By: Mike Riddle

Institute for Creation Research

Origins
Geologic time scale
The origin of strata

Uniformitarianism
Liquefaction
Turbidity currents

Grand Canyon
Analysis of long ages
The Bible and the worldwide Flood

Long ages
uniform processes
Or
Young earth
catastrophic event

Represents a cross-section through the

earths crust
Youngest rocks at the surface and oldest
rocks at the bottom
It represents the total sedimentary
activity of all the geologic ages
Textbooks suggest the column is
supposed to be at least 100 miles thick

Is the geologic column a fact or a hypothetical

classification scheme used to support evolution?

Consists of 10 layers

All 10 layers can be found in very few locations

(less than 1% of the earths surface)

The worldwide average thickness of the column is

about 1-mile!!! (it should be 100 miles)

The standard column was built by superposition

from many different locations

The entire column (including thickness) can only be

found in textbooks

100
miles

Complete
Column
(Textbooks)

Actual column
North Dakota

Uniformitarianism (evolution model)

Liquefaction
Turbidity currents

Evolution Model
The doctrine that ancient geologic changes
occurred largely in response to slow and
gradual processes

The present is the key to determining the past

Is there another way to explain the data?

Associated with quicksand, earthquakes

and wave action

The 1995 Kobe earthquake (M=6.9) in Japan

The strong ground motions that collapsed the
Hanshin Expressway also caused severe
liquefaction damage to port and wharf facilities.

Harold L. Levin, Contemporary Physical Geology, 2nd edition

(New York: Saunders College Publishing, 1986), p. 251.

Often during earthquakes, fine-grained watersaturated sediments may lose their former strength
and form into a thick mobile mudlike material. The
process is called liquefaction.

The liquefied sediment not only moves about

beneath the surface but may also rise through
fissures and erupt as mud boils and mud
volcanoes.

Liquefaction occurs whenever water is

forced up through loose sediments

During the Genesis Flood, there would

have been enormous waves

During the Flood, water would have been

forced into the ocean floor via
compression from waves

Water released

Compressed liquefaction Compressed

water stored
water stored

Differences in density, size, or shape of

adjacent particles will cause them to fall
at different speeds

This sorting produces the layering typical

in sedimentary rocks

Many thin layers

deposited rapidly

An experiment in fossil order

Bird
Mammal
Reptile
Amphibian

Fossil
order

Under water landslides

Nov 18, 1929 off the coast of New

Foundland, Canada

Deposited over 2 feet of sediment over

40,000 square miles in 13 hours

Turbidites have common characteristics

Coarse on the bottom and finer particles on top

Many thin layers

About 30% of all sediments are turbidites

What events could prove the Flood really

happened?

Geologic evidence
The Bible

There is no way a big event like the

Genesis Flood could occur without leaving
evidence

1. Marine deposits
2. Widespread deposits
3. Turbidity currents
4. Lack of erosion

Marine fossils are found high up on many

mountain ranges in the world (Alps, Andes
mountains,)
1. Some scientists believe the continents sank

and came back up

2. Some scientists believe the Genesis Flood is
responsible

Marine deposits tell us that at some time

in the past the oceans covered the
continents

Fossils suggest rapid burial

Shells similar to modern clams buried

in a formation the size of Utah (Carmel
formation 200,000 square miles)

Nautiloid Canyon: traditional view is

thousands or millions of years

Shinarump Conglomerate

70 miles due east of Grand Canyon

About 90 feet thick (very thin)
100,000 square miles
Deposited by water not a river or lake
Caused by a catastrophic event

Shinarump
Conglomerate
(100,000 Square miles)

Steinaker Lake, Utah

Redclay, Wyoming

Chinle Formation 175,000

square miles

Dakota Formation
Formation 400,000 square miles
(characterized by dinosaur fossils)

Morrison

Tapeats Sandstone

Dark flat layer similar to

turbidites

Formed by a series of
underwater flows of sand
Thickness 125 325 feet
Lowest level: coarsegrained sandstone and
large boulders

A thin layer called the

Tapeats Sandstone
(light color) covers
most of North America

Conclusion
It would take a great
underwater event to
create such a formation

What might cause widespread deposits?

Turbiditiy currents underwater landslides

Produce many thin layers rapidly

Over 30% of all sediments are turbidites

Shepherds Point, Utah

Ventura Basin, CA
Marathon, TX
Grand Canyon, AZ
Castle Point, New Zealand
What does this mean?

Many thin layers are now interpreted to have

taken days rather then thousands of years

Look for
clues here
Line of
separation

Cuts and
breaks from
erosion

Toroweap and Kaibab formations

Great Unconformity
Dox formation (darker sediments below)
dated at 1 billion years
Tapeats sandstone (lighter sediments
top) dated at billion years

Erosion took place more slowly in the past

An entire layer was eroded away so new
layers came in on top of a flat plane
We dont observe this happening
today, therefore this is an unobserved
explanation

The evidence supports layers were laid

down rapidly. This means the long geologic
time scale is NOT there.

