height of relative sea level (Clarey 2020). Some extinctions may represent the high-water point (high stand) of a megasequence, a smaller sequence high stand, or may represent the end of a megasequence cycle. Figure 2 shows that only the Absaroka Megasequence contains two of the so-called major extinctions. Reasons for this are not immediately clear. It may be because the Absaroka is the megasequence in which great numbers of land animals and land plants suddenly appear in the rock record. The Absaroka seems to represent a pivotal moment in the Flood (Clarey 2020). However, that is not to say the Flood did not cause extinctions. Many of the presumably unique pre-Flood environments were likely destroyed by the Flood’s tectonic activity during the destruction of “the world that then was.” This caused a lot of marine animals to go extinct during or shortly after the Flood. For example, animals like trilobites and many of the Paleozoic brachiopods and corals seem to be extinct today. The exact reason for this is unclear. For this paper, we chose four basic observations to help us interpret the fossil record starting at the initial fossiliferous-rich layer (Cambrian) and then sequentially moving upwards in accordance with each successive megasequence. This allows a systematic and sequential correlation between the biostratigraphic record and the corresponding megasequences. The principles that were used are 1) sudden appearance of taxa, 2) stasis (similar taxa as living or later appearing taxa in the rock record), 3) marine mixing (a predominant feature throughout the rock record), and 4) burial by ecological zonation (sequential feature of the progressive Flood). METHODS The global pattern of fossils cannot be denied. Why certain animals and plants are only found in certain rock layers is still largely unresolved. Creation scientists have often speculated and proposed various ideas to try and explain the patterns we observe in the fossil record. Among these ideas are hydrodynamic selectivity and sorting by size, fossil composition, and settling velocity (Whitcomb and Morris 1961). Other factors relate to mobility, and possible factors like ecological zonation have also been considered (Clark 1968; Coffin 1983). One of the goals of the present study was to examine rock data across multiple continents and see which of these factors best explains the fossil record. If we follow the data, they should lead us to the best available solution. In our study we utilized fossils that are unique and common to various levels of the geological column as proxies as well as common fossils that transition across several geological systems. Less common fossils were not used as they are less representative of the particular geological system and therefore the megasequence. These were then mapped globally using the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) Navigator online software package (https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/). Fossils were placed within the megasequence stratigraphic framework developed previously (Sloss 1963) and calibrated with the standard geological column (Figure 1). Furthermore, we compared each of the fossil occurrences to the mapped extent and thickness for each corresponding megasequence (Clarey and Werner 2023). PBDB age delineated data corresponding to each of the six stratigraphic megasequences was also downloaded in CSV file format and globally mapped using an ICR developed Python program. RESULTS A. Cambrian and Lower Ordovician (Sauk Megasequence) fossils Evolutionists claim the Cambrian rock layers began to be laid down about 540 million years ago. These sediments contain highly complex multicellular creatures including a plethora of hard-shelled creatures, mostly brachiopods and trilobites. Other examples include clams, snails, sponges, worms, jellyfish, sea lilies, and a host of complex extinct marine invertebrates. This sudden appearance of so many types of fossils has been labeled the Cambrian Explosion. It is also noteworthy that the Cambrian strata contain some of the earliest occurrences in the geological column of preserved soft tissue, in the form of organic fibers from fossilized Sabellidites tube worm casings (Moczydlowska et al. 2014). According to ICR’s model of progressive burial by ecological zonation (Clarey 2020), the Cambrian layers were the first to be deposited near the beginning of the global Flood in the sedimentary rock strata known as the Sauk Megasequence (Clarey and Werner 2017). The Sauk also includes the early Ordovician sediments. Globally, the Sauk is most prominent across the interior of North America, Asia and Europe, and to a lesser extent, South America. It is also prominent across northern Africa. Clarey and Werner (2017) have previously found that early megasequences, like the Sauk, show minimal flooding in both areal extent and in volume (Clarey 2020). Using Trilobita (trilobites), Porifera (sponges), and Brachiopoda (brachiopods) as Cambrian fossil proxies, their combined occurrences match well with the extent of the global Sauk mapped out previously by ICR (Clarey and Werner 2023) (Figure 3). According to a conceptualized sea level curve based on the volume and extent of Phanerozoic sedimentation across four continents (Figure 4), we interpret that these sediments would have been deposited within the first few weeks of the Flood (Johnson and Clarey 2021). B. Middle Ordovician – Silurian (Tippecanoe Megasequence) fossils The Middle and Upper Ordovician and the Silurian Systems comprise the Tippecanoe Megasequence which is a continuation of the marine environment deposition begun in the Sauk. Using both the Ordovician and Silurian as filters combined with fossils representing Porifera, Brachiopoda, and Trilobita, the progressive burial of the pre-Flood marine ecosystems continues to match up well with the interpretation of a progressive Flood. In an exegetical analysis of Genesis 7 combined with megasequence geology (Johnson and Clarey 2021), it was determined that this deposition took place about the third to fourth week of the Flood (Figures 5 and 6). Again, Clarey and Werner (2023) found that the Tippecanoe has the least volume of sediment of any megasequence and also has the least surface extent. C. Devonian – Lower Carboniferous (Kaskaskia Megasequence) fossils The Devonian and Lower Carboniferous Systems (Mississippian) largely compose the Kaskaskia Megasequence (Figures 1 and 2). This is the final marine-dominated phase of deposition that began in the Sauk and carried through with the Tippecanoe, and now the Kaskaskia. Of course, it should be noted at this point that the entire fossiliferous record of the global Flood contains almost exclusively marine fossils. Using both the Devonian and Carboniferous as filters combined with marine fossils representing Porifera, Brachiopoda, and Trilobita, the ongoing progression of the burial of pre-Flood marine ecosystems continues to match up well with the proposition of a progressive Flood burial continuing into about the fifth week of the TOMKINS AND CLAREY Paleontology of the Global Flood 2023 ICC 564
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