Many organisms are exclusively marine, and several more are exclusively fresh water, so at least one group would need some sort of protection during a global flood. Catastrophic events such as rapid plate tectonics or extensive impact events would make the water inhospitable in several ways (heat, toxins released by volcanos, etc.). A calm flood could allow for layers of differing salinities, but then the lower (saltier) layers would tend to become anoxic. High rates of mixing, as would be produced by rapid tectonics or numerous bolides, as well as necessary to account for the global microfossil succession, would prevent these layers from developing. Additionally, many microfossils show biochemical traces reflecting life at different depths under normal marine settings, and various species are confined to very shallow water.
With no clue as to what rocks are before, during, or after the Flood, it's hard to be certain what geologic events must be accounted for, however.
Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001 USA
dcampbell@osprey.smcm.edu, 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'. And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jan 22 2001 - 18:57:21 EST