The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

sorbed to iron oxyhydroxides and clays. Hence the foreland basins became enriched in arsenic. Over time, however, as groundwater flowed through the basins, those minerals were exposed to both competition for sorbtion sites and reductive dissolution, slowly releasing the arsenic into the groundwater and leading to the modern problems of arsenic contamination. (Figure 2) All the arsenic, of course, was not concentrated in foreland basins adjacent to orogenic belts, even though many of these are enriched in the element. Some remained subsurface as sulfides in other areas. Some was deposited as sulfides in areas where they were exposed to oxidative dissolution and became dissolved in the Flood waters. Some was released by the Floodwaters’ erosion of the continental crust. Some of the arsenic dissolving out of volcanic ash presumably didn’t end up in the foreland basins. Most of this arsenic was oxidized in the Floodwaters to As 5+ species and bound to iron and aluminum oxyhydroxides, causing it to precipitate out at various locations. In the presence of organic carbon, these minerals could undergo reductive dissolution to remobilize the arsenic. But the controlling factor would be the incredibly rapid sedimentation associated with the Flood. The sedimentary layers were simply forming too quickly, burying the sorbed arsenic. It was trapped in shales, clays, and iron oxyhydroxide minerals throughout the world, with especially significant amounts concentrated in the foreland basins. Hence, the concentration in the post-Flood surface waters never became devastatingly high. The normal chemistry of arsenic combined with a biblical understanding of Earth history logically explains the current distribution of this toxic element. There is a significant implication of this model. Arsenic contaminated groundwater was not a problem pre-Flood because the Flood led to the formation of the minerals in the foreland basins which are the primary source of this contamination today. The current presence of arsenic in groundwater in no way reflects on God’s original, good creation. Rather, the tragedy of arsenic poisoning we see around the world today is a direct result of the judgment of the Flood, another reminder of how man’s sin can have consequences that echo down through the centuries. CONCLUSIONS When all the data is considered, we can safely conclude that the mobilization of arsenic would not have posed a threat to the reestablishment of life on Earth post-Flood. That does not mean the Flood did not mobilize a great deal of arsenic. However, much of it would have been immobilized as arsenic-sulfides or incorporated into solid pyrite. As long as the waters surrounding them remain reducing in character, these minerals would remain Hutchison and Bortel ◀ Fate of Arsenic in the Flood ▶ 2018 ICC 235 Figure 2 . Arsenic enrichment in sedimentary basins adjacent to orogenic belts leading to modern groundwater contamination.