Spilling from the crater, Loowit Falls reshapes the

north slope of the volcano. Youd expect a hardrock
canyon to be thousands, even hundreds of thousands of
years old, says Peter Frenzen, monument scientist, but
this was cut in less than a decade.
National Geographic, May 2000, p. 121.

Rapidly formed strata on the

North Fork of the Toutle River

Palouse Falls Gorge, WA

The Scablands look like a gigantic braided

stream, a channel pattern that indicates rapid
inundation by water followed by rapid retreat.

In the end, the truth of catastrophism did win,

but it took more than 50 years to see the project
through. And this was despite the fact that the
event in question was relatively easy to document
through field observations.
E. K. Peters, No Stone Unturned: Reasoning About Rocks and Fossils,
1991, pp. 78 and 84.

Berlingame Canyon (150 feet deep) eroded

in less than two days

Polystrate fossils

Upright floating logs

Upright Fossil Logs at Yellowstone National Park

Across the valley rise the slopes of Specimen Ridge,

but the forest you see there today is only the latest
chapter in a remarkable story. Buried within the
volcanic rocks that compose the mountain are
twenty-seven distinct layers of fossil forests that
flourished 50 million years ago.

Sign at
Yellowstone

Experiments by Dr. George R. Hill and Dr. Don

C. Adams at the University of Utah have shown
that plant matter can be turned into coal in a
matter of hours.
George R. Hill, Some Aspects of Coal Research,
Chemical Technology, May 1972, p. 296.

Experiments by the U.S. Bureau of mines

showed that petroleum (oil) can be produced
from organic material in only 20 minutes.
Hayden R. Appell, Y.C. Fu, Sam Friedman, et al,
Converting Organic Wastes to Oil, RL-7560 (Washington,
D.C., United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Mines, 1971.)

A mineralized sodium silicate solution for the

application to wood has a composition causing it to
penetrate the wood and jell within the wood so as
to give the wood the non-burning characteristics of
petrified wood.
US Patent & Trademark Office, Patent No. 4,612,050

The geologic column is a model, and not found in

its entirety anywhere (layers and thickness)

Large canyons can form rapidly (Grand Canyon,

Eastern Washington)

Many thin layers of sedimentation do not require

long ages (turbidites, liquefaction, Mount Saint
Helens)

Coal, oil, and petrified wood can occur rapidly

Where is the need for long ages?

1. Evolution: myth or local flood

2. Theistic evolution: local flood
Day-age theory
Gap theory
Progressive creationism

3. Creation: worldwide flood

If there is no scientific requirement for

long ages, then what can be said about
theistic evolution?

And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh is come

before me; for the earth is filled with violence
through them; and behold, I will destroy them
with the earth.
Genesis 6:13
And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the
breath of life, from under heaven; and every
thing that is in the earth shall die.
Genesis 6:17

The fountains of the deep broke open

The windows of heaven were opened (40 days and

40 nights)

The waters prevailed and increased greatly (7:18)

The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth

(7:19)

The waters lifted the Ark (450 feet long)

The waters covered the highest hills by 20 feet (15

cubits)

All flesh died that moved upon the earth (7:21)

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life died

(7:22)

Every living substance was destroyed (7:23)

Only Noah and his family survived

The waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days

(7:24)

The flood lasted 1 year and 11 days (7:11, 8:14)

God caused a wind to pass and the waters subsided

(8:1)

And the waters receded from off the earth

continually (8:3)
5 months after the start of the flood, the Ark came to
a rest upon Ararat (8:4)
God made a covenant with Noah and all creatures
on the Ark (every beast of the earth) all flesh (9:911)
neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters
of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to
destroy the earth. (9:11)

The Bible and science: water and gravity

The Flood and logic

20 Feet

God's covenant

2 Peter 2:5, 3:3-6

Jesus confirmed the flood

Isaiah 54:9

Peter described the flood as global

Genesis 9:8-11, 15

Matthew 24:37-39

Luke 17: 26-27

The words used for the flood

Genesis:
Matthew:

Mabbuwl
Kataklusmos

Kurt Wise
Steven A. Austin
John Morris
Elaine Kennedy
Donald B. DeYoung
Russell Humphreys
Keith Wanser
John Baumgardner
Danny R. Faulkner
Duane T. Gish
Jay Wile
Lane P. Lester
Linda K. Walkup
Ray Bohlin
Gary E. Parker
Raul Lopez
Larry Vardiman
Charles Taylor
Robert Cole
Steven Boyd

Ph.D. Paleontology
Ph.D. Geology
Ph.D. Geology
Ph.D. Geology
Ph.D. Physics
Ph.D. Physics
Ph.D. Physics
Ph.D. Geophysics
Ph.D. Astronomy
Ph.D. Biochemistry
Ph.D. Nuclear Chemistry
Ph.D. Genetics
Ph.D. Molecular Genetics
Ph.D. Molecular Biology
Ph.D. Biology
Ph.D. Atmospheric Science
Ph.D. Atmospheric Science
Ph.D. Linguistics (O.T.)
Ph.D. Semitic Languages
Ph.D Hebraic and Cognitive Studies

The Bible confirms that the account of

the Flood in Genesis was a worldwide
flood, and not a local or regional flood.

