Adam When?

    Now that we have begun to understand some of the problems with carbon 14 dating, as well as some of its dependable characteristics, it would be interesting to try to use it as a tool to attempt a reconstruction of the past. In view of the fact that the Bible indicates that the world is about 13,000 years of age, carbon 14 should prove ideal as a help in this effort because 13,000 years is easily within the time span of carbon dating.

    To attempt this reconstruction without the Biblical statement, which alone gives an exact timetable, would be exceedingly foolhardy. As we have seen, there is no trustworthy method of checking the errors of carbon 14 dating earlier than written history. Moreover, it gives some clues concerning such phenomena as the conditions of the world before the flood and the scope of magnitude of the flood. Thus, we have considerable information which is denied the scientist who chooses to rely only on the secular evidence.

    It must be admitted, of course, that any reconstruction of the past will be speculative. The world is in the bondage of corruption and much of the available secular evidence is untrustworthy. The Noachian Flood was so catastrophic that normally it would defy any attempt at a reconstruction of history. Nevertheless, we would dare attempt such reconstruction only because of the exquisite reliability of the Biblical record.

    In making this attempt we, too, must make some assumptions. These will automatically weaken our conclusions. We shall, however, try to minimize these assumptions so that their effect upon the conclusions is minimal.

    To being our reconstruction, let us try to estimate the carbon dioxide conditions which prevailed just prior to the flood and immediately following the flood. In the measure we are able to do this,

we will be able to estimate climate conditions of the past. This in turn should offer clues regarding such phenomenon as the ice age and fossil evidence of past tropical conditions.

    We saw in Chapter 12 that the average rate of decay of C14 all over the world was about 72% of the rate of formation. This appears to indicate that the worldwide inventory or reservoir of C14 in the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans is still increasing or filling. We learned that the formula for the increase is:

    D = 100(1 - e^-?) = 100(1 - 2^-T/5730)    Equation 3

where “D” is the decay rate expressed as a percentage of the formation rate, and “T” equals the time in years since disintegration began or since the beginning of C14 production. Equation 3, therefore, tells us the present rate of C14 net increase all over the world as well as the increase during the past several thousand years if production of C14 was constant during this period, and if none of the C14 was lost in any way except through disintegration. This equation, therefore, could give us the size of the C14 inventory at a hypothetical point 7,000 years ago when the flood occurred. We must call this a hypothetical point because the flood would have produced such catastrophic changes that violent readjustment would have taken place for possibly a millennium following the flood.

    Let us draw the curve of Equation 3 to see what happens at 4989 B.C., the date when the flood had subsided. We are aware that this curve cannot be considered to be absolutely precise. During this 7,000 year period there could have been short time fluctuations in C14 production. Also, some C14 would have been taken out of the available reservoir by the development, for example, of peat bogs and sedimentary rock. On the other hand, some C14 which had previously been buried, would have been freed by the action of weathering, by the burning of peat, and by other natural activity. In any case, the quantities of C14 added or removed by these activities probably are very small compared with the production rate of new C14. Since the 72% figure for the present size of the C14 reservoir is an approximation, we can fairly assume that the reservoir has been building up at a constant rate in accordance with Equation 3 to its present approximate 72% quantity. The curve for this build-up is plotted in Figure 1 (Curve B).

    Examining a point on the curve where T = 4989 B.C., we discover that D = 35%. At that time in history the C14 reservoir must have been 35% full in order to build up to its 72% level today. Since, as we saw in Chapter 12, the production rate of C14 is 2.5 dps/cm² of the earth’s surface, the C14 decay rate immediately following the flood was thus 35% x 2.5 dps/cm² which equals 0.875 dps/cm² or 52.5 dpm/ cm². (Even as the decay rate today is 72% of 2.5 dps or 1.8 dps/cm².)

    Now that we have estimated the C14 inventory immediately following the flood, let us proceed to estimate the C12 situation from the flood to the present time. To do this we must first estimate the specific activity “I” of carbon for the period. C12 is a fuction of both C14 and “I” in accord with the equation,

where C14 is the decay rate at any moment in time and C12 is the quantity of C12 available at the same moment.

    We can obtain “I” by analyzing C14 dates of specimens and comparing these with the true dates. Presently radio carbon dates are determined assuming that “I” has been constant from the time the specimen died until its age was measured. Therefore, any specimens whose C14 age equals their true age, as determined by other reliable dating methods, must have died when the worldwide “I” equaled the worldwide “I” today. On the other hand, if the C14 age of a specimen is older or younger than its true age, then “I” at the time of death was smaller or greater than it was when the specimen was analyzed.

    In examining many thousands of specimens, scientists have discovered that from about 250 B.C. to the present, the radio carbon dates agree very closely with the true ages. Thus, we can know that “I” for this period of time has been relatively constant. Therefore, we can know that C12 for this period of time was proportionate to the C14 inventory. We have already seen that C14 has been increasing in accordance with Equation 3. Therefore, for the same period C12 must have been increasing at the same rate, in view of the constant “I” for this period. The cube of this increase is plotted in Figure 2 (cube D).

    When we look at the period from the flood to 250 B.C., the evidence is not quite as helpful. This is due to the fact that we cannot

know the exact relationship between the true ages and the radiocarbon ages for this entire period. However, scientists have been able to compare the true age of specimens with the C14 age back to about 3000 B.C. The true age is available through archaeological and tree ring data. They have discovered that earlier than 250 B.C. the true age of a specimen relates to the radiocarbon age by the formula:

where R is the radiocarbon age and T is the true age. While this must be considered to be approximate, it is in the right direction and will help us to reconstruct the past within broad limits.

