites, ocean corals, amphibians (such
as frogs), plants, and fish, all of which we find in the so-called "Paleozoic
Era"; but they had a more lumbering gait than the faster mammals and birds,
which we find in the "Cenozoic Era."
MOUNTAIN BUILDING—During
the Flood, vast amounts of water came from the skies; yet, according to Genesis
7:20, the surface of the world did not have high mountains during the
deluge.
(1) If the Flood had covered
the highest mountains we have today, there would now be no exposed
continents, because there would now be too much water in the world.
(2) If mountain building
had not taken place after the Flood, there would be no exposed continents
now, since the waters covered the highest pre-Flood mountains (Genesis
7:20).
Oceans would have forever covered
the world if mountain building had not occurred—but providentially it did. (By
"mountain building," we include not only the production of our present
mountains and ranges, but also the raising of the continental masses,—which
involved the sinking of the ocean basins.)
The ocean basins of our
present world are much deeper than before the Flood,
for they must now serve as reservoirs to hold massive amount of water which at
that time poured from the skies and burst forth from the ground. Before the
Flood, the sky had a thick water canopy of "waters which were above the
expanse," and the ground had underground channels and aqueducts filled with "the
waters which were below the expanse" (Genesis 1:7).
Not only are the ocean basins
deeper since the Flood, but the mountains are higher also:
Mount Everest is 29,028 feet
[8,848 m] above sea level, and the deepest part of the ocean (the Mariana Trench
near Guam in the Pacific) is 35,810 feet [10,915 m] deep. The highest
mountain is 5.5 miles [8.85 km] above sea level, and the deepest depression is
6.78 miles [10,914 km] below it!
Scientists have
found abundant evidence of mountain building. They call it "orogeny."
On the basis of fossil evidence, it is generally
believed that most of our mountain ranges uplifted during the Pleistocene
or late Pliocene (both of which occurred shortly after the Flood). This
would agree with Flood events. A leading evolutionist geology expert writes:
"Despite the fact that
references are scattered and the data have never been fully assembled, the
worldwide distribution of these movements is striking. In North America late
Pliocene or Pleistocene movements involving elevations of thousands of feet
are recorded in Alaska and in the Coast Ranges of southern California . .
The Alps were conspicuously uplifted in Pleistocene and late pre-Pleistocene
time. In Asia there was great early Pleistocene uplift in Turkestan, the
Pamira, the Caucasus, and central Asia generally. Most of the vast uplift of
the Himalayas is ascribed to the ‘latest Tertiary’ and Pleistocene. In South
America the Peruvian Andes rose at least 5,000 feet [1,524 m] in
post-Pliocene time . . In addition to these tectonic movements many of the
high volcanic cones around the Pacific border, in western and central Asia
and in eastern Africa, are believed to have been built up to their present
great heights during the Pliocene and Pleistocene."—*R.F. Flint, Glacial
Geology and the Pleistocene Epoch (1947), pp. 514-515.
Immense crustal
movements occurred during the during the Pleistocene or late Pliocene. Mountains
rose and basins sank.
Water flowed into those basins, and under its great weight they sank still
further. (A similar sinking occurred in Antarctica, which sunk under the weight
of miles of ice piled on top of it.).
Rock strata buckled,
folded, went up or down, and sometimes was thrust sideways a short distance.
Still other strata were overturned. Out of all of this came our present great,
non-volcanic mountain ranges.
Scientists cannot provide a
reasonable explanation of such ranges, but they do try to describe the results.
The term, "folded mountains," is frequently used to describe this activity.
This vast pushing together of earth masses was accompanied by terrific pressures
on rocks that caused many of them to be crushed.
"The most conspicuous and
perhaps also the most significant structural features of the face of the
earth are the great belts of folded mountains, like those of the Himalayas,
the Andes, and the Appalachians, the so-called orogenic [mountain-building]
belts."—*W.H. Bucher, "Fundamental Properties of Orogenic Belts," in
Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, August 1951, p. 514.
"A uniquely satisfactory theory of
mountain building still eludes us."—*R.H. Dott and *R.L. Batten, Evolution
of the Earth (1971), p. 417.
"The cause of the deformation of
the earth’s outer layers and the consequent building of mountains still
effectually evades an explanation."—*A.J. Eardley, "The Cause of Mountain
Building: An Enigma," in American Scientist, June 1957, p. 189.
Folded mountains
is but one of the two major types; the other is volcanic mountains.
Both had their origin at about the same time, although
volcanic activity on a much-smaller scale has continued since then.
Evolutionists
theorize that mountains rise at a uniformitarian, very slow rate of 1 kilometer
[.62 mi] each million years. But the theory does not fit the facts.
The Cascades in the Pacific Northwest are one of the tallest
ranges in America, yet geologists declare them to be the youngest mountain range
in North America.
