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

B. Paleoproterozoic tectonism Various North American Archean provinces have commonly been interpreted to have been “welded together” by Paleoproterozoic belts (Hoffman 1989; Hoffman 1998; Presnell 2004). In a global review, North American Archean provinces have been said to have sutured along 1.9–1.8 Ga orogens including the Trans- Hudson, Penokean, Wopmay and Nagssugtoqidian (Fig. 1) (Zhao et al. 2002). However, an alternative view is that as Proterozoic provinces developed, they underwent deformation and thickening but without the major fragmentation, widespread dispersion and collision of continents typical of the post-Permian (Engel and Kelm 1972; Hamilton 2011). Proterozoic magnetostratigraphy provides evidence that the Hudsonian Event is associated with internal deformation and further metamorphism of Archean provinces, rather than with dismemberment and continental drift (Irving et al. 1976). This is consistent with the idea of the progressive formation of only one Precambrian supercontinent (Mints 2018; Piper 2015) by Day Three. The Trans-Hudson Province is believed to have involved internal rifting rather than collision between two Archean continental blocks (Mints 2015). It is suggested that the region of the North American Central Plains (NACP) conductivity anomaly (the Trans-Hudson province) was a site where hydrothermal fluids burst out, consistent with vertical separation of waters on Day Two. Rock sampling has provided evidence that migration of sulfides during tectonism is responsible for the anomaly (Jones et al. 2005). Subsequent recovery provided compressional thickening (Hamilton 2007). Apparently ensialic Paleoproterozoic belts were involved in large-scale reworking (remobilization and further metamorphism) of Archean basement (Frazier and Schwimmer 1987). Vertical tectonic motions have been inferred (Anhaeusser 1975). On Day Two, submarine mountains may have formed with NorthAmerica’s Hudsonian Event and prior to the emergence of land on Day Three. The claimed rise in atmospheric oxygen in the Paleoproterozoic (called the “Great Oxygenation Event”) has been related to tectonism (Lee et al. 2016; Och and Shields-Zhou 2012). C. Some common features of Paleoproterozoic andNeoproterozoic geology 1. Lithologies A review of tectonic settings of late Neoproterozoic “glaciogenic” rocks and Paleoproterozoic (Huronian) “glaciogenic” rocks, found a preponderance of settings interpreted as rift related (Eyles 2008). The geochemistry of Neoproterozoic cap carbonates carries a strong hydrothermal signal and Paleoproterozoic (Huronian) carbonates have been interpreted to have formed in a hydrothermally influenced, restricted rift setting (Young 2013). “Glacials” of Early and Late Proterozoic successions have a close association with sedimentary rocks formed in warm climates (Young 2013). Warm, not cold, weathering conditions have been interpreted from the occurrence of minerals such as kaolinite and diaspore in parts of the Huronian Supergroup (Nesbitt and Young 1982). I infer that these features described for Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic strata are related to effects of the movement of hydrothermal fluids in a rifting environment during Day Two and the early Flood, respectively. The Paleoproterozoic “glacio-epoch”, exemplified by the Huronian Supergroup of Ontario, Canada and strata in the U.S., is associated with rifting (Eyles 2008). Transfer of carbon dioxide to the ocean during rifting may have enabled rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate in warm surface waters. This could have caused the precipitation of cap carbonate rocks over Neoproterozoic mixtites which are observed globally (Shields 2005) and observed in North America’s Paleoproterozoic (Bekker et al. 2005). I interpret both the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic mixtites as mass flow deposits rather than “glacials”. “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb” (Job 38:8 ESV) A pouring out of volcanics and associated hydrothermally-formed banded iron formations in the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic (Barley et al. 1999; Pirajno 1992) is inferred to have occurred catastrophically on Day Two and in early Flood, respectively. The main iron oxide mineral in Superior-type and Rapitan-type BIF is hematite (Fe 2 O 3 ) and this may have appeared blood-colored (Dickens and Snelling 2008). 2. Atmosphere growth …when he made firm the skies above … (Proverbs 8:28a ESV) It has been claimed that there were rises in atmospheric oxygen in both the Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic, and that these were related to tectonism (Lee et al. 2016; Och and Shields- Zhou 2012) and magmatism (Ciborowski and Kerr 2016). These inferred episodes of increased atmospheric oxygen are called in the secular literature the “Great Oxygenation Event” (GOE) and the “Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event” (NOE), respectively. It is suggested that God used the GOE on Day Two to prepare the Earth’s atmosphere for life on Earth. The “Great Oxygenation Event” has been indicated by sulfur isotopes and base metal sulfide deposits. Sediment-hosted copper deposits first appear in the Paleoproterozoic and their formation is ascribed to the reaction of oxidized copper-bearing solutions with sulfide-containing solutions at the site of deposition (Farquhar et al. 2010). Oxygenation associated with volcanism has been described (Gaillard et al. 2011; Lyons et al. 2006; Macouin et al 2015). Metamorphic microdiamonds containing high concentrations of nitrogen within Paleoproterozoic magmatic rocks at Nunavut, Canada (Cartigny et al. 2004) may be evidence for volcanic degassing also enriching the Earth’s atmosphere with nitrogen. 3. Radioactive mineral deposits and fluid flow Uranium deposits related to sodium metasomatism have been described for both the Paleoproterozoic and the Pan-African Event, with thermal events able to circulate large volumes of fluids at high temperatures (550°−350°C) to produce metasomatism along crustal-scale structures (several tens to hundreds of kilometers) (Cuney 2010). Sodic metasomatism has been described from the Huronian Supergroup in particular (Fedo et al. 1997). Economic sources of unconformity-related uranium occur in association with Paleoproterozoic basins such as Canada’s Athabasca Basin (Hanly et al. 2006). Such unconformity on Archean basement rocks (Hanly et al. 2006) is consistent with this paper’s model framework Dickens ◀ North American Precambrian geology ▶ 2018 ICC 396