How Mount St. Helens Refutes Evolution | The Institute for Creation Research

How Mount St. Helens Refutes Evolution

ICR was recently pleased to host Gary Bates, CEO of Creation Ministries International-USA, for a private tour of the under-construction ICR Discovery Center for Science and Earth History.1 While we watched busy workers add greenery to the Mount St. Helens model, Gary told of a time years ago when evidence from ICR’s research of the 1980s eruptions in Washington State led him to switch from evolution to creation.

Within days of becoming a Christian, Gary began struggling to fit evolution with the Bible. His struggle ended when he saw geologist Dr. Steve Austin present ICR research on Mount St. Helens. By the end of that hour, he had learned enough geology to refute fish-to-fishermen evolution. What does a volcanic eruption have to do with belief in evolution? Gary explained his logic.

First, he learned that Mount St. Helens released the energy of 20 million tons of TNT on the morning of May 18, 1980. The blast pulverized rock and ejected tons of steam-infused ash and sediments throughout that day. Over three billion cubic yards of avalanche material slid down.2 Eventually, the muddy wreckage settled. At this point, Gary expected that the debris had settled haphazardly.

Gary Bates, center, describes his experience the first time he heard an explanation of the Mount St. Helens eruptions in light of the Genesis creation narrative.
 

But Dr. Austin spoke of a 1982 mudflow that carved deep channels through the thick 1980 deposits, exposing mud made solid in just two years. It shocked Gary to learn that the initial explosion formed distinct layers. Giant cross-beds and fine, flat layers both formed fast. He realized that it doesn’t take a million years to make layers. You just need plenty of fast-moving water.

The Mount St. Helens events only needed hours and months to form the same features found in sedimentary rocks around the world. Common features include:

— Sharp, flat contacts between layers
— Larger particles toward the bottom of a rock bed
— Cross-beds
— Steep-walled canyons
— Drainage systems
— Material moved far away before becoming part of new rock
— De-limbed, sorted, and reburied logs
— Volcanic ash mixed with mud and hardened into rock

As soon as Gary learned that rock layers can form fast, he knew Noah’s Flood could have produced enormous rock stacks in one year. We don’t need long ages to solidify sediments. But what about the age-dating schemes that supposedly prove those ages?

Within six years of the eruption, a new lava dome in the crater atop Mount St. Helens had hardened. Standard radioisotope methods pointed to an isotopic age of around 350,000 years for the 10-year-old rock.3 Gary learned then that the highly regarded radioisotope dating methods are broken.4 This made Noah’s recent Flood that much more sensible.

He reasoned that if rock layers formed fast, then the earth could be only thousands of years old—not enough time for fish to evolve into people.

The world’s rocks show evidence of rapid deposits. Erase the time and you erase evolution. Tweet: The world’s rocks show evidence of rapid deposits. Erase the time and you erase evolution.

How Mount St. Helens Refutes Evolution: https://www.icr.org/article/how-mount-st-helens-refutes-evolution/

@ICRscience @ICRdiscovery @icrbthomas @creationnews

#Geology #Science

Unimaginably long timespans form the backdrop for all evolutionary speculations. But the world’s rocks show evidence of rapid deposits. Erase the time and you erase evolution. I respect Gary for following the evidence where it led—to biblical creation and thus to the trustworthiness of the God who inspired His Holy Word.

References

  1. Based near Atlanta, Georgia, Creation Ministries International-USA promotes biblical creation.
  2. Morris, J. and S. A. Austin. 2003. Footprints in the Ash. Green River, AR: Master Books, 25.
  3. Ibid, 67.
  4. See Dr. Vernon Cupps’ book Rethinking Radiometric Dating: Evidence for a Young Earth from a Nuclear Physicist.

* Dr. Thomas is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in paleobiochemistry from the University of Liverpool.

Cite this article: Brian Thomas, Ph.D. 2019. How Mount St. Helens Refutes Evolution. Acts & Facts. 48 (6).

The Latest
NEWS
The Origin of Eukaryotes
Eukaryotes are multicellular organisms that contain diverse differentiated cell types. Within almost every cell there are subcellular compartments called...

CREATION PODCAST
Water vs. Wind: The Controversial Coconino | The Creation Podcast:...
Welcome to the sixth episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old...

NEWS
Fossil Fish Finally Filmed
The bizarre lobe-finned coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) “that flourished some 350 million years ago”1 continues to be a thorn...

NEWS
The Mosasaur: A Giant Sea Dragon
Mosasaurs (order Squamata) were massive marine lizards that were common in the pre-Flood oceans. Therefore, it is not surprising that their fossils...

DAYS OF PRAISE DEVOTIONALS
Summer 2025
...

NEWS
Was Life Detected on a Distant Planet?
There was celebration, albeit briefly, for the discovery of potential life on a planet called K2-18b, which is 124 lightyears away from Earth. The...

NEWS
Ichthyosaur Graveyard Explained by the Flood
Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that occur globally in the same rock layers as dinosaurs. Specimens with babies support the idea that they gave live...

CREATION PODCAST
What Do We Do With Geology's Unconforming Features? | The Creation...
Welcome to the fifth episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old...

NEWS
Freshwater Fish Fossil in Australia
Yet another fish fossil has been discovered. This one was found in the Australian desert and was dated by evolutionists to be “15 million years...

NEWS
May 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans...