[This is an addendum to the Message delivered on Sunday, May 25th at Calvary Chapel Oxnard]

Evidence Supporting the Global Flood Account in Genesis 7-8

Introduction

The biblical flood narrative detailed in Genesis chapters 7 and 8 describes a catastrophic worldwide deluge that covered “all the high mountains under the entire heavens” (Genesis 7:19). While mainstream scientific consensus interprets geological evidence differently, many researchers, geologists, and scholars have presented evidence they believe supports the historicity of this account. This essay examines various lines of evidence that proponents cite as supporting the Genesis flood narrative as a global, historical event.

The Genesis Account: Key Elements

Before examining the evidence, it’s important to understand the specific claims made in Genesis 7-8:

• Water covered all high mountains under the entire heavens (Genesis 7:19)
• All life on dry land with the breath of life died (Genesis 7:21-22)
• Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived (Genesis 7:23)
• The flood lasted for over a year (Genesis 7:11, 8:13-14)
• The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4)
• Waters receded gradually, revealing the land (Genesis 8:5-14)

Any evidence supporting this account would need to be consistent with these claims of a catastrophic, global event.

Geological Evidence

1. Widespread Sedimentary Rock Layers

One of the most frequently cited evidences for a global flood is the existence of vast sedimentary rock formations that extend across continents. Sedimentary rocks, formed from sediments deposited by water, comprise approximately 75% of the rock visible at Earth’s surface. Flood proponents point to several characteristics of these formations:

Continental-Scale Deposits: Many sedimentary rock layers extend across vast areas, such as the Tapeats Sandstone, which stretches from California to New York, and the St. Peter Sandstone, which covers large portions of North America. Flood geologists argue that such widespread, uniform deposition is better explained by a massive flooding event than by slow processes over millions of years.

Minimal Erosion Between Layers: Many sedimentary rock boundaries show minimal evidence of erosion between layers, suggesting rapid, continuous deposition rather than millions of years between formations. Geologist Dr. Steven Austin has documented this in the Grand Canyon, where the contact between the Coconino Sandstone and Hermit Formation shows little evidence of the erosion one would expect over the conventionally assigned time gaps.

Marine Fossils on Continents: Marine fossils are found throughout continental interiors, including high elevations. Limestone formations containing marine fossils cover vast portions of North America’s interior, suggesting these areas were once underwater.

2. Evidence of Rapid Deposition

Several features within sedimentary rocks suggest rapid formation rather than slow processes:

Polystrate Fossils: Fossils that extend through multiple sedimentary layers (polystrate fossils) are difficult to explain through slow deposition. For example, petrified trees found in Yellowstone and coal formations often penetrate multiple sedimentary layers, suggesting these layers formed rapidly during the lifetime or preservation of a single organism.

Soft Sediment Deformation: Many rock layers exhibit folding without fracturing, indicating they were still soft and pliable when deformed. Geologist Dr. John Morris has documented numerous examples where sedimentary layers bent dramatically without breaking, suggesting they were deformed before hardening, consistent with rapid deposition during a flood event.

Tightly Folded Strata: Mountain ranges worldwide contain sedimentary layers that have been tightly folded without extensive fracturing. This suggests these layers were bent while still relatively soft and pliable, shortly after deposition, rather than millions of years later.

3. Fossil Evidence

The fossil record contains several features that flood proponents interpret as supporting a catastrophic global flood:

Mass Burial Deposits: Fossil graveyards containing thousands or millions of organisms are found worldwide. The Karoo Formation in South Africa contains an estimated 800 billion vertebrate fossils. Such mass burials suggest catastrophic burial conditions rather than normal ecological processes.

Marine and Terrestrial Fossils Together: Locations where marine and land-dwelling creatures are found buried together suggest catastrophic conditions that mixed different habitats. The Morrison Formation in the western United States contains dinosaurs buried alongside marine organisms.

Rapid Burial and Preservation: Well-preserved fossils, particularly those showing soft tissue preservation, suggest rapid burial that protected organisms from normal decay processes. Examples include ichthyosaurs fossilized while giving birth and fish fossilized in the process of eating other fish.

Hydrological Evidence

1. Evidence of Massive Water Processes

Mountain Formation: Flood geologists suggest that many mountain ranges show evidence of having formed rapidly under water pressure rather than through slow tectonic processes alone. The curved, folded strata in mountains like the Appalachians are interpreted as evidence of plastic deformation when the sediments were still soft.

Planation Surfaces: Large, flat erosional surfaces (planation surfaces) cut across tilted sedimentary layers in many locations worldwide. These features are difficult to explain through normal erosion processes but could result from massive sheet erosion during the receding phase of a global flood.

Submarine Canyons: Large canyons extending from continental shelves into deep ocean are interpreted by some as evidence of massive water runoff as flood waters receded. Notable examples include the Amazon Submarine Canyon and the Hudson Canyon off the East Coast of the United States.

2. Water Source Mechanisms

Genesis describes both “the fountains of the great deep” bursting forth and “the windows of heaven” opening (Genesis 7:11). Several mechanisms have been proposed that could account for the necessary water volumes:

Catastrophic Plate Tectonics: Dr. John Baumgardner developed computer models suggesting that rapid movement of tectonic plates during a global catastrophe could have resulted in massive ocean floor upheaval, displacing enormous volumes of water onto continents.