"If mountains are rising
at the rate of 1 kilometer [.62 mi] in 1 million years, why are some
mountains so high if they are [classified by geologists as] so young."—Ariel
Roth, "Some Questions about Geochronology," in Origins, Vol. 13, no. 2
(1986), pp. 80-81.
SUBTERRANEAN STREAMS—There
is an interesting historical statement in the book of Genesis regarding the
beginning of the Flood: "The same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened" (Genesis
7:11).
Much is involved in that
sentence. Prior to the Flood, massive quantities of water were in the
ground, and the fountains broke up—and geysered out. Enormous
amounts of water were in the water vapor canopy overhead—and the windows
of heaven opened—and it poured down.
It appears that the
greater portion of the water in the Flood—now in the oceans—came out of the
earth, not out of the skies. This upwelling of water in gigantic geysers
caused violent upheavals on the surface, but also below it. The ground
became tortured, crunched, folded, as it attempted to adapt to the immense
forces unleashed. In addition, continents began to arise and seafloors began to
sink.
(A remarkable insight about
water in the ground as an indication of a recent Flood, is to be found in "The
Earth Hasn’t Dried Out Yet," in Appendix 5: "Things to Think About, in Effects
of the Flood on our website.)
VOLCANISM—(*#2/4
When Water and Magma Mix*) But there was another fountain that also opened.
This was the basins of underground molten magma. When the water came out of
the ground, earth’s geologic system itself was reduced to havoc. Material had to
shift in order to fill the major gaps produced when the water left. Huge cracks
developed— and water from above went downward and made contact with molten
magma.
The Flood had begun. The
fountains of the great deep had broken up, and water poured out. Soon lava began
flowing out also. These volcanoes, in turn, produced several other effects which
we will note shortly. The release of so much water caused immense low and
high pressures within the earth itself. Gigantic cracks sent lava closer to the
surface. Water pouring down these cracks hit the molten rock, and exploding jets
of lava poured out at the earth’s surface, producing thousands of volcanoes.
Krakatoa was a volcanic island
in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra. It had been venting for several
days, when a lateral (sideways) crack developed. Sea water poured through that
crack, and then went straight down the main vent hole. That caused the
explosion.
Next to the Tambora explosion
in 1815, the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883 was the most violent explosion of the
past several hundred years. What would it be like to have a dozen Krakatoas
going off at the same time!
That one 1883 volcano
caused a worldwide drop in temperatures that lasted five years. A similar effect
occurred after Tambora’s eruption in 1815. New England received six inches of
snow in June 1816, and temperatures there went as low as 37 degrees F. that
August (National Geographic, December 1943).
There are
literally thousands of extinct volcanoes at Pleistocene and even
post-Pleistocene levels around the globe. That means they were active near the
end of the Flood and for a time thereafter...
"During past geological
ages, lava flowed much more freely than now; it not only spouted from
craters, but also pushed upward from immense cracks in the planet’s crust.
Earth’s most stupendous rock formation, stretching for more than a thousand
miles [1609 km] along the shores of Canada and Alaska, was squeezed out in
such fashion. Oozing lava built great plateaus which now cover 200,000
square miles [517,980 km2] in
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and northern California. An even larger eruption
created India’s famous Deccan plateau, whose once molten rock extends as
much as 2 miles [3.2186 km] below the surface. Argentina, South Africa and
Brazil have similar plateaus."—*Gary Webster, "Volcanoes: Nature’s Blast
Furnaces," in Science Digest, November 1957, p. 5.
"The presence of enormous
masses of igneous [volcanic] rock all over the world is another problem for
uniformitarianism. Often they are found intruding into previously deposited
sedimentary rocks or on the surface covering vast areas of earlier deposits.
The Columbia Plateau, of the northwestern United States, is a tremendous
lava plateau of almost incredible thickness covering about 200,000 square
miles [517,980 km2] . . Nothing ever seen by man in the present era can
compare with whatever the phenomena were which caused the formation of these
tremendous structures. The principle of uniformity breaks down completely at
this important point of geologic interpretation. Some manifestation of
catastrophic action such as the breaking up of the fountains of the great
deep during the Flood is sufficient."—John C. Whitcomb, The World that
Perished (1988), pp. 84, 86.
It is clear that old lava
flows are found not only on the ground but below it, yet in no instance are
lava beds from ancient volcanoes ever found below the Cambrian level.
The beginning of the Cambrian marks the beginning of the Flood Thus
volcanic action took place throughout the Flood, and afterward as well,—but not
before.
