Sedimentary Rock Formation

Hi, Jason, quickest way I know to determine if sediments have been water-borne is to look at the edges of the particles/rocks. If they are rounded or worn, they were normally tumbled by water. Sharp edges remain even if erosion caused a slide down a mountainside. While brittle rocks can splinter in a watercourse, it doesn`t take much distance to round off the edges. So if we looked at strata and find little or no rounding, it`s almost certain it has never been in a flood, let alone 'The Biggie'.

Forget about salt and gypsum--YECS will say they were light and floated. Try explaining the distribution of massive heavy mineral orebodies in sedimentary rock. Witwatersrand, source of about one-third of all gold ever mined, lies in a sedimentary basin. Though geos are still debating whether it was dropped or pushed(or both), the fact remains that it is distributed through thousands of feet of sediments, out-cropping on the surface originally. In a YEC scenario, gold must be able to float.

Just trying to anticipate the opposition, Jazz. Y`see, with hydrological sorting the soluble evaporites `floated' and were the last to be deposited as the waters receded. Doesn`t explain buried evap. deposits. Hang on, it`s coming to me. The evaporites were deposited last as the waters receded, then a passing iceberg caused a giant wave of sediment to wash over and bury the deposite. QED. No limit to extreme ideas when you use wacky scenarios.

I`ve asked a few times for the Scritures covering Ice Ages, but, sob, no reply. A few creo websites speculate about icebergs floating around as the Flood receded, but never get around to glacier evidence. Can`t wait till we tackle massive surface impacts during/since the flood and where nuclear winters get a mention in the Bible.

Hi, Jason. If the Garden of Eden existed on the pre-Flood surface and the Flood buried the old under thousands of feet of sediments, why do believers seek it on today`s surface? Flotation chambers, perhaps?

Good point, Jason. The trouble is when dealing with the irrational, one tends to lump believers together.:-P

Hi, GJ, and welcome to the fray. As you probably know, we get extremely large gold nuggets on the surface in Oz (2000 ozs +). Since the Yecs insist that the Flood sorted deposits in a brief period, they would have no defence if heavy masses turn up on the surface. EXCEPT, they say rapid erosion probably removed extensive flood sediments over the intervening years. Have we any air-tight measurements of erosion rates, both with sedimentary and igneous/metamorphic rocks? I realise different climatic conditions will accelerate erosion, but do we have any general tables?

Or fill the hole in because they can hear the tormented in Hell.