Proposal
In this paper I analyze data taken from the GRIP ice cores in Greenland particularly in respect to their crystal texture and fabric. These aspects reveal a lot about the formation of the ice sheets, and they have a significant impact on our understanding of ice sheets from a young-earth model. The GRIP cores were taken from the ice divide of the Greenland Ice Sheet, so they show the horizontal layers of the ice sheet rather than the ice as it flows as with other locations.
The first trend worth noting, when looking at thin sections of the cores, is the texture of the grains which seem to separate into three layers. The bottom layer (below roughly 2800 meters) shows a very large grain size that fluctuates and changes rapidly. The next layer up (to a depth of roughly 2000 meters) starts with a relatively large grain size, then falls to a significantly smaller grain size near the top of this layer. The top layer shows roughly the same pattern in that near the bottom of the layer it begins with a relatively large grain size which then gets smaller near the top of the layer. Another trend that can be seen in the GRIP cores is the fabric of the grains. What we see from analyzing core thin sections is that near the bottom of the ice sheet there is generally random orientation of the grains, then the crystal grains preferentially orient toward a vertical c-axis approaching around 2500 meters depth, then they slowly get more randomly oriented up to the surface (Thorsteinsson 1997). It should also be noted that very similar trends can be seen from ice cores taken from Antarctica, however there is much less data from this area.
These layers are interesting because they do not line up with each other perfectly, nor do they line up with any conventional glacial boundaries such as between the Wisconsin and Holocene glaciation. It should be clear, however, that something had to cause these very distinct layers in the ice. Both trends show odd fluctuations at the very bottom of the ice sheet, but this is probably simply caused by interactions with the bedrock directly below the glacier. Therefore, both trends show two seemingly obvious layers, and while the boundaries do not line up exactly at the same depth, I think it still shows a series of events that reveal how the ice sheet grew. I think that the lower layer reflects the initial rapid snowfall that grew the glacier because of the increased snowfall following the Flood. This snowfall would peak around the time that the 2500-meter depth in the ice sheet was forming causing the trend in crystal fabric to that point. Then that initial snowfall continued for a short time up until the formation of the 2000-meter depth in the ice sheet causing the trend of decreasing crystal size up until that point. Then the combination of that initial very rapid snowfall as well as continued atmospheric conditions that create a cold environment caused the rest of the ice age that lasted for a longer period of time than the initial snowfall that created the rest of the ice sheet at a much slower pace in comparison to the first layer, but yet still very rapid in comparison to the conventional view of ice sheet growth. This theory also explains why the data from the upper layer is much more consistent in its trend while the data from the lower layer tends to fluctuate very rapidly.
Much more work needs to be done on this topic from a young-earth creationist perspective because there is not a good model that represents the growth of these ice sheets and accounts for the trends of texture and fabric from a young-earth perspective.
Keywords
Ice sheets, GRIP, Greenland, Ice Age, texture, fabric
Submission Type
Oral Presentation
Copyright
© 2025 Jack Bradley. All rights reserved.
Ice Sheet Texture and Fabric Reflect a Young-Earth Model
In this paper I analyze data taken from the GRIP ice cores in Greenland particularly in respect to their crystal texture and fabric. These aspects reveal a lot about the formation of the ice sheets, and they have a significant impact on our understanding of ice sheets from a young-earth model. The GRIP cores were taken from the ice divide of the Greenland Ice Sheet, so they show the horizontal layers of the ice sheet rather than the ice as it flows as with other locations.
The first trend worth noting, when looking at thin sections of the cores, is the texture of the grains which seem to separate into three layers. The bottom layer (below roughly 2800 meters) shows a very large grain size that fluctuates and changes rapidly. The next layer up (to a depth of roughly 2000 meters) starts with a relatively large grain size, then falls to a significantly smaller grain size near the top of this layer. The top layer shows roughly the same pattern in that near the bottom of the layer it begins with a relatively large grain size which then gets smaller near the top of the layer. Another trend that can be seen in the GRIP cores is the fabric of the grains. What we see from analyzing core thin sections is that near the bottom of the ice sheet there is generally random orientation of the grains, then the crystal grains preferentially orient toward a vertical c-axis approaching around 2500 meters depth, then they slowly get more randomly oriented up to the surface (Thorsteinsson 1997). It should also be noted that very similar trends can be seen from ice cores taken from Antarctica, however there is much less data from this area.
These layers are interesting because they do not line up with each other perfectly, nor do they line up with any conventional glacial boundaries such as between the Wisconsin and Holocene glaciation. It should be clear, however, that something had to cause these very distinct layers in the ice. Both trends show odd fluctuations at the very bottom of the ice sheet, but this is probably simply caused by interactions with the bedrock directly below the glacier. Therefore, both trends show two seemingly obvious layers, and while the boundaries do not line up exactly at the same depth, I think it still shows a series of events that reveal how the ice sheet grew. I think that the lower layer reflects the initial rapid snowfall that grew the glacier because of the increased snowfall following the Flood. This snowfall would peak around the time that the 2500-meter depth in the ice sheet was forming causing the trend in crystal fabric to that point. Then that initial snowfall continued for a short time up until the formation of the 2000-meter depth in the ice sheet causing the trend of decreasing crystal size up until that point. Then the combination of that initial very rapid snowfall as well as continued atmospheric conditions that create a cold environment caused the rest of the ice age that lasted for a longer period of time than the initial snowfall that created the rest of the ice sheet at a much slower pace in comparison to the first layer, but yet still very rapid in comparison to the conventional view of ice sheet growth. This theory also explains why the data from the upper layer is much more consistent in its trend while the data from the lower layer tends to fluctuate very rapidly.
Much more work needs to be done on this topic from a young-earth creationist perspective because there is not a good model that represents the growth of these ice sheets and accounts for the trends of texture and fabric from a young-earth perspective.