Don Nield in his reply to David Campbell wrote:
> If my memory is correct, Ian Plimer in his book "Telling lies for God"
> documented the dichotomy between Snelling's early work on legitimate
> geology using standard dating and his later writings on YEC creation
> science.
> Don
> David Campbell wrote:
>>> "Respected creation scientists" - there's an oxymoron for you!
>>
>>>>> one of the world's most respected creation scientists <<<<
>>
>> It doesn't actually say that he's respected, just that he's more
>> respected than most creation scientists.
>>
>> I think Snelling has actually done some legitimate geology work,
>> though as this indicates that he knows better than what he teaches,
>> it's doubtful whether this earns more respect than someone whose
>> work shows no sign of knowing better.
AiG has a right to boast here. Andrew Snelling has certainly done
respectable science in the fields of uranium mineral deposits, uranium
exploration, & stable and radioactive isotopes. Searching the GEOREF
bibliographic database, I found 12 references for Snelling (listed as 1-12
below). Certainly during the 1980s, Snelling was regarded as an 'expert'
on at least one uranium deposit--the Koongarra deposit in Australia. His
publication record is very respectable with 7 articles in well known
international journals (pubs. 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, & 10); two articles in
Symposium volumes (pubs 2 & 3), and the definitive description of the
Koongarra uranium deposit in a major reference work (pub. 11).
But there are a few oddities in his publication record.
Oddity #1: There are 2 publications that are stand out by their
incongruity (pubs 6 & 12). The first is an extended abstract in 1985 on
catastrophic coal deposition (odd subject for an uranium
explorationist/isotope researcher) co-authored with John MacKay -- an
known Young Earth Creationist (YEC) debater then associated with
AiG-Australia -- and the second is the short GSA Abstract for the Steve
Austin (Institute for Creation Research) study on nautiloid fossils in the
Grand Canyon.
Oddity #2: Except for the GSA Abstract in 1999, Snelling's publication
record in recognized geologic publications ended in 1990. In other words,
Snelling has not published any new science in recognized geology
publications during the last 16 years. He has, however, been a fairly
prolific writer in YEC literature.
Oddity #3: As Don noted above, several people have seen an odd disconnect
in Snelling's publication record. In the 10 non-YEC publications listed
below (all except 6 & 12), Snelling recognizes and describes processes
that take many thousands or millions of years. For example, in Pub. #1
Snelling writes ...
"These results can be reconciled by considering that
the movement of uranium takes place over a time scale
of tens or hundreds of thousands of years leaving behind
isotopes such as 230Th, which regenerate 226Ra in the
location of the original pitchblende." (p. 117, Snelling 1979)
and in the deposit description in publication #11, Snelling writes ...
"A 150 Myr period of weathering and erosion followed
metamorphism. The thick, essentially flat lying Middle
Proterozoic Kombolgie Formation (primarily sandstones)
was then deposited unconformably on the Archaean-
Lower Proterozoic basement and metasediments."
(p. 807, Snelling 1990)
Yet during this same period, Andrew Snelling wrote at least 10 articles in
YEC literature (primarily the Creation Ex Nihilo magazine). It was this
disconnect that caused Alex Ritchie to ask, "Will the Real Dr. Snelling
Please Stand Up?" (The Skeptic, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp 12-15;
<http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/realsnelling.htm>)
-Steve
Disclaimer: Opinions given herein are my own and are not to be attributed
to my employer.
--------------
Andrew Snelling Bibliography from GEOREF
1) Snelling, A.A., and Dickson, B.L., 1979, Uranium/daughter
disequilibrium in the Koongarra uranium deposit, Australia; Mineralium
Deposita, vol.14, no.1, pp.109-118.
2) Dickson, B.L., and Snelling, A.A., 1980, Movements of uranium and
daughter isotopes in the Koongarra uranium deposit _in_ Uranium in the
Pine Creek Geosyncline; Proceedings of the International uranium symposium
on the Pine Creek Geosyncline, Ferguson, John, Goleby, Ann B. (eds.);
Collection Comptes Rendus - Agence Internationale de l'Energie Atomique,
no.STI/PUB/555, pp.499-507.
3) Snelling, A.A., 1980, Uraninite and its alteration products,
Koongarra uranium deposit _in_ Uranium in the Pine Creek Geosyncline;
Proceedings of the International uranium symposium on the Pine Creek
Geosyncline, Ferguson, John, Goleby, Ann B. (eds.); Collection Comptes
Rendus - Agence Internationale de l'Energie Atomique, no.STI/PUB/555,
pp.487-498.
