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

echinodermata, foraminifera, gastropoda, porifera, radiolaria, and trilobita, and 3 terrestrial phyla: insecta, mammalia, and reptilia. Plants were simply lumped into one group and examined by stratigraphic interval (Table 1). This analysis was performed by Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson while he was employed at the Institute for Creation Research, Dallas, Texas. 3. Establishing criteria for pre-Flood paleogeography One of the issues that had to be addressed before we could attempt to reconstruct the pre-Flood geography was what to use as a guide. In other words, how do you determine the elevation of a world that was completely destroyed in the global catastrophe of the Flood (II Peter 3:3-6)? What data do we choose to examine? We approached these questions by reviewing the stratigraphic data one sequence at a time and looking for patterns, letting the data lead us to possible answers. RESULTS We identified six major patterns in the stratigraphic data set. Collectively, these patterns allowed a data-driven interpretation of the relative topographic relief and paleogeography for the pre- Flood world. 1. Similarity in Areal Extent of STK Megasequences One of the first patterns we noticed was the consistency in the areal extent of the first three megasequences, namely the Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia (STK). Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the thickness (isopach) maps of the STK megasequences of North America, Africa and South America, respectively. Note the near identical areas of coverage across the respective continents as each megasequence was deposited, especially in North America and Africa, and less so in SA. 2. Similarity in Fossils within the STK Megasequences A second pattern we observed was the similarity of the fossils in the first three megasequences, compared to the latter three megasequences. Fig. 6 shows a graph of global fossil occurrences taken from the Paleobiology database, as compiled by Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson. Note that the over 99% of animal fossils from the STK megasequences (Cambrian-Mississippian Systems) are aquatic and primarily marine. In other words, there are very few land-type animals found in the first three global megasequences of strata deposited by the Flood. Admittedly, amphibians were not included in this study, which could slightly alter these results depending on their classification as aquatic or terrestrial. Secondly, Table 1 shows the global distribution of large numbers of plant occurrences in the fossil record begins in the Devonian System (Upper Kaskaskia megasequence) and jumps nearly an order of magnitude in the Permian System rock strata (Lower Absaroka megasequence). These results further support the similarity and the unique nature of the fossils buried in the first three megasequences, namely the Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia. The slightly earlier occurrences of plants in the rock record before land animals may reflect a difference in mobility, similar to the observation that dinosaur footprints begin appearing lower in the rock layers than the actual dinosaur bones, first identified by Brand (1997). 3. Limited Sediment Volume in the STK Megasequences A third pattern was the consistently low volumes of sediment deposited in the STK megasequences, compared to the latter three megasequences. Figure 7 shows the graphs of the three continents in this study, by volume and type of sedimentary rock. Across each of the three continents, we consistently found the lowest volume of sedimentary rocks preserved in the STK megasequences. 4. Increasing Terrestrial Fossils within theAZTMegasequences Another pattern we identified was the similarity in fossil content Clarey and Werner ◀ Pre-Flood geography ▶ 2018 ICC 353 Figure 2. Example stratigraphic column from the Michigan Basin illustrating the 16 types of lithology that were used for classification and the six megasequences that were used in this study. Depth is in meters. © 2017 Institute for Creation Research. Used by permission.