>> A prediction of what you would see in a single global flood would be all
>> types of organisms jumbled together. That is most emphatically NOT what
>> you see. We can discuss this if you wish, and I can give concrete examples
>> from the paleontological literature which show that you're absolutely
>> wrong. can in no way support a young earth or a single global flood.
>
> You have couched your words carefully when you say "A prediction..." because
> you are aware that there are other possibilities, and you have erected a
> straw man. Nobody who knows anything about geology would suggest such a
> model was a useful concept. It is trivial to develop another model or bunch
> of models that do not have this jumbled together condition.
OK Art, let's talk about Noah's flood...
Many YECs claim that dinosaurs were coexistent with humans. Why then
wouldn't you find large grazing dinosaurs in fossil strata with large grazing
mammals? Such as, for example, the large extinct mammals of the Tertiary
Period or present-day herbivores? They did, after all, exploit similar
ecosystems. Why are trilobites only found in Paleozoic strata? Why are
archeocyathids only found in Cambrian strata? Why are dinosaurs only found
in Mesozoic strata? Why are dinosaur and hominid remains never found
together (want to talk about Paluxy)? Why are brachiopod species far more
numerous in the early Paleozoic strata than in later Paleozoic strata? How
do you explain the great abundance of fossilized remains in rocks in a single
area (far far more than that area could support at any one time)? You get the
idea...
The two explanations I've seen by creationists for the appearance of the
fossil record are hydrodynamic sorting and ecological zonation. Both are
ridiculous. Sorting would not confine dinosaurs, for example, to Mesozoic
strata or trilobites to Paleozoic strata. Sorting would not explain the
predominance of armored fish in the Devonian and bony fish in more recent
strata. As for ecological zonation, all different environments are found
throughout the stratigraphic column. We don't just have marine at the base
of the Paleozoic and terrestrial in younger strata.
Let me ask you a question. What would you expect the stratigraphic record
for Noah's flood to look like? I would predict something far, far different
than what we do see -- regional scale graded bedding, present-day organisms
entombed with extinct organisms (which is what I meant by a "jumble"), etc.
And, if the evidence for Noah's flood is so obvious, why do 99.9% (just a
guess, but care to survey members of GSA, for example?) of all geologists
(including many Christian geologists) think it's a ridiculous idea (and have
thought so for over 100 years)?
- 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