Smoky Mountain Bible Institute
Lesson #33
Welcome back class. Please get settled in and take a hold of your
pick point rock hammer and hand lens so that we can continue our study in
geology. So lets have a look at some of
that sedimentary rock shall we. Sedimentary rock is one of the greatest pieces
of geological evidence that begs the question...where did all this stuff come
from and how did it get here and get deposited in this fashion. In the famous
words of Ken Ham, What would you expect to find if there was a world wide flood?
"Billions of dead things buried in
rock layers laid down by water all over
the earth." and that is exactly what we find plants and animals buried and
fossilized in sand, mud, and lime that were deposited rapidly by water in rock
layers all over the earth. Based on the description of the Flood in Genesis
7–8, there are a number of geologic evidences that testify to the Genesis
Flood.
Fossils
of sea creatures high above sea level due to the ocean waters having flooded
over the continents. We find fossils
of sea creatures in rock layers that cover all the continents. For example,
most of the rock layers in the walls of Grand Canyon (more than a mile above
sea level) contain marine fossils. Fossilized shellfish are even found in the
Himalayas. Being thrust upward by plate
tectonics is only a partial explanation of how all those sea fossils got to all
of our mountain ranges. again a flawed estimation of time is needed to make it
work.
Rapid
burial of plants and animals. We find extensive fossil “graveyards” and
exquisitely preserved fossils. For example, billions of nautiloid fossils are
found in a layer within the Redwall Limestone of Grand Canyon. This layer was
deposited catastrophically by a massive flow of sediment (mostly lime sand).
The chalk and coal beds of Europe and the United States, and the fish,
ichthyosaurs, insects, and other fossils all around the world, testify of
catastrophic destruction and burial, which can clearly be seen in how they were
preserved and the final position they are in when they were quickly buried
alive.
Rapidly
deposited sediment layers spread across vast areas. We find rock layers
that can be traced all the way across continents—even between continents—and
physical features in those strata indicate they were deposited rapidly. For
example, the Tapeats Sandstone and Redwall Limestone of Grand Canyon can be
traced across the entire United States, up into Canada, and even across the
Atlantic Ocean to England. The chalk beds of England (the white cliffs of
Dover) can be traced across Europe into the Middle East and are also found in
the Midwest of the United States and in Western Australia. Inclined (sloping)
layers within the Coconino Sandstone of Grand Canyon are testimony to 10,000
cubic miles of sand being deposited by huge water currents within days.
Sediment
transported long distances. We find that the sediments in those widespread,
rapidly deposited rock layers had to be eroded from distant sources and carried
long distances by fast-moving water. For example, the sand for the Coconino
Sandstone of Grand Canyon (Arizona) had to be eroded and transported from the
northern portion of what is now the United States and Canada. Again the volume
and time measurements lean in favor of a rapid erosion not a slow one over
millions of years.
Rapid or no erosion between strata. We
find evidence of rapid erosion, or even of no erosion, between rock layers.
Flat, knife-edge boundaries between rock layers indicate continuous deposition of
one layer after another, with no time for erosion. For example, there is no
evidence of any “missing” millions of years (of erosion) in the flat boundary
between two well-known layers of Grand Canyon—the Coconino Sandstone and the
Hermit Formation. Another impressive example of flat boundaries at Grand Canyon
is the Redwall Limestone and the strata beneath it.
I Have no knowledge of the rock
formations I site here so I would like to thank the Answers in Genesis Website
for the bulk of this summary and further acknowledge that these geologic
evidences were elaborated on by Dr. Steve Austin at the Institute for Creation
Research in his book Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe, pages 51–52
(Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, 1994). These are trust worthy peer reviewed
documents and for the rock enthusiast out there they are a must read.
That will wrap up sedimentary rocks
and rock types for that matter. so I think we will continue next month with plate tectonics. Ice Ages, canyons and fossils will have to
wait in line.
Have a blessed spring
Pastor Portier
