David Campbell and I had a brief discussion on how rapidly the sea rose at the
end of the last glaciation. David thought a rapid rise of sea level might be
the origin of the Flood story in Genesis. An article appeared in Geology last
month. I just got the article (it takes a while for Geology to circulate at
an oil company). Stanley D. Locker et al, "Magnitude and timing of episodic
sea-level rise during the last deglaciation" _Geology_ Sept. 1996, pp 827-830
discusses evidence for the rise in sealevel.
In Florida 14,500 years ago, the sealevel was -80 m below the present level.
14,200 years ago, the sea level had risen to -71 m. This is a rise of 9 m
over 500 years. This is a rise of 3 cm per year. Hardly the sort of rise that
would get lots of notice and cause flood legends. The sealevel remained
relatively constant for the next 200 years and then began another faster rise,
to -65 m by 13900 years. But this also is 5 cm per year and is unlikely to
be noticeable.
glenn
Foundation,Fall and Flood
http://members.gnn.com/GRMorton/dmd.htm