The point of the above vignette is to illustrate the quality of life in a
global
flood. This is another in the series on the poisons put out by the global
flood. This one will attack the problem a bit differently. It will
consider the
amount of mercury which must have been released by the erosion of the
pre-flood igneous type of rock which was then made into sedimentary
rock containing fossils. The YEC paradigm requires that there be very
little sedimentary rock prior to the flood. This is because none would
have been made at creation (it would be a deception to make rocks
appear sedimentary which were in fact not sedimentary). Thus we can
calculate how much igneous rock must have been eroded to form the
presently observed volcanic rocks. The total of sedimentary rocks can
be calculated as 630 x 10^6 km^3.(see R. Morton [this is me]
"Prolegomena to the Study of the Sediments," CRSQ, Dec. 1980, p.
162-167) All of this material must have come from igneous rock.
Given that igneous rocks are around 3.3 g/cc and sedimentary rocks are
around 2.5 g/cc we can correct for this and we find a .75 reduction
factor to put the sedimentary rocks back to igneous. Thus 477 x 10^6
km^3 or 477 x 10^17 cubic meters of igneous rocks must have been
eroded.
What is the mercury content of the crust of the earth? .5 ppm (See CRC
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 1965, p. f-116) Using this we find
that the flood would have ground up and released
.0000005 * 477 x 10^17 cubic meters x 3300 kg/m^3= 7.8 x 10^14 kg or
7.8 x 10^17 g or 7.8 x 10^23 micrograms. I place this in all 3 units
because of the need below.
All of this would have been released into the oceans for the fish to
ingest. The volume of the ocean is 1.4 x 10^21 liters. So the amount of
mercury in a liter is:
7.8 x 10^23 micrograms/1.4 x 10^21 liters = 557 micrograms per liter of
water.
How bad is it? Consider this:
"Typically, plant-cell damage takes place with aqueous solutions
containing as little as 10 [micro]g/L of Hg ion." ~B. Z. Siegel and S. M.
Siegel, 1987, "Hawaiian Volcanoes and the Biogeology of Mercury," in
R.W. Decker et al, ed. Volcanism in Hawaii, U.S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper 1350, V. 1., p. 827-839, p. 830
How about for animal ingestion? This was found on the internet:
"The EPA has set a limit of 2 parts of mercury per billion parts of drinking
water (2 ppb). The EPA requires that discharges or spills of 1 pound or
more of mercury be reported."
http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/tfacts46.html
For those who don't know, 557 micrograms per liter is 250,000 times
more than the EPA would allow. I guess the EPA would shut down
Noah's flood for polluting the oceans.
Lets let 75% of this mercury escape to the atmosphere. That is 5.85 x
10^23 micrograms. The volume of the atmosphere at STP is 4.26 x 10^21
liters. Dividing we have
5.85 x 10^23 micrograms Hg/ 4.26 x 10^21 liters = 137 micrograms
Hg/liter. But this also is very bad. While the escape of that mercury from
the ocean really doesn't help the fish because they are still above the
recommended daily allowance of mercury, now the air is above the EPA
limit of 100 micrograms/liter. This level would cause mercury poisoning.
"Dizon and others investigated a mercury mine in the Philippines, where it
is a relatively new industry and the processes are highly mechanized.
The highest atmospheric concentrations reported were 100-400
[micro]g/m3 in the vicinity of the ore crushers, and 6 of the 11 men
employed at the crushers had symptoms of mercury poisoning. "~B. Z.
Siegel and S. M. Siegel, 1987, "Hawaiian Volcanoes and the Biogeology
of Mercury," in R.W. Decker et al, ed. Volcanism in Hawaii, U.S.
Geological Survey Professional Paper 1350, V. 1., p. 827-839, p. 829
And indeed very small amounts of mercury can cause health problems.
"Experiments using nanogram amounts (1/1000 of a microgram) have
shown inhibition of immune function. One study showed that 16 tiny
amalgam fillings in the mouth of a monkey induced a significant increase
in mercury and antibiotic resistant bacteria in mouth and intestine.
Another study showed 12 amalgam fillings in sheep caused a 50%
reduction of kidney function."
http://www.ephca.com/ci&cme.htm
What this means is that the global flood would be very harmful for Noah,
the fish and life on earth. Belief in the global flood makes the Bible
which is God's word, to look foolish and wrong. YEC advocates would
do well to realize the problems their viewpoint adds to God's word.
glenn
glenn
Adam, Apes and Anthropology
Foundation, Fall and Flood
& lots of creation/evolution information
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm