Fossil record

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

The fossil record is a "recording" of history. Much like the growth rings in a tree or the layers found in ice cores, the earth is covered in layers (strata) of sedimentary rock which represent a sequence of events. More specifically this strata records the relative times when the fossilized organisms were buried by sediment. In contrast to many records of human history, however, layers of the "fossil record" come without universally recognized methods of dating. Some creationists prefer to use a phrase like "fossil layers" to avoid the connotation that the Geologic Column is evidence for the macroevolution of living forms over millions of years.

1 Geological Column
2 Uniformitarianism
3 Catastrophism
4 Fossilization
5 Global Flood
6 Related References
7 See Also

Geological Column

Main Article: Geological Column

Almost all fossils on earth are found buried in this stratified sedimentary rock. These layers are characterized as horizontally indefinite or laterally continuous. They can be traced across the entire continents, and correlated with layers in other countries. Except where erosion and uplift has been significant, there is not one square inch on the planet not covered in hundreds of feet of flood sediment and in places kilometers of thickness. Many of these rock layers have been given names and are frequently diagrammed in a cross-section known as the geologic column.

Uniformitarianism

Main Article: Uniformitarianism

It is the interpretation of this strata that remains a central point of debate between the creation and evolution camps. Creationists believe the fossil record represents the relative times of death of organisms during the global flood, while evolutionists believe it describes hundreds of millions of years of evolution on earth. The Biblical flood was in fact a long-standing interpretation of geologic formations until modern geologists such as Charles Lyell began arguing in the 1830s that the earth had been shaped by slow and gradual forces working over a vast timescale. This thinking came to be known as uniformitarianism.

Catastrophism

Main Article: Catastrophism

The extensive distribution of sedimentary rocks would quickly be interpreted as the result of a single major catastrophe by geologists but for the presence today of living animals whose existence atop of these formations must be explained naturalistically. Given the depth and distribution of the sediments that cover the earth, it is a foregone conclusion that no terrestrial animal could have survived their deposition if formed during a single event. Likewise, if the flood occurred as described in the Bible, animals could not have survived without God's supernatural intervention. God told Noah there was going to be a flood, gave him instructions on how to survive the event, and had them board the ark before the flood began. The evidence from a historic scenario like Noah's flood could simply not be believed by a naturalist. The only possible naturalistic interpretation is that the organisms alive today were able to survive the deposition of these massive rock layers without such assistance. A naturalist must believe the geological column accumulated at an extremely slow and gradual rate over millions of years for the many fragile organisms alive today to avoid extinction.

Fossilization

Main Article:Fossilization

Today fossilization is an extremely rare event and is simply not expected to occur on a global scale. Decomposition is instead the rule following death, unless the matter is buried rapidly and to a depth that would prevent microbial digestion and oxidation. Hard shelled animals that burrow into sediment are somewhat expected to be found as fossils, along with large and heavy bones through chance circumstances. However, every kind of animal alive today is found in the fossil record. Many of these are completely intact, and some specimens show literally no signs of decomposition. Other evidence such as polystrate fossils, or the fact that marine fossils are found throughout the geological column, points strongly to a flood-based interpretation of the fossil record. It should also be noted that many of the animals alive today are virtually identical to their fossilized ancestors, which argues strongly against their having been fossilized million of years ago.

Global Flood

Main Article: Global Flood

The secular interpretation of earth's history assumes there were repeated floods and other catastrophes which caused the extinction of many animals, but were of insufficient intensity to destroy all terrestrial life. However, the Bible says there was a flood that no terrestrial animal or human could survive without divine intervention. And indeed, a single event capable of depositing the entire geological column would not be survivable. It is certainly a fact that cataclysms have occurred in the earth's past, and vast layers of sediment testify to these disasters. When you examine the evidence closely you will see that the fossil record has simply been misinterpreted by the atheistic scientific community, and is instead a recording of a devastating global flood.