Volcanic action
not only occurred for a time after the Flood, but also during the Flood and as
it was receding. We
know this because of pillow lavas. This is a special rounded pillow-like shape
that lava will form when ejected from a volcano underwater. Such lava is found
in great abundance all over the world, including Canada:
"Pillow lavas . . are
common in many parts of the Canadian Shield."—*W.G.Q. Johnston, "Pillow Lava
and Pahoehoe: A Discussion, "in Journal of Geology, 77:730 (1969).
"Pillow lavas, produced as fluid
lava cools underwater, is the most abundant volcanic rock on earth."—*J.G.
Moore, "Mechanism for Formation of Pillow Lava," in American Scientist,
63:269 (1975).
MAGNETIC CHANGES—Magnetic
changes in earth’s core, caused by structural corrections occurring within
the earth, repeatedly took place at this time.
These were caused by displaced earth, water, and
volcanic explosions. This topic is dealt with in chapter 19, Paleomagnetic
Dating. [Due to a lack of space, we had to omit nearly all of that chapter; but
you will find it on our website.]
VOLCANIC POLLUTANTS—For
the most part, air-borne pollutants do not stay aloft in the atmosphere very
long. Particles of soot or dust in the troposphere (reaching to the top of
the clouds, or to 12 miles [19.3 km] up) generally settle or wash out, in rain
or snow, within a few weeks. Gases are absorbed by moisture within four months.
But when pollutants
are shot up into the stratosphere (between 10 and 30 miles [16-48 km] up), they
may remain there for years. Volcanoes are one of the only natural causes of
this. Large amounts of dust particles were hurled into the stratosphere by
thousands of volcanoes.
"Perhaps the heaviest
polluters of the stratosphere are volcanic eruptions: Lofting an ash cloud
laden with sulfur dioxide perhaps 12 miles [19 km], a major eruption can
shroud an entire hemisphere in a veil of particles that reduces sunshine and
lowers ground temperatures.
"Once aloft, high-altitude
pollutants are assured a long stay. Unruffled by the weather and vertical
air mixing of the troposphere, the stratosphere is cleansed by only one
circulation pattern. While strong east-west winds blow the air of the
stratosphere around the globe, a languid horizontal drift gradually carries
pollution toward the Poles. High-altitude winds in the middle latitudes draw
some air from the stratosphere downward into the troposphere, and the rest
eventually sinks in the frigid polar areas, at last returning its freight of
pollutants to earth."—*Oliver E. Allen, The Atmosphere (1983), p. 142.
RAPID COOLING —There are
over 10,000 extinct volcanoes in the world today. This includes the
seamounts under the ocean. They had their origin in the catastrophic
conditions below the surface of the earth at the time of the Flood.
Thousands of volcanoes poured forth so much smoke that they darkened the sky.
The result was a rapid cooling of the earth.
When Krakatoa blew its top in
1883, the explosion was heard for thousands of miles. Over a square mile [2.5899
km2] of dirt was blown into the skies. According to H. Wexler of the U.S.
Weather Bureau, it took three years before the Krakatoa dust settled to earth
again. He also tells us that as much as 20 percent of the solar radiation may
be reduced after just one severe volcanic eruption.
The Krakatoa dust caused a
definite lowering of worldwide temperatures for about two years. Enough dust had
settled by then, that temperatures rather quickly began to return to normal. Yet
Krakatoa was only one volcano. At the close of the Flood, when several
thousand volcanoes were erupting at the same time, climatic conditions
dramatically and quickly changed throughout the world. When they
subsided, the climate could again warm up.
A similar explosion occurred
in the West Indies in 1815:
"On 7 April 1815, Mount
Tambora, on a small island east of Java, exploded. Thirty-six cubic miles
[150 km3] of rock and dust were hurled into the upper atmosphere. For that
reason, sunlight was reflected to a greater extent than usual, and
temperatures on Earth were lower than usual for a year or so. In New
England, for instance, 1816 was unusually cold, and there were freezing
spells in every month of that year, even July and August. It was called the
year without a summer."—*lsaac Asimov, Asimov’s New Guide to Science (1984),
p. 169.
An increase of carbon
dioxide, from volcanic emissions of ash, would raise the temperature but little.
Even an eightfold increase in CO2
would raise the mean temperature by only about 2° F. But
the dust factor (aerosols) would decrease the temperature significantly and more
effectively. Scientists tell us that volcanic action, sustained over several
years, could trigger an ice age.
"An increase by a factor
of 4 in the equilibrium dust concentration in the global atmosphere . .
could decrease the mean surface temperature by as much as 3.52K. If
sustained over a period of several years, such a temperature decrease could
be sufficient to trigger an ice age."— *S.I. Rasool and *S.H. Schneider,
"Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Aerosols: Effects of Large increases on
Global Climate," in Science, 173 (3992):138-141 (1971).
Rapid cooling,
induced by hundreds and thousands of volcanic explosions just after the Flood
brought on the ice age...
