Transcript Session 4 – The Flood

Session 4 – The flood
In this session we will be looking at the
evidence of a worldwide flood, plus several
modern day observations that can shed
light on how geological features
are formed
We will also look at some theories that
explain how the flood could have
happened, and some possible new
theories that could come
Scientific Evidence supporting a flood
Marine fossils are also found high in the
Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain
range, reaching up to 29,029 feet
above sea level.
Bent rock layers around the world show
evidence of a worldwide flood
Rock layers thousands of
feet thick at times are bent
in a way that strongly
suggests they were wet
during the bending
The folding of these layers occurred without
cracking which can be easily explained if
they were wet during the time of bending
“The conventional explanation is that under
the pressure and heat of burial, the hardened
sandstone and limestone layers were bent so
slowly they behaved as though they were
plastic and thus did not break. However,
pressure and heat would have caused
detectable changes in the minerals of these
rocks, tell-tale signs of metamorphism. But
such metamorphic minerals or recrystallization
due to such plastic behavior is not observed in
these rocks.” - Dr. Andrew Snellings
If the catastrophic flood of the Bible
happened, you would expect fossils that
show signs of rapid burial
One fish eating
another fish
A fossil of one fish giving
birth to another fish
This is what we’d expect with a catastrophic flood
Fossil jellyfish would be an example of rapid
fossilization
Fossil graveyards are also evidence of a flood!
Is there was a world-wide flood you’d expect
evidence of massive geologic layers
being formed underwater
Coconino Sandstone
The sandstone is
estimated to cover an
area of about 200,000
square miles, with an
average thickness
of 315 feet.
Originally it was thought
to be a desert (like the
Sahara) and was used
as evidence against
the flood
After examining fossil tracks
of creatures, the angles of
the dunes, and other factors,
it’s been shown that the
most likely scenario is an
underwater formation
Poly Strata fossils provide evidence that
there was a flood that formed the geologic
layers of the earth
Poly-strate fossils
Fossils crossing two or
more sedimentary
layers (strata) are called
poly- (many) strate
(strata) fossils.
We can see how Poly-Strate fossils and many
other geologic features can form quick from
modern day observations
Modern day observation support a flood
Evidence that the flood happened does not
explain how it happened though
Several theories have come about to explain
the flood and how it could have occurred
Dr. John Baumgardner who has his Ph.D in
Geophysics designed his model called
“Catastrophic Plate Tectonics”
Dr. Baumgardner was the head Geophysicist
for Las Alamos National Laboratory
Brief outline of plate tectonics
Catastrophic Plate Tectonics
The mid-oceanic ridge
A couple things you
need to know before
we go in more details
Continental density
is lower than oceanic
crust density
We know the ocean floors are newer
(younger) than the continental crust
The ocean floor has been radiometricly
dated as younger than continental shelf
How does all this provide a way to explain
the flood? How does the theory work?
According to the theory, the mid-oceanic
ridge (and other ridges) originated during
the flood (and caused it)
The process would be sped up as water
interacting with mantle material creates
catastrophic explosions (of steam)
Is there evidence of this catastrophic event
happening in the past?
Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere
Magnetic reversal lines
These magnetic
lines record the
history of the
magnetic field on
the sea floor
In the secular view, these reversals take
thousands of years to happen (They get this
number by measuring how fast the sea
floor is spreading today)
But we now have evidence that magnetic
reversals happen quickly, which means the
ocean floor in the past would have spread
much quicker over the time that the
reversal took place
“Palaeomagnetic measurements of a lava flow
at Steens Mountain in Oregon have shown that
one of these magnetic polarity transitions (part
of a complete reversal) took place in about two
weeks, the time period over which the lava
would have cooled.” – Dr. Snellings
If the time for a white line or black line to
change took only a few days or weeks, than
that means the ocean floor was replaced
quickly in the past
How does this cause the flood?
The new ocean floor being formed at the
ridges (and spreading from there) will be
much warmer than the old ocean floor (and
ocean floor we have today)
This warmer ocean floor means that it will
have a lower density than the cool ocean
floor (warm things expand) which means it
will be thicker as well
New and thicker ocean floor would cause
the water levels to rise by quite a bit
(thousands of feet) and would flood the
continents no problem
After the flood, the waters would begin to
sink as the ocean floor cooled down
But how does the flood get started? What
causes the catastrophic plate tectonic event
to take place?
While this scenario is
possible, other scenarios
are better in my opinion
One of the
common
theories is the
idea that an
asteroid hit
planet earth
and caused the
flood to start
Don Stenberg has presented a different idea
of how to start the flood
In his model the pre-flood earth was smaller
than the earth is today
A few things you need
to know
The majority of the earth
(The mantle) is extremely
hot “plastic” rock
The reason for this plastic lava texture is due
to heat primarily caused by radioactive
decay inside the earth
Creationist have been
puzzled trying to explain
coral dating methods that
could indicate (although
may no) the earths
rotation at one point
was 22 hours long,
not 24 hours.
This theory suggests that radioactive decay
gradually, since the creation, has been
warming up the inside of the earth
(primarily the mantle).
According to the theory, the earth would be
smaller (by a small percent) in the past,
which would cause the days to be 22 hours
in length not 24 hours.
This theory would also explain how the flood
could be started
As the mantle of the
earth expands due to
the increase in heat and
expansion of the rock
would eventually cause
cracks in the crust of
the earth
This theory may also be able to explain
accelerated radioactive decay right before
the flood, which expands the mantle
and causes the flood
Many objects to the flood can be answered
with these theories
Where did all the water go?
Many people get
confused with where all
the water from the flood
went, and this theory
explains it easily
The water is in the oceans
It’s impossible to rain enough to cover
Mt. Everest, if it rained that much it would
cook the earth from the heat released
First off we would note that Mt. Everest
(as it stands today) would have formed
during the flood
Second, you don’t need water just from rain
to flood the earth, the oceans would do
that for you (and the steam/water from the
reactions would provide rain)
Water found in the mantle recently
There are oceans worth of water locked up
in a type of mineral called ringwoodite
inside the mantle
Its not normal water (solid, liquid, or gas) it
is ionized as H+ and OH- and bound to ionic
compounds in the plastic rock.
There isn’t a theory yet that incorporate this
into a flood model (but there may be one
that comes eventually)
It’s very unlikely that this could be drainage
from the flood, because it takes a while for
water to get bound like this
However, if the pressure or heat in the
mantle was suddenly reduced (pressure) or
increased (heat) it’s possible some of this
water could have been released
Accelerated decay could cause this type of
release of heat, so that might be a flood
model one day
There are many more details to the model,
and other models entirely that we didn’t
have time to cover
Remember, all models have their strengths
and their weaknesses, don’t be surprised if
there are a few things they are still working
on explaining with the model
Memory Verse
Genesis 7:11: “In the six hundredth year of
Noah’s life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, on that day
all the fountains of the great deep were
broken up, and the windows of heaven
were opened.”