[BroJoeK]

Kalamata: "Baloney.
There is no way to date the layers.
But the evidence is overwhelming that the layers were deposited rapidly, on top of each other.
The flatness and purity of the layers is evidence of hydrologic sorting:"

There are dozens of different methods to date geological strata, all of which produce consistent ancient-earth results.
As for "flatness and purity", you yourself have posted a photo of layers which are anything but.

Finally, this whole suggestion of "hydrologic sorting" is pure fantasy, precisely the kind of conjecturing you claim science is not supposed to do, right?

Kalamata: "Similar flatness and purity can be found in the coal layers:"

And yet, in no conceivable way can coal layers be explained by alleged "hydrologic sorting".

Kalamata: "A bench is a sedimentary rock layer between coal seams.
Some benches are only a few inches thick, which rules out the "swamp" theory of coal formation."

Complete rubbish, since swamps can quickly come & go, as water levels rise & fall.

Kalamata: "Another problem with the uniformitarian theory is missing layers.
Approximately 100 million years of layering is missing between the Muav and Temple Butte limestone in the Grand Canyon."

Wait, 100 million years missing from a young earth?
No, that's only inexplicable to your fantasy "hydrologic sorting".
In real geology it simply represents a geological period without deposits at that particular site.

"The next two periods of geologic history, the Ordovician and the Silurian, are missing from the Grand Canyon sequence.[25]
Geologists do not know if sediments were deposited in these periods and were later removed by erosion or if they were never deposited in the first place.[31]"

It happens I know a little about Ordovician and Silurian deposits because years ago I went fossil hunting there near Niagara Falls.
Their missing from the Grand Canyon simply says the land then wasn't under water (more likely, imho), or such deposits as were made, later eroded away (possible).
This map shows Silurian deposits in New York and near the Grand Canyon, but not necessarily in it.

Kalamata: "Strata are typically flat (e.g., the same thickness, everywhere), yet they should show extensive erosion over long periods of time.
There is also virtually non-existent bioturbation (from soil-boring critters), which should be common in these sedimentary layers."

Strata are typically laid down flat but often then folded into synclines & anticlines, which do erode considerably.
"Bioturbation" is sometimes found in fossils, here are two examples -- Stromatilites and Planolite:

Kalamata: "There are also marine (ocean) fossils in almost every sedimentary layer, including the top ones.
That in itself is evidence of a global flood."

It's evidence that those layers were under water when formed.

[Kalamata]

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GEOLOGY
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>>Kalamata: "There is no way to date the layers. But the evidence is overwhelming that the layers were deposited rapidly, on top of each other. The flatness and purity of the layers is evidence of hydrologic sorting:"
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "There are dozens of different methods to date geological strata, all of which produce consistent ancient-earth results.

I don't trust you enough to take your word for it. Explain those dating methods to us, and show us how they are calibrated. Explain why we should trust them.

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>>Joe the Science Denier says, "As for "flatness and purity", you yourself have posted a photo of layers which are anything but."

I don't recall posting any such picture. Perhaps you mistook vertical shear for horizontal erosion. Please repost that picture so I can see what you are talking about.

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>>Joe the Science Denier says, "Finally, this whole suggestion of "hydrologic sorting" is pure fantasy, precisely the kind of conjecturing you claim science is not supposed to do, right?"

Sorting of transported sediment occurs in every flood. It never fails. In the global flood, in which the earth was spinning about 1000 mph inside a giant ball of water, there was planar (flat) sediment layering, the evidence of which we observe world-wide. This explains the physics:

"As the velocity increases to a Froude number of 1 the dunes are smoothed out and the bed form assumes a planar surface. This stage is termed shooting flow. Sand is still being transported. Now, however, sand may be deposited in horizontal beds with the grains aligned parallel to the current." [Richard C. Selley, "Applied Sedimentology." Academic Press, 2nd Ed, 2000, pp.95-96]

There was additional sorting by liquifaction due to the massive tides (resulting from the absence of land obstructions.) The overall effect was that sediment, plants and animals were sorted by density, which is how the earth became covered with thick, relatively pure layers of chalk, sandstone, shale, etc., embedded with highly sorted plants and animals, including the vegetation that gave us the coal seams (which was most likely tree bark.)

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>>Kalamata: "Similar flatness and purity can be found in the coal layers:"
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "And yet, in no conceivable way can coal layers be explained by alleged "hydrologic sorting".

