Large collections of fossils indicate catastrophism
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Contents |
Claim
There are many places where fossils occur in great numbers. These vast fossil beds indicate catastrophic rapid burial, not gradualistic conditions.
Source
- Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Master Books, Arkansas, pp. 97-100.
Responses
- Fossil beds with layers of rock between fossil deposits indicate that they were not all laid down at the same time.
- Catastrophic events in the short-term blend into a gradualistic background over the longer-term of geological history that is not easily conceived by humans with our century(+/-) personal time perspective. So the hundred year flood looks pretty catastrophic, but the millennium flood more so. In the Ashfall Fossil State Park in Nebraska excellent fossils exist because volcanic ash from a gigantic eruption quickly killed the animals. Events of this magnitude are rare, but in fact do repeat. So in a 4.5 billion year history there are high-, medium- and low-frequency events, any one of which may appear as sudden change.
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Fallacies
References
- Poldervaart, Arie, 1955. Chemistry of the earth's crust. pp. 119-144 In: Poldervaart, A., ed., Crust of the Earth, Geological Society of America Special Paper 62, Waverly Press, MD.
- Ricklefs, Robert, 1993. The Economy of Nature, W. H. Freeman, New York.
- Schadewald, Robert, 1982. Six 'Flood' arguments Creationists can't answer. Creation/Evolution 9: 12-17.
