of elevation to the water levels across the continents. Collectively, these two sources of water can account for the flooding of even the highest pre-Flood hills. Finally, subsequent cooling of the newly created ocean lithosphere later in the Flood year (after Day 150) explains the lowering of the floodwaters. The 100 km (62-mile)-thick, newly created ocean lithosphere slowly cooled and sank, lowering the bottom of the oceans and helping to draw the water off the continents and back into the ocean basins. What happened to the floodwaters? They are back in today’s ocean basins. Remember, the Flood did not have to cover pre-Flood land that was as high as Mt Everest. Those mountains and most others were pushed up toward the end of the Flood. The highest hills in the pre-Flood world were likely much less than people think, maybe only 5,000 feet above the pre-Flood ocean level (Clarey 2020). 3. Progressive Flood Model Explains Why the Plates Are Moving Slowly Today It was the density contrast of the heavy, cold, original ocean crust (the lithosphere) that allowed the runaway subduction process to begin and continue. The density difference served essentially as the fuel (Baumgardner 1994a). The runaway process continued until the original oceanic lithosphere was consumed. There was no geophysical means or reason to stop the rapid plate motion until the density contrast was fully alleviated. At that moment, the newer, more buoyant lithosphere ceased subducting, bringing plate motion to a virtual standstill. As a consequence, today we only witness small, residual plate motions of centimeters per year. 4. Progressive Flood Model Explains the Conditions Necessary for the Ice Age Finally, CPT provides a mechanism for the Ice Age that occurred at the end of the Flood. A hot, newly formed ocean seafloor covering 70% of the world would have provided tremendous amounts of heat energy to the ocean waters above. This would have raised the overall temperature of the ocean and caused a greater amount of evaporation, resulting in staggering amounts of precipitation (Oard 2004). The increased volcanic activity from the subduction zone volcanoes and the unique chemistry of subduction zone magmas within the Ring of Fire and elsewhere late in the Flood would have placed huge volumes of ash and aerosols into the atmosphere, cooling the climate most noticeably in the higher latitudes (Oard 2004). The distinctive chemistry of the magmas generated by the melting of subducted water-laden, siliceous sediments in subduction zones provides the perfect recipe for explosive, ash-rich eruptions. These types of volcanoes (stratovolcanoes) are highest in silica, making them thicker and more explosive (Raymond 1995). The net result of hotter oceans and tremendous silica-rich volcanic activity brought on from plate motion would be enough to start a widespread Ice Age. The hotter water provided higher evaporation, and the ash-rich volcanoes that erupted continually over many years provided the aerosols to cool the earth, especially in the higher latitudes. In contrast, the most common type of volcanoes across the majority of the ocean basins have basalt-rich magmas (similar to shield volcanoes) and are less capable of producing the ash-rich explosions necessary to generate sun-blocking aerosols and ash (Raymond 1995). This is another reason runaway subduction was an important part of the Flood mechanism. Only subduction provides the magma chemistry necessary to make stratovolcanoes and explosive ash-rich volcanoes. Finally, as the ocean water slowly cooled and volcanic activity diminished in the centuries after Flood, the Ice Age would have ended as abruptly as it began (Oard 2004). 5. Progressive Flood Model Verified by 87Sr/86Sr Ratios CPT and a progressive Flood model is also supported by marine sedimentary strontium ratios. In his classic textbook on isotope geology, Faure (1986, p. 187) explained that the 87Sr/86Sr value found in rocks is controlled by the interaction of three sources: (1) young volcanic rocks or newly created seafloor, (2) weathering of old continental crust, and (3) Phanerozoic marine carbonate rocks. Furthermore, Veizer and Mackenzie (2013) argue that the 87Sr/86Sr is primarily controlled by the production of new oceanic crust and by river influx from the continents. Higher 87Sr/86Sr values are primarily caused by increased weathering of the continental crust, and its influx into the oceans. Lower 87Sr/86Sr values are likely from the formation of new oceanic crust and possibly hydrothermal activity. Faure (1986, p. 191) attributed the lower 87Sr/86Sr values in the Mesozoic to increased rates of seafloor spreading and the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. We conclude that the 87Sr/86Sr values found in the rocks of the Phanerozoic (all six megasequences) are intimately connected to the production of new seafloor (Cupps and Clarey 2020). Figure 31 shows that the 87Sr/86Sr ratio progressively dropped throughout the Phanerozoic until reaching its lowest values in the Zuni megasequence (about the Jurassic level). This 87Sr/86Sr ratio curve does, in fact, match the rock data mapped globally as both peak simultaneously in the Zuni megasequence, one low and one high (an inverse relationship) (Cupps and Clarey 2020). What would cause the rock data and the Sr ratios to track each other so closely? We suggest the changes in 87Sr/86Sr values are primarily driven by the production of new seafloor during the Flood year. This best explains the lowering of the 87Sr/86Sr values that started in the late Cambrian and continued through the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, and even through the Cenozoic, and its return to near 0.710 today (Fig. 32). Hot, new seafloor is more buoyant and thicker and pushes up the ocean water from below. So, the more that new seafloor is created, the more the ocean level rises. The observed gradual lowering of the 87Sr/86Sr values can be directly correlated with the rapid production of new ocean lithosphere during the Flood year. During deposition of the earliest megasequences, its likely only small amounts of new seafloor were added, confirming our earlier interpretation. This pushed sea level up slightly at the beginning the Flood (and began to lower the Sr ratio) while only affecting limited parts of the continents (Sauk and Tippecanoe sequences), matching what the rocks show (Clarey and Werner 2017). As more seafloor was created in the Late Paleozoic and into the Mesozoic on a massive scale, it pushed the Flood water higher and higher until it reached its highest level (and lowest 87Sr/86Sr values) during the Zuni megasequence (Fig. 32). 87Sr/86Sr ratios again rose again during the Tejas as less seafloor was created and sea level dropped. The 87Sr/86Sr values track with the production of new seafloor, which caused the water levels to rise progressively, matching the patterns of the megasequences also. Only CPT can explain this near perfect conformity of the progressive flooding of the continents, the progressive production of new seafloor and the progressive shifts in the 87Sr/86Sr ratio. While each data set can be assessed independently, they are directly (or inversely) related to one another, resulting in simultaneous patterns. VI. CONCLUSION Nearly 3000 stratigraphic columns across five continents document CLAREY AND WERNER Progressive Flood model 2023 ICC 440
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