    While Equation 1 appears to be true back to about 3000 B.C., we have no way of knowing if it holds all the way back to the flood. It is valid to assume, however, that whatever phenomenon produced the relationship encompassed by the equation probably was in large part a result of the flood. This is suggested by the utter magnitude and character of the flood as compared with any later phenomena that involved the whole earth, the continental division of 31000 B.C. notwithstanding. (We will discuss this division in greater detail in the next chapter.) It is also suggested by the secular evidence. There is no obvious nonconformity or discontinuity in Carbon 14 dating until we go back to the time of the flood. As we shall see later, a whole host of evidence is available to show a serious discontinuity about the time of the flood.

    Since we know the flood occurred 4990-4989 B.C. or 6940 years ago (using 1950 A.D. in our calculations), we can estimate the radiocarbon age of a specimen that died at that time by equation 1 as follows:

    Therefore the carbon 14 age would be 5740 years, although its true age is 6940 years. With this knowledge we can estimate the specific activity “I” that existed immediately following the flood.

    For any specimen that dies, the ratio of the C14 to the C12 atoms which we call the specific activity “I”, is related to time by the formula:

    Ip = Ide - T/5730 (Equation 4)

Where:

    T = true age of the specimen

    Id = specific activity in the year the specimen died

    Ip = specific activity of the dead specimen today.

    Let us now examine a specimen which gives a radiocarbon age of 5740 years. Since its age of 5740 years is determined by assuming the Id, the worldwide specific activity at its death, was equal to that which d exists today we can calculate the Ip which exists in the dead specimen P today.

    Let us first calculate the present specific activity of carbon. It can be determined from the known C14 decay rate and the present quantity of C12 atoms. Lingenfelter gives the following figures for the present size of the C12 inventory or reservoir (carbon available in the atmosphere-biosphere-hydrosphere for the carbon cycle).

    Additionally, he indicates, as we saw in the previous chapter, that the present C14 disintegration rate is 108.5 dpm/cm². Therefore the present value of I is:

    The figure 12.3 dpm/gm, therefore, is the specific activity that existed in the world 5740 years ago, if “I” had been constant during this period. Thus, the specimen that shows Carbon 14 date of 5740 years would now have a specific activity of:

    Previously we had shown that a specimen that shows a C14 age of 5740 years is actually 6940 years of age. Since we know its present Ip to be 6.15 dpm/gm we can now calculate the Id at a point 6940 years ago when the specimen actually died. This equals 6.15 (2^6940/5730) = 14.2 dpm/cm. This then is the “I” that existed in the world at a hypothetical point 6940 years ago immediately following the flood.

    We are now able to estimate the C12 inventory immediately following the flood. We had previously calculated that the C14 decay rate as the time of the flood was 52.5 dpm/cm². Since C12 = C14/I, the C12 we are looking for equals

    We now have calculated that immediately after the flood, the following was the approximate situation as far as the carbon reservoir was concerned.

    Average C12 content of oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere, 3.7 gm/cm² (Curve D, Fig. 2).

    Average C14 decay rate all over the world 52.5 dpm/cm² (Curve B, Fig. 1).

    Specific activity of carbon 14.2 dpm/gm (Curve C, Fig. 2).

    Let us now establish the carbon situation before the flood. The period 11,013 B.C. to 4990 B.C. will concern us.


Before The Flood

    Of the three unknown, C14, C12, and specific activity “I,” the easiest to estimate is C14. Since the reservoir was at zero at 11,013 B.C., and built up in accordance with Equation 3 (Chap. 12), by the

year 4990 B.C., the reservoir should have been 51.8% full (Fig. 1, Curve A). Actually, it probably was somewhat less than this because of the carbon 14 that was buried in peat bogs and CaCO3 buildup as sedimentary rock. We shall see later why this is so. We arbitrarily will guess that this reduced the carbon 14 reservoir by about 10% so that at 5000 B.C. it would have been 51.8-5.2 or 46.6% full (Fig. 1, Curve B). Whether this reduction was actually 10% or as much as 25% or as little as 5% will not seriously alter the general conclusions derived from this discussion.

    We have no way of determining the size of the C12 reservoir before the flood at 4990 B.C. but we do have some clues as far as the specific activity of carbon is concerned for about the time just before the flood. As scientists have studied the carbon 14 dating evidence, a great amount of attention is focused on a period about ten to fifteen years ago. The meat from wolley mammoths found frozen by the thousands in Siberia gives a carbon data of a bit older that 10,000 years.¹ A series of samples of inorganic carbonate show dates of from 10 to 15 thousand years ago, thus indicating high carbonate precipitation about that time in history. We read, for example, in Radiocarbons, about the results of a series of cores that were studied from the Red Sea floor and which give dates of 8875 to 10,675 B.C. The remarks are interesting.

Samples at depth of 70 cm, 40 cm, and 50 cm give absolute age for onset of unusual conditions which lead to precipitation of submitted “hard crust” in Red Sea. This is the first instance that cemented calcareous rocks have been cored from ocean bottom. It is expected that precipitation of CaCO3 took place at the end 3 of the last glacial period as a result of temperature increase and temporary separation of basin ‘from Indian Ocean.’2

    We shall determine as we continue our study how these unusual conditions were probably a result of the flood.

    In another series of tests a great many samples of inorganic carbonate were studied to determine the age of freshwater inorganic carbonate deposits. Uncorrected ages of the samples showed ages of 20,000 to 37,000 years.

