Dinosaurs Buried More Rapidly Than Thought | The Institute for Creation Research
Dinosaurs Buried More Rapidly Than Thought

Secular scientists recently determined that most of the dinosaur fossils in the Morrison Formation were buried quicker than commonly thought.1 The Morrison Formation is famous for its compositional consistency and massive extent across the American West, covering nearly 700,000 square miles, and for its rich dinosaur quarries.

The Morrison Formation is remarkable for its dinosaur fossils and has yielded some of the most important, voluminous, and diverse Late Jurassic dinosaur bone beds on Earth, including assemblages of large herbivorous sauropods [i.e. Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus].1

The conventional view is that the Morrison Formation was deposited over vast periods of time by rivers that slowly meandered back and forth. Secular paleontologists assume that major flooding events of these “rivers” caused the burial of the dinosaurs we find in the various quarries, including the one at Dinosaur National Monument (DNM). These types of flood events are thought to be massive, on the scale of 1000-year Floods or even greater.

In addition, creation scientists have pointed out the common nature of the dinosaur fossils in the many Morrison Formation dinosaur quarries and the lack of any evidence of evolution.2

The rock types in these various quarries are quite variable, but the entombed dinosaur taxa are incredibly similar, even though the Morrison Formation covers a 700-thousand-square-mile area. So uniform are the taxa that frustrated evolutionists agree, “We failed to find any convincing evidence of evolution at the generic level within the Morrison Formation.”3 These massed accumulations, of which DNM is the most famous example, remain a geologic mystery.2

However, the deposition of at least 20 massive Morrison Formation dinosaur quarries over such a vast area by individual river floods alone should have taken vast amounts of time, even by secular time scales.

Kenneth Galli from Boston College and his colleagues from Boston University, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, and Le Moyne College attempted to resolve how long it took to deposit a major section of the Morrison Formation. They used U-Pb radioisotope techniques to date two ash-rock layers near the top and base of the 320-foot thick Brushy Basin Member, a sub unit within the Morrison Formation that contains roughly two-thirds of all of the dinosaur quarries in the formation.1

The results surprised even these old-Earth secular scientists. They found out that the majority of the Brushy Basin Member was deposited much faster than they thought, all in a time frame of less than one million years. They added:

If this is true, these results have fundamental implications for dinosaur preservation and may explain the limited evolution throughout Brushy Basin time. This is not to say that such a short interval of time cannot be subdivided biostratigraphically, but the taxonomy of Morrison Formation dinosaurs and extent of sampling do not indicate significant evolutionary turnover during this short interval, so there appears to be no basis for a valid biostratigraphic subdivision within the bulk of the Comobluffian [the type quarry assemblage] vertebrate assemblage.1

Essentially, what they are saying is there is no basis to divide the Brushy Basin Member by any systematic changes in the fossils. They also admit there is little, if any, evidence for evolution in the dinosaurs in the Morrison Formation in general.

We see no evidence of evolution throughout the entire fossil record. Tweet: We see no evidence of evolution throughout the entire fossil record.

Dinosaurs Buried More Rapidly Than Thought: http://www.icr.org/article/dinosaurs-buried-more-rapidly-than-thought

@ICRscience

#Science #Dinosaur

We creation scientists wholeheartedly agree. Furthermore, we see no evidence of evolution throughout the entire fossil record. All fossils appear quickly, fully-formed, remain the same, and disappear upwards in the rock record. The Morrison Formation is at the level in the global Flood when the environments of the dinosaurs were being catastrophically inundated. The dinosaurs themselves were swept up by the tsunami-like waves into great masses of bones, like log jams, and buried as concentrated assemblages—these became the quarries we see today.

We also agree with the short time frame for the deposition of the Morrison Formation, except not nearly as long as the secular idea of a million years. The Bible talks about a Flood that covered the Earth just 4,500 years ago. This better explains the extent of the Morrison Formation and the burial of the dinosaurs and the lack of evidence of any evolution.

All fossils appear quickly, fully-formed, remain the same, and disappear upwards in the rock record. Tweet: All fossils appear quickly, fully-formed, remain the same, and disappear upwards in the rock record.

Dinosaurs Buried More Rapidly Than Thought: http://www.icr.org/article/dinosaurs-buried-more-rapidly-than-thought

@ICRscience

#Science #Dinosaur

There were no meandering rivers slowly depositing the Morrison Formation like secular scientists imagine. Only the massive volume of water of the global Flood would have been able to spread these millions of dinosaur bones across nearly 700,000 square miles of the American West in one thin layer a few hundred feet thick. Multiple rivers would never be that consistent. As with other examples of strata found around the world, the Morrison is powerful evidence for the Flood.

References
1. Galli, K. G. et al. 2018. New chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry dates from the brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation, Western Colorado: implications for dinosaur evolution. The Journal of Geology. 126 (5): 473-486.
2. Hoesch, W. A., and S. A. Austin.  2004. Dinosaur National Monument: Jurassic Park Or Jurassic Jumble? Acts & Facts. 33 (4).
3. Dodson, P., A. Behrensmeyer, R. Bakker, J. McIntosh. 1980. Taphonomy and paleoecology of the dinosaur beds of the Jurassic Morrison Formation. Paleobiology. 6 (2): 208-232.

*Dr. Timothy Clarey is Research Associate is at ICR and earned a doctorate in geology from Western Michigan University.

The Latest
CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Struck: Risking It All for the Truth | Creation.Live Podcast:...
In this unique episode, host Trey talks with three key people involved in creating Struck—an upcoming miniseries that shows the special ties between...

NEWS
Giant Ants Buried in Receding Flood Rocks
Evolutionary scientists are baffled by a large ant fossil found in British Columbia, Canada. Known as Titanomyrma, this same ant had been found previously...

CREATION PODCAST
Why Do Animals Hibernate? | The Creation Podcast: Episode 45
The word hibernation is often used in reference to deep sleep, but what is it really? What kinds of creatures hibernate? How does this demonstrate the...

NEWS
Thalattosuchians—Extinct Crocodile Relatives?
The Thalattosuchia are an extinct group of marine crocodylomorphs (a group that includes the crocodiles) that allegedly transitioned from land to water...

NEWS
The Star-Nosed Mole
The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a fascinating semi-aquatic mammal found in eastern Canada and the United States. Moles (placental mammals)...

NEWS
The Hexagon: An Indication of Order and Design in Nature
In nature, noncoincidental patterns and geometry exist everywhere. But the number six appears to overshadow nature’s mathematical landscape. Whether...

NEWS
Neanderthal Crab Bake
The evolutionary science community said it perfectly in their headlines: “Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another 'nail in the coffin'...

CREATION PODCAST
Is There Any Truth to Dragon Legends? | The Creation Podcast:...
Dragons are considered by many to be made-up creatures in fairytales and legends, but our ancestors produced many descriptions and depictions of "dragons,"...

NEWS
Our Sun, Finely Tuned for Life on Earth
Aside from appreciating the splendor of the sun during a beautiful sunrise or sunset, many rarely consider how special, necessary, and finely tuned...

NEWS
March 2023 ICR Wallpaper
"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who...