FREEZING OF POLES—(*#3/2
Killed, Frozen, and Buried*) Water changes temperature more slowly than does
soil or rock. Polar seas helped slow the freezing of the poles, but when
the freezing of polar waters finally occurred, they locked in the cold all the
more solidly.
At some point, the
following scenario probably took place:
Amid the eruptions,
explosions, and pollution of 10,000 volcanoes, the poles froze and the
animals, in the far north, were overwhelmed by the cold.
One of these was the mammoth, a type of gigantic elephant.
"The extinction of the
wooly mammoth in northern Eurasia should be mentioned. In Siberia alone some
50,000 mammoth tusks have been collected and sold to the ivory trade, and
there are rare occurrences of whole animals preserved in frozen
ground."—*R.F. Flint, Glacial and Pleistocene Geology (1957), p. 470.
Not only mammoths
but a number of other animals were rapidly frozen.
Here is one scientist’s listing of the different species
which were quickly frozen:
"The extensive silty
alluvium, now frozen, in central Alaska contains numerous mammal fauna . .
Freezing has preserved the skin and tissue of some of the mammals. The
faunal list includes two [types of] bears, dire wolf, wolf, fox, badger,
wolverine, saber-tooth cat, jaguar, lynx, wooly mammoth, mastodon, two
horses, camel, saiga antelope, four bisons, caribou, moose, stag-moose, elk,
two sheep, musk-ox and yak types, ground sloth, and several rodents."—*Op.
cit., 471.
One field zoologist,
*Sanderson, tried to visualize the possible circumstances that could have caused
such quick-frozen specimens as he had seen in the far north. The animal
remains appeared to have undergone both the effects of violent storm conditions
and rapid freezing.
"In Alaska . . the mammals
and other animals, with one or two significant exceptions, were all
literally torn to pieces while still fresh. Young and old alike were cast
about, mangled and then frozen. There are also, however, other areas where
the animals are mangled, but had time to decompose before being frozen; . .
Beyond these again, there are similar vast masses of animals, including
whole families or herds, all piled together into gulleys and riverbeds and
other holes, but where only bones remained."—*Ivan T. Sanderson, "The Riddle
of the Frozen Giants," in Saturday Evening Post, January 16, 1960, p. 83.
Violent winds would
help explain why we find large quantities of remains clumped together,
either frozen in hollows in northern ground or as fossils contained within
pockets in sedimentary strata farther south. The lack of sunlight from
volcanic dust overhead would bring on both the intense cold in northern
latitudes, as well as violent storms that would reach down into warmer areas in
the south.
What could cause all this?
*Sanderson, a non-believer in the Genesis account, decided the storms and
sudden freezing was caused by gases and smoke shooting skyward from large
numbers of volcanoes! Here is his vivid description!
"A sudden mass extrusion
of dusts and gases would cause the formation of monstrous amounts of rain
and snow, and it might even be so heavy as to cut out sunlight altogether
for days, weeks, months or even years if the crustal movements continued.
Winds beyond anything known today would be whipped up, and cold fronts of
vast lengths would build up with violent extremes of temperature on either
side. There would be forty days and nights of snow in one place,
continent-wide floods in another, and roaring hurricanes, seaquakes and
earthquakes bringing on landslides and tidal waves in others."—*Ibid.
The freezing of the
poles had two major effects. (1) Vast quantities of water were locked into ice
in the polar regions, and (2) Sheets of ice slid southward partway down the
continents. Popularly known as the "ice
age," this is scientifically known as the period of glaciation. It
was not until the Flood receded that the ice sheets could begin their inexorable
march southward. The ice sheets made the air above them extremely cold.
"Because incident solar
radiation is mostly reflected from a snow surface, the air above an
extensive snow cover is colder, and atmospheric pressure decreases more with
attitude in the colder air. This tends to create an upper ‘cold trough’
above an extensive snow cover."—*L.D. Williams, "Effect of Insulation
Changes on Late Summer Snow Cover in Northern Canada, "in Proceedings of the
WMO/IAMAP Symposium on Long-Term Climatic Fluctuations (1979), p. 444.
Evolutionists declare that it
requires many thousands of years for ice caps to form, and that their very
existence is an evidence of long ages. During World War II, a squadron of eight
P-38 Lightning fighter planes left a U.S. Army air base in Greenland, headed for
Britain. But a blizzard forced them to turn back. Although they crash landed,
all the pilots were rescued. In 1988, the U.S. Army decided to salvage those
aircraft. But, instead of dusting off a little snow from them, as they expected,
the airplanes were found to be buried under 250 feet of ice! (*Life, December
1992).
RESIDUAL CATASTROPHISM—This
is the name given to effects which occurred during a short period of time just
after the Flood was finished.