Corrected C14 ages show that major carbonate accumulation occurred 10,000-15,000 years ago. . . . In any case, corrected ages more closely approximate true age of ‘young’ organic carbonate than any ages of same material determined by the C14 method thus far.3

    These examples are given to indicate that in the period 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, as determined by radiocarbon, there was especially great activity of carbonate deposition. Another series of dates relate to this same period. Standard Oil Co. initiated a project dealing with the nature of organic matter in marine sediments. They report:

One of the surprising results of this study has been the discovery of liquid hydrocarbons in recent sediments from the Gulf of Mexico. Celephatic and aromatic hydrocarbons have been identified in ten recent marine sediment samples from four different locations in Texas and Louisiana, in which specimens representing near shore or off-shore locations . . . were included. Depths of these sediments ranged from a few inches up to a hundred feet below the water floor… If one wore to extrapolate the data obtained on a 106 foot core of sediments taken from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico 7 miles off Grande Isle, a cubic mile of these sediments would contain 4,500,000 barrels of a parafinnathene, aromatic, and asphaultic mixture resembling crude oil… Ages of 11,800 - 14,600 ± 1400 years were obtained for the hydrocarbons extracted from several seasons of the Grande Isle core of recent sediments. A composite carbonate sample from the entire core proved to be 12,300 ± 1200 years old.4

    Moreover, a date of about 10,000 B.C. is assigned to the end of the last great glacier periods known as the Wisconsin the Allerod. Frederick Johnson writes:

In 1951 Flint compared the Allerod horizon in Germany, England, and Ireland, dated about 8850 B.C., with the two Greeks horizon, dated about 9450 B.C.; he concluded that the essential agreement of the dates implies that deglaciation of Northern Europe was contemporary with that of North America.5

    Interesting, too, is the dearth of radiocarbon dates that are found to be older than 15,000 years. John D. Milliman and K. O. Emery, for example, write that of eighty radiocarbon dates used in determining past sea levels, only fifteen show older than 15,000 years.⁶

    Excess carbonate deposition, oil deposits, the deathly thousands of animals by some unknown means, all point to a drastic phenomenon about 10,000 to 15,000 radiocarbon years ago. Surely, an unusual amount of change took place in the world about that time. Could this have been related to the flood? It certainly appears so.

    Since the awesome, earth-shattering flood of Noah’s day actually did happen about seven thousand years ago (4990 B.C.) according to Biblical reckoning, we expect to see evidence in the secular record of this world-wide catastrophe. The examples we have just cited, and a great many more which could be offered, do indeed show that about 10,000 to 15,000 radiocarbon years ago tremendous changes occurred in the earth. I believe we are on safe ground to assume that these completely unusual, out-of-the-ordinary, unexplainable conditions can be only the results of the Noachian Flood.

    With this in view let us continue our reconstruction by selecting an average date of 12,000 radiocarbon years before the present as the date of the flood. Use of a figure a few thousand years older or younger should not significantly change the result of this reconstruction.

    Using a flood date of 12,000 years B.P. (before present) will give us the tool that we need to discover the “I” or specific activity of carbon that existed in the world just prior to the flood. Once we know “I” at that point in history we can calculate the carbon available to the carbon cycle just prior to the flood. With that in hand we will be able to see the impact of the flood upon the world as we compare these figures with those we have previously calculated to be true just after the flood. The radiocarbon date of 12,000 B.P. is, of course, based upon the assumption that the specific activity “I” has been constant through the ages. Since we have already seen the “I” value has not been constant and since we know the true date of the flood (4990 B.C.), we can determine the “I” that probably existed just before the flood. A specimen that now shows an age of 12,000 years must have an “I” at present of:

    I (present) = I (12,000 yrs. B.P.) x ———— =

    12.3 x ———— = 2.84 dpm/gm².


    Since the specimen now shows an “I” of 2.84, its “I” at 4990 B.C. which is 6940 B.P., should have been:

    2.84 = I (4990 B.C.) x ———— ;

    I (4990 B.C.) = 6.6 dpm/gm.

    Therefore, the “I” which existed immediately before the flood, I (4990 B.C.) equaled 6.6 dpm/gm (Fig. 2, Curve C).

    We now have estimated the specific activity occurring just before the flood to be about 6.6. Since we previously estimated the C12 reservoir to be 46.6% full, the C14 value should have been 46.6% x 2.5 dps/cm² or 1.16 dps/cm = 69.6 dpm/cm² (Fig. 2, Curve B). The carbon reservoir should then have been

The Flood Depleted the C14 Reservoir

    A serious problem has now arisen. If the C12 content of the world before the flood was about 10.5 grams/cm² and after the flood only 3.7 grams/cm² as we previously calculated, what happened to the rest of it? Obviously, the balance of it was buried by the flood of Noah’s day. It was taken out of the reservoir by becoming coal, oil, and sedimentary rock. Additionally, some of it was covered by the glaciers that spread over the world.

    If that is true, would a like percentage of the C14 have been taken out of the C14 reservoir? If this is so, since C12 was reduced from 10.5 grams to 3.7 grams, the C14 reservoir which approximated 69.6 dpm/ cm² before the flood should have been proportionately reduced to about 24.5 dpm/cm² after the flood (Figure 1). This is in serious conflict with the figure 52.5 dpm/cm² which we previously calculated as the post-flood condition. How can we account for this discrepancy?

    Again the Bible comes to the rescue. The Bible indicates that a great quantity of new water was provided as a result of the flood, and we can show that at least some of this water surely contained much C14. In Genesis 7:11 we read that the fountains of the deep opened up as did the windows of heaven. Thus, God teaches that the flood was produced by waters overflowing from the bowels of the earth and waters from the heavens. Biblical statements show that such water would have been available.

    We read in the creation account that God began with water. Genesis 1:6-8 declares:

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

    The Bible then declares that the waters under the heaven were gathered into one place and the dry land appeared (verse 9). This account informs us that there are waters above the heavens as well as waters from which the earth was formed. This information is supported by other Bible references. In connection with statements that outline the creation of the heavens and the earth, we read in Psalm 136:6:

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

    We read in Psalm 148:4:

Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

    These verses together with the Genesis creation account agree entirely with the statement of Genesis 7:11 that God opened the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven. Surely God is

teaching that there is water under the heavens as well as far out in deep space. Only the idea of water in deep space appears to satisfy the Biblical teaching of waters above the heavens.

