Scientific Evidence for a Worldwide Flood

 

A Universal Flood Did You Say? 
In the late 60's and early 70's:

"Two American  oceanographic  vessels   pulled  from  the  bottom  of  the Gulf  of  Mexico several long, slender cores of  sediment.  Included in them  were the shells of  tiny one-celled planktonic organisms called  foraminifera.  While  living on the  surface, these organisms lock into their  shells a  chemical record  of  the temperature  and  salinity of  the water.  When they  reproduce, the shells are discarded and drop to the  bottom.  A cross-section  of  that  bottom... carries a record  of climates  that may  go back  more  than  100  million  years.  Every  inch of  core  may  represent  as  much  as 1000  years  of  the earth's  past."1

"The  cores  were analyzed  in  two  separate  investigations,  by  Cesare  Emiliani  of the University  of Miami, and James Kennett of the University of Rhode Island and  Nicholas Shackleton  of Cambridge University.  Both analyses  indicated a  dramatic  change in salinity, providing compelling evidence of a vast flood  of  fresh water  into the Gulf of  Mexico.  Using  radiocarbon, geochemist Jerry Stripp of  the  University  of Miami  dated  the  flood at  about 11,600  years  ago." 1  To Emiliani, all  the  questions and  arguments are  minor  beside  the  single fact that a vast  amount  of  fresh  melt  water  poured  into the Gulf  of  Mexico.   'We  know  this,'  he  says,  'because  the  oxygen  isotope ratios of  the  foraminifera shells  show a  marked  temporary decrease  in  the  salinity  of  the waters  of  the Gulf  of  Mexico.   It  clearly  shows that  there  was  a major  period  of  flooding  from 12,000  to 10,000  years ago...There  was no question that  there  was a  flood  and  there  is  no  question that  it  was  a  universal  flood 1.  Emphasis Added

"Emiliani's  findings  are corroborated  by geologists   Kennett  and Shackleton,  who concluded  that there was  a 'massive inpouring of  glacial melt  water  into the  Gulf  of Mexico via the Mississippi  River system.  At  the time of maximum  inpouring of  this water, surface salinities were...reduced by about ten percent."1


The Black Sea Speaks:

"Science... has found evidence for a massive deluge  that may ... have  inspired  Noah's tale.  About 7,500 years ago, a  flood  poured ten  cubic miles of  water a day -- 130 times more than  flows over Niagara Falls - from  the  Mediterranean Sea into the Black  Sea, abruptly  turning the formerly  freshwater lake into a  brackish inland sea."2 Emphasis Added

"In  1993,  William Ryan  and  Walter Pitman  of  Columbia University's  Lamont-Doherty Earth  Observatory  dug  up  cores of sediment  from  the bottom of  the Black sea.   The cores showed  that  the sea's  outer margins had once been dry  land, indicating it had been two-thirds  its  present size.  Furthermore, over  the entire sea bottom was a thin, uniform layer  of sediment that  could only have  been deposited  during  a  flood.  The  researchers  also found that within that layer saltwater  mollusks appear, all  from the Mediterranean and all dating from around  7600 years ago." 2 Emphasis Added


Could Somewhat Orderly / Worldwide Burial  =  A  Worldwide Flood?

"Such a hypothesis would  require  assumption of  a highly  unlikely  pattern of  faunal migrations,  where  swarms  of  species of Manticoceras  are followed, everywhere at the  same distance and  the  same time  interval, by  swarms of species of Cheiloceras, the two waves  preserving their  separate identities on a staggered mass migration around  the world ... without  evolutionary changes and  without  ever  becoming  mixed..."   Emphasis Added

"It  would  be  easy to repeat this investigation  for  almost every critical  zone  fossil  or  fauna  throughout  the geological  column  for  hundreds,  perhaps thousands of...cases.  The conclusions  would  be  the same.  In  the words  of Jeletsky (1956)  we  would have  to 'invoke a  miracle',  if,  for  example,  we  were to assume anything but world-wide  contemporaneous  deposition  for  each of  the 55 ammonite  zones of   the Jurassic.  Not  all  of  them occur everywhere, but  wherever  two or more  are  found in  superposition  they occur  in the same order. 3  Arkell (1957,  p.  L112) 4   summarized  the  picture of  ... Mesozoic ammonoids as follows:   Emphasis Added

'Evolution   is  above  all  very   uneven.   Certain   periods  were  outstandingly productive  of new and verile  forms  which  often  seem  to have  sprung  into existence  from  nowhere ...  and  to  have  become dominant  almost  simultaneously over a large part of  the  world... How such  sudden multiple  creations were brought about is a task fo  the future  to determine.'" 3,4  Emphasis added                                                                                                    

Worldwide Chaos and Out of Order Fossils:

"I regard the failure to find  a  clear  'vector  of progress' in  life's  history as  the most  puzzling  fact of the  fossil record." 5  

And that:
  
"Heretofore, we  have thrown up our hands in frustration at  the lack  of expected pattern in  life's  history -- or  we  have  sought to impose  a  pattern that  we hoped  to find on a  world that does not really display it... If we can develop a...theory of mass extinction, we  may  finally understand  why life has thwarted our expectations, and...extract an  unexpected ... pattern from apparent chaos." 5   Stephen Jay Gould      Emphasis added.

