petrology Archives - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

The Bible tells us that God designed planet Earth with the capacity to change, and the geologic and fossil record agrees with that. The Grand Canyon is one of the most fascinating places on Earth. By going to the bottom of the canyon eight times and floating on the Colorado River four times, I have seen the history of change and its benefits to humans. I have also seen the harm that humans have inflicted on the Colorado River.

The Grand Canyon is not just one massive layer of rock. The canyon exhibits multiple layers of different kinds of rocks, and each layer has a different story to tell. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, we see rocks forged in Earth’s creation. They are tilted and eroded with a layer of sedimentary rocks on top of the eroded surface. The sedimentary rocks contain the remains of creatures that lived in an ocean that once covered the region. One animal is the trilobite, similar to today’s horseshoe crabs. A layer of petrified mud called Bright Angel Shale rests on top of the sandstone, and Mauv Limestone covers the shale layer. Limestone is only deposited in deep oceans, so change was involved.

The sea became shallower for a while and then deeper again, indicating climate change. This deeper layer is called the Redwall Limestone, but the red is caused by iron minerals seeping from rocks above it. This limestone layer is 800 feet thick and is covered by the 700-foot-thick Supai formation, which contains corals, crinoids, and gastropods not seen in earlier layers.

With a warmer climate, the ocean became shallow enough that land plants could exist. More change happened, and the area became a desert, laying down the Coconino Sandstone. That layer contains frosted sand grains produced by high winds blowing the sand, which does not happen underwater. We can see lava flows on top of some of these layers, revealing the change produced by volcanic activity. Then, a shallow sea developed and got deeper, producing the Kaibab Limestone with many ocean creatures we don’t find in earlier layers.

Over time, a series of geological changes transformed the area we now know as the Colorado Plateau. These changes, including the uplift of the land and subsequent erosion, are what we see today in the Grand Canyon. They are a testament to the dynamic nature of our planet and the resources it has provided for human survival.

Some people suggest that Noah’s flood produced the Grand Canyon. They are ignorant of petrology – the study of rocks. The canyon is 278 miles long and gives a solid testimony to the patience and wisdom of God. Noah’s time was yet to come when all of these layers were deposited, and Noah’s flood is not recorded in the rocks or biology of ancient times. Saying that God created all of these layers and fossils to fool us makes God a liar, and James 1:13 says God never misleads us. Make sure the evidence supports your convictions – not unquestioning belief in denominational teachings or blind faith in chance as the causal agent for Earth and its amazing features and living things.

Relying on Ignorance of Grand Canyon Formation
We often hear from young people who have been taught something in a Bible class or sermon or a religious publication or video that they know cannot be true. Many creationists and creationist groups lack training in the fields in which they claim to be experts, and they are relying on ignorance of their hearers. When smart young people hear something they know is incorrect, it gives them a reason to reject the church and perhaps reject God’s existence.

A classic example of this is shown in explanations of the Grand Canyon. Many writers try to explain away the formation of the Grand Canyon by saying that the Flood of Noah did it. They say the Flood formed the Canyon in a short time just a few thousand years ago. They claim that the Flood laid down the sediments, and when the water swept off the land, it carved the Grand Canyon.

As an Earth Science teacher in the public schools in South Bend, Indiana, I taught young people about petrology — the study of rocks. Knowing how rocks were formed enabled scientists to find resources such as copper, oil, marble, iron, and certain gems. We can now synthesize some of these materials by copying the methods by which they were formed in the Earth’s past. Relying on ignorance would not allow us to find or synthesize these materials.

We know that the deposition of materials and subsequent erosion by the Flood did not form the Grand Canyon. The dominant rock in the Grand Canyon is limestone. Children taking Earth Science courses learn that limestone is a chemical precipitate. Quiet waters produce it over a long time. Most of us know about rock candy in which a solution of sugar crystallizes to create the candy. Limestone produced by a similar process, as is halite, dolomite, and gypsum. These are chemically precipitated rocks, never deposited in moving water.

A recent headline in a creationist journal reads, “Rapid Limestone Deposits Match the Flood.” A young person told me that she didn’t want to hear anything else from the Church because the statements in the journal were clearly not true. She doubted anything the Church said was true as a result. She also pointed out other problems. The Canyon is not just one rock type. It has alternating layers of different materials produced by different climates and processes. There are desert-produced sandstones, conglomerates which are produced by running streams, salt deposits produced by evaporation, and lavas that flowed across the top of the rock layers below them and were not injected as sills.

There is a huge burden on us to know what we are talking about. We must be as accurate as we can in understanding what the evidence shows. The general public is ignorant of most of these things and will not call an error to our attention. However, young people today are better educated in scientific facts, and we must not be relying on ignorance to expect our explanations to go unchallenged.
–John N. Clayton © 2018

Tag: petrology

The Grand Canyon and Change

Relying On Ignorance