Evidence of a Global Flood

There is much evidence in support of a global flood like Noah’s flood as described in Genesis chapters 7-8. There are many geological features and fossils which are hard to explain with uniformitarian theories, but are readily explained by a global flood catastrophe. Here we will examine the evidence from the oceans, mass extinction, fossils, geological features, and the geologic column.

The oceans

When we look at the oceans, which cover approximately 71 percent of the earth’s surface with an average depth of 12,500 feet (Lutgens and Edward, 2006:9) we must invariably ask the question, “Where did the oceans come from?” Evolutionists try to answer this question by saying that possibly melted comets of ice or erupted underground sources of water filled the oceans over time. A global flood gives a much more plausible answer, which interestingly enough the Bible describes underground streams of water erupting and the floodgates of heaven opening to provide the water for the flood. Then, according to Psalm 104:6-9, the mountains rose and the valleys sank, and these valleys were filled with the flood water, which we now call oceans.

Mass extinction

Why did dinosaurs and so many other animals that we find in the fossil record become extinct? According to evolution, there were 6 major extinctions: Cambrian, Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous (Krogh, 2007:309). The Permian Extinction is said to have killed 96 percent of all species, possibly due to volcanic activity (Krogh, 2007:310). And the Cretaceous Extinction is said to have killed the dinosaurs due to an asteroid 6 miles in diameter striking the earth and causing a worldwide tsunami 150 meters high (Krogh, 2007:310). Evolutionists have to resort to catastrophic events like volcanic activity and asteroids to explain the extinctions, but wouldn’t one major worldwide flood provide a more straightforward explanation?

Fossils

Uniformitarian fossil formation cannot explain how fragile features like water ripple marks or animal footprints could be preserved, since they had to be formed in soft sediment and would quickly be eroded (Morris, 2008:13). This means that such features had to be buried quickly in order to preserve their details, and this is what the flood would have done. Another thing the flood would explain is why certain fossilized animals were buried in fear, with their heads tilted back, mouths open, fins or wings extended, spines erect, etc (Bowden, 1982:207).

A very interesting fossil formation is the Fossil Lake area of the Green River Formation in Wyoming. One layer approximately 14-20 inches thick contains millions of fish with well-preserved details like skin and scales (Jackson, 1980:10). One evolutionary explanation for such a formation is that annual toxic algal blooms killed the fish which were then covered by a layer of calcium carbonate, and this would repeat annually (Jackson, 1980:12-13). But as Lawrence points out, dead fish float to the top and are then eaten or decomposed, they do not sink (Lee, 1979:5-6). Another challenge is that there are fish in this lake formation which do not belong where they are found. For instance, river and stream fish like Polydon as well as shallow water Notogoneus fish are found in deep water areas of the lake (Lee, 1979:6). The problem escalates since there are a variety of tree pollens from palm, fig, spruce, pine, oak, and maple trees found all mixed together in this fossil formation (Lee 1979:6). And the final slam comes from the fact that this formation contains fossils of fish swallowing other fish! In one fossil a Lepisosterus is swallowing a Diplomystus which has swallowed a Knightia (Lee, 1979:6). How do evolutionists explain this? Richard says, “Occasionally a specimen [of Diplomystus] is found with a Knightia still lodged in its mouth, showing that it met its doom by chocking on a morsel too large to swallow” (Jackson, 1980:14). So to put the picture together in evolutionary terms, one fish chokes on another fish, then their carcases defy normal behavior and sink instead of float, and they get buried on the bottom of the lake avoiding any decomposition? Evolutionary explanations can get very ridiculous if you ignore the simple alternative, that these fish were caught unexpectedly by a flood which rapidly covered them up with sediments. The preservation of scales and fins also suggests that these fish were buried rapidly before they could decompose (Lee, 1979:6).

Oil companies made a very interesting discovery while drilling frozen ground at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. They found a frozen tropical forest between 1,100 and 1,700 feet down. “There are palm trees, pine trees, and tropical foliage in great profusion. In fact, they found them lapped all over each other, just as though they had fallen in that position” (Lindsey Williams, The Energy Non-Crisis, 2^nd edition (Kasilof, Alaska: Worth Publishing Co., 1980), p.54) (Brown, 1996:107). What could give a better explanation than a global flood that toppled over the trees from around the world and deposited them in Alaska? Then, an oncoming ice age would freeze the trees in that state. It would be interesting to hear an evolutionary explanation of this phenomenon.

A family of five to seven hominids was found buried together, and the explanation given is that they were buried in a flash flood, possibly while resting or sleeping (Johanson, 1976:811). But they were found under 33 feet of mudstone and broken in small pieces, this is something a typical local flood can’t explain, but a global flood can (Bowden, 1981:224).

Geological features

There are many geological features which are better explained by a catastrophic flood. Here we will examine some of these including muck, coal seams, pure limestone, and sedimentary layers.

“Muck is a major geological mystery. It covers one-seventh of the earth’s land surface – all surrounding the Arctic Ocean. Muck occupies treeless, generally flat terrain, with no surrounding mountains from which the muck could have eroded. Russian geologists have in some places drilled through 4,000 feet of muck without hitting solid rock. Where did so much eroded material come from?” (Brown, 1996:107). Eroded deposits from a global flood would explain the existence of this muck very nicely.