Most of what we see about us today is a
result of that time span. Let us now consider some of these effects:
GLACIATION—There is
abundant evidence that northern Asia, all of Canada, and about a fourth of
the United States was once covered by glacial ice.
These massive ice sheets were
caused by two factors: (1) The darkening of the skies by volcanic dust,
and (2) the loss of earth’s thermal blanket. This was the water vapor
canopy in the atmosphere that formerly gave our planet a continual "greenhouse"
effect.
The falling of snow
stored enormous amounts of water in the form of ice.
Today the remnants of it are found primarily in Greenland and Antarctica, but
also in northern Canada and northern Asia. If this stored water was suddenly
released, all the great seaports of the world would be covered by the seas.
Research scientists have
discovered that hardly any snow falls in the Antarctic. From the
standpoint of rain and snow, it is "the driest continent on the planet." Yet the
ice in Greenland is over a mile [1.6 km] deep, and in Antarctica it is as much
as five miles [8 km]. Originally these great polar ice caps must have been much
larger. When did all that snow fall on the Antarctic continent?
During the ice
age, so much snow was falling that glaciers were formed which flowed outward
toward the equator:
"Geologists and
climalologists have tried for more than a century to explain the recurrence
of glaciation on a continental scale. Theory after theory has been
suggested, but all explain too little or too much. None can be considered
satisfactory, at least in its present form."—*J. Gilluly, *A.C. Waters, and
*A.O. Woodford, Principles of Geology (1952), p. 319.
THE GLACIAL PERIOD—Massive ice sheets
formed and moved southward, as a result of immense volcanic activity.
The Glacial Period
The Canadian ice
sheet, growing from the northeast, left much of
Alaska and the Pacific slope unglaciated but extended southward until the rim
of the ice stretched over much of the northern United States. At its maximum
southern extension, the boundary of the ice stretched from Seattle, Washington,
over to Bismark, North Dakota, and then veered southeastward, following close to
the line of the modern Missouri River, past Omaha and St. Louis, then eastward
past Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and New York, stopping at the southern edge of
Long Island.
When the ice
sheets were at their farthest extent, they covered over 17 million square miles
[44 km2] of land in both polar regions or some 30
percent of Earth’s present land surface. This is three times as
much land as is covered by ice today.
These glaciers
scoured, scored, and polished solid granite. In other places they left dumps of
sediments along their sides (lateral moraine) and
also where they finally stopped (terminal moraine). The glaciers really left
their mark on our planet!
One example of the impact of
these glaciers is to be found in the Canadian Shield and the Great Lakes in
America. The ice as it moved southward scoured thousands of square miles of bare
granite in Canada and cut out the Great Lakes. These lakes were originally much
larger than today.
There is still much
water locked up in ice in the far north and south. The
earth’s load of ice, amounting to nearly 9 million cubic miles [37 million km3],
covers about 10 percent of its land area. About 86 percent of the ice is piled
up in the Antarctic continental glacier and 10 percent in the Greenland glacier.
The remaining 4 percent is located in Iceland, Alaska, the Himalayas, the Alps,
and a few other locations. If the 23 million cubic kilometers [14 cu mi] of
ice in the world melted at the same time, the volume of the oceans would
increase 1.7 percent. That would be enough for the sea level to rise about
180 feet [549 dm]. The Empire State Building would be in water to nearly the
20th floor. Scientists estimate that the amount of water locked up in the
oceans at the height of the ice age, lowered sea level by about 400 feet
[1,219 dm]. This could be one of the reasons why the filling of the ocean basins
seemed to pause for a time.
It is estimated that
a drop in the earth’s average annual temperature of only 3.50 C is sufficient to
make glaciers grow, whereas a rise of the same amount would melt Antarctica and
Greenland to bare rock in a matter of centuries.
(At the present time, an
increase of world carbon dioxide, primarily from burning of fossil fuels,
threatens us with a "greenhouse effect" and a melting of the glaciers; whereas
the opposite trend toward pollution of the atmosphere, by dust and smog, throws
particles into the air that screen sunlight from the earth, resulting in a
cooling effect. Experts are generally agreed that the warming trend may, at
present, be the more powerful of the two.)
The total coverage of
glaciers was unbelievably vast.
"Some 4,000,000 square
miles [10 million km2] of North America, 2,000,000 square miles [2 million
km2] or more of Europe, and as yet little known but possibly comparable area
in Siberia were glaciated. In addition, many lesser areas were covered by
local ice caps. Thousands of valley glaciers existed in mountains where
today there are either no glaciers or only small ones."—*W.D. Thornbury,
Principles of Geomorphology (1954), p. 354.
Yet geologists have no
adequate explanation for what caused this glacial activity.
