Related Articles

Show All Topics

Annotations from the Literature

A collection of short commentaries on scientific articles published in 1983, covering topics such as the history of Darwinism, integrity in science, evolution and thermodynamics, North American geology, Quaternary dating methods, origin of life, and the half-life of Technetium-99.

Read More

The Mexico Earthquake

The earthquake in Mexico reminds us that catastrophes are a frequent, although unpredictable, experience. Geologists have emphasized the ordinary event, under the name uniformitarianism, but are increasingly accommodating to the reality of catastrophism. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 2.

Read More

Can Science and Religion Work Together?

The practice of science does not depend on the beliefs a scientist has about origins. Creationists are able to conduct scientific research , and may even be aided by ideas that derive from the Bible. Conflicts may arise between science and religion, but this is an indication of the need for more study. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 2.

Read More

A Venture in Unorthodoxy

A review of the book, The Expanding Earth. A prominent scientist has written a book advocating an expanding earth rather than conventional plate tectonics theory. The idea has not been accepted by the scientific community. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 1.

Read More

Are Millions of Years Required to Produce Biogenic Sediments in the Deep Ocean?

The ocean floor is largely covered with a layer of sediments derived from the remnants of dead organisms, such as the "shells" of foraminifera. At present, these accumulate too slowly to account for the depth of sediments in a few thousand years. However, a catastrophic flood would provide difference conditions with very large amounts of nutrients and the opportunity for rapid growth of these organisms. More data are needed to analyze the situation more satisfactorily. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 1.

Read More

Rapid Erosion at Mount St. Helens

Geological processes are conventionally considered to be relatively constant, but erosion associated with the eruption of Mt. St. Helens is a reminder that rates of erosion may be much faster under catastrophic conditions. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 2.

Read More

Geomagnetic Intensity Decay: The Fit of the Data

A review of Chapters 3 and 4 in the book, Scientists Confront Creationism. Creationism is roundly criticized for poor arguments. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 2.

Read More

NASA's Next Interplanetary Mission

NASA is planning to send a satellite to study Jupiter and take measurements of its atmospheric composition. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 1.

Read More

The Little Ice Age

A period of unusual cold in the Northern Hemisphere extended from about 1450 to around 1850, known as the Little Ice Age. The causes are not well understood, but could have included variation in solar output and/or volcanic activity. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 2.

Read More

Paleomagnetism II

Some rocks show magnetic properties that align with the present geomagnetic field, while others show a reverse alignment. This is taken to indicate that the earth's geomagnetic field has reversed many times during earth history. Patterns of magnetic alignment have been used to correlate geologic layers and to support the concept of plate tectonics. Much remains to be understood concerning the causes and rates of magnetic reversals. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 2.

Read More

Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake

Mount St. Helens, the once beautiful mountain with a blue forest-ringed lake at its feet, is now a shattered remnant of its former self and the lake is stark and foreboding. But this loss is partially compensated by the information this volcano is giving us, not least of which is a glimpse of what could have happened to many trees during the Genesis flood. Continuing research will undoubtedly enlarge and refine this picture. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 1.

Read More

Paleomagnetism I

This paper introduces the basics of magnetism, the magnetic field of the earth and how the rocks can record the ancient magnetic field of the earth. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 1.

Read More

The El Niño Event

El Niño is an interannual catastrophic event caused by massive amounts of warm water flowing in from the mid-Pacific instead of the more normal northerly warm current. These events have a 6-8 year cycle, Published in Origins v 10, n. 1.

Read More

The Tunguska Explosion of 1908

The cause of the 1908 Tunguska explosion in Russia remains somewhat mysterious. The most probable explanation is that a small comet exploded in the air and produced a blast wave that uprooted thousands of trees and killed many reindeer. Published in Origins v. 9, n. 2.

Read More

Precambrian Pollen in the Grand Canyon

In the early sixties, Clifford Burdick claimed to have discovered pollen of modern plant in Precambrian rocks. Dr. Chadwick has not been able to confirm Burdick's findings, however, he does point out that this type of irregularity has been reported by several traditional geologists and that these findings pose a challenge to one of evolution's fundamental tenets.

Read More

How Rapidly Can Wood Petrify?

Experimental evidence shows that wood can petrify in a few years or less when immersed in mineral-rich water. Published in Origins v. 5, n. 2.

Read More

Megabreccias: Evidence for Catastrophism

The presence of various kinds of megabreccias in the geologic column, showing in some cases the transport of extremely large clasts, indicates energy levels on a scale that staggers our imagination. Published in Origins v. 5, n. 1.

Read More

A New Journal on Catastrophism

A new journal, Catastrophist Geology, has begun publication. Published in Origins v. 4, n. 2.

Read More

Clastic Dikes

Clastic dikes form when unconsolidated sediments are forced upward into overlying sediments by the weight of the accumulating sediments. Some clastic dikes intrude into layers supposedly many millions of years younger, indicating that the underlying sediments remained unconsolidated for unexpectedly long periods of alleged time. Such features challenge the conventional geologic time scale. Published in Origins v. 4, n. 1.

Read More

Anomalous Ages for Meteorite Impacts and Tektites

Major tektite falls in Australia in strata as young as 5700 years old according to radiocarbon dating have called in question both the fission-track and the K-Ar methods of dating which assign these identical tektites an age of about 700,000 years. Published in Origins v. 3, n. 2.

Read More