    The concept of waters under the heaven from which the earth came forth or upon which the earth was spread is readily seen by the secular evidence. It is seen in the oceans as well as in the waters under the continents and oceans which exist as underground rivers, lakes, and seas. Also, it is seen in the fact that so much of the continents are composed of sedimentary, that is, water-formed, rock.

    It is seen in the waters that are expelled during volcanic action. We know that the opening of the fountains of the deep, on a large scale, would have been equivalent to the new waters that are produced by the ability of volcanoes. The evidence of the rupturing of the ocean floors can be seen in dramatic fashion in the great volcanic rifts that exist on the floors of the oceans. We will discuss these sea floor rifts in greater detail in the next chapter.

    The existence of active volcanoes gives us some clues as to what we might expect in the way of new C14 being available to the earth when the fountains of the deep were opened during the flood. Water from the fountains of the deep in all probability would have been very similar to present volcanic action since both phenomena produce water from the depths of the earth. An examination of such water shows that it contains some C12 but no significant C14. This is because such water would never have been in contact with cosmic rays which are required for the production of C14. While the Biblical statement (that the fountains of the deep opened up to make available considerable new water to assist in the inundation of the earth), is supported by much secular evidence, such new water would have produced little or no new C14. Therefore, our earlier conclusion that sufficient new C14 was added as a result of the flood to change the available C14 from a theoretical post-flood quantity of 24.5 dpm/cm² to a calculated actual 52.5 dpm/cm² is not assisted by the knowledge of new water from the depths of the earth.

    When we consider the possibility of water from deep space we have another situation altogether. It be shown that it was available as the Biblical record teaches, and it can be shown that it probably contained considerable new C14. Let us examine the question of deep space water in greater detail. In so doing, we will discover answers to the questions relative to the huge quantities of new water necessary to

account for a flood that covered the highest mountain to a depth of 15 cubits.

Water from Deep Space

    Heretofore, scientists who have tried to understand the Genesis 7 account, that it rained such great quantities of water for forty days that even the mountains were covered, have contended that the Genesis account was an absurdity. They contended that if all the moisture in the atmosphere could be precipitated, the entire earth would be covered by only a few inches of water, even if we assumed a saturated atmosphere. This, of course, is true. But the Bible does not say that the windows of heaven meant the atmosphere. Could it not mean deep space beyond the exosphere? It could, as we shall see.

    For some time scientists have been aware that the hydroxide ion OH is present in outer space. This knowledge alone assures us that the raw materials required for inundating the earth exist in deep space. Also, dentists have discovered huge clouds of water in outer space. This has reported by a team from the University of California in Science. March 7, 1969. They report:

Radio spectral line radiation of water molecules at a wave length of 1.35 centimeters have been measured from eight sources in the galaxy. The sources are less when 7 arc-minutes in diameter, have extremely high brightness, temperatures, and show many spectral features. . . Seven of the eight H2O line emission sources which have been observed agree in position with known OH emission sources within the accuracy of measurement.7

    They add that the apparent size of these H2O clouds are less than 10¹⁶ cm (80 billion miles) in size. Therefore, today we have evidence of huge water clouds in deep space.

    Thus, we can easily assume that God in His perfect planning caused the earth to go through just such a water storm so that for forty days and nights water poured upon the entire surface of the earth simultaneously. The windows of heaven were indeed opened.

    (See Appendix V for additional discussion on deep space water.)


C14 from Deep Space

    Did this water contain C14 and if it did, can we reasonably conclude that there was sufficient new C14 provided by this means to

double the C14 reservoir? In fact, if new C14 was provided by this means, some of it would have mixed with the CO2 in the earth and would have been buried with the C12 and C14 that was here before the flood. Thus, we must anticipate new C14 in a quantity no less than that which would have produced an additional 25-30 dpm/cm² of radiation.

    The question of the possibility of C14 being present in the deep space water is readily answered. C14 is produced by the action of cosmic ray neutrons, and scientists have discovered cosmic rays everywhere in space. V. L. Ginzburg writes:

During the past 15 years however, we have come to recognize that the cosmic rays are indeed a weighty and energetic factor, ranking with the stars as a principal component of the cosmos. In these few years we have learned that cosmic rays are truly a universal phenomenon, not only present throughout the space of the solar systemic our galaxy and of the other galaxies, but also associated with the life processes of the stars, with supernova explosions, with radio galaxies and with quasars.8

    The presence of C14 in deep space is abundantly shown by the presence of C14 in some of the meteorites. T. P. Kohman and P. S. Goel write:

Techniques have been developed for the isolation and measurement of cosmogonic C14 in meteorites.9

    We thus see clearly that carbon 14 is present in deep space. We may then assume that the water storms of outer space would also contain much C14. Thus, our conclusion that (1) the flood resulted in part from tremendous quantities of new water being poured forth from the Biblical windows of heaven, and that (2) sufficient amounts of new C14 to produce 25-30 dpm/cm² of radiation were provided by this new water is clearly possible and indeed is altogether probable in the light of the secular evidence.


How Much Water Inundated the Earth?

    We should now estimate the amount of deep space water that was deposited on the earth during the flood. This question requires a bit more analysis. We shall begin to setting forth the present water- continent quantities that exist. From Sverdrup we obtain the following facts.¹⁰

    Turning to the Bible, we read the following interesting news in Psalm 104:6-9:

Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the sound of thy thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which thou didst appoint for them. Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.

