A. Overall Lesson Objective

B. Learning Competencies

C. Lesson

Some of the forces at work on the earth during and after the Flood were discussed in the last lesson. This lesson provides more treatment of those forces as they affected the emergence of new lands. A geological record remains with us, and the study of some of it has been conducted by scientists and specialists who believe the biblical creation view. Their findings are exciting, and work continues. However, the biblical creation view is so unpopular that it is not often heard. Research efforts are typically poorly financed. For curious people, including many believers, the information in the lesson will be new. For more information, use the [research notes] at creation.com or obtain some of the helpful references that are listed at the end of the course. The summaries of some of the findings follow, but they are brief since the subject area is large.

The Bible is mostly silent regarding the aftermath of the Flood. The power of God, as exhibited in the Genesis Flood, is referred to several times but details are not given. Receding conditions of the Flood, when many mountains rose relative to the rest of the area compared to the pre-Flood landscape, are mentioned in general terms in Psalm 104:6-9. This portion of the Bible speaks of his actions to make a place for flood waters to go and raise lands for the coming repopulation of earth. It is no surprise, then, in the New Testament where Jesus states that a “little” faith can cause a mountain to move, that He was speaking from a reference point of having shook the earth (and moved mountains) once already (Matthew 17:20).

🦕 CT? Examine Psalm 104:6-9 to discuss the following questions:

The geological layout of the earth shows the effects of the receding period in real terms for us, because it can be observed and studied. It is not silent. A quality map can show topographic features both above and below sea level that include a wealth of detail on troughs, fissures, cracks, and uplift regions. Some of the fossil record, established in the early part of the Flood, was brought near the surface and unearthed in many places as sedimentary layers were forcefully eroded in the latter part of the Flood. This is powerful evidence of what occurred. The Genesis Flood was a worldwide catastrophe in every respect that both produced the fossil record and brought it to light (or near the surface) for us to study today.

How are we so sure that the receding waters of the global Genesis Flood were so extensive? Sedimentary rock is over 75% of the earth’s surface and it is just as prevalent in mountain regions as it is in lower elevations or underwater. Fossils can be found on mountain tops or in deep gorges. The thickness of this sedimentary rock can be in terms of a few kilometers to more than ten. The peak of the Flood lasted for long enough for many of those flood-laid sediment layers to substantially harden and fossils to form. Huge amounts of silica and limestone played a part in the chemical process of fossilization. Many living things, buried alive, are found worldwide—fossilized in those very layers. But, the waters begin to drain because of God’s part of raising lands and deepening sea beds. Let us consider the regional effects of water motion.

Sediments at higher terrain would be forcefully removed as water levels drop. The forces were strong enough to remove the tops of some mountains. As larger areas of raised land became prominent, large sheet flows of water would move toward lower elevations. As flows became slower, ‘planation surfaces’ would form, where rounded rocks, sands, and sediments would be strewn over large relatively flat areas. These types of surfaces are found on nearly every continent.

Water gaps would sometimes occur in mountains, where higher waters would breach a line of new mountains. As water levels continued to drop, the course of waters would follow lower terrain features like valleys and new river beds. When flows were constricted by terrain, however, speeds increased, and localized catastrophic flows carved gorges and canyons. The newly laid sediments, hardened but still pliable, would be torn away. All this activity would be marked by turbulent and debris-filled waters. (Not all the debris would have been buried in the sediments.)

While the draining waters continued, large areas of volcanic activity would be filling the atmosphere with ash. Other lines of submerged volcanoes would pour heat into the oceans. Periodic and large earthquakes would accompany the volcanism. The portrayal in the Bible is accurate: here is our Mighty God, who is able to shake the earth and overturn mountains (Job 9:5-7, Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:26-27). The deepened sea beds were key, providing the immense volume for the draining waters to go. Places that had not been submerged were becoming submerged.

Even some mountains that were at least partially above water were becoming part of new sea beds. Guyots, or undersea volcanic mountains with flattened tops, are in most oceans. Over 200 significant Guyots have been identified since the 1940s. At one time, they were near the surface of the flood waters so that flood currents simply destroyed and removed the tops, leaving them with flattened upper surfaces near the water surface. Now they are in areas of ocean in depths that range from a few hundred to over a thousand m.

Volcanism forces continued on land and in the seas. Particulate matter would be increasing in the atmosphere and larger-sized volcanic material would be covering large regions of the new lands. Undersea volcanoes also continued. These forces do not stop so quickly and their effects would be one feature of the period that would continue for some time.

Continental shelves were being formed as sediments from sheet water flow would finally reach open ocean regions. Current speeds slowed, so increasing sediments would be dropped at the edges of continents (today’s continental shelves).

[Research notes: receding flood waters, continental shelves, flood volcanism]

The newly rising lands (new continents) and deepening sea beds (previously discussed) were occurring on a large scale. The summary description in Psalm 104:8 is quite amazing but extremely brief: “The mountains rose”, which is the more common translation. There are a host of mountains on every continent that are of modest height. From the Appalachians in the United States to the Urals in Russia to the desert mountains in Africa, they show as slight wrinkles on the earth surface when viewed from an aircraft. Many show evidence of having been rounded by water and often have layers of sedimentary rock of various types. They would be slightly older than the highest mountain ranges, having been subjected to flood waters for a longer period.

