The Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Creationism (2023)

7:17 that it wasn’t until after these first 40 days that the Ark began to float, thereby verifying that the flooding of the land had commenced (Barrick and Sigler 2003; Clarey 2020, p. 246). Figure 23 is an isopach (thickness) and extent map of the combined Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia. This totals the rocks deposited in the first three megasequences. It may represent the first 40 days of the Flood. 5. Days 40-100? The deposition of the Absaroka Megasequence marks a critical juncture in the Flood account when things went from bad to worse. The Bible tells us that after 40 days the ark began to float so we know the land began to be flooded at about this point (Fig. 10). It is no coincidence that the Absaroka is the oldest seafloor in most ocean basins today (Fig. 4). This is when subduction seems to have changed from limited subduction in selected areas to a global event, especially around the Pacific Rim (Clarey 2020). The pre-Flood ocean floor began to be rapidly consumed on a massive scale, resulting in much new seafloor at the ridges and a new ocean surface (Austin et al., 1994). This hotter ocean floor rose and pushed the ocean water and the tsunami waves higher and higher (Clarey 2020, pp. 256-281). We interpret Days 40 to about 90 of the Flood as corresponding to the Absaroka megasequence. For one reason, the total surface area covered by the Absaroka was significantly greater than any of the earlier megasequences (Table 1). And the total volume (five continents) of Absaroka sediments is more than double any earlier megasequence volume. Figures 10, 14, and 15 and Table 1 show that the Absaroka is much more extensive and voluminous (18.5% of the global total, Fig. 14) compared to all earlier megasequences. Secondly, the Absaroka megasequence introduces a lot of “firsts” to the geologic record that indicate the land was being actively flooded (Clarey 2020, pp. 271-275). It does not appear to be mere Figure 23. Isopach map of the combined Sauk, Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia. This approximates the extent of Flooding for the first 40 days of the Flood. Measurements in meters. coincidence that so much occurs at the same time at this point in the Flood. These events had a common cause. Sea level was pushed upward dramatically in the Absaroka as vast amounts of new ocean lithosphere formed, resulting in the waves rising higher and inundating the formerly dry land across the globe. This began to change everything in the rock record. Prior to the Absaroka (Upper Carboniferous-Lower Jurassic), almost all fossils are marine in origin (Fig. 22). After the onset of the Absaroka, we find increasingly more and more land animals (and plants as coal beds) mixed with marine organisms. The first extensive coal beds are found at this level, formed by the destruction of lycopod forests fringing the land masses (Clarey 2015a). These were the so-called Carboniferous coals. The Absaroka also saw the first and sudden appearance of massive numbers of terrestrial animal fossils. Amphibians show up near the base of the Absaroka, followed by reptiles in the layers above. Even dinosaurs and mammals make their appearances before the Absaroka is over (Triassic System). Most of these terrestrial fossils were mixed with marine fossils and many are found in marine rocks (Clarey 2015b). Large marine reptiles also make their first appearance in the Triassic System of the Absaroka Megasequence. Ichthyosaurs were common fossils in the Lower Triassic and are found in rocks as high as the later Cretaceous System of the Zuni megasequence. Finally, the so-called Permian extinction occurs in the early portion of the Absaroka. This has been hailed by secular scientists as the largest ‘extinction’ of all geologic time, or at least exhibiting the most abrupt changes in fossil species. Many of the fossils found above and below this horizon are, in fact, vastly different. However, most creation geologists explain ‘extinction events’ as the last occurrence of organisms in the Flood record. Specifically, we explain them as a result of rapid changes in water level that buried completely new CLAREY AND WERNER Progressive Flood model 2023 ICC 430

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