    This psalm must be talking about a phenomena which took place after the Noachian Flood, for it reads, “Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.” The significant word “again” indicates that the flood must have occurred already for it surely was an event in which the oceans covered the earth without restriction. This psalm, therefore, gives us the exceedingly helpful information that following the flood there was a deepening of the ocean basins and a rising of the mountains.

    From this we may assume that prior to the flood the ocean basins were somewhat more shallow than at present and that during and following the flood there was considerable mountain building Therefore, we can be assured the waters of the flood did not cover the earth at a depth required to cover the present high mountains.

    But the Bible says the mountains were covered. Genesis 7:19 says “All the high mountains that were under the whole heavens were covered.” We know, therefore, that mountains did exist before the flood and sufficient new water was added to cover these mountains.

Let us attempt to determine how high these mountains were.

    Presently, the continents have an average elevation of 840 meters above sea level. Since the pre-flood mountains were lower than the mountains of today, the average continental height before the flood must have been somewhere between zero and 840 meters high. Yet there were mountains and they must have been considerably higher than sea level. However, since the mountains were much lower than at present, the average continental height must have been considerably less than 840 meters. Let us assume the average continental height before the flood was 340 meters. (A figure 100 meters higher or lower would not substantially change the conclusions of this discussion.) If the highest pre-flood mountain in the pre-flood continent was only about 1000 meters, the new water required to cover this mountain amounted to about 460 x 10⁶ km³. If it was as high as 2000 meters, the new water would have been about 970 x 10⁶ km³.

    It seems extremely unlikely that the pre-flood mountains were higher than 2000 meters. To cover mountains of such a height would have required so much new water that the pre-flood oceans would have been only about 30% their present volume. On the other hand, we would not reasonably expect the pre-flood mountains to be much less than 1000 meters (3270 ft.). This is especially so in the light of Genesis 7:19 where the phrase “high mountains” is used. Therefore, we may speculate that the highest pre-flood mountain were perhaps between 1000 and 2000 meters and the volume of the pre-flood ocean, including waters from the depths of the earth, was somewhere between 400 x 10⁶ km³ and 910 x 10⁶ km³. For the sake of this discussion we will use a figure about midway between these figures, assuming that about 685 x 10⁶ km³ of water were added from deep space during the flood. The highest pre-flood mountain was then about 1450 meters high (4750 ft.). Any other set of pre-flood conditions within the limits assumed in this discussion can be estimated but will not substantially change the conclusions offered in this study.

    This huge amount of water from deep space which could have double the ocean volumes (present volume 1370 x 10⁶ km³) must have contained C14 in an amount which, when added to the C14 already on the earth, would have provided about 52.5 dpm/cm² of radiation after the flood. There probably was more C14 than this because some of the new C14 would have been buried by the flood action.

    Thus far in our study we have seen that the pre-flood world contained oceans possibly one half the size of our present oceans, the Cl2 content approximated 10.5 grams/cm², and the C14 reservoir had built up so that it showed a disintegration rate of about 69.9 dpm/cm². Water equal to the amount of the pre-flood ocean was dumped on the earth in forty days, which brought large quantities of new C14. The geological action that resulted from the flood buried as much as 65% of the pre-flood C12 together with like amounts of C14. The end of the flood saw a world with C12 reduced to about 3.7 grams/cm² and the C14 reservoir reduced so that it produced a decay rate of about 52.5 dpm x cm².

    Hopefully, we have produced a reasonable reconstruction of the carbon situation that existed in the past. With this information we should be able to estimate past climatic conditions because a definite relationship exists between the carbon in the atmosphere (principally CO2) and world-wide temperatures. Moreover, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is a function of the carbon available in the carbon cycle. Once we know something about past climate conditions, we shall see the reason for such ancient phenomenon as a heavily vegetated earth followed by extensive glaciations over almost a third of the earth’s surface. Thus, we shall receive some additional insight into the cause of the phenomenon which is in evidence about 10,000 to 15,000 radio carbon years ago.


Pre-Flood Climate

    Let us now examine the conditions that existed in the pre-flood world as far as climate was concerned. Previously, we noticed the following distribution of C12 or CO2, in the carbon cycle:

    Apparently an equilibrium exists between the carbon in the oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere or land, which a total amount in the world of about 8.8 grams/cm² on the earth’s surface. What possibly could have been the equilibrium situation before the flood when there was on the order of only one-half as much ocean volume and when the C12 content amounted to something like 10.5 gram/cm² all over the world? Let us first determine equilibrium condition for the earth today, assuming that the ocean was reduced by one-half in volume. If the atmosphere had 0.13 grams, and the land 0.16 grams, we would expect the amount in the ocean to be one-half of the figures for our present full ocean. The figures would look like this:

    Let us change one other condition. The land areas presently cover 29.2% of the world. Let us assume today’s condition of CO2 concentrations, but let us assume that in addition to the oceans being one half in volume, the land is increased so that it covers about 40% of the earth’s surface. (If we assumed the land area was unchanged from what it is today, the conclusions offered in this discussion would be fundamentally unchanged.) We shall see later why we have added to the continental areas. Equilibrium of CO2 or C12 could then be expected to be approximately as follows:

    What would we obtain if the total available C12 were 10.5 gram/cm² instead of 4.54%? We shall assume the land and atmosphere would increase at the same rate so that if the atmospheric carbon were doubled, the carbon in the biosphere or land (plants, etc) would also be doubled. We shall also assume the inorganic carbon in the oceans would increase at the same rate as the organic ocean carbon and the ocean sediment carbon. Thirdly, we shall assume the ocean carbon increased in proportion to the square root of the increase in the land and atmospheric carbon. This is based upon the conclusion of Gilbert Plass¹¹ who estimates that if the carbon dioxide content in the oceans was doubled, the content in the atmosphere would probably be quadrupled. We cannot know how correct these assumptions are, but they at least should be in the right direction and of the right order of magnitude. The following would result.

