Two Geologist stories
Old-Earth and Young Earth
Rubik's Earth model
tectonic plates; supercontinents
pangea
lost one; earth's surface began as one large continent
Ice ages
glacial periods (5)
glacier
mass of ice
last glacial period
ended about 10,000 years ago
geologic column theory
column of rock strata tells the history of the earth
absolute age
fixed age based on nuclear changes
relative date
giving an age based on the geologic column
principle of superposition
older layers are on the bottom of geologic column
stratography
study of rock layers and their relationships; use of index fossils
paleontologists
scientists who study fossils
Old-Earth problems
wandering continents; magnetic crystal directions
Ice Ages
Radiometric dating
Fossil dating - big problems with interpretation
Young-Earth theory
The Flood
history prior to the flood
9 generations from Adam; world went from perfect to very sinful
Details of the Flood story
break up of Earth's crust; rain fell 40 days and nights
evaporation after flood
aided by winds
Ark rested
Ararat; 150 days after flood began
length of time Noah was on the Ark
year
weather changes
result of the flood
The Ice Age - Onset
lava warming up the ocean which sped up evaporation; great amounts of volcanic dust
The Ice Age - Fading
Arctic ice cap forms as oceans cool
Diluvial (flood) geologic column
original continent foundation was granite; soils present; five periods of earth's history
Name the five periods of earth's history
1. The Creation Event
2. The Lost World Era
3. The Flood Event
4. The New-World Era
5. Recent sediments (local flooding)
Tectonics
agent of change
Geosyncline Theory
old earth theory; a long trough in the surface of the earth where sediments and deposits collect; sediment was pushed upward forming a mountain; does not explain folding or fault-block mountains
Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener, continental displacement theory: pangea broke apart and drifted over earth's surface to where continents are today
problems with continental drift theory
could not explain how entire continents could move through ocean crust
Sea-floor spreading
old earth theory; formation of new ocean crust at mid-ocean ridge
mid-ocean ridges
found during WW2
subduction
movement of oceanic plates under the continental plates
tectonic plates
sections of the earth's crust that move
two types of tectonic plates
continental and oceanic
number of tectonic plates
7 major plates
7 minor plates
various smaller plates
plate tectonics theory
uniformitarian theory that the continents drifted and are continuing to drift today
Flood and Plate Tectonics
Young-Earth story disagrees with the WHEN and HOW of Old-Earth
catastrophic plate tectonics
states that the continents were spread apart during a short period of time; catastrophic event (flood) and its aftermath
John Baumgardner
geophysicist - studies the way the earth moves
Problems with Tectonics
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
amount of heat
we really don't know how plate tectonics occurred