Geology Commons^™

Dispersion Of Artificial Tracers In Ventilated Caves, Claudio Pastore, Eric Weber, Frédéric Doumenc, Pierre-Yves Jeannin, Marc Lütscher

International Journal of Speleology

Artificial CO₂ was used as a tracer along ventilated karst conduits to infer airflow and investigate tracer dispersion. In the karst vadose zone, cave ventilation is an efficient mode of transport for heat, gases and aerosols and thus drives the spatial distribution of airborne particles. Modelling this airborne transport requires geometrical and physical parameters of the conduit system, including the cross-sectional areas, the airflow and average air speed, as well as the longitudinal dispersion coefficient which describes the spreading of a solute. Four gauging tests were carried out in one mine (artificial conduit) and two ventilated caves (natural conduits). …

Reverse Pseudo-Gours: A New Sub-Type Of Folia Observed In The Nerja Cave (Se Spain), Cristina Liñán Baena, Concepción Jiménez De Cisneros, Yolanda Del Rosal, Paolo Forti

International Journal of Speleology

A new sub-type of folia named “reverse pseudo-gour” has been observed and described in the Nerja Cave, southern Spain. It consists of fairly vertical, thin barriers (about 5 mm high and 2 mm thick) that develop on the underside of a sub-horizontal surface (shelfstone) and grow in the opposite direction to normal gours (rimstone dams), generating sinuous shapes. Their mineral composition is essentially calcium carbonate, although globular aggregates composed of clay and phosphate minerals have also been identified. The genesis and evolution of these reverse pseudo-gours occur just at the air-water interface and are controlled by (1) the sub-horizontality of …

Analyzing The Shark Paleoecology Of Coastal Georgia From The Miocene And Pliocene Epochs, Joshua Lee Clark, Benjamin Angalet

Georgia Journal of Science

The field of shark paleoecology often yields indecisive conclusions based on the limited fossilization of their anatomical structures, with the exception of their teeth. The majority of the Atlantic coast has been studied regarding the presence of certain prehistoric shark species from the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene epochs. However, information pertaining to the Georgia coast and understanding its potential community structure is relatively understudied. This study was conducted in which thousands of fossil shark specimens and subsequent marine fauna were collected from dredge spoils created by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): Savannah District. A total of 5,127 fossil …

Using Stromatolites To Rethink The Precambrian-Cambrian Pre-Flood/Flood Boundary, Ken P. Coulson

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The 550-meter-thick upper Cambrian (Furongian Epoch) Notch Peak Formation of western Utah has over a dozen horizons of meter- to multiple-meter-thick sequences of stromatolites that have been correlated with similar stromatolitic beds in the Drum Mountains to the north and the Wah Wah mountains to the south, providing a total geographic distribution greater than 2,600 square kilometres. Cambrian stromatolitic beds have also been described from other areas in North America that circumscribe what appears to be the ancient coast of the North American craton associated with Laurentia. A total of 24 different locations span North America starting in Newfoundland, traveling …

Orthocone Cephalopods As Paleocurrent Indicators In The Ordovician Kimmswick Formation Of Northeastern Missouri, Zachary Aaron Klein

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The intent of this project is to map and analyze orientations of large orthocone cephalopods in the Late Ordovician Kimmswick Formation to determine whether they indicate traceable current directions. The Kimmswick Formation is a medium-to-coarsely-grained crystalline limestone which is highly fossiliferous, with bedding varying from massive to cross-bedded, and ranging from 10-30 meters in thickness in the project region. Numerous orthocone cephalopods (of the genera Endoceras and Cameroceras) can be observed within the lower Kimmswick in several locations in Northeastern Missouri, especially near Imperial and Frankford. A total of 21 orientations along a six-kilometer corridor near Imperial have been …