    To solve for x we have then the equation:

    The important change is in the atmospheric carbon We see that the carbon dioxide of the pre-flood atmosphere was perhaps at least four times more concentrated than it is today (0.59 as compared with 0.13). Plass suggests that calculations show that if the carbon dioxide were decreased by 50% the average temperature would have been decreased by 6.9º F.¹² A rise of 400% in CO2 should then give us reason to believe that the pre-flood world was some ten to fifteen degrees warmer than today. The earth being this much warmer along with a high CO2 concentration would have been ideal for development of the heavy growth of plant life all over the world that is actually shown by the fossil record.

    Plass writes¹³ that the earth’s climate was warmer during most of geological time; presumably the atmosphere then contained a much higher percentage of carbon dioxide. His conclusion is adequately supported by our CO2 calculations.


Post-Flood Climate

    Let us now examine the carbon equilibrium after the flood as it existed in the oceans, biosphere, and atmosphere. While equilibrium might not have come for hundreds of years after the flood, we can establish a theoretic condition immediately after the flood, inasmuch as we have some idea of the impact of the flood on carbon availability. As we saw earlier in our study, the carbon inventory plunged from an average amount of 10.5 g/cm² over the entire surface of the earth to an average amount of 3.7 gr/cm² after the flood.

    In making our calculation we must realize that as a result of the flood, the oceans were increased to a volume equal to today. Moreover, the continental areas were probably somewhat reduced in size to the areas of land which became the continental shelves and slopes of our present earth.

    Thus, the gross continental area approximated that of today. Therefore, we assume today’s conditions of carbon residency in arriving at the post-flood situation.

    Thus, … 29 x² + 8.51 x = 3.7, and x = 0.43 while x² = 0.18. Thus, the following obtains for the post-flood situation.

Oceans         8.51 x 0 .43 = Land              0.16 x 0.18 = Atmosphere  0.13 x 0.18 =

3.66 gm/cm2 of the earth's surface 0.03 gm/cm2 of the earth's surface 0.03 gm/cm2 of the earth's surface 3.72 gm/cm2 of the earth's surface

    Again the important fact to note is the great change in the atmosphere carbon. We see that immediately following the flood, the average carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere was about one- fourth of what it is today, or about 5% to 6% of what it was before the flood. Thus, we may conclude that the average world temperature was ten to fifteen degrees F. colder the toady or from twenty to thirty degrees F. colder than before the flood. No wonder extensive glaciation was introduced by the flood. Plass records:

Calculations show that a 50% decease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air will lower the average temperature of the earth 6.9º F. We can be reasonably sure that such a sharp drop in temperature would cause glaciers to spread across the earth.14

    Obviously a drop of 20º to 30º would have multiplied the potential for extensive glaciation to occur. Moreover, there must have been extremely severe oscillations of temperatures in the world following the flood as mountain building occurred and as equilibrium was again established. This could easily have given rise to some of the evidence that results in the common belief that there have been several periods of glaciation during the earth’s history.


The Glacial Epoch

    Thus far we have calculated that the world before the flood was 10º to 15º F. warmer than today. We have also seen that the flood caused a worldwide temperature reduction of 20º to 30º F. so that the average temperature became a 10º to 15º F. colder than today. Now the intriguing question must be asked: Is secular evidence available that shows that the world was this much colder in the past? The answer

to this question is affirmative if we examine the evidence relating to the glacial epoch or ice age.

    Scientists today have noted that the continents are covered by glacial ice to an extent of 10.4% of the earth’s surface. In the past the ice cover was much more extensive inasmuch as evidence shows that some 28% of the continents were covered. At the height of the ice age the more extensive glaciation must have existed in a world that was substantially colder than today. Estimates of the lowering of the world’s temperatures during the ice age have been made by a number of scientists. The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the making of one such estimate and indicates that a temperature drop of 7-8º C (12.4-14.4º F) was characteristic of the ice age. There we read:

At the height of the glacial ages at least 28% of the land area of the world was covered by glacier ice. At present more than 10% is so covered. But during the inter-glacial ages and in pre-glacial time, apparently very little if any glacier ice existed. Thus, the present day has somewhat less the aspects of non-glacial climate than the inter-glacial ages. It is therefore desirable to compare the climates of the glacial ages with non-glacial climates as well as with present-day climates.

    Glacial cirques (theatre-like valley heads fashioned by the action of snow fields at the heads of individual glaciers in mountainous terrain), bear a rough general relation to the snow line or lower limit of perennial snow. Through measurements of the altitudes of cirques in many parts of the world the approximate position of the snow line at the height of the latest glacial age has been determined. Wherever measured, the former snow line is lower than the snow line of today, at the equator as well as in polar latitudes.

    In order to determine the glacial-age climate of a coastal point A, point B on the same coast is located by finding the place where the present snow line has the same altitude as the glacial-age snow line of A. The present climate of B is then taken as representative of the former climate of A. The method is rough, but over a wide region it gives consistent results. Coastal points such as A are seen to have received much greater respiration than now, and to have had mean annual temperatures of the order of 7º C. to 8º C. lower than now, whereas in interior regions the increase in precipitation and decrease in temperature, compared with present conditions were less pronounced. In other words, the sub-polar climate belts were shifted

toward the equator during the glacial ages. This shift may have amounted to as much as 15º of latitude.

    The pluvial conditions of the dry regions of middle and low latitudes support this conclusion in that they appear to show equator-ward shifting of the middle-latitude belts of rain-bringing cyclonic storms. The evidence of fossil animals in the northern hemisphere likewise indicates southward shifting of the cold northern climatic zone through many degrees of latitude.

