Such calculations, as Coragyps pointed out would be difficult to model at best. However, large masses, such as continents, do not simply start and stop at whim according to physics.
Only according to the laws of Last Thursdayism, where anything goes.
Here are a few temperature-related problems concerning runaway plate tectonics.
From:
http://home.entouch.net/dmd/subduction.htm
quote:
One final problem for Baumgardner’s runaway subduction. He writes (and I can’t find where he solved this problem ):
“One difficulty in making a connection between these calculations and the Flood is their time scale. Some 2 x 10^7 years is needed before the instability occurs in the second calculation. Most of this time is involved with the accumulation of a large blob of cold, dense material at the barrier created by the phase transition at 600 km depth.” John R. Baumgardner, “Runaway Subduction as the Driving Mechanism for the Genesis Flood,” Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Creationism, (Pittsburgh: Creation Science Fellowship, Inc., 1994), p. 74
It would take 20 million years to get runaway subduction going. This feature is not mentioned again to the best of my knowledge.
Runaway subduction is a sham. Why the YEC laity trusts their leadership is beyond me.
It is important to note it would also take a considerable amount of time to get runaway subduction to slow down to almost a stop, as we observe now and have in the recent past.
There is also a problem with the temperature and ocean profile such runaway subduction would create. From
THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEANS :
quote:
In essence, the problem for young earth creationists is to develop a self-consistent model of rapid spreading that can yield the bathymetric profiles observed in the current ocean floors. Modern geology has already done so and the conductive cooling model of the ocean floor fits perfectly within the old earth paradigm.
The conductive cooling predicted by modern geology also matches the age distribution on either side of the ridge. The predicted age of a piece of ocean floor based on conductive cooling is a near perfect match for the radiometric and magnetostratigraphic age11 of the ocean floor. These observations are not consistent with the hypothetical profile shown in Figure 4. For example, radiometric ages in the convective region would be nearly identical and would show greatest change in the conductive region. This is contrary to what we observe. In short, the observed bathymetry is a near perfect match for an old earth model and seriously challenges the model proposed by Baumgardner and other advocates of rapid drift.
The idea the continents moved super-fast at a recent point in time, then magically slowed to present rates also completely violates virtually all known measurements in paleomagnetism.
To my knowledge, there is no evidence from geology of any superfast continental "drift" anywhere on Earth. If there is such evidence, please feel free to name the geologic formation, the reasoning why it indicates such activity occurred, and its exact location.
Like Coragyps, I also find it strange the Egyptians, Sumerians, the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, Chinese, and Australian Aborigenes, or for that matter any civilization, who have written and/or oral records dating from the time didn't seem to take notice of these runaway continents.
I personally know several people that work at LASL, none are as lacking in integrity or as hungry for publicity as Baumgardner appears to be in his sacrifice of one for the other.
Edited by anglagard, : Credit to Coragyps for previous post and clarity.
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