SJ> Yes. No one denies there are catastrophic changes over a short
SJ> time-frame in local areas (eg. Surtsey, Scablands, etc).
SJ> Unfortunately, this is neither evidence for a young Earth nor for a
SJ> global Flood.
RL>
RL> The hurricane, the flood or tsunami may do more in an hour or a day than
RL> the ordinary processes of nature have achieved in a thousand years.
RL>
RL> In other words, the history of any one part of the earth, like the life
RL> of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom adn short periods of
RL> terror.
RL>
RL> Dr. Derek Ager, The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record, 1981,pp.54,106
You're making several mistakes here Randy...
1. Yes, as Ager argues, there is evidence that many sections of the
stratigraphic record were deposited episodically. There are, for
example, sequences of rocks called turbidites near my field area
in the Hudson Valley of New York State which are records of episodic
submarine landslides. No one denies that the midwestern floods of a
couple of years ago deposited much more sediment into the Gulf of Mexico
than has been deposited this spring. Many young-earth creationists
attribute a caricature of uniformitarianism to geologists but geologists
do not believe that all sedimentation occurs at a very slow rate.
2. There are other sections in the stratigraphic record, however, that
do seem to record very slow rates of sedimentation. Thick sequences
of passive margin carbonates, for example. If these thick sequences
formed quickly (in a year-long flood?), you would have to come up with
a viable geochemical model for the deposition of thousands of feet of
calcium carbonate from seawater in such a short period of time. Good
luck since you'd need to invent new laws of thermodynamics to do it!
3. Ager, while admitedly arguing for more catastrophism in the geologic
record than most geologists would be comfortable with, was by no means
a supporter of a young earth and I'm not sure how your quoting him
helps your case in any way. I believe Ager stated explicitely in one
of his books (perhaps the one you're quoting from?) that he in no way
endorses young-earth creationism.
- Steve.
-- Steven H. Schimmrich Callsign KB9LCG s-schim@uiuc.edu Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 245 Natural History Building, Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 244-1246 http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/s-schim Deus noster refugium