Preview

Creationism and Grand Canyon

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
746 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Creationism and Grand Canyon
Comparative Essay

Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth

Comparative Essay 1
Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth vs. Young Earth)
Dating the rocks of the Grand Canyon is a scientific way to find out the age of this mysterious landmark. The age of the Earth and the Grand Canyon is a question both of a biblical interpretation and scientific investigation. It can be viewed by an old earth creationist and young earth creationist. The two creationists have a difference of opinion concerning the formation and age of the Grand Canyon rocks.
Old Earth View
Old earth creationist see the days of Genesis as long periods of time. The old Earth Creationist believes that the Grand Canyon strata were formed over millions of years and that the canyon itself was carved out in less than five million years. The old earth creationist sees the biblical view of Genesis as long periods of time, perhaps even millions of years. Some old earth geologist have adopted a new theory that suggest that about five billion years ago a westward-flowing stream of water(Colorado River) began to erode, upstream or toward the east, over what today is the Grand Canyon. Dr. Stephen Austin suggests that rock dating of the Grand Canyon is not an Comparative Essay 2 effective way. One way he does this is by pointing out the discrepancies in Radiometric dating. He begins by suggesting that Radiometric dating has many flaws and does not make a good clock because the initial conditions are not known and the rate of decay may not be constant (Austin 1994: 129, 2005).
Young Earth View
Young earth creationists believe that the strata of the canyon were formed as a result of Noah's flood and that the canyon was carved out less than five thousand years ago. Young earth creationist believe using the radiometric



References: L. Vardiman, A.A. Snelling and E.F. Chaffin (Eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, and Creation Research Society, St. Joseph, Missouri, 2000. Austin, Steven A. 1994. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, California: Institute for Creation Research.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    the grand canyon

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Grand Canyon is a sided mountain carved by the Colorado River. The origin of the Grand Canyon is tied down to the tectonic erosion of the Colorado Plateau. The formation of the Grand Canyon is a big mystery. What we can say, is that its rock layers give us clues of how tectonic erosion occurred in the Grand Canyon. Some of those rocks can be age determined, but some can’t. Some of the rocks that can be age determined are the igneous rocks, and those rocks that can’t be age determined are the metamorphic rocks. The igneous rocks are one of the three main rocks. The metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock types, which make changes due to heat and pressure. Different dating techniques are still being used to determine the age of the rocks, although the techniques don’t work for all the rocks. The rocks in the Grand Canyon are classified by different geologic periods such as; Pre-Cambrian, Cambrian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian. The rocks, after having their age determined if possible, they are placed in the Geologic Period table so that us scholars can have an idea of how old the rocks are. There are many theories surrounding the formation of the Grand Canyon, but none really have been one hundred percent accepted as the main one. Some theories surrounding the Grand Canyon’s formation include those such as, tectonic erosion of the Colorado Plateau, continental drift caused the Grand Canyon to rise because it was under sea, and many others that will be discussed later on this report.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 25 Pre Test Paper

    • 4419 Words
    • 18 Pages

    they showed how radiometric dating could be used to give the absolute ages of rocks and fossils…

    • 4419 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Potassium-Argon dating is a form of radiometric dating which tells us the absolute age of rocks. Practically all elements are radioactive to some extent, some more than others. Moreover, different isotopes of elements are more radioactive than others. Isotopes are forms of a particular atom that varies in the number of neutrons in the nucleus. For instance, K-40 is a naturally occurring isotope of Potassium is far more radioactive than its siblings K-39 and K-41 because K-40 is much less stable.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Labpaq Math Lab

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The approximate age of the earth is 4,600,000,000 years old. Using scientific notation this number would look like 4.6 * 10^9. Scientific notation is shorter and easier to read than 4,600,000,000.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "How Does the Bible Explain Fossil Ages Over 6,000 Years (Genesis 1:2)?" How Does the Bible Explain Fossil Ages Over 6,000 Years (Genesis 1:2)? N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/BQA/k/200/How-Does-Bible-Explain-Fossil-Ages-Over-6000-Years-Genesis-12.htm>.…

    • 2378 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    It’s a time of mid cretaceous around 100my ago when the oldest rocks of study area start deposit. The Santa Elena formation is in the deep oceanic environment, this formation consists of the mid-Cretaceous rock types cherty limestone and marl. The rocks exist in this formation are thick, cherty limestone mixed with marly limestone. The rocks in this some finely grained rocks due to organic material from shell and inorganic calcite. The formation also contains many small marine fossils from that period. The Santa Elena Formation has been cut through by the Rio Grande to form the Santa Elena Canyon.…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unit 3 Lab Experiments

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The first thing scientist studied was the meteorites as they studied they try to find facts from the Earth's past. The scientists studied the meteorites to find facts from the past because earth's facts of how it was formed was almost lost when the earth has changed. “The scientist took 9 samples in attempt to learn more about how the Earth changed from it's earlier formation of the early…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bio 201 Review