    On the other hand, the evidence of fossil plants and animals indicates that during the inter-glacial ages the climatic zones were shifted toward the poles, and that more than once these zones, in the northern hemisphere at least, have been pushed north of the positions they occupy at present. It is generally believed, though it has not been conclusively proved, that these climatic shifts were synchronous throughout the world. In summary, the climatic changes were world- wide and apparently contemporaneous; the climatic belts were shifted alternately, equator-ward and pole-ward; and changes in mean annual temperatures amounted to several degrees centigrade.¹⁵

    Others have worked on this question and they too have given quantitative determinations of temperature lowering during the ice age. Some examples are set forth by Nairn.¹⁶

    The significant fact to note is that the Encyclopaedia Britannica suggests a temperature drop at the height of the ice age of 7-8º C which equals 12.4-14.4º F. Furthermore, the temperature drops estimated by other scientists range from 5.5º C to 11º C. This equals 9.9º F -19.8º F. Note that these temperature differentials agree precisely with a post-flood temperature that was 10º F -15º F colder than today, which we concluded must be the situation based on the carbon inventories. Thus, we are greatly encouraged that the calculations of this chapter have merit.

    Secular scientists talk about an ice age that continued on and off for one million years. They speak too, of inter-glacial periods when there were warm spells. When we realize, however, that one million years is recent compared with the four and a half billion years they believe the earth has existed, we see that they, too, are acknowledging that, relatively speaking, the ice age is very recent. Moreover, since the Bible establishes the earth’s age as some 13,000 years, any other time periods suggested by secular scientists must be recognized to be erroneous. All evidence must be evaluated within the much narrower compass of 13,000 years rather than millions or billions of years.

    To put it another way, once we realize that the ice age could have been induced only by the flood about 7000 years ago, then we know that the ebb and flow of the ice sheets would have been of tens or at most hundreds of years in duration. Thus, so-called inter-glacial periods become insignificant in the whole phenomenon. In fact, some of the phenomena commonly associated with warmer inter-glacial periods probably are to be associated instead with the warmer pre-flood world.

    We might note, too, that our calculation of the world-wide average temperature before the flood agrees with the ice-age phenomena. At the ice age maximum, 28% of the continents were covered by ice. Since the ice age maximum, the world has warmed 10- 20º F., and today over 10.4% of the continents are ice covered. Thus, we conclude, as an approximate generalization, that the world without an ice cap would possibly be warmer in proportion to the size of the ice cover. This proportion would point to a pre-flood, pre-ice age temperature that was 6-12º F. warmer than today. This obviously is a comparatively unreliable basis for making a temperature estimate,

but it does offer a guideline. We are encouraged that the conclusion of the study set forth in this chapter, that the pre-flood world was 10- 15º warmer than today, is entirely in agreement with this guideline.


Carbon Cycle Changes

    While there is evidence of temperature differentials in the past which agree with the conclusions of this study, other questions might fairly be raised. Does a figure of 3.7 gr/cm² over the earth’s surface for the carbon in the carbon cycle immediately after the flood make sense? Where would the carbon have come from to build up to its present estimated volume of 8.8 gr/cm²? Are the 7000 years since the flood of sufficient duration to permit this build-up?

    To answer these questions we should go back to creation. We discover from the Bible that the earth was formed out of the water and by means of water. We read in II Peter 3:5-6:

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

    This suggest that in the day God created the dry land the foundation rocks of the earth were covered by sedimentary rock and soil.

    Interestingly Dr. Cook argues for the conclusion that certain sedimentary rocks were present from to very beginning. He declares:¹⁷

These arguments seem, therefore, to show that the limestone and dolomite precipitates have always been present in the crust of the earth, being most likely precipitated in the relatively very brief period (Jeffreys, p. 959), of solidification of the crust during which thermal equilibrium was being established in and near the earth’s surface under the present solar radiation-density environment.

    The above (solubility and occurrence) requirement that the carbon in calcite and dolomite precipitates had to be present as such, and in practically the same amounts, throughout the entire history of the (solid) earth poses a difficult restriction apparently not even seriously considered previously.

    This sedimentary rock and soil, of course, contained no C14, for that is a product of cosmic ray activity which could not have begun before creation. The sedimentary rock and soil of creation did however contain vast quantities of carbon. Estimate of the present volume of this carbon range from 1800 gr/cm² over the earth’s surface to 5000 gr/cm².¹⁸ In addition there is the carbon in the carbon cycle which we estimated to be about 10.5 gr/cm² before the flood and which is found in the vegetation, atmosphere, and ocean solution.

    As already noted, in the post-flood world a large part of the continent (an estimated 28.4%) was covered by glacier ice because of the flood. Thus, considerable carbon was covered which ordinarily would have been available to the carbon cycle. Additionally, large quantities of carbon were buried and became coal and oil fields. Moreover, the oceans were severely diluted of available carbon because of the new water from deep space. The carbon available to the carbon cycle therefore was reduced to the approximate 3.7 gr/cm² we have estimated.

    Following the flood we would expect a substantial build-up of available carbon to the carbon cycle, especially from two areas. The first would be land erosion, and the second the uncovering of land shielded by glaciers. Any soils that had not been solidified into sedimentary rock by the action of the flood would have provided comparatively large sources of carbon. Since the ocean had been depleted of carbon by the dilution of the flood, much of this carbon provided by land erosion would have been available for ocean solution. In fact, many sediments were no doubt in suspension in the ocean water following the flood, and by the end of several hundred years would have entered the carbon cycle. As carbon from these extensive sediments became a part of the ocean solution, in time it would have added to the atmospheric carbon. Thus, warming of the earth would have occurred. This warming would have hastened glacial melting, which would have opened up substantial land areas, thus uncovering additional carbon to the carbon cycle.

    It is possible from the secular evidence to show that an increase from an average of 3.7 gr/cm² of carbon in the carbon cycle in 4990 B.C. to 8.8 gr/cm² at the present time is quite realistic.