Can Radiocarbon Dating Fit A Biblical Timescale?, Marshall Jordan

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Abstract

The trace amounts of C14 in ancient human bones imply that these people died up to 50 thousand years ago. This assumes that the concentration of C14 in the atmosphere has remained constant at today's concentration. Such ages are incompatible with the record of Genesis which places Noah’s Flood about 4500 years ago, less than one half-life for C14. The trace amounts of C14 in coals buried by the Flood show that the atmospheric concentration of C14 at the time of the Flood was about 1% of today’s concentration. So C14 can be used to date ancient carbon using …

Unresolved Issues In Hypothetical Fish-To-Amphibian Evolution, David Prentice

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This is a poster presentation bringing together multiple problems with the idea that some ancestral fish evolved into some ancestral amphibian.

The Lamarckian idea that "form follows function" has been thoroughly falsified. The only explanation for characteristics of an organism's phenotype is the content of its genotype rather than its need for new features.

The new creatures would have to undergo random mutations in their DNA to produce at least thirteen major changes. They would have to (1) leave the water and come onto land, (2) acquire two radically different types of vertebrae (rhachitomous and lepospondylous); (3) acquire segmented backbones …

Quantum Computing In Creation Geoscience, Mark Mcguire, Kathryn Mcguire

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Quantum computing has great potential in speeding up many problems. Rather than stepping “down” from a classical Newtonian realm into the more complicated quantum realm we use the same processes as the phenomena being researched.

In geoscience, quantum computing has many potential applications. For example, quantum computing can be used for simulations of radiometric dating. By simulating the decomposition of atoms, a better idea of how these decompose can be created. Simulating typical, unaccelerated decomposition would be the first step in this area of research. This can be done by creating a qbit (quantum bit) for each atom and connecting …

Gastropod Evolutionary Phylogeny, Priscilla Doran, Neal A. Doran

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This research seeks to investigate a correlation between the first appearance order date (FAD) and predicted evolutionary phylogeny of gastropods. Using a Spearman Correlation, 17 data sets of gastropods were analyzed, with a no significant correlation found between the first appearance date and predicted evolutionary date for the fossils.

Icr (2013-2023): A Decade Of Advancing The Flood-Ice Age Model, Leo (Jake) Hebert Iii

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

I am proposing a poster that summarizes the last decade of paleoclimate research conducted at the Institute for Creation Research, and the ways this research has strengthened the case for the Flood-Ice Age model. The poster also discusses two research projects that I have started but as yet have not been able to finish. Here is the poster abstract:

In 1990 the Institute for Creation Research published Michael Oard’s monograph An Ice Age Caused by the Genesis Flood, which showed that warm post-Flood oceans and residual post-Flood volcanism provide the necessary conditions for an Ice Age. ICR then published additional …

Physical Evidence For A Post-Flood Lacustrine Depositional Environment For Hopi/Bidahochi Lake, Nate Loper

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Geologists both within and outside the creation community have long proposed a breached dam and lake spillover hypothesis for the formation of Grand Canyon in whole or in part. One major lake system pointed to has been dubbed Hopi Lake or Lake Bidahochi, with supporting evidence found within the Bidahochi Formation. The Bidahochi Formation in eastern Arizona overlies the Chinle Formation in many places and is described as a Miocene-Pliocene lacustrine deposit. As such, several creation geologists assign this to a depositional environment during the post-Flood Ice Age. Yet, there is a small group within the creation community who tend …

Re-Evaluating The Measurements Of Radioactive Decay, Charles A. Wolcott Jr.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Studies investigating the validity of radiometric dating methods have raised many questions with results of methods showing ages of samples well outside the mainstream story line and a prospect of accelerated decay rates during the Flood. However, the measurements of the rates themselves have not been analyzed. This study examines a mathematical analysis of how the half-life of isotopes U-238, K-40, Rb-87, and C-14 have been measured and calls for a closer inspection of the process. The primary tool for measuring the half-life is the Geiger Counter, which only has a 20% efficiency rate, [1] while observation times of individual …

The Regression Of The Flood In Virginia, James C. Rakestraw, Jim Melnick

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The geology, tectonics, and hydraulics of the regression of the Flood formed much of the geomorphology of Virginia. Opportunities to view and study geology and geomorphology are available through visiting parks, traveling on public roads, and viewing geographic information system (GIS) resources.

