ABSTRACTS
Toppling the Timescale Part II: Unearthing the Cornerstone
John K. Reed
Creationists have addressed uniformitarianism, evolution, and deep time as foundation blocks of the geological timescale, but have failed to assess its cornerstone. That key principle is the assumption that elements of the rock record represent global correlative synchronous time periods. It is an assumption that dates to the earliest days of modern stratigraphy, but one of questionable value in diluvial geology. Our increasing knowledge of the rock record; of its local variations in tectonic, hydraulic, sedimentary, and diagenetic environments makes it unlikely that globally correlative synchronous time periods can be readily and practically identified in the rocks.
Long-Distance Flood Transport of the Nenana Gravel of Alaska—Similar to Other Gravels in the United States
Michael J. Oard
The origin and significance of the Nenana Gravel north of the Alaska Range is documented. The Nenana Gravel possesses similarities to other coarse gravels studied in the western United States, and even from the Appalachian Mountains. The long-distance transport of these gravels would have required large currents of high flow velocities. The necessity of such currents challenges uniformitarian explanations and is more readily explained within a Flood paradigm, mainly the Recessive Stage of the Flood.
The Origin of Senescence and Death: An Evolutionary Enigma
Hans Degens
Aging, or senescence, can be described as a reduction in the chance of survival and/or fertility of an organism over time. Senescence is characterized by a decline in organ functions, ultimately resulting in death. This may be caused by many mechanisms, such as inappropriate redistribution of DNA over daughter cells after cell division and accumulation of damage caused by, for instance, chemical radicals over a lifetime. These mechanisms may indeed explain senescence, but they do not explain the origin of senescence and death. Although many evolutionary theories of aging provide explanations for the life history of an organism, they again do not explain the origin of senescence and death per se. Consequently, senescence remains largely an enigma to evolutionary biology. Complete repair of damage and immortality are not impossible. Indeed the germ-cell line is in essence immortal. The existence of single-cell organisms demonstrates immortality indirectly as they give rise to descendants by splitting into two nearly identical daughter cells, and there are even some multicellular organisms that are allegedly immortal. I argue that senescence and mortality are the result of less-than-optimal circumstances causing immortality to become essentially impossible, because extrinsic (from outside the organism) factors will cause death even in the presence of perfect cellular repair mechanisms.
A Hypercane Deposit at Little Stave Creek, Clarke County, Alabama, USA
Carl R. Froede, Jr.
Unique atmospheric conditions during and immediately following the Flood have recently been postulated based on the results of numerical computer modeling. This modeling suggests that the heating of the atmosphere and oceans could have produced conditions suitable for the development of super hurricanes, or “hypercanes.” Unfortunately, the atmosphere provides no historic record of such events. However, proxy records might be found in the rock record. In fact, it is probable that hypercanes would have created large-scale tempestites (i.e., storm deposits) across various portions of the continents while they were covered by Floodwater. Such storm deposits occur across the United States Gulf Coastal Plain. One such stratigraphic unit is the Gosport Sand Member of the Lisbon Formation (Eocene), which extends across southwestern Alabama. A Gosport Sand outcrop at Little Stave Creek in Clarke County exhibits sedimentary evidence that it formed from a single massive hypercane during the Middle Flood Event Division.