"One of  the ironies of  the evolution-creation debate  is  that the creationists have accepted the mistaken notion that the  fossil record  shows a  detailed  and orderly progression..." 6   David M. Raup   Emphasis added.

"only  15-20%   of   the   earth's   land  surface  has  even  3 geologic  periods  appearing  in 'correct'  consecutive order." 7  
  John Woodmorappe   Emphasis added.       
                    
"Any sequence in which an  older  fossil occurs  above a  younger one is stratigraphically disordered ... disorder  may  be  from  millimeters to  many meters  ...  (and) is produced by  the physical or biogenic mixing of ... sediments ... Since  these processes occur to  an extent in  virtually all sedimentary systems, stratigraphic  disorder  at some scale is  probably  a  common  feature of  the  fossil  record." 8    Emphasis Added           

"The  extent of disorder ...is not well documented;  however, the widespread occurrence  of  anomalies  ...   suggest   that   disorder  should  be taken  seriously..."  ref. 8  p. 234.   W. J. Arkell.   Emphasis added 

"Examination  of Britain's  record of  the Ice Age levels  discloses  a  'complex  interbedding  of drift sheets derived from  different sources.'  'When  we add the  additional complications  imposed  by   thin  drifts,   scanty  interglacial  deposits, and  the  frequent  presence in  fossil-bearing beds of  secondary [displaced] fossils derived from  the reworking of  older horizons, we get a  truly difficult overall problem ... All in  all, British glacial  stratigraphic research  has encountered  exceptional  difficulties,' writes  R. F. Flint, professor of geology  at Yale University. 9,10  Immanuel Velikovsky   Emphasis added
   

A Note about "Problematica": "Problematica"  is the "code word"  that Paleontologists use to describe out of order fossils, or fossils that are not easily placed, or that are "mixed" in with  one's they shouldn't be with.  If  one  were to perform an internet search on this word  he or  she  may  be  surprised at  how many web pages there are on  this subject: especially considering that the word isn't even in the Dictionary -- at least not an English one.  For more on this see: Sea-Sloths and Out of Order Fossils.   

For those seeking more information on this Worldwide Flood which almost  certainly did occur, or  how a Boat with Thousands of Animals onboard could possibly have survived Here is  a  link  that  may  answer  some of  your  questions.  If not, feel free to email the webmaster, or to take the IQ test.   

References:
 1.   Warshofsky, Fred, "Noah, The Flood, the Facts," Readers Digest, Sept. 1977,  pp. 132-134.
2.   Svitil, Kathy A., "Forty Days and Forty Nights, More or  Less,"  Discover,  Jan. 1999, p. 69.  
      See also: "Is Noah story result of Black Sea flood?"  by John Noble Wilford, New York  Times News
      Service,  San Diego Union--Tribune, Wed., Jan. 13, 1999, p. E-4.
3.   Teichert, Curt, "Some Biostratigraphical Concepts," Bulletin of the Geological Society of  America, Vol. 69,
      Jan.1958, p.111.
4.   Arkell, W. J.,1957, "Introduction to Mesozoic Ammonoidea," pp.81-129 in Moore, R. C.,  Treatise on 
      Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L:
      Geological Society of America and Univ. of  Kansas Press, 490 pp. 727,  Green Forest, AZ 72638, p.239
5.   Gould, Stephen Jay, "The Ediacaran Experiment," Natural History, Feb.1984, p.23.  Quoted From: 
      "That  Their Words May Be Used Against  Them," Morris, Henry, 1997,  Master Books, P.O. Box  727,
      Green Forest, AZ 72638, p. 241.
6.   Raup, David, M., "Evolution and the Fossil Record," Science, 7/17/81, p. 289
7.   "The Essential Nonexistence of  the  Evolutionary-Uniformitarian Geologic Column" by  John
      Woodmorappe, Creation Research Society Quarterly, Vol. 18 (1), June, 1981, p. 46-71; this report is 
      also in "Studies in Flood Geology" by J. Woodmorappe, available from ICR.
8.   Cutler, Alan H., and Karl W. Plessa, "Fossils out of Sequence: Computer Simulations and Strategies for 
      Dealing with Stratigraphic Disorder,"  Palaios, June 1990, p.227.  Quoted From: 
      "That Their Words May Be Used Against Them,"  Morris, Henry M., 1997,  Master Books
9.   Velikovsky, Immanuel, Earth In Upheaval, 1955, First Edition, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New
      York,  pp. 11-12.
10. Flint, R. F., Glacial Geology and the Pleistocene Epoch, 1947, p. 377.

 Copyright, 2005, 2006, Randy S. Berg; No part of this paper may be reproduced, used, or sold for profit without 
the express written consent of the author. Copies may be distributed freely for educational purposes only.   

  
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See Also:
The Age of the Earth: 

Introduction 

Part One: 
 Radiometric Dating and the Age of the Earth 

Part Two: 
Continental Drift and the Age of the Earth 

Part Three: 
The Big Bang Theory is in Big Trouble 

Part Four: 
 Scientific Evidence for a Worldwide Flood 

Part Five: 
Evidence for a Young Earth 

 See also: 
 Six Literal Days or Six Time Periods