We also have the majestic high mountains like the Himalayas, the Rocky Mountains, and the Andes. With typically steeper slopes and elevations that go well above their smaller cousins, they are not generally habitable and are above the altitudes where trees grow easily. They would have been still rising as flood waters dropped, so they show sharper tops and steeper slopes that are much rougher. Many still have sedimentary rock and fossils. Contrary to popular belief, they rose quickly—just as quickly as the sea beds were deepened—which draws attention to the degree of difference. Sea beds can be several thousand meters deep; the higher mountain ranges have peaks above 4000m. When seen from a naturalistic view, millions of years of normal erosional forces that we see today would have long since reduced the apparent disparity. The Flood is a much better explanation.

The earlier part of the Flood, as previously mentioned, was when most fossils were formed. Contrary to the dominant naturalistic view that it takes millions of years to make fossils, there are actually multiple problems with the idea of long time spans. Flesh and bones rot faster than long period processes can take to act; erosion effects counter any slow burial concepts. The huge debris-laden and mineral-laden waters of the Flood were a perfect scenario for fossil development. The catastrophe was short but the content of the waters was full of the substances that were laid down in layers and hardened quickly—trapping sea and land creatures. The further flow of sediment rapidly buried them. Most fossils would have been formed quickly from the water pressures and the array of minerals, silicates, and limestone. But some of the ‘burial places’ would not be buried for long, because the receding waters would bring some of them close to the surface and subject to future erosion. For this reason, we find fossil beds of many types around the world.

Rapid burial of sea or land creatures, of course, is a characteristic of Genesis Flood conditions and essential for fossilization. In more recent discoveries, soft tissue patterns have been discovered that illustrate how the perfect conditions occurred to fossilize jellyfish. Normally they would rot or be torn apart quickly, yet they were preserved and fossilized quickly. In some places, rain drops or small sand patterns were preserved. ‘Pools’ of very small fossils are often found, where violent waters would cause things with similar size and weight to be thrown together. Fish can be found eating fish; birth processes are sometimes evident; stomach contents are definable—all pointing to rapid burial and rapid transformation to a fossil. [Research notes: jellyfish fossils, mass fossil deposits]

Large fossil graveyards [Research note: dinosaur bone beds] get the attention of many people. The number of groups of known types of dinosaurs that left prints or are found in fossil graveyards is notable. Many of these have been recently discovered from far north to far south latitudes. When a person adds up the destructive forces that were evident in the Flood, the herds of creatures that were trying to escape the waters, and their tracks that indicated flight from danger, the global and destructive nature of the Genesis Flood is readily apparent. Larger animal fossils are often in groups, especially those who were better swimmers. Strong currents, the large waves washing over disappearing lands, and the debris in waters would catch groups of similar creatures running, which is why we find large fossil bone beds with dinosaurs. Many fossil beds show creatures in distress, asphyxiated, or broken apart. The necks of some creatures would appear at unnatural angles. These are expected in a biblical view, where the Genesis Flood would have laid down sediments quickly—burying some groups of dinosaurs while they were alive but quickly asphyxiated. Others were simply torn apart and the pieces buried.

The time of the Flood (about 4500 years ago) is getting more physical verification from incomplete fossilization of creatures and plant material that have been found in several places. These finds, of course, are also a direct contradiction to assertions that the fossils were from millions of years ago. The finds have included flexible tissue, blood cells, DNA, and ligaments of various creatures. (This will be discussed more in Unit 3, Lesson 12.)

Fossils are often seemingly found in strange places. A pod of whales is in the corner of a Chilean desert. They are well preserved, about 80 in number, and well away from the ocean. Antarctica has fossils that would have lived in a tropical area. Small marine fossils are found inland in many locations. It is common to find fossils underwater as well. The list of unusual locations and types of fossils at those locations has a myriad of naturalistic explanations, but the Genesis Flood is a much better and more reasonable explanation. [Research note: whales, Antarctica]

Coal seams are found throughout the world. They are the ‘left-overs’ of the huge biomass that existed before the Flood. Floodwaters naturally pool the biomass as it was ripped up and moved by turbulent floodwaters. The folding of parts of the earth’s crust and the rapid deposition of sediments provided the mechanism to rapidly bury some of the biomass and provided the pressures needed to convert it to coal. The heat generated in the trapped and crushed biomass quickly resulted in the coal seams that we have today. [Research note: coal. If large amounts of matted vegetation are catastrophically buried and are not, therefore, exposed to very much oxygen, the result is coal.]

There are numerous reports and pictures of fossils in coal. Tree trunks, tree bark, ferns, branches, leaves, roots, and brush are commonly found in coal. Leaves can often be found with detailed veins and stalks. The presence of methane in the mines is common, which is what one would expect of a pressurized seam of coal that was once biomass but buried by flood waters a few thousand years ago.

Many coal seams are separated by layers of sedimentary rock. This is what one would expect as layers of quickly laid sediment and biomass would be deposited separately because of the way the turbid, moving waters would separate things by and density and location.

D. Assignment

Find a map of the glaciated areas that are evidence of the Ice Age following the Genesis Flood. List at least three features of landscape from anywhere on earth that indicate the presence of a large ice sheet.

E. Learning Activity

🦕 CT? Using the results of the assignment for this class, place the results on boards or large paper to summarize a few of the facts about ‘guyots’ using a real example, marine and whale fossil graveyard in Chilean desert, the dinosaur burial in Inner Mongolian desert, or Ichthyosaur fossils. The teacher will assign as appropriate, to teams of students. Discuss the local conditions that permitted the studied items to be ‘frozen’ in time for us to see.

F. Concluding Assessment

The catastrophic effects of receding flood waters and the widespread presence of fossil graveyards are evidence of a worldwide global flood (the Genesis Flood).