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Friday, April 13, 2012

Lesson #33 Sedimentary Rock



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