The geological evidence can be interpreted

to support a young earth
Liquefaction
Turbidites
Long ages are not necessary

What does this mean?

Over the years these theories have flourished.

However linguist Charles Taylor ably demonstrates
that their basis isnt in the word of God but in the
attempts of people to make Genesis fit within the
current majority view of origins.

The writers have bent the words of Genesis making

fallible sinful men the arbiters of Bible truth, when
Psalm 118:8 says It is better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in man.
Warwick Armstrong, The First 100 Words, 1996, p. vi.
Charles Taylor, Ph.D. Linguistics with a specialty in the
Old Testament

Liquefaction occurs in saturated soils, that is, soils in which the space
between individual particles is completely filled with water. This water
exerts a pressure on the soil particles that influences how tightly the
particles themselves are pressed together. Prior to an earthquake, the
water pressure is relatively low. However, earthquake shaking can cause
the water pressure to increase to the point where the soil particles can
readily move with respect to each other.

Schematic behavior of sand grains in a soil deposit during

liquefaction. The blue column represents the pore water pressure.

The 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake (M=6.9), commonly

referred to as the Kobe earthquake, was one of the most
devastating earthquakes ever to hit Japan; more than
5,500 were killed and over 26,000 injured. The economic
loss has been estimated at about $US 200 billion.
The strong ground motions that led to collapse of the
Hanshin Express way also caused severe liquefaction
damage to port and wharf facilities

MATERIALS:

Newspapers to cover work

surface
1 1/4 cups clean sand
1/3 to 1/2 cup of water
1 lb. size plastic tub
Measuring cup

BACKGROUND:
Liquefaction accounts for considerable damage
to property. It is like having your foot sunk into
a spot of extremely muddy ground.

PROCEDURE:
1.

Place 3/4 of the sand in the bottom of your bowl. Form a flat, even surface.

2.

SLOWLY sprinkle 1/2 the water over the surface of the sand. This represents precipitation.

3.

Wait about one minute. Carefully add more sand if there is standing water. The surface should be
firm.

4.

Sprinkle dry sand over the top to form a dry layer. Press gently to test firmness. Add sand if
necessary.

5.

Slide the bottom of the bowl rapidly back and forth on the desk top until water appears on the
surface. Now press your fingers into the sand.

What happened?
What would happen to structures on the top of liquefied soil? Sands vary in
absorbency.
Experiment with these.

Figure 76: Liquefaction Demonstration. When the wooden blocks at

the top of the horizontal beam are removed, the beam can rock like a
teeter-totter. When the beam is tipped up, water flows from the far tank
down through the pipe and up into a container at the left, holding a
mixture of sediments. Once liquefaction begins, plants and dead
animals buried in the sediment container will float up through the
sediments. Sedimentary particles fall or rise relative to each other and
begin to sort themselves out into layers of like particles. The same
would happen to plants and animals buried in the flood sediments.
Their sorting and later fossilization might give the mistaken impression
that fossils at a higher elevation were organisms that evolved millions
of years after lower organisms. Walt Brown and Bradley W. Anderson

Figure 75: Global Liquefaction. The liquefaction cycle begins at the

left with water being forced down into the sea floor at high tide. During
the next 6 hours, as low tide approaches, that stored water is
released. As it flows up through the sea floor, the sediments are lifted,
beginning at the top of the sedimentary column. Once liquefaction
begins, lighter particles are free to move up and denser particles to
move down. This sorting occurred for many hours each day and for
many days. Not only were sedimentary particles sorted into vast, thin
layers, but also sorted were dead organisms buried in the sediments.
In one experiment by Dr. Leonard R. Brand, a bird, a mammal, a
reptile, and an amphibian were buried in thick, muddy water. Their
natural settling order was as shown above. This happens to be "the
evolutionary order," but, of course, evolution did not cause it. Bradley
W. Anderson

Sedimentary Rocks

Contain most of the worlds fossils

Most of the worlds mountain chains
Shale particles of clay cemented together,
fine sediments associated with water
Sandstone sand grains cemented together

Evidence of catastrophism
1. Oceans covered the continents
2. Rapid burial

3. Widespread strata
4. Short time between strata

South rim is 7,000 feet above sea level

We find fossils of sponges, brachiopods,
and coral in rocks at the south rim
North rim fossil ferns and marine fossils

Marine fossils

Fossils suggest rapid burial

Nautiloid Canyon: traditional view is thousands or

millions of years

Nautiloids oriented in the same direction

Aligned in
the same
direction

Long, thin horizontal layers of strata

No river channel features
No delta

Toroweap and Kaibab formations

Great Unconformity
Dox formation (darker sediments
below) dated at 1 billion years
Tapeats sandstone (lighter sediments
top) dated at billion years