Evidence Invalidates Geological Column
Evidence in science is the "name of the game." That is, if one has solid evidence
backing his statements, they are likely true and he should be believed. Concerning the
so-called Geological Column or geological time-scale, there is solid evidence (and lots
of it) that there is no such thing as a geological column. It is a fantasy "discovered" by
amateurs 200 years ago and held onto by well-meaning professional geologists ever
since.
Two of the amateurs were: William Smith (a civil engineer and surveyor) and
James Hutton (an agriculturist). They noticed that in sedimentary layers found almost
everywhere there has been uplifting. They guessed (rightly) that the deeper one goes in
examining the strata, the older the layers are. What they did wrongly was to assign dates
to the layers. They had absolutely no calibrated time scale to use in assigning dates.
Dates were selected at random.
"Card files" of strata around the world would be 60 miles deep if they could all be
found in one place. But they never are. Furthermore, they are often, if not usually, out of
the correct order. That is, layers that should be low down are high up, or even on top,
and vice versa.
As we mention above, amateur geologists assumed that fossils found in rocks
would be older low in the strata, and younger higher up. Being evolutionists, they
postulated that new species were continually being formed by their predecessors. Thus,
layers found just above basal rocks were the earliest life forms. As these died out, they
believed new life forms were developing and being fossilized higher in the strata.
Of course, most people know that fossils, by their very nature, are formed quickly or
they would rot before being fossilized. Tender fern leaves, found fossilized in coal, for
instance, would only last a few hours once they were severed from their host plant. So,
we could well surmise, even postulate, that all coal was formed by the sudden burial of
huge forests of ferns and other plants.
The major divisions of Geological Ages (per modern geologists), with
brief explanations of each, are shown in the following scale of relative
geological time, which is arranged in chronological order with the
"oldest" division at the bottom, the "youngest" at the top.
Major Divisions of Geologic Time
Quaternary
Period
Cenozoic Era
(Age of Recent Life)
Tertiary
Period
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The several geologic Eras
were originally named
Primary, Secondary,
Tertiary, and Quaternary.
The first two names are
no longer used; Tertiary
and Quaternary have
been retained but used as
Period designations.
Cretaceous
Period
Derived from Latin word
for chalk (Creta) and first
applied to extensive
deposits that form white
cliffs along the English
channel.
Jurassic
Period
Named for the Jura
Mountains, located
between France and
Switzerland, where rocks
of this age were first
studied.
Triassic
Period
Taken from word "Trias"
in recognition of the 3-fold
character of these rocks
in Europe.
Permian
Period
Named after the province
of Perm, U.S.S.R., where
these rocks were first
studied.
Pennsylvanian
Period
Named for the State of
Pennsylvania where these
rocks have produced
much coal.
Mississippian
Period
Named for the Mississippi
River Valley where these
rocks are well-exposed.
Devonian
Period
Named after the
Devonshire County,
England, where these
rocks were first studied.
Mesozoic Era
(Age of Medieval Life)
Paleozoic Era
(Age of Ancient Life)
Silurian
Period
Ordovician
Period
Named after Celtic tribes,
the Silures and the
Ordovices, that lived in
Wales during the Roman
Conquest.
Cambrian
Period
Taken from Roman name
for Wales (Cambria)
where rocks containing
the earliest evidence of
complex forms of life were
first studied.
------------
The time between the
birth of the planet and the
appearance of complex
forms of life. More than
80% of earth's estimated
4.5 billion years falls
within this Era.
Precambrian Era
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"Living Fossils" Sound Death Knell for "Geological Column"
Continuing, we want now to examine evidence which doesn't just cripple the
concept of a geological column -- but rather DESTROYS it! What is this which can
destroy a "fact" of science so necessary to evolution? It is "Living Fossils." They
eliminate "index fossils" which are used to date geological layers. How can we possibly
make such a dogmatic statement? Because these "index fossils" have become "living
fossils" in such large numbers that they can no longer be used to date any of the layers.
What are "living fossils?" They are fossils which are believed by evolutionists to
have been formed millions of years ago. Since each of them supposedly evolved into
new and different life forms it is hoped that they will never be found in later strata.