"The underlying cause of
glaciation remains in doubt . . At least 29 ‘explanations’ have been
advanced to account for widespread glaciations. Most of these had little
chance of survival from the first, but others enjoyed some degree of success
until they were rendered untenable by subsequently accumulated
information."—*William L. Stokes, "Another Look at the Ice Age," in Science,
October 28, 1985, p. 815.
INCREASED TROPICAL
RAINFALL—It is well-known that there was much more rainfall in the
lower latitudes for a time after the Flood. This occurred simultaneous with the
glacial flows in the northern latitudes. Even the deserts, such as the
Sahara, had an abundance of rain. Lakes and continental lowland basins had much
higher water levels. All the rivers of the world for a time carried a far
greater volume of water.
SUDDEN WARMING—Just as
surely as there was a sudden freezing, so there was a rather sudden warming
afterward. That fact
summarizes certain geologic evidence.
Recall again to mind the
explosion of Krakatoa in 1883. ONE major volcanic explosion was enough to darken
the skies for thousands of square miles, send dust around the world that
remained for two years, and cool the planet for over a year. But then everything
warmed up rather quickly after that.
Next we consider the ten
thousands of now extinct volcanoes that, at some earlier time, blew up and
poured forth lava, bombs, and dust all at about the same time. The result was
not a two-year cooling, but an ice age that lasted for an indeterminate length
of time. When the volcanoes subsided, the dust settled, and much of the
planet warmed up again. This brought a rather rapid receding of the glacial
sheets.
"The data indicate a
rather sudden change from more or less stable glacial conditions to
postglacial conditions."—*D.B. Ericson, et. al, "Late-Pleistocene Climates
and Deep-Sea Sediments," in Science, August 31, 1956, p. 388.
Evidence for a rapid warming up has
been obtained from examination of deep-sea
sediments, river delta silting, shoreline indications, and pluvial lake
desiccation (drying up). Rapid changes in each of these reveals a rather quick
climatic warming.
Sudden warming would quickly
increase melting of ice, draining of glacial lakes, and water runoff through the
rivers, onto the deltas, and into the oceans.
"The level of the Great
Basin lakes fell from the highest terraces to a position close to that
observed at present. The silt and clay load of the Mississippi River was
suddenly retained in the alluvial valley and delta. A rapid ice retreat
opened the northern drainage systems of the Great Lakes and terrestrial
temperatures rose to nearly interglacial levels in Europe. In each case the
transition is the most obvious feature of the entire record."—*Wallace
Broeker, et. al., "Evidence for an Abrupt Change in Climate Close to 11,000
Years Ago," in American Journal of Science, June 1960, p. 441.
(The "11,000 year" number,
given in the above article title, comes from radiocarbon dating; but as we learn
in chapter 6, Inaccurate Dating Methods, the actual date would be much less.)
It is radiation from the sun
that warms the earth. A greenhouse effect exists that helps to hold in that
heat. This is caused by water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone in the
atmosphere. The Flood removed much of the water vapor and locked large amounts
of carbon into fossils, coal, and oil. With the greenhouse effect greatly
weakened, and the sunlight blocked by volcanic dust, the glacial sheets moved
southward. But the volcanoes added more carbon to the air and it remained
after the dust settled. Sunlight could again penetrate and water vapor was
slightly restored. So a warming up occurred.
"We are now sending about
5.5 billion tons [4.1 billion mt] of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each
year; only half that much can be absorbed by oceans and forests. Some
scientists predict that if the current level of fossil fuel use continues,
by [A.D.] 2030 there could be a 3-to-9 degree rise in world temperatures.
Such change should melt polar ice, raise ocean levels and seriously disrupt
agriculture and ecosystems."—*R. Milner, Encyclopedia of Evolution (1990),
p. 202.
It is of interest that so much
evidence is being found that points to a worldwide change in temperature and
climate, that a new theory has been developed to explain it. Calling it turnover
pulse hypothesis, *Elisabeth Vrba of Yale says that there were many climatic
changes, and each one killed off some species and, in some unknown way,
magically triggered the sudden evolving of new ones. She has gathered data
from all over the world indicating that at least one massive climatic change
occurred at some time in the past.
A FLOOD MODEL—(*#4/5
Petrified Wood / #5/22 Things to Think about*) You will notice that in
describing the effects of the Flood we have viewed many pieces of a puzzle.
Let us for a moment seek to put them together. The following suggested
pattern would be what scientists would call a "Flood and post-Flood model":
Before the Flood,
the climate was warm from pole to pole, and was caused by the vapor canopy and
certain other factors. No high mountains existed, and there were only broad
rivers and small seas. Dinosaurs were alive, but the largest of them were plant
eaters, and the fiercest may have occupied themselves with attacking the
vegetarian ones (just as the gigantic sperm whale only attacks the giant squid,
while ignoring the other ocean creatures). Yet, either way, because of man’s sin
"the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:13)—probably both by man and
beast, and between them.