Virginia is part of the North American Plate. A series of “blocks” of basement rocks within the plate underlie the geomorphological provinces of Virginia. These “blocks” form a series of steps between the Atlantic Ocean Basin and the Blue Ridge. The “Fall Line” found in Virginia is a fault between two blocks of basement rock. The basement rocks …

Geologic Analysis Of Ice Age Simulation Results, Elizabeth G. Sultan, Steven M. Gollmer

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Ice ages are believed to have occurred at least 5 times in the past, with each glacial period lasting tens of thousands of years and interglacial periods lasting up to 400,000 years. It is hypothesized, however, that the Genesis Flood would have provided the conditions necessary to trigger an ice age within a few hundred years, that could account for the glacial deposits we find worldwide. This research project compared the output data from a 360-year ModelE2.1.2 run of an ice age simulation, to the geologic record of the last glacial maximum (LGM). The simulation was inputted with conditions based …

K-Feldspar Sand Grain Rounding In Eolian And Subaqueous Transportation, Elizabeth G. Sultan, Emma Henze

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This project’s aim is to compare the rounding of K-feldspar grains in eolian and subaqueous conditions. It was hypothesized that K-feldspar grains in a subaqueous environment are cushioned enough by surrounding water to prevent the rounding observed in eolian environments. The experiment was conducted by use of eolian and subaqueous simulations originally developed by Calvin Anderson for comparing muscovite flakes in these respective environments. It was expected that an eolian environment will produce rounded grains within a few weeks, and an aqueous environment will take a minimum of months to produce fully rounded grains. The resulting data from this project …

Diverse Assemblage Of Arthropods In Amber From Upper Cretaceous Tarheel Formation Near Goldsboro, North Carolina, Dana J. Goodnight

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

A relatively unexplored Upper Cretaceous (early Campanian) amber-bearing lignite deposit in Goldsboro, North Carolina has yielded a diverse assemblage of arthropods. Preliminary cataloging of approximately 175 biological inclusions obtained from the site include microscopic and macroscopic representatives from two subphyla of arthropoda (Chelicerata and Hexapoda) and at least 9 orders of insects (Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Psocoptera, Thysanoptera, and Archaeognatha). In addition to animal inclusions, the Goldsboro amber often contains abundant plant matter, fungal mycelia, enhydros, and air bubbles. The inclusions depicted by micrographs in this poster presentation have not been formally classified and systematically described. Only an …

The Layered Castile Probably Originated From Salt Magma, Stef J. Heerema, Gert-Jan Van Heugten, Timothy Clarey

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The Castile Formation is situated in the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and Texas on top of thousands of meters of oil-containing sedimentary rock (the Delaware Mountain Group). The up to 550-meter-thick formation is composed of laminae of mostly anhydrite and calcite (Kirkland, 2003) and contains oil itself as well. The overlying Salado Salt Formation covers a wider area, including the Central Basin Platform and the Midland Basin in Texas, with a thickness up to 600 meters.

Evolutionists claim an origin of the 10,000 km³ Castile Formation by evaporation of salty ocean water in a continental basin over 209,000 …

Does The Fossil Record Of Non-Mammalian Synapsid Digits Show An Increasing "Mammal-Ness"?, Emily Anderson, Matthew A. Mclain

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Non-mammalian synapsids (NMS) are a group of extinct amniotes present in the Carboniferous-Cretaceous geologic systems. NMS are recognized by evolutionary scientists as transitional forms between reptile-like animals and mammals, and are thought to increase in mammal-like characteristics as they progress through the fossil record, especially among the six therapsid subtaxa. Given that Scripture is clear that God created many independent kinds of land animals (Genesis 1:20-25), we sought to investigate the currently accepted evidence which is used to support the claim that NMS are transitional forms. In this study we focused on the NMS hands and feet, which have been …