Water Vapor Canopy: Some researchers have proposed that pre-flood atmospheric conditions may have included substantial water vapor held in a canopy formation above the atmosphere, which collapsed during the flood. While more recent models suggest this could not account for all flood waters, it might have contributed alongside other mechanisms.

Subterranean Water Reservoirs: Recent discoveries of vast amounts of water in Earth’s mantle suggest Earth may contain several ocean volumes of water beneath the crust. This lends plausibility to the “fountains of the deep” description in Genesis.

Anthropological Evidence

1. Global Flood Traditions

Perhaps the most striking evidence for a global flood from a historical perspective is the existence of flood narratives across diverse cultures worldwide. Over 200 distinct flood legends have been documented, with remarkable similarities:

Worldwide Distribution: Flood legends exist on every inhabited continent and across isolated cultures, suggesting a common historical event rather than cultural borrowing. Cultures as diverse as ancient Mesopotamians, Chinese, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and indigenous South Americans all preserve flood accounts.

Common Elements: Despite cultural diversity, these traditions share key elements with the Genesis account:

• Divine cause (usually punishment for human wickedness)
• Warning given to a chosen individual or family
• Construction of a vessel for preservation
• Saving of animals
• Landing on a mountain
• Use of birds to determine when waters receded

This remarkable convergence suggests a common historical experience rather than coincidence or cultural diffusion alone.

2. Archaeological Evidence

Black Sea Deluge: Geological studies by researchers Walter Pitman and William Ryan revealed evidence that around 5600 BC, Mediterranean waters catastrophically flooded the Black Sea basin when rising water levels breached the Bosporus. This event may have been preserved in regional memories that contributed to flood narratives.

Mesopotamian Flood Evidence: Sir Leonard Woolley’s excavations at the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in the 1920s uncovered a thick silt layer indicating a massive flood around 3000 BC. While regional rather than global, such catastrophic local floods may preserve memories of the biblical deluge.

Chronological Evidence

1. Young Earth Evidence

Those who interpret the Genesis flood account literally typically adhere to a young Earth chronology, as the biblical genealogies place the flood approximately 4,500 years ago. Several lines of evidence are cited as supporting a timeline compatible with this chronology:

Rapid Erosion Rates: Current erosion rates would flatten continents in a fraction of conventional geological time. The observably rapid erosion of features like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon (particularly following the 1983 spillway floods) suggests these features could have formed much more rapidly than conventionally believed.

Soft Tissue in Fossils: The discovery of soft tissue, blood cells, and flexible blood vessels in dinosaur fossils challenges conventional dating methods that place these fossils at 65+ million years old. Such preservation is difficult to explain over millions of years but makes sense in a post-flood timeline of thousands of years.

Carbon-14 in “Ancient” Specimens: Measurable amounts of carbon-14 have been found in coal, diamonds, and dinosaur fossils that should contain no detectable carbon-14 if they were millions of years old, as carbon-14 has a half-life of only about 5,730 years.

Scientific Models Supporting a Global Flood

Several creation scientists have developed comprehensive models explaining how a global flood might account for observed geological features:

Hydroplate Theory: Walt Brown’s hydroplate theory proposes that pre-flood, a substantial amount of water existed in a subterranean chamber. The rupture of this chamber initiated catastrophic processes that could account for numerous geological features, including mountain building, canyon formation, and the Ice Age.

Catastrophic Plate Tectonics: As mentioned earlier, this model, developed by Dr. John Baumgardner, suggests rapid movement of tectonic plates during the flood year, providing mechanisms for continental separation, mountain building, and massive sediment deposition.

Post-Flood Ice Age: Creation scientists like Michael Oard have developed models showing how a post-flood environment with warm oceans and cooled land surfaces would create ideal conditions for a rapid ice age, explaining evidence of glaciation without requiring multiple ice ages over millions of years.

Challenges and Responses

Proponents of the Genesis flood account acknowledge that their interpretation faces scientific challenges:

Water Volume: Covering all mountains would require more water than currently exists on Earth. However, flood geologists suggest pre-flood topography was much flatter, with most modern mountains forming during and after the flood through tectonic processes described in their models.

Animal Diversity: Housing representatives of all animal kinds on the ark presents logistical challenges. Creation scientists respond that the biblical “kind” represents broader categories than modern species (perhaps at the family taxonomic level), drastically reducing the required number of animals. Additionally, juvenile animals may have been taken aboard.

Post-Flood Repopulation: The distribution of specialized animal populations worldwide after the flood presents biogeographical challenges. Flood proponents suggest natural mechanisms like continental rafting, land bridges during lower post-flood sea levels, and rapid post-flood speciation within created kinds.

Conclusion

The evidence presented by proponents of the Genesis flood narrative represents an alternative interpretation of geological, paleontological, and anthropological data through the lens of catastrophism rather than uniformitarianism. While mainstream geology interprets the same evidence differently through conventional timescales and processes, advocates for the historicity of the Genesis flood argue that many features of our planet are better explained by a global catastrophic flood as described in Genesis 7-8.

The worldwide distribution of flood legends, coupled with geological evidence of catastrophic processes and evidence of rapid formation of many geological features, constitutes what flood proponents consider compelling evidence for the biblical deluge. As research continues, both in conventional geology and creation science, our understanding of Earth’s past and the possible mechanisms for a global flood continues to develop.