Posted on 10/02/2013 8:25:42 AM PDT by fishtank
Don't Grand Canyon Rocks Showcase Deep Time?
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Most Christians probably perceive the immense rock layers displayed in Arizona’s Grand Canyon as icons of “deep time,” marking the passing of millions of years. For example, respected Christian apologist William Craig wrote in 1974 that “the beautifully layered sediments evidence a slow process of formation.”1 Did beautiful layers like these require deep time to form? Not according to field observations or lab studies. A violent mudflow from a Mount St. Helens eruption deposited fine layers in less than a day.2 And water flume studies recreate the fast-flow rates that deposit particles, creating layers in moments.3
But even without these live studies, clues within Grand Canyon rocks point to catastrophic water deposition. In August of this year, I rafted down the canyon, taking note of four clues that refute a deep-time interpretation of the canyon’s existence.4 I learned that instead of illustrating deep time, the Grand Canyon layers showcase immense catastrophe.
The first clue against “a slow process of formation” is the canyon’s fossils. The Coconino Sandstone, conventionally interpreted as a windblown sand dune deposit, contains fossil trackways likely made by some kind of lizard.5 The footprints preserve claw marks, which is expected if the creature walked in wet sand. Also, fossil shells from extinct sea creatures called nautiloids inhabit the base of the Redwall Limestone.6 These also appear in the same limestone layer far removed from the canyon, implying that one huge underwater mudflow deposited them all. How could any slow process bury countless strong-swimming nautiloids and orient them to a single flow direction?
The second clue is soft-sediment deformation. Our trip included a guided tour of Carbon Canyon, one of many side canyons. There, we found entire stacks of sandstone layers tightly bent. Clearly, powerful tectonic forces uplifted and warped freshly deposited, soft, moldable land areas. If they had lithified (hardened into rock) over millennia, the brittle rock would have broken and fractured instead of bending under pressure. This incredible clue—as well as the countless fossils—implies unimaginable power that is easy to associate with the Genesis Flood.
Sharp, flat contacts between rock layers provide the third clue that refutes deep time in Grand Canyon. If thousands of years transpired after the completion of one layer and before a different layer was deposited over it, what would we expect to see? The following evidences would surface: a) Chemical weathering on the long-exposed rock, b) semblances of soil profiles that occur on land surfaces today, and c) erosion ruts where thousands of years’ worth of water runoff would have etched grooves and valleys. Imagine the drastic effects of erosion that we should see between each layer if millions of years separate them. No such features present themselves between most layers in the canyon. These strata extend remarkably flat for countless miles, telling of continuous deposition.
The clues so far yield a powerful implication. If watery catastrophe deposited each rock layer and its fossils and if no traces of long ages like erosion ruts lie between the layers, then it appears that a single mega-catastrophe quickly deposited all ten of the Grand Canyon’s remarkably uniform upper strata—thousands of feet thick.7
And what about their uniform thicknesses? Textbooks teach that Earth’s tectonic plates move slowly, at rates comparable to fingernail growth. Textbooks also tell us that sediments drifted down to the bottom of lakes or oceans, accumulating at the rate of one foot per several million years. Rock layers resulting from these two deep-time premises would have varying thicknesses as continents slowly tilted over time. Perhaps they would look like vast wedges. Instead, I saw even strata thicknesses for mile after mile, findings again consistent with the idea that a tremendous watery catastrophe deposited the ten strata in a very short time.
The fourth and final clue showcasing rapid catastrophe comes from “flat gaps,” like the canyon’s angular unconformity.8 This is “an erosion surface which has older strata below, dipping at a different (usually steeper) angle than the younger strata above.”9 For example, in some areas of Grand Canyon, the Tapeats Sandstone overlies a tilted shale layer that, in other places, lies below many tilted intervening layers. Where did the missing layers go?
If those intervening layers were deposited over hundreds of millions of years, then the flat gap represents a many-million-year hiatus. The problem is that no evidence of eons presents itself. The layers lie flat and smooth—without signs of everyday erosion. In other words, if chemical weathering and erosion ruts would form between two layers separated by only hundreds of thousands of years, then how much more would form after hundreds of millions of years? And yet no weathering or everyday erosion appears at the angular unconformity that I saw—just flat, sharp contacts. Although flat gaps represent gaps in rock layers, they do not appear to represent gaps in time.