The mere existence of thick seams of coal calls for a catastrophic explanation. Scientists estimate that about 20 feet of vegetal matter will make 1 foot of coal (Moore, 1940:159). In Australia there are certain coal seams with thicknesses of 266, 277, and 166 feet (Moore, 1940:228). Once you multiple each of these numbers times 20, you begin to appreciate the massive amount of vegetation it took to form these coal seams. A particularly large coal seam is the Pittsburgh bed of the Appalachian region, which is over 2,100 square miles with an average thickness of over 7 feet. The amount of vegetation needed to produce this has been estimated at around 30,000 square miles (Moore, 1940:228). How does conventional geology explain coal formation? They invoke a hypothetical Age of Coal Swamps (Lutgens and Edward, 2006:423) during which large forests would slowly collect dead vegetation at the bottom of swamps. It is important to note that no such coal swamps exist today which could explain such massive coal seams. Also, a salt-water worm called Spirorbis has been found in coal seams, this would never happen in freshwater forest swamps (Hitching, 1982:163). With heat and pressure, coal can form quickly (Moore, 1940:177). When a railway bridge was being built in Germany in 1882, it was reported that wooden piles that were rammed into the ground and compressed from above formed a coal-like substance in the middle chemically equivalent to anthracite (Hitching, 1982:162-163). With all of the volcanic activity and massive water pressure during the flood coal seams would be quite easily explained.

Pure limestone deposits having no impurities require a rapid burial (Brown, 1996:78). How does conventional geology explain layers of limestone that are sometimes hundreds of feet thick? “The standard geological explanation is that those regions were covered by incredibly lime (alkaline) water for millions of years – a toxic condition not found anywhere on the earth today” (Brown, 1996:139). This is a very unusual explanation given that uniformitarianism says, “The present is the key to the past.” Perhaps something catastrophic happened in the past which does not happen today, like a global flood?

The greatest example of modern sedimentation is found in river deltas, but these only cover a small fraction of the area of sedimentary layers, which stretch out to hundreds of thousands of square miles (Brown, 1996:139). A global flood provides just the large-scale event required to explain these extensive sedimentary layers.

The geologic column

The geologic column, according to uniformitarian theory, contains a fossilized history of the evolution of “primitive” lifeforms into more “advanced” lifeforms. The lower layers are said to be much older than the layers on top, and there are certain time periods assigned to the individual layers. But the existence of many fossils that are out of place (Woodmorappe, 1980:211) begs the question as to whether this interpretation of the fossil record is valid. A global flood could have formed most of the fossil record quite easily, since a global flood would cause great erosion and burial of organisms in the sediment.

The question could be raised as to why a general trend of “simpler” organisms exists in the lower layers and more “advanced” organisms in the upper layers. This is a valid question, and with a global flood there are many mechanisms which could explain the sorting and layering of sediments and fossils. Some of these mechanisms are pure chance, preservation bias, hydrodynamic sorting, differential escape, and ecological zonation (Woodmorappe, 1983:151-163). For instance, during a flood less mobile organisms, which could appear “primitive”, would be buried first, while those that could swim, run, or fly away would be able to escape being buried in the lower layers, but some would eventually get caught in the higher layers. Why would currently existing organisms be more similar to the ones in higher fossil layers? Because the deeper an organism was buried, the less the likelihood that its eggs, larvae, seeds, or spores would survive in a post-flood environment (Woodmorappe, 1983:166). Why are there fewer human fossils in the lowest layers? Aside from the obvious fact that many humans would be very capable at initially escaping the oncoming flood waters where other organisms would get buried, there are several other possible explanations. The human population was probably significantly smaller during the flood, which would make finding human fossil remains more difficult than other organisms, humans probably lived further from sites where sediments were deposited first so they would decompose, and if humans died near rivers they would float to the delta or ocean and then decompose or get eaten by scavengers (Woodmorappe, 1983:167-171). It is not difficult to see that a global flood could very easily explain the fossil record, and it need not have taken millions of years to form the layers.

Works Cited

Bowden, Malcolm. Ape-Men- Fact or Fallacy? Bromley, Kent: Sovereign Publications (2 edition), 1981.

Bowden, Malcolm. The Rise of the Evolution Fraud: An Exposure of its Roots. Bromley, Kent, England: Sovereign Publications, 1982.

Brown, Walter T., Jr. In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood. (Special Edition) Phoenix, AZ: Center for Scientific Creation, 1996.

Hitching, Francis. The Neck of the Giraffe: Where Darwin Went Wrong. New Haven, CT: Ticknor & Fields, 1982.

Jackson, Richard W. The Fish of Fossil Lake: The story of Fossil Butte National Monument. Jensen, Utah: Dinosaur Nature Association, 1980.

Johanson, Donald C. “Ethiopia Yields First “Family” of Early Man.” National Geographic 150.6 (1976).

Krogh, David. Brief Guide to Biology with Physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

Lee, Lawrence J. “The Green River Formation.” Origins Research 2.1 (1979).

Lutgens, Frederick K., and Edward J. Tarbuck. Essentials of Geology. (Second Custom Edition for Eastern Washington University) taken from Essentials of Geology. (Ninth Edition) Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2006.

Moore, Elwood S. Coal: Its Properties, Analysis, Classification, Geology, Extraction, Uses and Distribution. Second Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1940.

Morris, John D. “Surface Features Require Rapid Deposition.” Acts & Facts 37.12 (2008).

Woodmorappe, John. “A Diluviological Treatise on the Stratigraphic Separation of Fossils.” Creation Research Society Quarterly 20.3 (1983).

Woodmorappe, John. “An Anthology of Matters Significant to Creationism and Diluviology.” Creation Research Society Quarterly 16.4 (1980).