The Flood began
all at once, as the rain fell and reservoirs
of water beneath the surface burst forth. Enormous cavities in the ground where
the water had been, collapsed inward. The geologic balance was upset, and
gigantic cracks opened, letting water pour back downward into pools of hot magma
farther below. began all at once, as the rain fell and reservoirs of water
beneath the surface burst forth. Enormous cavities in the ground where the water
had been, collapsed inward. The geologic balance was upset, and gigantic cracks
opened, letting water pour back downward into pools of hot magma farther below.
At the same time, the ocean
basins began lowering and/or continents rising to some extent. More lowering and
rising would occur later. Water would have been the calmest in the far north and
south, and ocean currents would have been the slowest there.
"Superimposed on all the
general turmoil of the Flood would be the effect of the moon’s gravitational
pull on the worldwide ocean. At the present time the moon pulls up a "bulge"
of water and, as the earth rotates beneath it, this bulge is seen as the
tide coming in; however, the waters today never go beyond their prescribed
limits.
"In the Genesis Flood, the
bulge remained and was not dissipated at the shorelines so that the earth,
continuing to spin beneath it, would cause a buildup of tremendous currents.
The velocity of the water traveling over the submerged earth could have been
hundreds of miles per hour directly beneath the bulge but taper off to
nearly zero towards the poles of the earth’s axis.
"The process would produce
great quantities of sediment and lead to a complex but, nevertheless,
organized imposition of forces upon the deposition rates of sediment and
suspended matter."—Ian T. Taylor, In the Minds of Men (1987), p. 111.
Terrific storms occurred, and
the water level continued to rise. Rapidly flowing water, massive wave action,
rapid sedimentary coverage, water deposition and suction action, gigantic mats
of vegetation, volcanic fire and lava, seismic ("tidal") waves—all worked
together to wreck havoc.
Marine animals were
washed up by the roiling waters and covered by
"Cambrian" sediments. More marine animals were covered by "early
Paleozoic" gravel, sand, and clay.
The slowest land
animals and some fish were buried in "Silurian"
dirt. By now the waters were higher and began covering the seed plants
with "Devonian" soils.
Soon, the rising
waters reached the conifers and buried them
beneath "Permian" deposits. The slowest of the lumbering dinosaurs
were overtaken next, and were covered by "Triassic" soils.
By now the storms had
become so violent that animals were thrown together into pockets
and "fossil graveyards" became common.
Eventually, the "Jurassic"
and "Cretaceous" sediments had buried the last of the dinosaurs,
and the fleeter mammals were being overtaken and buried by "Tertiary"
earth. Then the last of them were entombed underneath "Quaternary"
sediments.
Almost no humans were buried,
almost no apes, and relatively few birds. Why? Because they knew how to keep
going on to the very end, apes and man could climb to the very highest points
and cling to trees and rocks. And when the end came, there were no more burials,
only a sinking through seas to the ocean floor beneath where they would decay
away or be eaten by fish still alive in the ocean.
As the waters advanced,
earth movements increased, and these, along with the violence of storms and
volcanic action—resulted in "discontinuities"— where some strata ended,
with others horizontally near them began.
Soon there was a
worldwide sea, for the waters had covered the
highest mountains, which never had been high to begin with (Genesis 7:20).
Gigantic mountain
building now began in earnest. The lowest
basins had been first to fill with water and, under its weight, began to settle.
So much water had been taken out of the ground that it was structurally looser.
Water flowing down volcanic cracks caused massive explosions. As the waters
covered most of the earlier volcanoes in the oceans (now called seamounts),
seawater would flow down vent holes—and cause terrific explosions, which would
blow off their tops.
As the Flood
receded, under the
impact of all that was taking place, the great ocean basins lowered and the
continents rose higher—all part of a balancing act that scientists call
geostasy. Once or twice there was a pause that caused our present continental
shelves. This occurred either while the oceans were initially filling, or later
as these mammoth earth movements were taking place.
Sinking pressures, rising
pressures, and lateral pressures—resulted in gigantic folding, and huge mountain
chains were lifted up. The Appalachians probably arose earlier, for today they
show evidence of having been rounded by Flood waters. Many other ranges were
pushed up. One of the last ranges to arise was the northern Cascade Mountains in
Washington State, for they show little evidence of Flood erosion.
As more and more
dry land appeared,
volcanic ranges also arose. Belts of volcanoes encircle the Pacific Ocean, run
through the Mediterranean and elsewhere.
The glacier sheets advanced
outward from the polar regions. These probably covered much of Europe, Asia, and
North America for several centuries before receding. But even after they did,
few civilizations were able to enter those colder areas until they warmed up
sufficiently. This did not occur until just before the time of Christ.
