March 9th at 6:30 pm
Scroll down for detailed abstract and speaker biographies.
Newsletter Signup box in sidebar ⇒
Detailed Abstract and Biographies:
The Prominent Role of Rapid Plate Tectonics in the Genesis Flood
Dr. John Baumgardner, PhD Geophysics, 20 yr. at Los Alamos Nat. Lab., now at Liberty University
I will begin by briefly summarizing physical evidence that indicates a recent global Flood cataclysm is undeniable reality. I will then review the evidence that the timing of the formation of all of today’s igneous ocean floor relative to the deposition of the continental fossil-bearing sediment record, by itself, logically demands that thousands of miles of tectonic plate motion occurred during the year of the cataclysm. Next I will describe the mechanism by which rocks can deform at rates that allow plate speeds at the earth’s surface a billion times higher than those observed today. In that context I will offer my view on how this process of rapid plate tectonics was initiated. I will then summarize how giant tsunamis, produced by the rapid locking and unlocking of the overriding plates in the subduction zones, were able to convert huge volumes of crystalline bedrock to small particles via cavitation-enabled erosion, and further to suspend, transport, and deposit this sediment across the continent interiors to yield a global distribution pattern remarkably similar to what we observe on the continents today.
Rock Data from 5 Continents Confirm a Progressive Global Flood
Dr. Timothy Clarey, Research Geologist, ICR
We have compiled over 3000 stratigraphic columns complied across five continents using oil wells, measured columns and seismic data. We divided the fossil-bearing rock record into six packages of sedimentation based on the “mega-sequences” concept of Sloss. The earliest sequences show the least extent and thicknesses of sediment. Subsequent sequences show progressively more coverage and thicknesses. Most continents show a similar peak in coverage and thickness near the end of the 5th sequence. We interpret these data to represent a progressive Flood that aligns with the catastrophic plate tectonics model of Baumgardner. Initial plate motion spread the earliest sequences across limited portions of the continents. Continued creation of new seafloor pushed the water progressively higher, peaking near the end of the 5th sequence. Cooling of the new seafloor caused ocean basins to sink, drawing off the water from the continents as documented by the shift in sedimentation to the offshore as the Flood receded in the 6th sequence.
Our Scientist’s Biographies:
Dr. John Baumgardner came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus through a verse-by-verse study of John’s gospel while in graduate school. Later while serving in a campus ministry, through his engagement in creation apologetics, he realized that the young age of the ocean floor relative to the fossil record implied that massive seafloor spreading and subduction occurred during the Genesis Flood. He soon began a PhD program in geophysics at UCLA to address this issue at a professional level. God opened a door for him to conduct his PhD research at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he, in collaboration with a Los Alamos mathematician, developed the first spherical 3D computer code for modeling the dynamics of the earth’s mantle, a program now known as Terra. Upon completing his PhD, he began a position at Los Alamos where he spent the next 20 years as a computational physicist.
While at Los Alamos John utilized Terra to elucidate how stress weakening, already discovered experimentally to occur in mantle minerals, naturally could lead to catastrophic mantle overturn within the earth. In addition to fleshing out details of catastrophic plate tectonics, John also served as a member of the Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (RATE) team that identified multiple lines of radioisotope evidence that the earth is merely thousands, and not billions, of years old. After retiring from Los Alamos in 2004, he helped develop Mendel’s Accountant, a program that shows the processes of mutation and selection lead unambiguously to genetic decline in multi-cell organisms. Over the past decade John has given considerable attention to understanding how the continental fossil-bearing sediment record was formed in merely a few months during the Flood. Currently, John and his wife live near Lynchburg, Virginia, where John is research professor emeritus in Liberty University’s School of Engineering.
Dr. Tim Clarey received a Master of Science in Geology in 1984 from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science in Hydrogeology in 1993 from Western Michigan University. His Ph.D. in Geology was received in 1996 from Western Michigan University. From 1984 to 1992, Dr. Clarey worked as an exploration geologist at Chevron USA, Inc., developing oil drilling prospects and analyzing assets and lease purchases. He was Full Professor and Geosciences Chair at Delta College in Michigan for 17 years before leaving in 2013 to join the science staff at the Institute for Creation Research, having earlier conducted research with ICR in its FAST program. He has published many papers on various aspects of the Rocky Mountains and has authored two college laboratory books. He is the author of Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design and Carved in Stone: Geological Evidence of the Worldwide Flood, and a contributor to Guide to Dinosaurs and Creation Basics & Beyond. He and his wife, Reneé, are co-authors of the children’s books Big Plans for Henry and Henry Explores the New World.