Seafloor Sediment Research: Exciting Results! | The Institute for Creation Research

Seafloor Sediment Research: Exciting Results!

Regular Acts & Facts readers may be aware that I have hinted at upcoming results from my research on deep seafloor sediments.1 Now I am pleased to share some preliminary results with you.

Uniformitarian scientists believe that there have been about 50 ice ages within the last 2.6 million years of alleged “prehistory.” They believe that slow changes in Earth’s orbital and rotational motions regulate the timing of these ice ages. This theory is called the astronomical, or Milankovitch, ice age theory. Uniformitarian scientists generally assume the Milankovitch theory is correct and use it to assign ages to seafloor sediments with a method called orbital tuning. They then use these ages to date the deep ice cores. My previous research focused on the fact that these age assignments involve a good deal of apparent circular reasoning, since ages in cores are often tied to ages in other cores.2

Yet, this method is only truly circular if the evidence for the Milankovitch theory is either weak or nonexistent. Although there are serious problems with the Milankovitch theory, uniformitarian scientists claim that an iconic 1976 paper provided strong evidence for the theory.3, 4 In the paper, analysis of data from two Indian Ocean sediment cores yielded results consistent with Milankovitch expectations. The authors concluded that Earth’s orbital motions acted as a climate pacemaker that regulated the timing of ice ages.

However, this 1976 “Pacemaker” paper has serious problems. For instance, the authors excluded nearly a third of the data from the second sediment core, probably needlessly. Likewise, an assumed age of 700,000 years for the most recent magnetic reversal played a key role in the Pacemaker paper. Yet uniformitarian scientists now claim that this reversal happened 780,000 years ago. This age revision is extremely problematic for the paper’s results.

I have reproduced results, which I hope to soon publish, from the first part of the Pacemaker paper, using reconstructed data and the same method as the paper’s authors.

However, the final phase of my research is to explore the effects that these changes (inclusive of the first third of the data from the second core and an age change from 700,000 to 780,000 years) have on the paper’s results. Preliminary analysis indicates that they will not be encouraging for Milankovitch believers—even if one accepts, for the sake of argument, the claim that the sediments are hundreds of thousands of years old!

The Milankovitch theory plays an important role in uniformitarian dating methods. Demonstrating that there is no sound logical basis for orbital tuning could call into question hundreds, perhaps thousands, of uniformitarian age assignments. Likewise, the Milankovitch theory may be making a subtle contribution to global warming alarmism, so this research has the potential to bring some perspective to this controversial topic.

I continue to find problems with this Pacemaker paper. Lord willing, I will publish these results in a series of future Impact articles. For those who can’t wait that long, my first paper may be freely read on the Internet.5 Although it is technical, I kept the mathematics to a minimum and took pains to explain the necessary background material so that non-specialists may get the gist of the argument.

References

  1. Hebert, J. 2015. Seafloor Sediment Research Continues. Acts & Facts. 44 (11): 9.
  2. Hebert, J. 2016. Deep Core Dating and Circular Reasoning. Acts & Facts. 45 (3): 9-11.
  3. Oard, M. J. 2007. Astronomical troubles for the astronomical hypothesis of ice ages. Journal of Creation. 21 (3): 19-23.
  4. Hays, J. D., J. Imbrie, and N. J. Shackleton. 1976. Variations in the Earth’s Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages. Science. 194 (4270): 1121-1132.
  5. Hebert, J. 2016. Should the “Pacemaker of the Ice Ages” Paper Be Retracted? Part 1. Answers Research Journal. 9: 25-56.

* Dr. Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Cite this article: Jake Hebert, Ph.D. 2016. Seafloor Sediment Research: Exciting Results!. Acts & Facts. 45 (6).

The Latest
ACTS & FACTS
Continuous Environmental Tracking : An Engineering-Based Model...
Purpose The Institute for Creation Research is engaged in our biggest science initiative in the last two decades, and it could be our most important...

ACTS & FACTS
CET: Testing the Cavefish Model
Staff Writer Purpose The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is testing an engineering- based model of rapid biological adaptation called...

ACTS & FACTS
Original Biochemistry in Fossils
Purpose In 1997, paleontologist Dr. Mary Schweitzer accidentally stumbled upon what appeared to be blood vessels and blood cells from a T. rex...

ACTS & FACTS
Debunking an Iconic Uniformitarian Ice Age Theory
Purpose The Milankovitch, or astronomical, theory holds that the timing of Ice Ages is controlled by slow changes in Earth’s orbital and...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR and Explaining the Ice Age
by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D., and Michael J. Oard, M.S.* Purpose There is strong geological evidence for an Ice Age, so the Institute for Creation...

ACTS & FACTS
Planetary Magnetism
Purpose In 1971, Dr. Thomas Barnes publicized a then “trade secret” of scientists studying the earth’s magnetic field, which...

ACTS & FACTS
Cosmology Research
Purpose Taking the Hebrew text of Scripture at face value without inserting gaps or revising the meanings, the universe is only about 6,000 years...

ACTS & FACTS
The Coconino Sandstone: Water, not Wind
Purpose The Coconino Sandstone is one of the most well-known formations in Grand Canyon. The blond-colored sandstone, just three layers down from...

ACTS & FACTS
Global Stratigraphy Supports a Progressive Worldwide Flood
Purpose Is there geological evidence for a global flood? Is there evidence that the waters rose and peaked on Day 150 as recorded in Genesis 8?...

ACTS & FACTS
Human-Chimp DNA Similarity Research Refutes Evolution
Purpose An oft-repeated claim of evolutionary propaganda is that the DNA of chimpanzees and humans is 98.5% identical. This high level of DNA...