Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2017

MARINE TRANSGRESSION In Genesis 7, we read that the waters rose and eventually covered the whole earth. So on top of The Great Unconformity, we should find marine layers that cover the continents. In geology, we refer to a sequence of rocks that represent a rise in sea level as a transgression. That is exactly what we find on top ofThe Great Unconformity, not only in the Grand Canyon but on all the continents. This is not just any transgression; it is a worldwide marine transgression! What better evidence for Noah’s flood could we expect to find? Marine rocks that extend across all of the continents are rather unexpected by conventional geology. Continents are made of relatively lightweight rock compared to that of the ocean floors, and that is why the continents are above sea level. It is difficult (if not miraculous) to make the ocean come on top of a continent, let alone all of the continents at the same time; yet, that is what we find. As you look at the layers of rock above The Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon, the layers are marine, and many extend across the entire North American continent. FOLDING LAYERS When sediment is deposited on the ocean floor, it is deposited as flat, horizontal layers. However, in the Grand Canyon there are several places where the flat layers have been contorted into what geologists call “folds.” The sediments that make up the rock must have folded when they were still soft. If they were already hard, they would have shattered when forces were applied, d u e t o b e i n g brittle. We find such folds in the Tapeats Sandstone in Carbon Canyon, a s i d e c a ny on deep within the Gr and Canyon . The conventional story is the Tapeats S a nd s t on e wa s formed about 525 million years ago in the bottom of an ocean. Over time, this layer was buried deeply (more than a mile!) by other layers causing the Tapeats to turn into solid rock. Then, about 50 million years ago, as the story goes, the whole area was lifted up, and that is when the folding took place, about 475 million years after the original sandstone was formed. The problem with this theory is you cannot bend hard rock; it breaks instead of bends. A better explanation? The uplift happened soon after the Tapeats was deposited, not millions of years later. In this scenario, the sediments would have still been soft and folded easily, as the field evidence indicates. This more reasonable scenario eliminates hundreds of millions of years of Grand Canyon history! SOLID FOUNDATION I have discussed just some of the evidence that I see in the rocks of the Grand Canyon that support a young earth and the story of Noah’s flood. Evidences such as these led me as a young, Christian geologist to eventually accept the biblical account was true. So why do so many people not accept the biblical account as truth? In 2 Peter 3, Peter prophesies about the last days, saying men will “deliberately overlook” (ESV) or be “willfully ignorant” (KJV) of two truths: the fact that God created byHisWord (v. 5) and the fact He destroyed the earth with Noah’s flood (v. 6). Ignoring the Word of God or compromising what it clearly says is nothing new; Adam and Eve were the first to do it in the Garden. Today, we still fall for the same temptation, even in fields like geology. As Christians, we need to heed Peter’s warning and encouragement when he says “… take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:17–18). John Whitmore is Professor of Geology at Cedarville University. He has been at Cedarville since 1991. He earned his Ph.D. in biology with a paleontology emphasis fromLoma Linda University. He developed the Bachelor of Science in geology and Bachelor of Arts in geoscience majors at Cedarville — the only evangelical Christian school where these majors are offered from a young earth perspective. In 2015, Whitmore and three co-authors, including Cedarville Professor of Physics Steven Gollmer, published The Heavens and the Earth , the first college-level earth science textbook from a young-earth perspective. Whitmore has made numerous trips to the Grand Canyon and partners with Answers in Genesis and Canyon Ministries in guiding raft trips down the Colorado River. Continental Core (mostly granite-like rock) Ocean Ocean Ocean Crust (mostly basalt) All of the continents are covered with a thin layer of marine sedimentary rocks The Great Unconformity The general construction of a continent. All continents have a granite-like rock core that was originally formed during the creation week. Early in the flood, the continents were eroded (making The Great Unconformity) and then a thin layer of marine rocks was laid down on top of that. Folding in the Tapeats Sandstone in Carbon Canyon, a side canyon of the Grand Canyon. Note the people in the lower right hand corner for scale. 12 | Cedarville Magazine