4) Giblin, A.M., and Snelling, A.A., 1983, Application of
hydrogeochemistry to uranium exploration in the Pine Creek Geosyncline,
Northern Territory, Australia _in_ Geochemical exploration 1982, Parslow,
G.R., (ed.); Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol.19, no.1-3, pp.33-55.
5) Snelling, A.A., 1984, A soil geochemistry orientation survey for
uranium at Koongarra, Northern Territory _in_ Geochemical exploration in
arid and deeply weathered terrains, Davy, R., Mazzucchelli, R.H., (eds.);
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol.22, no.1-3, pp.83-99.
6) Snelling, A.A., and MacKay, J.B., 1985, Evidence for catastrophic
deposition of coal seams and sediments of the Newcastle Coal Measures _in_
Advances in the study of the Sydney Basin, Moelle, Konrad H.R. (convener);
Proceedings of the Symposium, vol.19, pp.110-112.
7) Dickson, B.L., Gulson, B.L., and Snelling, A.A., 1985, Evaluation
of lead isotopic methods for uranium exploration, Koongarra area, Northern
Territory, Australia; Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol.24, no.1,
pp.81-102.
8) Gole, M.J., Butt, C.R.M., and Snelling, A.A., 1986, A groundwater
helium survey of the Koongarra uranium deposits, Pine Creek Geosyncline,
Northern Territory; Uranium, vol.2, no.4, pp.343-360.
9) Dickson, B.L., Giblin, A.M., and Snelling, A.A., 1987, The source
of radium in anomalous accumulations near sandstone escarpments,
Australia; Applied Geochemistry, vol.2, no.4, pp.385-398.
10) Dickson, B.L., Gulson, B.L., and Snelling, A.A., 1987, Further
assessment of stable lead isotope measurements for uranium exploration,
Pine Creek Geosyncline, Northern Territory, Australia; Journal of
Geochemical Exploration, vol.27, no.1-2, pp.63-75.
11) Snelling, A.A., 1990, Koongarra uranium deposits _in_ Geology of
the mineral deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea, Hughes, F.E.
(ed.); Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol.14,
pp.807-812.
12) Austin, Steven A., Snelling, Andrew A., and Wise, Kurt P., 1999,
Canyon-length mass kill of orthocone nautiloids, Redwall Limestone
(Mississippian), Grand Canyon, Arizona; Abstracts with Programs -
Geological Society of America, vol.31, no.7, pp.421.
--------------
Andrew Snelling Bibliography listed in The Skeptic
(<http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/realsnelling.htm>)
DOOLAN, ROBERT & ANDREW A SNELLING, 1987. Limestone caves ...a result of
Noah's Flood? Creation Ex Nihilo (4), 10-13.
READ, PETER & ANDREW A SNELLING, 1985. How Old is Australia's Great
Barrier Reef? Creation Ex Nihilo. 8(1), 6-9.
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1982. The Recent Origin of Bass Strait Oil and Gas. Ex
Nihilo 5 (2) 43-46.
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1983. Creationist Geology: The Precambrian. Ex Nihilo 6
(1), 42-46.
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1983. What about Continental Drift? Have the continents
really moved apart? Ex Nihilo 6 (2), 14-16.
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1984. The recent, rapid formation of the Mt Isa
orebodies during Noah's Flood. Ex Nihilo 6 (3) 40-46 (cf. also abstract
17-18).
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1984. The Origin of Ayers Rock. Creation Ex Nihilo 7
(1).
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1986. Coal Beds and Noah's Flood. Creation Ex Nihilo 8
(3), 20-21.
SNELLING, ANDREW A 1989. Is the Sun Shrinking? Creation Ex Nihilo (pt. 1)
11 (1), 14-19. (pt. 2) 11 (2), 30-34. - The Debate Continues. (pt. 3) 11
(3), 40-43 - The Unresolved Question.
SNELLING, ANDREW A & John Mackay 1984. Coal, Volcanism and Noah's Flood.
Ex Nihilo Tech. J. 1, 11-29.
--------------
_____________
Steven M. Smith, Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, M.S. 973, DFC, Denver, CO 80225
Office: (303)236-1192, Fax: (303)236-3200
Email: smsmith@usgs.gov
-USGS Nat'l Geochem. Database NURE HSSR Web Site-
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-0492/
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Received on Fri Jun 22 13:24:36 2007
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