Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2004

Previous Claim: CC360   |   List of Claims   |   Next Claim: CC361.1

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Claim CC361:

Response:

1. Most fossils, by themselves, are not a problem for a young earth. The problems come from geological context, including the following:
   • Independent dating of sediments via any number of techniques.
   • Multiple layers of fossils. Sometimes each layer preserves an entire ecosystem, which would have taken decades to establish.
   • Large number of fossils, beyond what the earth could support at once, showing multiple generations were necessary.
   • In-place marine fossils on mountains, showing that the mountain must have risen since the fossil was deposited.
   • Reworked fossils, showing that a mountain must have risen and eroded since the fossil was deposited.
   
   
2. Many fossils occur in amber, and the formation of amber cannot happen rapidly. First, plant resin polymerizes to produce copal, which takes thousands of years. Then the volatile oils must evaporate, which can take millions of years more.