That is the only way, unless you can figure out how we ended up with flat coal seams a few inches apart, separated by thin, flat layers of sedimentary rock or soil, Such as these:

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>>Kalamata: "A bench is a sedimentary rock layer between coal seams. Some benches are only a few inches thick, which rules out the "swamp" theory of coal formation."
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "Complete rubbish, since swamps can quickly come & go, as water levels rise & fall.

LOL! That is funny! I see you haven't thought this through. Check these out:

Coal seams are typically flat, top and bottom, and are devoid of roots, which means, there is no evidence they were formed in swamps. The swamp theory is another "just-so" story -- a unverifiable story based on absolutely no evidence.

Upright, rootless, fossilized trees, supposedly spanning many thousands of years of sediment according to the evolutionism timeline, with some piercing multiple coal layers, are rather common, indicating the coal seams formed quickly. Derek Ager explains:

"Broadhurst and Loring (1970 and earlier papers by Fred Broadhurst) recorded standing trees up to 10 m high in the Lancashire coalfield of north-west England. They showed that rapid sedimentation had alter¬ nated with slow, rather like ballroom dancing - 'slow, slow, quick quick, slow'. Obviously sedimentation had to be very rapid to bury a tree in a standing position before it rotted and fell down. David Smith of BP did an instant calculation when 1 had talked about these things, as to what this meant in terms of rates of sedimentation (personal communication 1988). 1 later did my own calculation and it proved even more surprising. If one estimates the total thickness of the British Coal Measures as about 1000 m, laid down in about 10 million years, then, assuming a constant rate of sedimentation, it would have taken 100,000 years to bury a tree 10 m high, which is ridiculous. Alternatively, if a 10 m tree were buried in 10 years, that would mean 1000 km in a million years or 10,000 km in 10 million years (i.e. the duration of the coal measures). This is equally ridiculous and we cannot escape the conclusion that sedimentation was at times very rapid indeed and at other times there were long breaks in sedimentation, though it looks both uniform and continuous." [Derek V. Ager, "The New Catastrophism: The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History." Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 42019 9, 1993, Chap 4, p.49]

Derek Ager was a devout evolutionist who served as a professor Geology and as President of the British Geological Association; yet, he rejected uniformitarianism, generally. However, you can "see" him kiss the ring of Charles Lyell in the last sentence in order to keep the evolutionism fundamentalists off his back.

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>>Kalamata: "Another problem with the uniformitarian theory is missing layers. Approximately 100 million years of layering is missing between the Muav and Temple Butte limestone in the Grand Canyon."
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "Wait, 100 million years missing from a young earth?"

100 million years to an evolutionist is as a day to a young earth creationist. LOL!

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>>Joe the Science Denier says, "No, that's only inexplicable to your fantasy "hydrologic sorting". In real geology it simply represents a geological period without deposits at that particular site."

For 100 million years? With very little erosion? 100 million years is a long time to sit around and look pretty while waiting to be covered with sediment:

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>>Kalamata: "Strata are typically flat (e.g., the same thickness, everywhere), yet they should show extensive erosion over long periods of time. There is also virtually non-existent bioturbation (from soil-boring critters), which should be common in these sedimentary layers."
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "Strata are typically laid down flat but often then folded into synclines & anticlines, which do erode considerably."

Explain the lack of erosion between the flat strata, this time without equivocation.

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>>Joe the Science Denier says, ""Bioturbation" is sometimes found in fossils, here are two examples -- Stromatilites and Planolite:

Very funny. Now show us a photo of bioturbation that destroyed the lamination in a thick layer, this time without equivocation.

For the rest of you, bioturbation is the mixing of sediment by boring animals, such as worms, clams, etc.. Typically within a year after a hurricane drops a load of sand in front of a beach, the lamination of the layering disappears. This is an example unbioturbated lamination:

Evolutionists have labeled fine laminated layers as "varves". This laminated layer was folded or "bent" due a slight uplift and/or side compression before it completely hardened:

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>>Kalamata: "There are also marine (ocean) fossils in almost every sedimentary layer, including the top ones. That in itself is evidence of a global flood."
>>Joe the Science Denier says, "It's evidence that those layers were under water when formed.

Better said, it is evidence that the entire world was under sea water. God's Word says it was from a single flood that began "in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month". God also said that he would never again send a flood to destroy the earth. Yet, you say multiple floods. Who should I believe: you or God?

BTW, the presence of fossilized closed clams is evidence of rapid sedimentary deposition, world-wide.

Mr. Kalamata