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Cataclysmic Geology vs. Uniformitarian Geology
“One of the principal reasons that Earth is a rough place to live is illustrated by the argument between Earth scientists who can’t agree on the basic formation of the Earth and the history of its formation.
There are two conflicting schools of thought on the subject of geology, each with their own theories. To better understand them, let’s review some basics on the entire subject.
GEOLOGY is the study of the structure of the Earth’s crust and the formation and development of its various layers, including individual rock types and early life forms found as fossils in rocks.
Based on the most reliable sources of information currently available, the Earth can best be understood as a slightly pear-shaped ball floating in space. It is held in orbit around a star by a balance of gravitational attraction and centrifugal force.
The mean distance of the Earth from its star is 92,897,000 miles. The star (our sun) is itself held in place relative to the Milky Way Galaxy and in turn to the rest of the universe by similar forces.
The Earth is moving through space at the rate of approximately 45,000 mph. The Earth’s orbit around its star is 583,400,000 miles, and the Earth travels along this orbit at a velocity of about 66,000 mph. Earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds. A point on the equator is therefore moving at a rate of a little more than 1,000 mph relative to its axis. The Milky Way galaxy as a whole, however, is moving toward the stellar constellation Leo at about 375 miles per second.
In addition to these primary motions, three other components of the total motion of Earth exist: the precession of the equinoxes, periodic variation in the inclination of Earth’s axis caused by the gravitational pulls of the sun and moon, and variation of latitude.
The cold, rigid, rocky crust of Earth extends to depths of 60 miles. Oceans cover approximately 70 percent of the surface of the Earth. The average depth of the oceans is 12,447 feet, more than five times the average height of the continents.
How stable is the real estate on which we Earth-bound Homo sapiens build our farmhouses?
Earth has a very, very thin outer layer comprised of two shells. The crust and upper mantle surrounds a core that becomes increasingly hot and viscous as you approach the center. The outer crust literally “floats” on top of this molten center.
The inside of Earth is relatively liquid, and the crust is relatively brittle. The crust has developed cracks throughout its entire surface as a result of having cooled down from a previously more liquid state, just like dirt cracks as it dries out in the hot sun. Therefore, this brittle crust has broken up into a dozen or so independently moving pieces called “plates”. Both the land masses and oceans are “floating” on top of these plates. Shearing of these partially molten rocks, which are about 60 miles thick, enables the continents to drift around the Earth’s core.
As the plates move, so do the oceans and land masses. As the plates pull apart from each other,the resulting cracksallow the molten rock underneath to “leak” out. This results in volcanic activity that can create newmountains or land masses. Conversely, the plates crash into, and rub against, each other.The result is an earthquake. And, sometimes new mountain ranges are pushed up or floods occur on the coastlines of land masses.
Considerable evidence from the fossils found in layers of rock around the world demonstrates that the existing continents of Earth were once part of larger land masses, called “super-continents”. Other continents have apparently been submerged beneath oceans, and still others have broken up into smaller pieces through the movement of the plates.
The most obvious evidence of this is that the continents of Africa and South America appear to fit together perfectly when seen from space. Even the mighty Himalayan mountains, the highest mountain chain on the planet, was once submerged beneath an ocean, as demonstrated by many species of trilobite fossils (ancient sea creatures) found throughout the mountains.
The entire contour of the Earth has now been mapped from space by a formerly top-secret Geostat satellite. These maps also show the contours of the ocean floors. Such a global map has recently been declassified and released by the United States Navy, which began the mapping process in 1987, to enable submarines to navigate safely around the world under the ocean. This map clearly shows the “stretch marks” of the planet where the existing continents have separated from each other and where the tectonic plates, or fault lines, exist around the planet.
The theory of Uniformitarian Geology assumes, much like the Theory of Evolution, that Earth spontaneously evolved from a chaotic cloud of cosmic dust particles in an orderly, gradual condensation, and continued through a progressive succession of small changes that have resulted in the existing lay of the land. (Of course, they do not say where the original “cosmic dust” came from. We’re supposed to assume that it was just there already.)
The theory of Cataclysmic Geology, on the other hand, assumes that the Earth was created and has progressed through a series of sudden disastrous concatenations which make living on planet Earth a very temporary, risky and unpredictable proposition:
1/ The magnetic poles of the planet shift periodically.
2/ The position of the land masses change continually and suddenly.
3/ Mountain ranges rise and fall.
4/ Ice ages come and go.
5/ Changing levels of the oceans flood the land randomly.
All together, the life forms of Earth have a rough time as the result of volcanoes, floods, ice ages, temperature changes, earthquakes, tidal waves, drifting land masses and the resulting famine and pestilence which ensue.
The less-than-exact science of Geology is subject to the same pitfalls of illogical thinking which seem to exist in the Land of Oz. Both sides of the argument are looking for an unobtainable absolute law of some sort. As usual, both schools of thought are missing information, have false information, and can’t get their dates straight. Each side of the argument is limited by its own assumptions and vested interests.
A workable solution to the mysteries of Geology probably lies somewhere in between and/or beyond the conflicting theories of Cataclysmic vs. Uniformitarian Geology.”
— Excerpt from THE OZ FACTORS, by Lawrence R. Spencer
Pointing out the truth behind the cover story January 18, 2011