Taylor Head, Nova Scotia
Evidence for Noah’s Flood in government brochure
by Tas Walker
Photo http:/parks.gov.ns.ca
Brochure about Taylor Head
With my wife, Lorraine, I had the privilege of touring Nova Scotia in September
2007. Like many places today, Nova Scotia has excellent provincial parks and provides
much information to help tourists find their way and learn about the country.
I picked up a collection of tourist brochures about places I’d not heard of
before, including: Porters Lake, Amherst Shore, Cape Chignecto, Smileys and Taylor
Head. It was great to have well presented information, including maps, trails, cultural
heritage and contact details.
Natural history for tourists
Each brochure had a section about the natural history of the area, and that history
was always presented in terms of geological evolution over millions of years.
Yet, the detailed evidence presented in the brochure often pointed to things happening
rapidly. In other words, the evidence does not support the idea of millions of years,
if you know what to look for.
Take the brochure about Taylor Head for example.1
The peninsula juts into the North Atlantic Ocean from the south coast of Nova Scotia,
about 100 km (60 miles) north east of Halifax.
The section on Natural History begins:
‘Approximately 900 to 1,000 million years ago what is now Taylor Head rested
near the centre of a great supercontinent.’
Clash of worldviews
Photo by Edward Lewis, wikipedia.com
Sand volcano in County Clare, Ireland.
From a straightforward reading of the Bible we learn that God created this world
supernaturally about 6,000 years ago and he judged it by a global Flood about 4,500
years ago. So by speaking of ages of 1,000 million years the brochure,
funded by the government, makes it plain that the Bible cannot be accepted as written.
So, while it does not mention the Bible specifically it clearly presents its information
within a contradictory philosophy. It’s a clash of worldviews.
The idea of millions of years comes from the assumption that geological processes
in the past always happened slowly—that the processes of erosion and sedimentation
were gradual, like we see happening with the rivers of the world today. It’s
based on the assumption that you don’t accept the history of the Bible as
read.
For the idea of millions of years to take hold, especially in the UK, it was necessary
to eliminate any thought of past geological catastrophes. So for more than a hundred
years in geological circles, from Charles Lyell in the 1830s to the 1960s, catastrophe
was regarded as a vulgar word. But now that the idea of millions of years is firmly
established, the opposition to catastrophic interpretations has eased somewhat.
Diagrams by Nathan Smartt
Overlying sediment slides across ocean floor rapidly, most likely as a density current.
Water trapped within the sediment is pressurized as sediment settles.
Water is expelled from localized points where it forms sand volcanoes.
Lots of sand and mud
So, Taylor Head began in the middle of an ancient supercontinent. The brochure goes
on:
‘As more muds and sands were deposited, the increasing pressure squeezed water
from underlying sediments, creating small volcano shaped structures.’
Where do we see great volumes of thick sediments being deposited in the middle of
a continent today? We don’t. From the outset it looks like there was an unusual
depositional environment in the past.
And then we have these volcano shaped sand structures. These speak both of rapid
sedimentation and rapid dewatering. The overlying sediments were deposited before
the underlying sediments were consolidated or dewatered, and deposited quickly.
As they settled the water escaped in jets through the soft sediment and carried
sand to the surface, depositing it as a volcano. In other words, both the underlying
and overlying sediments were deposited quickly, and there was not much time between
the two.
Marks captured in time
The brochure continues:
‘Other special features, called flute marks, appear as ripples in the bedrock
… ’
Flute marks are produced when sediment-laden currents scour the ocean bottom, gouging
out scoop-shaped depressions. Ripple marks also point to fast-flowing water (which
produced the ripples), and to rapid covering with more sediment (preventing the
ripples eroding away).
The brochure explains that the ripples ‘indicate that strong ocean currents
once moved large volumes of sediment rapidly across the sea floor.’
Note: ‘strong ocean currents’, ‘large volumes of sediment’
and ‘rapidly’.
As we mentioned before, what is this ocean doing in the middle of the supercontinent?
Then, this evidence speaks of anything but slow and gradual processes. The sediments
extend for many hundreds of kilometers laterally,2 so we are speaking of strong ocean currents covering a huge area. And we have huge
volumes of sediment which means there must have been much water to transport it
and it was deposited rapidly.
But there are a few important features that the brochure does not explain.
First the beds are thick, which is further confirmation that the volume
of sediment was colossal, and that it was dumped very quickly.
‘strong ocean currents once moved large volumes of sediment rapidly across
the sea floor’ Tourist brochure
Second, the beds are made of greywacke, an old term that refers to sandstone consisting
of angular particles of quartz feldspar and rock fragments embedded in a matrix
of clay. In other words, the sediment is poorly sorted, suggesting it was deposited
so quickly that it did not have time to sort into different sizes, or to wear the
individual particles into a rounded shape.
And finally, for the sedimentary layers to accumulate to the huge depths that we
see, the water level would have had to be continually increasing. Geologists call
it accommodation. The sediment won’t deposit in an area unless there is room
for it to settle. Otherwise it will simply be carried through the area to a place
where the water is deeper and where there is room for the sediment to be deposited
and left undisturbed.
So, although the brochure speaks of millions of years the evidence is of fast flowing,
extensive water currents carrying huge volumes of sediment, of a great depth of
accumulation and rising water level.
Can you see it?
Photo by Tas Walker
Ripple marks in fallen sandstone block, Joggins, NS.
Can you see how, if you ignore the dates, the evidence is consistent with the biblical
account of Noah’s Flood? In fact, it is the evolutionary geologists who have
the time problem. The evidence speaks of rapid processes and these do not require
the vast eons of time.
Evidence for geological catastrophe is so pervasive that there has been a return
to catastrophic thinking in geological circles—neo-catastrophism. But where
do the neo-catastrophists put the millions of years? They suggest that it belongs
in the gaps between geological deposits, in those places where there is no geological
evidence. In other words, the idea of millions of years comes from their philosophical
bias, not from the evidence.
For those who won’t believe the Bible, who have closed their minds against
the possibility that it could be recording real history, no amount of geological
evidence will change their thinking. No matter what is presented they will always
invent a story to re-interpret it within the long-age paradigm.
But for those who have an inquiring mind, who are seeking the truth, you can step
inside the biblical paradigm, look at things from that perspective and see how the
evidence fits. A geological friend of mine once said, ‘I could never see any
evidence for Noah’s Flood until I asked myself what I would expect to find.
Now I see the evidence everywhere.’
Further reading
Recommended Resources
References
- Taylor Head Provincial Park, Information Circular PKS-38,
Department of Natural Resources, NS, 2007. Return to Text.
- They are part of the Goldenville Formation, which covers much
of Nova Scotia: Donohoe, H.V. and White, C.E. (Co-chairpersons), Nova Scotia Geological
Highway Map, Communications Nova Scotia and Atlantic Geoscience Society, Halifax,
NS, 2005. Return to Text.
Published: 29 January 2008(GMT+10)
| Ken E. wrote: “I just wanted to drop a note to express my gratitude for the kind of information you supply at the CMI web-site. I love science and find it thrilling to see how it may be used to glorify God and build faith in Him.” Glorify God in His creation.  | | |
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