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

2014a, 2014b). However, we chose a modified Pangaea because it has the most observable geological evidence to support it, including the best fit of the continents (Clarey 2016), and significantly reduces the plate motion required by not having to transform Rodinia into Pangaea (Baumgardner 2018). Baumgardner (2018) calls our Pangaea-like configuration Pannotia, but notes that they are very similar if Pannotia is rotated 110 0 clockwise. In addition, the narrow sea (300 km) we placed between North America and Africa/Europe still allows for an early Flood subduction and closure of the pre-Atlantic and the formation of the Appalachians/ Caledonians. The width of this pre-Atlantic is based on P and S wave anomalies that diminish beneath the Appalachians below 300 km (Schmandt and Lin 2014). 1. Shallow Seas The patterns recognized above indicate a commonality within the first three megasequences, namely the Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia (STK). Each of these megasequences shows consistency in the small amount of sediment deposited, in their limited areal extent, and in the shallow marine fossils they contain. Results indicate shallow seas existed across much of the eastern United States and the Southwest (including Grand Canyon) and across North Africa and the Middle East where the STK megasequences were deposited (Figs. 3, 4, 5). These areas show extensive deposition of early Flood sediments (the first three megasequences) and were filled almost exclusively with fossils of shallow marine life. In South America, it appears that pre-Flood shallow seas were present along the western coast and possibly in the Amazon Basin region (Fig. 5). The pattern of deposition for the first three megasequences varied in their extent of coverage more in SA compared to North America and Africa, where the first three megasequences more closely mimic one another in extent. Figure 5 shows the Sauk has the least areal extent across SA, followed by increasingly more coverage for the Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia megasequences. This made the outline for the shallow seas in SA a bit less conclusive. In an effort to better delineate the extent of these pre-Flood shallow seas, we used RockWorks 17 to sum the isopach maps of the first three megasequences, creating a total thickness map of each continent, called the STK isopach (Fig. 9). The common extent of the first three megasequences across North America and Africa, in particular, provided justification for these combined isopach maps. The lack of plant fossils, for the most part, and the lack of significant numbers of terrestrial fossils within the STK megasequences, further justified this interpretation. We chose the 500 m thickness line on the combined isopach maps, similar to Clarey (2015), in order to delineate the extent of the pre- Flood shallow seas and define the boundary of the adjacent land mass. In other words, anything less than about 500 m was assumed to represent dry land. Anything greater than about 500 m was assumed to be part of the pre-Flood marine realm. We also assumed many fossils were transported (possibly up to a few 100 km) from their original in situ locations, blurring an exact boundary between land and sea. For this reason, and as a first approximation, the 500 m line was chosen to balance this transport factor. In some places, we deviated from this 500 m line to smooth the interpretation. The lack of dinosaurs in Grand Canyon rocks is one of the big complaints often raised by old-Earth geologists in their arguments against a global Flood (Stearley 2016). The shallow seas interpretation shown across northwestern Arizona on Fig. 8 helps explain why there are no dinosaurs found in Grand Canyon, even if there were Mesozoic rocks present. Simply put, the Grand Canyon area was likely underwater in the Pre-Flood world, just like much of the Midwest USA. The Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia (STK) megasequence (Early Paleozoic) rocks exposed in Grand Canyon pinch out to the north and east as shown in Figure 10. The oversimplified diagrammatic cross sections so common in historical geology textbooks, and even some creationist publications, showing Grand Staircase rocks and Zion and Bryce Canyon rocks stacked on top of Grand Canyon rocks are misleading and erroneous (Austin 1994, his Fig. 4.1, p. 58; Helble and Hill 2016, their Fig. 3-2, p. 32-33; Ross et al . 2015, their Fig. 6.13, p. 164; Snelling 2014c, his Fig. 2, p. 151). The stratigraphic column data clearly demonstrate that there are only limited STK rocks beneath Zion and Bryce Canyon and beneath the Rocky Mountain states in general, and in some locations, none at all (Figs. 9, 10 and Clarey 2015). Therefore, dinosaurs found in Mesozoic rocks north and east of Grand Canyon did not have to “tread water’ while 1000s of meters of rock were deposited beneath them. Instead, they were able to stay on the ‘dry’ land to the north while the Paleozoic strata were being laid down in Grand Canyon to the south. Clarey (2015) has labeled this dry land ‘dinosaur peninsula.’ We can only speculate on the timing of these first three megasequences in the Flood event. Genesis 7:17 may imply that the ark was not afloat until Day 40. If this is the case, then the Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia strata, as almost exclusively filled with marine fauna, may represent deposits during the first 40 days of the Flood. It was not until Day 40 or after, that the ark, which was presumably built on land, began to float. 2. Lowland Areas During the deposition of the Absaroka megasequence (the fourth megasequence) the sediments began to extend onto the land proper, starting with the lowland and wetland areas as water levels further increased as described in Genesis 7. Figures 11, 12, 13 show the isopach maps of the Absaroka and Zuni megasequences across North America, Africa and South America, respectively. In the Absaroka megasequence, we observe the first prolific deposits of coal (Pennsylvanian lycopod forests) and land animals mixed with marine flora and fauna. This indicates the Flood water levels were now impacting significant amounts of pre-Flood land, including the broad lowlands in East Africa and the central United States. These areas contain many amphibian and reptile fossils as well as gymnosperm-dominated flora. Few angiosperms are found as fossils until late in the subsequent Zuni megasequence. For these reasons, we used theAbsaroka isopach maps (Figs. 11, 12, 13) for each of the continents as a guide for the identification of the lowlands. We assumed that the Sauk-Tippecanoe-Kaskaskia (STK) combined isopach maps (Fig. 9) only reflected the boundaries of the pre-Flood shallow seas as described above. We then overlaid theAbsaroka maps on the pre-Flood continental configuration. Any Clarey and Werner ◀ Pre-Flood geography ▶ 2018 ICC 360