Re: [asa] Rebuttals?

Iain quoted from creationist writings:
> The worldwide flood of Noah's day involved trillions of tons of
> water
> flowing over the continents sweeping away forests, swamps and
> prairies. This
> organic matter was mixed with huge amounts of eroded sediments and
> rapidly laid
> down over vast distances.
....
> By the
> way, all coal contains carbon 14 and this would be impossible if
> coal beds
> were millions of years old!

I don't know about porphyrins and will let others comment on that.
Kirk Bertsche has shown in considerable detail how the claimed detection of
carbon 14 in coal and diamonds is actually the background level of AMS
instruments. http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/carbon-kb.htm. It's
amazing how some folks extrapolate from Baumgardner's misinterpretation of
background levels to "all coal contains carbon 14.."

Regarding the common assumption of flood geology that the flood swept away
"forests, swamps, and prairies" I'd like some clarification too. I'm on this
point in some YEC dialogs and I'm trying to figure out on what basis this
claim is made. I'm no hydrologist or geologist but it would seem to me that
erosion mainly takes place in relatively shallow waters where there are
significant elevation gradients. We have no idea what the terrain was like
before the flood (except maybe just like it is today??) and no information
about the source and spatial variation/intensity of the rain. Wouldn't the
rising waters soon eliminate the elevation change rendering erosion minimal?
Tidal waves wouldn't be strong in deep water either. So where does this idea
come from that there was significant erosion? Let alone all the deposition
of sediments in the whole world? It's not biblical. It's not scientific. Is
it simply what is needed to make the case?

Randy

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Received on Sat Aug 30 06:50:11 2008