The magnificent Grand Canyon is filled with prime evidence—fossils, bent strata, sharp contacts, and flat gaps—that its gargantuan rock layers resulted from tremendous catastrophe, not deep time.
References
Craig, W. L. 1974. Evangelicals and Evolution: An Analysis of the Debate Between the Creation Research Society and the American Scientific Affiliation. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 17 (3): 144.
Austin, S. A. 1986. Mt. St. Helens and Catastrophism. Acts & Facts. 15 (7).
Berthault, G. 2000. Experiments in Stratification. Acts & Facts. 29 (10).
Thanks to everyone at Creation Adventures for organizing the trip.
Morris, J. 2010. The Coconino Sandstone: A Flood or a Desert? Acts & Facts. 39 (7): 15.
Austin, S. A. 1990. Were Grand Canyon Limestones Deposited by Calm and Placid Seas? Acts & Facts. 19 (12). The formation names are, in ascending order: Tapeats, Bright Angel, Muav, Temple Butte, Redwall, Supai (group), Hermit, Coconino, Toroweap, and Kaibab.
Morris, J. 2012. Flat Gaps Between Strata. Acts & Facts. 41 (5): 15.
Austin, S. A. 1994. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 239.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Brian Thomas, M.S. 2013. Don't Grand Canyon Rocks Showcase Deep Time?. Acts & Facts. 42 (10).
glutton for punishment
Who are we to ever presume how God Almighty dealt with time. Time belongs to Him. Eternity is His.
These guys are nuts.
Well, as for me I take God at His Word, therefore about 6,000 years have elapsed since the fall of Adam and Eve.
When we were at Wisconsin Dells I asked the tour guide how long it took for the Wisconsin River to carve through the rock in Dells area - the answer one week to ten days! It would not surprise me the Grand Canyon was much different.
“Glacial Lake Wisconsin
The Laurentide Ice Sheet flowed southwest from Green Bay to the Baraboo Hills, coming within three miles of the Upper Dells. Roughly 15,000 years ago, the ice front dammed the Wisconsin River at a point one mile east of what is now Lake Delton, to form Glacial Lake Wisconsin, which stretched north along the Central Sand Plains to roughly Wisconsin Rapids.
A Catastrophic Flood
As the glacier began melting about 14,000 years ago, the dam failed and Glacial Lake Wisconsin drained rapidly southward. Flow from Glacial Lake Wisconsin was blocked by sandstone ridges to the west, and a low range of glacial moraines to the south and east of the Dells. As the huge volume of water gushed southward through a gap less than a mile wide, the water carved the Dells.
Glacial Lake Wisconsin’s water level dropped as much as 100 feet almost overnight, and the resulting flood carved the Dells of the Wisconsin River, the tributary canyons, and other drainage flows in the Dells area. Scientists estimate that the Dells were carved in a few days as the flood waters rushed through the sandstone.
Since the retreat of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a thin layer of sand and silt has been deposted in the area, creating the Dells area’s characteristic sandy loam soil.” http://www.dellsstewards.org/history_natural.html
“therefore about 6,000 years have elapsed since the fall of Adam and Eve.”
So says someone that interpreted the Bible as he saw fit but didn’t have a clear understanding of all the timelines.
It seems that the cataclysmic nature of creation process would compel any observer, scientist, or theologian to allow for all kinds of unusual results. After all, this only happened once and God gave Moses a rather sketchy account of how He pulled it off. So, it might have been 6 24 hour days, or 6 eon “days”. But, I don’t think the rocks can tell us which.
The rocks and the fossils tell no tales but the evolution followers use them in their circular reasoning.
I was always somewhat skeptical of these long-ages accounts, but thanks to some fellow FReepers and critical thinking skills it is much easier to see how God does not lie but our modern day science has sold their collective souls to the government grant money.
If you think you have a clear understanding of all the timelines then please explain how any/all of the facts on the web link below fit into your long ages interpretation:
101 Evidences for a Young Age of the Earth...And the Universe
http://creation.com/age-of-the-earth
And yet I can see objects millions of light years away, Mr. “Nuclear Engineer” Fishtank.
I considered a lengthy reply to this utter nonsense, but decided it just wasn’t worth the effort.
I’m sorry but the Grand Canyon is closed. No looking at photos or discussing it until it re-opens.
Have a nice day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.