Claim CD102:
Strata in the geological column are sometimes out of order. The
mechanisms geophysicists use to account for them are problematic. Thrust
faulting would have produced great amounts of debris, which geologists do
not see; folding would require great forces for which geophysicists have
trouble accounting.
Source:
Whitcomb, J. C. and H. M. Morris, 1961. The Genesis Flood.
Philadelphia:
Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., pp. 180-211.
Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR:
Master Books, p. 120.
Response:
- Folds account for out-of-order strata with sequences such as A-B-C-B-A.
Faults create sequences such as B-C-A-B-C. The evidence is so
overwhelming that these conclusions should be obvious. In many cases,
the folds and faults can easily be seen in cross-sections of the
strata. In other cases, further geological mapping verifies the
presence of the fold or fault. Features such as ripple marks and mud
cracks show that the strata were originally horizontal.
- Great forces are not a problem in geophysics. First, great forces
exist. Earthquakes can move many miles of crust by several feet at a
time. Second, the forces act over a long period of time. Rocks which
would fracture if bent suddenly will deform gradually under hundreds of
millions of years of heat and constant pressure.
Faults do, in fact, produce a layer of debris along the fault line.
Sometimes this layer is fairly thin. There is no reason to expect
great amounts of debris along all faults.
- The geologic column is never out of order in areas that have not been
greatly disturbed.
Links:
Matson, Dave E., 1994. How good are those young-earth arguments?
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-gc.html#G4c
created 2003-4-12, modified 2003-4-30