Evolutionists depend on these index fossils. So much so that they have developed a
series of them from the earliest to the latest. (See the graphic on this.)
Why do we think that "living fossils" eliminate the geological column? The answer
is quite simple. But the impact of it somehow seems to have escaped evolutionists. To
grasp the implications of this, here is an example of what we mean. A well-known
"living fossil" is a fish called coelacanth." It was found fossilized early on and the
estimate, or guess, of its age was 300 million years. Later estimates (guesses) reduced
the age of this fossil to 150 million years, and still later it was reduced to 75 million
years. (Those are enormous differences, of course, and should cause caution on the part
of researchers.)
This writer does not believe in such enormously high dates. However, let's grant
that they are acceptable and look at the reasoning behind such vast ages. If the
coelacanth. is used as an index fossil it must have died out entirely 300 million years
ago (or 150 or 75 million, whichever is felt to be the most likely). Thus it should be
impossible to find any living on the earth at the present time.
But, LIVING COELACANTH HAVE BEEN FOUND IN MADAGASCAR and
they are EXACTLY THE SAME as the fossils! They never evolved, but have continued
the same ever since they were created. They cannot be "index fossils" anymore because
they would have existed (in the evolutionary time frame) 300 million years ago. They
would also have been found 75 million years ago, and they were still around 10 million
years ago, and even 1 million, or 100,000 years ago, and so on, down to this very hour!
They cannot be used to date any stratum in the column -- none at all -- for they are still
being found alive and unchanged.
However, the coelacanth. is not alone. There are large numbers of "living fossils,"
all of which are evidence against the Geological Column, causing its collapse -- except
in the minds of those who don't want evidence, but believe it by faith!
The facts – the evidence – is stacked against geological dating through index
fossils. Evolutionary believers no longer have "young" and "old" rocks with certainty,
because "living fossils" have been present for long intervals even though their fossils
have not been preserved between those intervals.
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In the diagram with this article are found some of the better-known living fossils.
Less well-known fossils are just that because their Latin names are used which makes
them unfamiliar to the layman, and even somewhat exotic. On the other hand, we have
used familiar names for other index fossils found in the same strata.
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Radioactive Isotopes Do Not Help in this Situation
There are several of these, but they cannot help in dating because they cannot be
calibrated against known dates. For instance, to take a person's body temperature one
needs a calibrated thermometer. Without it all is guesswork. The patient might seem to
have a fever, but we can only guess at their temperature without a thermometer
calibrated using a standard instrument. Nor can we tell the age of a rock using isotopic
dating unless the instruments used to measure the quantifies of isotopes have been
calibrated against known ages. But, sorry to say, there are no historical records beyond
5,000 years ago.
Historical records are the proper basis for ALL dating, both scientific and historical
even though that fact is ignored by many evolutionists. We expect geologists to object
that there are several methods used to date rocks and they all show similar ages. Thus
they can be trusted to be reasonably correct. But, they cannot!* And here are reasons
why not:
1. It is impossible to know the original ratio of the "parent" element to the
"daughter" element in the sample being tested. We only can know, for sure, how
much of the elements there are at present and what the present decay rate is.
2. It is impossible to know whether the decay rate of the isotope has been the same
through the ages.
3. It is impossible to know whether any of the parent or daughter elements have
leached in or out of the sample.
Please note that what we are measuring using radio isotopes is NOT time.
Measurements are made of the quantity of selected elements in the rock sample.
Presumably, the decay rates of these radioactive elements can be measured in time.
However, their weaknesses are listed above.
Extinction Is the Opposite of Living Fossils
These are the truly extinct: For instance dinosaurs, for the most part seem to be
extinct although there are still a host of other creatures remaining from the "dinosaur
age." These include: turtles, gavials, crocodiles, etc.
"Recently" extinct: For instance, mammoths are extinct, but not fossilized.
Endangered species: These are being protected so that they do not become extinct!
The point is: GENES + MUTATIONS = EXTINCTION, NOT EVOLUTION!
*Except for the C14 method which can be calibrated fairly accurately back to 5,000 years before the
present [BP]. But earlier than that, historical records are not available, making dates highly suspect,
according to Willard Libby, the discoverer of the C14 dating method.
© 2003 David Livingston
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