Stalactites can grow very rapidly (Talk.Origins)

Claim CD250:


 * Stalactites can grow very quickly. Some have been observed to grow more than half an inch per year. The largest stalactites and flowstones could have formed in a few thousand years.

Source: Meyers, Stephen and Robert Doolan, 1987. Rapid stalactites? Creation Magazine 9(4) (Sep.-Nov.): 6-8.

CreationWiki response:

Not true at all. The calcium carbonate Crystal Spring Dome stalactite is a fast growing.

Also, lab experiments, by Emmett L. Williams and others, have shown that calcium carbonate can in fact spawn fast growing stalactites. The problem is that Talk.Origins model for calcium carbonate stalactite formation is completely unreasonable for a post-flood environment.


 * Williams et al., 1976. Deposition of Calcium Carbonate in a Laboratory Setting CRSQ 12(4): 211-212


 * Williams et al., 1977. Solution and Deposition of Calcium Carbonate in a Laboratory Situation II CRSQ 13(4): 192-199


 * Willaims et al., 1978. Solution and Deposition of Calcium Carbonate in a Laboratory Situation III CRSQ 15(2): 88-91


 * Williams et al., 1981. Solution and Deposition of Calcium Carbonate in a Laboratory Situation IV CRSQ 17(4): 205-208

This is true only if carbonic acid did the job, however there is evidence that both processes originally involved sulfuric acid not carbonic acid. Sulfuric acid would greatly speed up bot cave and stalactite formation because it readily devolves limestone. This is supported by none Creationists sources so it seems that Talk Origins data is out of date.
 * Cavern Genesis
 * Cave Geology
 * Limestone
 * Oard, M. J., 1998. Rapid Cave Formation by Sulfuric Acid Dissolution Journal of Creation 12(3): 279-280
 * Note: only the last reference is a Creationist source.

Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence pointing towards the possibility of rapid stalactite formation.


 * Stalactites in Cedarville, Ohio, grew in a mere 35 years. That calculated growth rate was a minimum 0.53 cm3 per year.


 * A mine in Pennsylvania reports a growth rate 40 times that found in Cedarville.


 * A massive stalactite called "Crystal Spring Dome" has been shown to grow at a rate of 2.5 in3 per year.


 * Eric B. Cannell has shown stalactites at Ottawa River ,Quebec, growing at a rate of 4.61 cm3 per year.

Several things need to be noted here:
 * 1)  Given the fact that stalactites form by precipitation and volcanic activity it is likely that these dates are at least partly a result of inheritance of isotopic ratios form their source material. This likely hood is increased if sulfuric acid was involved in the formation  rather than carbonic acid, since sulfuric acid will dissolve substances that carbonic acid can't.
 * 2) Those feature that are dated more than once actually show a rapid formation. In each case the dates are from all along the growth pattern and all of them are within the margin of error of each other, this means that the growth times are statistically zero. They can be any were from 0 - 140 thousand years and 4.5-5.5 thousand years is within this range.

Oxygen isotope measurements are not independent dating methods but they are totally dependent upon the climatic models used to interpret them. Talk Origins interpretation is based on Uniformitarian climatic models. However climatic models based on a recent Global flood would place them just after the Flood at 4.5-5.5 thousand years ago. This is a good example of "Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong."