Do Millions of Laminae in the Green River Shales Document Millions of Years? | The Institute for Creation Research
 
Do Millions of Laminae in the Green River Shales Document Millions of Years?

The Green River oil shales have provided one of the very strongest arguments for millions of years, or at least one of the most used.

Take a specimen of the shale and slice it open perpendicular to the normal bedding, so that you look at the rock's internal characteristics from the side. You will see a multitude of tiny laminations, like pages in a book, but alternating light and dark. Each pair is called a varve usually interpreted as representing a yearly cycle of deposition, with the darker, coarser layer the summer deposit, and the lighter, finer layer from the winter. In the Green River shale deposits up to 6 million varves are found. Does this prove 6 million years?

Actually, in no location do all the varves exist. The total is derived by correlating sequences from several locations, arranging the partial records in consecutive order. Obviously, conclusions are subjective.

The real question is, does each varve unequivocally represent one year? Definitely not, for several reasons. Studies have shown that varve counts vary between individual locations in modern glacial lakes. Sometimes, the number of laminae covering a historically dated level was more than the elapsed years. One study in a modern lake documented that 300-360 laminae had formed in 160 years. In the Green River Shale a 35% variance in number occurred between two "instantaneous" volcanic ash falls. "All" researchers now recognize that sometimes more than one varve can form in a single year.

There's also evidence it happened rapidly. Numerous fossils are found in the Green River Formation. Catfish in abundance are found, looking much the same as they did when alive. The thickness of their bodies transgresses several layers. Obviously a fish carcass, even if it did get to the bottom of a lake would not remain undecayed and unscavenged for several years, slowly being covered by seasonal deposits.

Even more remarkable are an abundance of bird fossils. In spite of their low density, bird fossils are copiously present here. If these sediments are from the bottom of a calm lake, as required by the standard varve interpretation, how could myriads of bird fossils be present? Bird carcasses don't lie on the bottom of a lake. What happened?

Further evidence against the uniformitarian, calm lake model comes from the nature of the sediments. The dark summer layer is organic rich, a commercial source of oil today. Organic material does exist in modern lakes, but a huge lake without disruptive storms or variable river input, year after year for six million years? Surely some things cannot be.

On the other hand, numerous examples of catastrophic deposits, hurricane debris, 90 mph mudflows at Mount St. Helens, and laboratory experiments, have documented rapid formation of multitudes of "varves." A detailed understanding of past, unobserved events is hard to construct, but in general, the Green River varved deposits support the global Flood of Noah's day model much better than the uniformitarian, long age model.

Cite this article: John D. Morris, Ph.D. 2003. Do Millions of Laminae in the Green River Shales Document Millions of Years?. Acts & Facts. 32 (1).

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...