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    2. Radiometric dating can be used to determine the absolute age of rocks strata because a radioactive parent isotope decays to a daughter isotope at a constant rate. The rate of decay is measured in half life. Measurement of magnetism…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the article, “Reading Between the Fossil Lines,” by Gleason L. Archer (reasons.org, 1 October, 2001), the author states that one of the biggest arguments against the literal validity of Genisis 1 comes from the evidence of the age of fossils and minerals as studied and proven in geology. Fossils are preserved remains of plants, animals and organisms that existed in the past. Paleontologists have recorded significant amounts of data to support that fossils are tangible proof of an earth that has been around longer than 10,000 years. In Progressive Creationism, there is room for rhetoric, allegory, metaphor and hyperbole in interpretations of the Scripture. Fossils’ strong scientific evidence defines an existence of…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Earth vs. New Earth

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many Christian scholars are open to the belief in an old earth. One of these scholars is Colin Humphreys who believes that radioactive dating methods aren’t as accurate as most people think but they can still prove that we have a very old earth. Greg Koukl, is another Christian apologist, speaker, philosopher, and author who believes that the answer to the old earth/new earth lies in the heavens. The stars show light that takes millions of years to get to us. He argues that since were seeing light from the stars, because there millions of light years away, the earth must have been created millions of years ago. John Ankerberg argues that the seventh day of creation is thousands of years long as well as believing the third and sixth days of creation were longer than twenty four hours. “Everyone agrees that it has been at least thousands of years since the time of creation, yet the Bible declares that God rested on the seventh day after His six days of creation (Gen. 2:2-3). According to the book of Hebrews, God is still in His Sabbath rest from creation (4:3-5); hence, the seventh day has been at least six thousand years long, even on the shortest of all the chronologies of humankind (Ankerberg).” He believes the third day was longer than twenty four hours because God created plants and they fully matured, which takes longer than twenty four hours. The reason for his belief in the sixth day being longer is because of the many things God did on this day. He created Adam and Eve as well as creating thousands of animals who were all named by. All of these things would have been very hard to accomplish in the twelve hours of light there were.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some theories say that the Grand Canyon formed 17 million years ago shown by the following evidence “The Grand Canyon is likely between 5 and 6 million years old, according to most geologists and scientists. However, some theorize that the Colorado River began forming the Canyon nearly 17 million years ago” This shows that the Colorado River had begun to form the Grand canyon 17 million years ago. All together this research told me new things I did not know about the Grand Canyon and it’s amazing…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon spark lively debates by geologists. The general scientific consensus, updated at a 2010 conference, holds that the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon beginning 5 million to 6 million years ago.1 Grand Canyon: Location, Formation & Facts - Live Sciencewww.livescience.com/27489-grand-canyon.html-…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    comparative essays

    • 1260 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the Bible it clearly stated in Genesis 1 -5 how the earth was made and the order that God created things and as the Bible states He says that things were good. The scripture itself speaks of only six literal days used to create the earth. As stated by Terry Mortenson, MDiv, PhD (2011) the thoughts of a young earth creationist are as follows “Young-earth creationists believe that the creation days of Genesis 1 were six literal (24-hour) days, which occurred 6,000–12,000 years ago. They believe that about 2,300–3,300 years before Christ, the surface of the earth was radically rearranged by Noah’s…

    • 1260 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Grand Canyon

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From the Great Pyramid of Giza up to the peak of Mt. Everest down to the great depths of the Grand Canyon lie many mysteries on how these natural wonders of the world were created. Some may have been created by the grueling labor of man or the everlasting work of Mother Nature. Over time, numerous ideas and hypothesis have been cleverly created and scientifically backed to explain the phenomenon on the creation of these marvelous sites. One of many favorites that gradually created over the past 2 billion years is the one and only Grand Canyon. The secrecy of this creation has been exposed with 4 different hypothesis all backed by science, however not a sole reasoning has been established. Today I am here to explain my reasoning on which hypothesis I believe is the true victim to the case of how the Grand Canyon actually formed.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    sediment on earth surface

    • 512 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As geologists, we examine layers of sediment on the Earth’s surface to approximate the dates of past geologic time periods. Ah sediment as you know is material like sand, gravel, fossil fragments that is transported by natural processes like wind , water flow or the movement of glaciers. So sediment is transported and then deposited and it forms layers on the Earth’s surface over time. We examine these layers to learn about different geologic time periods including when they began and ended. For example, from about 1.8 million years ago to around 11 thousand years ago was the Pleistocene epic. The Pleistocene epic was an ice age. During this epic, sediment was made by the kind of erosion and weathering that happens when the climate is colder, and part of those sediments are fossils of plants and animals that lived at that time. The Holocene epic followed the Pleistocene epic when the Earth’s climate warmed up around 11 thousand years ago. The Holocene epic is characterized by different sediments, ones that form when the climate is warmer. Because the climate changed, the types of plants and animals changed also. Holocene sediments contain remnants of more recent plants and animals, so it’s pretty easy to differentiate geologically between these two epics.…

    • 512 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics