Posted on 02/25/2009 8:17:44 AM PST by GodGunsGuts
Stunning New Evidence of a Higher Ancient Sea Level
by Brian Thomas, M.S.*
According to the record in Genesis, there was a time when the entire surface of the earth was inundated with water. This possibility has been ridiculed because of questions regarding the origin and destination of all the extra water that supposedly would have been required to accomplish this.1 But newly described fossils of marine creatures found in a rock quarry in Bermuda indicate that ancient sea levels used to be 70 feet higher than they are today, which presents a puzzle to standard geological thinking.2
Geologist Paul Hearty’s investigation a decade ago into similar sea-level signs “was met with skepticism among geologists,” but his team’s new data is even more compelling. Hearty and Smithsonian zoologist Storrs Olson, whose research appears in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, found “cobbles and marine sediments,” along with “rim cements.” These features could only exist where they were found if the sea level had been sustained at a higher elevation.3
There is little room for doubt now that sea levels have changed over time. This evidence does not fit with naturalistic theories of origins, which assume that presently observable processes were responsible for all past geologic events. Such an assumption arbitrarily omits the testimony of ancient written records, including the Bible and its account of Noah’s Flood. According to Scripture, the ancient earth was overflowed by water entirely. Thus, at some point, the sea level would have been higher than it is today.
The evidence at Bermuda can be interpreted according to either a creationist or an evolutionary viewpoint. However, the naturalistic evolutionary view must blindly guess at what could have caused the ocean to be 70 feet higher in the past, while Bible-based history relies on the eyewitness account of a world-destroying flood—a fitting place to begin an interpretation of the Bermuda marine fossils.
References
1. It has been noted elsewhere that “if the earth's surface were completely flat,…water would cover the earth to a depth of about 8,000 feet.” (Morris, J. D. 2003. Did Noah’s Flood Cover the Himalayan Mountains? Acts & Facts. 32 (9).) More than enough water exists to account for the global Flood, and the reshaping of the earth that would have taken place during such a cataclysm is reflected in the deep oceans and high mountains that currently exist.
2. Scientists Uncover a Dramatic Rise in Sea Level and Its Broad Ramifications. Smithsonian Institution press release, February 9, 2009.
3. Olson, S. L., and P. J. Hearty. 2009. A sustained +21 m sea-level highstand during MIS 11 (400 ka): direct fossil and sedimentary evidence from Bermuda. Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (3-4): 271-285.
ping!
This is a joke, right???
Complete bunk.
Bermuda Natural History
Geologic History
The information for this summary is from a lecture given at BBSR by David Malmquist.
Bermuda is a volcanic sea mountain that formed from the mid-Atlantic ridge approximately 100 million years ago. Through the processes of plate tectonics and sea floor spreading, this volcano moved to the west of the mid-Atlantic ridge and became extinct. About 30 million years ago, the volcano erupted again, probably due to it floating over a hot spot in the Earth’s crust. Afterwards, the volcano became extinct again, and has remained so to this day. Bermudians do not seem to worry about an eruption anytime soon! Actually, there are two calderas, or mouths, of the volcano. There are both located under water - one is at Hamilton Harbor and the other is at Castle Harbor.
Over the millions of years, a limestone cap has formed on top of the volcanic rock. The origin of this limestone is living organisms - those that make up and live in the coral reef. There are two categories here: reef builders and reef breakers. Reef builders, which include coral and the algae that live symbiotically with them, produce a calcium carbonate skeleton. Reef breakers, such as parrotfish, come along and eat the algae that is living on the coral. In the process, they inevitably break off and ingest some of the calcium carbonate. This calcium carbonate passes through the gut of the fish and comes out as sand (lime sand, to be exact). Over time, as sea level fluctuated, this sand was pushed up onto the volcanic rock and sand dunes were formed. Through the processes of dissolution and cementation, this sand became rock (limestone). Dissolution and cementation involve acidic rain (all rain is naturally, slightly acidic because of dissolved carbon dioxide from the air) falling on the sand and dissolving it. When the water evaporates, limestone is formed.
To summarize, Bermuda is an underwater volcano with a limestone cap. When one looks at the natural terrain today, only the limestone cap is visible. Of course, one can also see plenty of sand (yes, it is pink!) and also some rich, red soil known as terra rossa soil. You may be wondering why the sand is pink. It is because of organisms called forams, whose shells are pink and are mixed in with the sand formed by the reef builders and breakers.You may also be wondering where the terra rossa soil came from. Believe it or not, scientists believe that much of it is atmospheric dust that has been blown to Bermuda from the Sahara desert (by hurricanes in the summer) and from the Great Plains of North America (by westerly winds in the winter)! There is also evidence (the presence of a lot of phosphate) that bird guano has contributed to the formation of terra rossa soil. Another interesting geologic phenomenon on Bermuda is the existence of many caves. These formed when acidic rain dissolved some of the limestone as it percolated dwon and then out to sea. This would lead to there being a long tunnel. Then, the tunnel ceiling collapsed in some places, but not in others, forming caves.
Source:
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.
The Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) was founded in 1903. It is located on St. George’s Island in Bermuda. The BBSR has three main functions: to conduct oceanographic research, to educate others about its work, and to provide facilities for visitors (scientists, teachers, students). The facilities include laboratories, vessels, lecture and meeting rooms, accomodations, transportation, a library with computers, and knowledgable and friendly support staff.
So, did the ocean level drop, or did the land level rise?
I think the earth might have gotten folded and pushed up due to runaway subduction of the continental plates (Google: John Baumgardner Ph.D. geologist for more info).
Archeoligical evidence from the 1066 Battle of Hastings shows that sea levels were 10-15 feet higher during the 10th/11th centuries, too.
“Stunning New Evidence”
Well, it certainly would seem to have had that effect on you, unless you have, as they say, “a previously existing condition”.
Your endless spamming of rubbish detracts from the general excellence of this site.
Yea, but mountains go up to 18,000 feet plus.
Huh? Rising and falling sea levels due to various natural processes, such as plate tectonics, ice ages and warming, etc are commonly accepted as just one of those 'is' items, like a tree growing. We even have seen this with the Indonesian earthquake a few years back where some islands are now completely covered in water while others have added land due to plate tectonics.
Sometimes I think these ‘scientists’ who push young earth Creationism are really trying to undermine religion by making the dumbest arguments.. it makes some Christians look like fools who blindly follow some of them and repeat this ‘evidence’.
When I was a teenager, we drove to the west coast across the country. I can't remember exactly where it was, but somewhere near Salt Lake City in Utah, think it may have been west of there, there are mountains that rise above the desert floor.
My father thought he saw a high water marks on those mountains, could have been as much as 70 feet, from ages ago (some would say millenia). So he must have read something because he was looking for it, didn't just happen to notice it. Whatever it was or wasn't, maybe there is another hypothesis for it now.
A higher elevation and regional phenomenon would explain that; it wouldn't necessarily have been related to sea levels.
Scientists Uncover a Dramatic Rise in Sea Level and Its Broad Ramifications
Feb. 9, 2009
Scientists have found proof in Bermuda that the planet’s sea level was once more than 21 meters (70 feet) higher about 400,000 years ago than it is now. Their findings were published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Storrs Olson, research zoologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and geologist Paul Hearty of the Bald Head Island Conservancy discovered sedimentary and fossil evidence in the walls of a limestone quarry in Bermuda that documents a rise in sea level during an interglacial period of the Middle Pleistocene in excess of 21 meters above its current level. Hearty and colleagues had published preliminary evidence of such a sea-level rise nearly a decade ago, which was met with skepticism among geologists. This marine fossil evidence now provides unequivocal evidence of the timing and extent of this event.
The nature of the sediments and fossil accumulation found by Olson and Hearty was not compatible with the deposits left by a tsunami but rather with the gradual, yet relatively rapid, increase in the volume of the planet’s ocean caused by melting ice sheets.
A rise in sea level to such a height would have ramifications well beyond geology and climate modeling. For the organisms of coastal areas, and particularly for low islands and archipelagos, such a rise would have been catastrophic. The Florida peninsula, for example, would have been reduced to a relatively small archipelago along the higher parts of its central ridge.
“We have only to look at Bermuda to begin to assess the impact for terrestrial organisms or seabirds dependant on dry land for nesting sites,” said Olson. “This group of islands in the Atlantic was so compromised as a nesting site for seabirds that at least one species of shearwater became extinct as well as the short-tailed albatross, marking the end of all resident albatrosses in the North Atlantic.”
Determining the timing and extent of this global rise in sea level is not only important for interpreting the influence that it may have had on biogeographical patterns and extinctions of organisms on islands and low-lying continental coastal areas, it is also critical for anticipating the possible effects of future climate change. This particular interglacial period is considered by some scientists to be a suitable comparison to our current interglacial period. With future carbon dioxide levels possibly rising higher than any time in the past million years, it is important to consider the potential effects on polar ice sheets.
Biogeographers, conservationists and many others in the biological sciences must take these findings into consideration, Olson urged. “These findings are incredibly important and have major relevance because of their potential predictive value since this sea-level rise took place during the interglacial period most similar to the present one now in progress. It thus becomes essential that the full extent and duration of this event be more widely recognized and acknowledged.”
http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/nmnh_sea_level_rise.htm
>>>Complete bunk.
Yet this celebration of ignorance is prominently displayed as NEWS, instead of CHAT, RELIGION, or CRACKPOTS.
A sustained +21 m sea-level highstand during MIS 11 (400 ka): direct fossil and sedimentary evidence from Bermuda
Storrs L. Olsona, , and Paul J. Heartyb, c, 1,
aDivision of Birds, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, P. O. Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
bBald Head Island Conservancy, Bald Head Island, NC 28461, USA
cGeoQuEST Research Centre, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia
Received 2 May 2008; revised 17 October 2008; accepted 3 November 2008. Available online 6 December 2008.
Abstract
A small, protected karstic feature exposed in a limestone quarry in Bermuda preserved abundant sedimentary and biogenic materials documenting a transgressive phase, still-stand, and regressive phase of a sea-level in excess of 21.3 m above present during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (400 ka) as determined by U/Th dating and amino acid racemization. Cobbles and marine sediments deposited during the high-energy transgressive phase exhibit rim cements indicating a subsequent phreatic environment. This was succeeded stratigraphically by a still-stand deposition of fine calcareous lagoonal sediments containing bioclasts of red algae and benthic and planktonic foraminifera that was intensely burrowed by marine invertebrates, probably upogebiid shrimp, that could not be produced under any condition other than sustained marine submergence. Overlying this were pure carbonate beach sands of a low-energy regressive phase containing abundant remains of terrestrial and marine vertebrates and invertebrates. The considerable diversity of this fauna along with taphonomic evidence from seabird remains indicates deposition by high run-up waves over a minimum duration of months, if not years. The maximum duration has yet to be determined but probably did not exceed one or two thousand years. The most abundant snails in this fauna are two species indicative of brackish water and high-tide line showing that a Ghyben-Herzberg lens must have existed at > + 20 m. The nature of these sediments and fossil accumulation is incompatible with tsunami deposition and, given the absence of evidence for tectonic uplift of the Bermuda pedestal or platform, provide proof that sea-level during MIS 11 exceeded +20 m, a fact that has widespread ramifications for geologists, biogeographers, and human demographics along the world’s coastlines.
WOW!!! So all the mountains ranges in the world and deep gorges in the Oceans are less than 6K years old? That assumes some time between Adam&Eve at 6K years and Noah.
I grew up in private Christian schools that taught young earth and the reasoning they gave was that when the water came up from the earth to flood, it created the mountains. Of course, there is no explaining how the Earth held that much water in the first place and where are these vast, empty chambers that billions of cube miles of water would have been in... the earth would have had to be hollow.
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