While the northern
latitudes were wrapped in colder weather, Egypt,
the Near East, and India had ideal weather. It was probably similar to Southern
California, although with much better rainfall.
The gradual warming of
the planet resulted in several major effects that
began just after the time of Christ: (1) The Near East, where civilization had
once been centered, slowly became a hot, desolate wasteland. (2) Warming up,
northern Europe gradually filled with racial groups, which then invaded and
conquered the Roman Empire. (3) Europe became the center of civilization in the
West. (4) The Near East became a dry, nearly treeless desert.
CONCLUSION—(*#6/38
Additional Evidences of the Flood / #7 The Water Explosion*) A number of
variant Flood models could have been presented which probably would have
summarized the data just as well. But they would not be much different than this
one.
The facts, taken as a
whole, point to a worldwide Flood, and not to long ages of sedimentary strata
production and transitional species evolution...
The Flood was so universal and cataclysmic in its
cause, scope, and results that it has had lasting effects on the earth, the sky,
and all life-forms from that day to this. It is impossible to discuss
creation and evolution without giving close attention to the Flood and its
powerful effects.
EVOLUTION COULD NOT DO THIS
The trilobite is abundant in the
very lowest fossil levels; but, according to *Levi Setti, its eye is said to
have "possessed the most sophisticated eye lenses ever produced by nature,"
which required "knowledge of Fermat’s principle, Abbe’s sine law, Snell’s law of
refraction and the optics of birefringent crystal." He concludes: "The lenses
look like they were designed by a physicist."
Because crayfish and lobsters
live their lives moving backward, they have an unusual internal plumbing system.
The kidney is located in front of the mouth, so the gill circulation can carry
the wastes away from the body. If the kidney outlet was near the back end as in
most creatures, the wastes would be carried to the gills. This perfect design
enables crayfish and lobsters to live efficiently, whether very slowly crawling
forward or rapidly swimming backward.
One bacterium has small hairs twisted in a stiff
spiral at one end of the creature. Upon closer microscopic examination,
scientists were totally amazed to discover that this bacterium has a rotary
engine! It spins this corkscrew like the propeller of a ship, driving itself
forward through water. It can even reverse the engine! Researchers still do not
understand how it is able to whirl the mechanism. Using this method of
locomotion, it is able to attain speeds which would, if it were our size, propel
it forward at 30 miles [48 km] per hour. Commenting on this, *Leo Janos in
Smithsonian said that "nature invented the wheel." Another researcher,
*Helmut Tributsch, declared: "One of the most fantastic concepts in biology has
come true: Nature has indeed produced a rotary engine, complete with coupling,
rotating axle, bearings, and rotating power transmission."
CHAPTER 14 - STUDY AND REVIEW
QUESTIONS
EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD
GRADES 5 TO 12 ON A GRADUATED
SCALE
1 - Discuss and contrast the
theory of uniformitarianism with the fact of catastrophism.
2 - Select one of the following
topics and write a report on how it points to a former worldwide Flood: (1) the
existence of sedimentary strata and fossils; (2) why smaller, slower fossils are
found lower in the strata and larger, faster ones are found at higher levels;
(3) the fact that fossil deposits were laid down so rapidly; (4) the fact that,
beginning with the lowest fossil strata, the Cambrian, there is such a vast
amount of fossils, yet below it there is next to nothing; (5) the existence of
polystrate trees; (6) coal and oil deposits; (7) the origin of graded bedding;
(8) unity of the strata; (9) strata sequence and overthrusts.
3 - There are several evidences
of what conditions were like before the Flood. In a brief paragraph or two,
discuss one of the following: (1) pre-Flood climate; (2) pre-Flood atmosphere;
(3) pre-Flood oceans.
4 - The Flood affected the entire
world, and it was mentioned in later records. Select one of the following topics
and write a half-page article on it: (1) Flood stories; (2) Noah’s name in world
languages; (3) the Flood in Chinese; (4) the size of Noah’s Ark in the Biblical
record; (5) Flood chronology in the Biblical record.
5 - The Flood exerted the most
powerful effects on our planet of any event since the six-day Creation. Select
one of the following topics and write one or several paragraphs explaining how
one of these effects points us to the Flood: (1) continental shelves; (2)
seamount corals; (3) submarine canyons; (4) existence of the oceans; (5) higher
lakes; (6) larger rivers; (7) immense erosion and sedimentation; (8) sedimentary
strata; (9) varve dating; (10) dinosaurs; (11) mountain building; (12)
subterranean streams; (13) volcanism; (14) volcanic pollutants; (15) glaciation;
(16) increased tropical rainfall for a time afterward; (17) sudden warming.
6 - Write your own Flood model, indicating the
possible sequence of events during and after the flood.
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