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.

The folding of these layers occurred without cracking which can be easily explained if

they were wet during the time of bending

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 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 graveyards are also evidence of a flood!

Fossil jellyfish would be an example of rapid fossilization

Is there was a world-wide flood you’d expect evidence of massive geologic layers

being formed underwater

The sandstone is estimated to cover an area of about 200,000 square miles, with an

average thickness of 315 feet.

Coconino Sandstone

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

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

Catastrophic Plate Tectonics

The ocean floor has been radiometricly dated as younger than continental shelf

We know the ocean floors are newer (younger) than the continental crust

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)

Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere

Is there evidence of this catastrophic event happening in the past

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?

One of the common

theories is the idea that an asteroid hit planet earth

and caused the flood to start

While this scenario is possible, other scenarios are better in my opinion

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

The majority of the earth (The mantle) is extremely

hot “plastic” rock

A few things you need to know

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.”