    Dr. Plass estimates that during the last hundred years there has been an annual increase of 7.9 x 10⁹ tons of CO2 in the CO2 reservoir.¹⁹ This is due chiefly to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of carbon form the soil. If we calculate the annual increase that would be

required to increase carbon from 3.7 gr/cm² to 8.8 gr/cm² during a period of 7000 years, we obtain an average annual increase of CO2 of 14.8 x 10⁹ tons per year. This figure is a bit higher than the Plass estimate of 7.9 x 10⁹ tons presently added annually, but it is of the same order. The higher figure surely reflects the heavy release of carbon from the soil during the period immediately following the flood.

    As an additional check on our study let us calculate the carbon increase during the past 2250 years. We are able to estimate the annual increase of carbon to the carbon cycle during this period because of our knowledge of the carbon 14 to carbon 12 ratio that existed during this period.

    As we saw earlier in this study, the ratio which we called the specific activity “I” has been relatively constant during the past 2250 years. Since we know the rate of increase of C14 during this time span (see Figure 1, Curve B), the rate of C12 increase would have been approximately identical. Calculating this increase of C12 gives us a figure of about 1 gr/cm² increase during the last 2250 years. This increase calls for an annual increase of about 11.9 x 10⁹ tons CO2 as compared with the Plass estimate of 7.9 x 10⁹ tons annual increase at the present time. This calculation again selves to indicate the reasonableness of the calculations set forth in this volume.


Summary

    In this chapter we have stepped forth boldly to attempt a reconstruction of the climates of the past going all the way back to the beginning. Because certain facts are available to us which are denied others who do not accept the Bible as absolutely trustworthy, we hopefully have been able to make this reconstruction in a much more accurate fashion than any heretofore attempted. With the certain knowledge of such Biblical facts as the date of creation, the existence of deep space waters, the date and certainty of the flood of Noah’s day, the fact that much water was added to the earth during the flood, the scope and severity of the flood, and as a result of the flood the mountains were thrust up and the ocean basins were deepened we were able to make computations that otherwise would have been impossible. The secular evidence of deep space water, deep space C14, ocean floor rifts past temperature differentials as demonstrated by the ice age, and the lack of equilibrium in the C14 inventory all have served to further support the inerrant Biblical statement.

    In any study of the past all facts are not known and some estimates must be made. By carefully making estimates which are in agreement with the known facts as far as quality is concerned and which are not sensitive in regards to precise quantities, we believers have remained on solid ground in this study. Such estimates as the height of the pre-flood mountains, the selection of C14 date which points to sufficient worldwide catastrophe that we can relate it to the flood, and the relationship of CO2 content to climate are some of the estimates which were integrated into known facts to obtain our conclusions.

    Our conclusions that the pre-flood world was 15º to 20º F. warmer than the world today, and that the world temperature plunged downward 20-30º F. as a result of the flood, are supported by the secular evidence of great ice sheets that covered the earth in the past. The secular conclusion that at the height of the ice age the worldwide temperature was 10-20º F. colder than today gave further support to the conclusions resulting from this study.

    We are quite aware that the conclusions of this chapter are somewhat speculative compared with information discussed in our earlier chapters. But we do believe this study will help to see the possibility of obtaining the most satisfactory reconstruction of the past only if the Bible data is considered.

    In the next chapter, we want to look at the phenomena of ocean floor spreading and continental drift.



NOTES:

    ¹Ivan T. Sanderson, “The Riddle of the Mammoth,” Saturday Evening Post, Dec. 7, 1946.

    ²Roy M. Chatters, “Washington State University Natural Radiocarbon Measurements,” in Radio Carbon, Volume 10 (Pub. By the American Journal of Science, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.), p. 495.

    ³Ibid., p. 387.

    ⁴Paul V. Smith, “The Occurrence or Hydrocarbons in Recent Sediments from the Gulf of Mexico,” Science, Oct. 24, 1952, pp. 437-438.

    ⁵Frederick Johnson, “Radiocarbon Dating and Archaeology in North America,” Science, Jan 13, 1967, p. 166.

    ⁶John D. Milliman and K. O. Emery, “Sea Levels During the Past 36,000 Years,” Sciences, Dec. 6, 1968, p. 1121.

    ⁷S. H. Knowles, et al., “Spectra, Variability, Size, and Polarization of H2O Microwave Emission Sources in the Galaxy,” Science, March 7, 1969, pp. 1055, 1057.

    ⁸V. L. Ginzburg, “The Astrophysics of Cosmic Ray,” Scientific American, Feb., 1969, p. 51.

    ⁹T. P. Kohman and P. S. Goel, “Terrestrial Ages of Meterorites from Cosmogenic C14,” Radio Active Dating, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1963, p. 395.

    ¹⁰H. O. Sverdrup, et al., The Oceans, New York, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1942, pp. 9-44.

    ¹¹Gilbert N. Plass, “Carbon Dioxide and the Climate,” Scientific American, July, 1959, p. 44.

    ¹²Gilbert N. Plass, “Carbon Dioxide and the Climate,” Scientific American, July, 1959, p. 42.

    ¹³Ibid., p. 44.

    ¹⁴Ibid., p. 44.

    ¹⁵Vol. 10,1959 Edition, p. 380.

    ¹⁶A. E. M. Nair, Descriptive Palaeoclimatology, New York, Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1961, p. 275.

    ¹⁷Melvin A. Cook, Prehistory and Earth Models, London, Max Parrish, 1966, p. 205.

    ¹⁸G. P. Kuiper, The Atmosphere of the Earth and Plants, University of Chicago Press, 1954, Chapters 6 and 8.

    ¹⁹Plass, “Carbon Dioxide and Climate,” p. 44.