Noah's Arks And Viking Funeral Ships: A Creationist Look At The Biogeographic Patterns Of Tetrapods In The Collisions Of South America/North America And India/Asia, Ryan Frields, Caleb Lepore, Matthew A. Mclain

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The question of how animals recolonized the earth after the Flood has been of interest to creation scientists for hundreds of years, and this inquiry led to the birth of the field of biogeography. Biogeographers recognize dispersal mechanisms (e.g., rafting) as well as vicariant mechanisms (e.g., continental drift). In biogeography, a continent carrying animals from one place to another is called a “Noah’s Ark.” There are two continents that start the Cenozoic as islands but later collide with other land masses: India with Asia (in the Eocene) and South America with North America (in the Pliocene). The faunal transfer between …

Effects Of Hot Post-Flood Groundwater Flow From The Sea Floor, David M. Winsberg

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This abstract deals with the effects of large amounts (~700 ˣ 10²⁴ Joules) of geothermal heat being slowly transferred across the seafloor for several hundred years. This is enough energy to heat the oceans by 125 °C if it was deposited instantaneously. The mechanism of how this geothermal heat is supplied to the seafloor is a separate topic that is not discussed here.

What makes this different than other “warm ocean” models is that they use a one-time ocean heating event during the Genesis flood. My model uses continuous heating for centuries, while the oceans also simultaneously cool by …

Hypogene Speleogenesis Of Ozark Caves, Jeff Miller

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This abstract is an update on my continuing study of the origin of north American caves. Since it is difficult to fit carbonic acid dissolution speleogenesis into the timescale of the Creation model, and the Flood model can generate the acidic waters needed for hypogene speleogenesis (HGS), I suggest HGS is the primary mechanism of cave formation. To test this hypothesis, I have been visiting commercial caves to determine what percentage of them show HGS features and are thus likely to have been formed by HGS. This paper offers continuing preliminary results of that test, focusing on the caves of …

Groundwater Flow And The Resulting Heat Transfer From The Sea Floor, Immediately After The Genesis Flood, David M. Winsberg

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

This abstract provides a multi-faceted solution method to the “Heat Problem after the Genesis Flood” which is defined as follows:

Most models of CPT require that large amounts of hot crustal material would be spread across the ocean floor during the flood, especially the Atlantic ocean. This would release so much heat as to possibly boil the oceans. Because of this problem, the genesis flood didn’t happen, and thus the bible is wrong and evolution is right.

It is argued that long amounts of time are required to transfer any significant portion of this heat, and it is proposed that …

Do Fossil Data Suggest Greater Animal Longevity In The Pre-Flood World?, Leo Hebert Iii

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

One of the Bible's most ridiculed claims is its assertion that pre-Flood and immediate post-Flood humans experienced lifespans of hundreds of years. Hence, the ability to partially corroborate the Bible's claim in this regard should be of great interest to creation researchers. Paleontologists have within the last two decades become increasingly interested in using growth rings recorded in fossil forms to make inferences about past growth rates, sizes, and lifespans. Examination of these growth rings suggest that some creatures in the pre-Flood world matured quite slowly compared to similar extant forms. Also, multiple studies have shown that slower development and …

A Creationist Model Of Dinosaur Paleobiogeography, Marc Surtees

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

During the last 20 years much has been written about dinosaur paleobiogeography. This presents a challenge to creationists who wish to be consistent with the Bible and the evidence from paleontology, biogeography and geology.

