Addresses of All Authors
1806 Royal Lane, Dallas, Texas 75229 USA
Author's Biography
Timothy L. Clarey earned a Ph.D. and B.S. (summa cum laude) from Western Michigan University, and a M.S. from University of Wyoming all in geology. He worked for nearly a decade as an exploration geologist for Chevron and 17 years as a college professor. His publications include numerous articles on the geology of the Rocky Mountain region. He has written and/or co-authored four books, including Guide to Dinosaurs (ICR). His latest book, Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design, was published by Master Books in 2015. Tim has worked as Research Associate for ICR since 2013.
Davis J. Werner is an undergraduate at a community college in Texas, with the goal of earning a degree in geology. He has worked at ICR since 2015 as a research assistant.
Proposal
The geologic column has been under the scrutiny of numerous creationists for many decades. Critics have claimed the column is intimately tied to the evolutionary worldview and deep time, and cannot be trusted or used by creation scientists. Other creation scientists have argued that the geologic column, although incomplete at most locations, can provide useful correlations of rocks and fossils across the globe. This paper examines the sedimentary rocks across three continents in an attempt to test the validity of the global geologic column. We attempted to assess the data primarily from a lithologic viewpoint, and as independent of the fossil data as possible. To accomplish this, we constructed a new data set of over 1500 local, stratigraphic columns across three continents, recording the detailed lithologic information and Sloss-type megasequence boundaries at each site. A detailed 3-D lithology model was created for each continent using the local columns. We also constructed maps of the basal lithology for each megasequence. Unique lithologic units, like salt and chert-rich layers were also tracked from column to column. Results show extensive lithologic units (i.e. blanket sandstones) covered portions of every continent and are correlative across vast regions and even continent to continent. The correlation of these stacked basal megasequence units, and other unique lithologies (i.e. salt and chert layers) within the megasequences, confirm the validity of the geologic column on a global scale. The observable pattern in the fossil record further confirms these findings. Indeed, a global Flood could produce globally extensive, stacked lithologic units on an intercontinental scale. Creationists should not be critical of the geologic column, but embrace it as evidence of a global Flood event.
Disciplines
Geology | Stratigraphy
Keywords
Correlation, geologic column, fossil record, stratigraphy, megasequences, ecological zonation, Sloss sequences, North America, South America, Africa
DOI
https://doi.org/10.15385/jpicc.2018.8.1.31
Print Reference
Pages 327-350
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Recommended Citation
Clarey, T.L., and D.J. Werner. 2018. Global stratigraphy and the fossil record validate a Flood origin for the geologic column. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism, ed. J.H. Whitmore, pp. 327–350. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Creation Science Fellowship.
Audio
Clarey_Geologic_Column.pdf (8304 kB)
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