Publications by evolutionists report that dinosaur fossils are first found in the Middle or early Late Triassic rocks of the Southern Hemisphere. The three major constituent clades, Ornithischia, Sauropodomorpha and Theropoda, are found in Late Triassic rocks and Early Jurassic rocks. There are also dinosaur footprints in Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. Middle to Late Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks contain the greatest diversity of dinosaurs. This …

Long Tree-Ring Chronologies: The Role Of “Bridge” Tree-Ring Series, John Woodmorappe

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

At the last ICC, I presented a detailed paper explaining how a series of disturbances can cause trees to crossmatch in accordance with the disturbances, and not in accordance with an annual climatic signal us conventionally believed. Extending this reasoning, different regions with different disturbances create a series of “bundles” of trees crossmatching only within these regions. These “bundles” can subsequently be connected in a chain by “bridge” series (series that fortuitously perform this role), thus creating the illusion of a very long tree-ring chronology, even though most of these trees actually lived at the same time.

Up to now, …

After Awhile...Crocodile?: An Assessment Of Crocodylians As Living Fossils, Caleb N. Lepore

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Crocodylians, which include extant crocodiles, alligators, caimans, the gharial, and the tomistoma, are often considered living fossils. Many evolutionists have argued that the term ‘living fossil’ is inappropriately applied to crocodylians, since past diversity within Crocodylia, as well as within the more inclusive group Crocodylomorpha, implies that they have evolved substantially since their first appearance in the fossil record. In contrast, many creationists argue that the morphological conservativeness of living fossils like crocodylians is unexpected from a gradualistic model of evolution. To clarify this issue, we argue that while the term ‘living fossil’ has varied meanings within the literature, morphological …

Catastrophic Plate Tectonics And The Tectonics Of Western North America, Sarah Petersen, John Baumgardner

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) is a widely accepted theory among Young Earth Creation scientists to explain the catastrophic flooding and tectonic plate movement during the Biblical Flood. CPT has implications beyond the early stages of the Flood, as rapid subduction would result in a variety of tectonic settings that influenced modern topography. In western North America, the formation of several major tectonic features has been debated by secular scientists for decades. Using hypotheses that depend on slow tectonic rates and long timescales has led to a general inability to account for all geologic observations in this region. During the Cretaceous …

How Often Do Radioisotope Ages Agree? A Preliminary Study Of 29,000 Radioisotope Ages In The Usgs National Geochronological Database, Micah D. Beachy, Benjamin R. Kinard, Paul A. Garner

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

In young-earth analyses of radioisotope age discordance, there have not yet been statistical studies involving age information for large numbers of rock units at a time. Austin (2005), Snelling (2005) and others have published in-depth studies of discordance on individual rock units, including new radioisotope ages based on their own samples. This was a logical approach because it maximized the number of ages per rock unit and eliminated the potential “file drawer” problem where ages that differ wildly from the expected values may be less likely to be published. Nevertheless, we believe it is time for a larger-scale project that …

Can Sandstone Cross-Bed Dip Inclinations Determine Depositional Environment?, John H. Whitmore

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The author and his colleagues have been working on the Coconino Sandstone (Arizona, USA) for more than twenty years concluding that the sandstone formed in an underwater setting instead of the conventionally accepted desert dune environment. During their work (Emery et al. 2011; Whitmore 2021; Whitmore and Garner 2018) they reported that average cross-bed dips in the Coconino were approximately 20°, consistent with what others have found in the Coconino (Maithel 2019; Reiche 1938). Most realize this average measurement is far less that the angle or repose for desert sand dunes, which is about 33-34°. The Coconino often lacks cross-bed …

Developing A Comprehensive Model Of Global Flood Paleontology: Integrating The Biostratigraphic Record With Global Megasequence Deposition, Jeffrey P. Tomkins, Timothy L. Clarey

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The ICR Column Project team has mapped out the sedimentary rock record of the global Flood across five of the world’s continents using extensive data from petroleum industry wells, rock outcrops, seismic data, and published cross-sections. Thus, detailed sedimentary rock data along with megasequence boundaries across every nearly every continent have been documented, including the continental shelf. These data confirm the reality of a global geologic column created by the global Flood. This monumental and unprecedented project has shown that the global Flood and it’s corresponding megasequences are represented by the same stratigraphic profiles on every continent that’s been evaluated; …