Fossil sorting
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Fossil sorting is the observable fact that in the fossil record, organisms are typically found within a limited span of layers, and frequently above or below other specific fossils. There are two interpretations of this fact:
- Uniformitarian geologists assert that this is a result of time (geologic ages): specifically, the slow deposition of fossils in rock strata over millions of years, with earlier fossils being buried first, and thus deeper in the record;
- Flood geologists assert that this is the result of several factors present during the Great flood, including ecological zonation, hydrological sorting and liquefaction, differential escape, biogeographic zonation, and tectonic activity.
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Models of Fossil Sorting
Uniformitarian Model
- Main Article: Uniformitarianism
Within the uniformitarian model, the sequence of distinct layers, known as the geological column, has been interpreted to represent the history of life on earth over hundreds of millions of years, and illustrates the period when organism first evolved or then went extinct.
Problems with this model:
- There is no way to confirm whether or not one fossil is older than another, because radiometric dating cannot place an age on rock strata or fossils. Instead, the "ages" of the fossils depends entirely on the assumption that the strata were laid down slowly over millions of years, which cannot be demonstrated to be true. When scientists state that fossils are "X million years old" they have no way to know how old they are; they are simply manufacturing facts from a theory: they assume that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago under the theory of evolution, and so assume that the fossils are millions of years old.
- There are an enormous number of anomalously occurring fossils, and living fossils that defy the conventional interpretation of the geological column. As one scientist (no creationist himself) wrote, "A large number of well trained scientists outside of evolutionary biology and paleontology have unfortunately gotten the idea that the fossil record is far more Darwinian than it is. This probably comes from the oversimplification inevitable in secondary sources: lowlevel textbooks, semipopular articles, and so on. Also, there is probably some wishful thinking involved. In the years after Darwin, his advocates hoped to find predictable progressions. In general, these have not been found yet the optimism has died hard, and some pure fantasy has crept into textbooks...One of the ironies of the creationevolution debate is that the creationists have accepted the mistaken notion that the fossil record shows a detailed and orderly progression and they have gone to great lengths to accommodate this 'fact' in their Flood Geology." Fossil Progression? by David M. Raup. New Scientist, Vol. 90, p.832, 1981
- Uniformitarianism lacks a function model for fossilization;
Flood Geology Model
- Main Article: Flood Geology
Within the flood geology model, the rocks record the history of the one year Great flood, rather than millions of years. The flood was an extended event lasting an entire year, and the waters did not reach their peak elevation until 5 months following the beginning of the event. This allowed organisms time to avoid the event depending on their own abilities and tolerances.
Genesis 8:2 the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3.. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated;
There are many geological, behavioral, and physiological factors expected to affect the sorting of animals into strata during a flood as described in the Bible. For example; habitat elevation, mobility, environmental tolerance, and intelligence were probably the most significant influences upon relative times of death, and therefore, where the organism would be found in the geological column. The fossils in the geological column demonstrate this expected trend. The first organisms to be buried were the bottom dwelling creatures, followed by free-swimming marine life forms, cold blooded, then warm-blooded, and then humans. It is obvious that organisms possess varying abilities to survive environmental stress (i.e. cold blooded animals such as reptiles are extremely sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and amphibian will die upon contact with salt water).
Although sorting is expected to occur during the Biblical global deluge, exceptions to their normal position in the flood strata are also a given. According to the global-flood model, out of place fossils should be somewhat common, forcing regular revisions of the proposed evolutionary history. Indeed a close investigation reveals a tremendous number of anomalously occurring fossils, and living fossils that defy the conventional interpretation of the geological column.
Summary of Fossil Sorting Mechanisms
Ecological zonation.
This is essentially the fact that organisms living in the same habitat would tend to get buried in similar rock at similar depths. Those in the same area and habitat would tend to be found in the same rock, while those near by in a different habitat would tend to be found in different rock. Also organisms living on the bottom of a body of water would tend to be found lower than those living on hills on land, with shore dwellers being in the middle.
Middle and Lower Pennsylvanian floras tend to be from the wetlands, while Upper Pennsylvanian one seem to be from drier habitats. Also, the Permian tends to be dry and most groups that first appear in the Upper Permian and Mesozoic tend to be dry.(DiMichele and Aronson, 46:807-824)
Hydrological sorting.
- Main Article: Hydrological sorting
This is the fact that the remains of animals; particularly invertebrates; would tend to get sorted like any other form in moving water. Buoyancy , size and shape would all be factors. Buoyancy is one factor than can not be determined from fossils.
Hydrological sorting in flowing water results in stratification moving horizontally as seen above rather than vertically. A typical cross sectional of such deposits is the same as is seen in the strata seen in rocks. It also turns out that observed bed forms in sand stone; often attributed to desert conditions; result from a combination of water depth and velocity. The sedimentary rocks from Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico are consistent with formation beneath advancing floodwaters.
Differential Escape.
This is the fact that more mobile and faster organisms would tend to seek higher ground. This separates organisms based on motility and at least in part intelligence. This would tend to separate men from trilobites, amphibians, and dinosaurs.
Scientists, when researching the so-called Permian mass extinction, noted that Paleozoic marine fossils are mainly sessile groups, such as articulate brachiopods, bryozoans and stalked echinoderms. While Mesozoic tend to be far more mobile then the Paleozoic fossils. This serves at evidence supporting differential escape being a sorting mechanism.(Erwin, 225-229)
More evidence supporting this as a mechanism for sorting is that if you compare the body mass of mammals to those of the same genera, but different periods, you will we a trend. The mass increases by about 9.1% as you go up the column. (Alroy, 280:731-734)
Biogeographic zonation.
This is simply the fact that animals that lived in the same area would tend to be found together. Those from other parts of the world would not be found with them. For example if a global flood occurred today one would not expect to find elephants and opossums buried together.
An example of this would be the fact that upper Triassic fossil vertebrates in southern continents tend to be different then that of northern continents.(Sues, 249:1020-1023)
Tectonic activity.
By itself tectonic activity would not affect fossil order at all, but it could have pushed some fossils over others before the sediment hardened. There is evidence of this at the Ghadames Basin.
Criticism of the above mechanisms usually takes any one of them in isolation, while assuming that the geologic column perfectly reflects fossil distribution. When the above phenomena are combined they could produce the general trend claimed by evolutionists but there would be fossils found outside the usual pattern. The problem is that the geologic column so dominates the classification of fossils that it distorts the picture of global fossil distribution; as a result, we don't know the real fossil trend that needs to be explained.
When looking at the fossil record through the eyes on the geologic column, one would expect to find a lesser quality of the fossil record going down. This is do to the fact that older rocks would be more likely to have been distorted then younger ones. However the consistency of cladograms with fossil taxa is nearly constant throughout the geological column. This suggest a major problem with theoretical interpretations using the geological column as it's basis.(Benton, Wills, Hitchin 534-537)
Conclusion
While the uniformitarian model of fossil sorting has been repeatedly falsified by anomalous fossils and living fossils, the flood model can explain the general pattern of sorting through hydrological sorting, liquefaction, ecological sorting, biogeographic zonation, and tectonic activity, as well as the exceptions to the rule of sorting, because none of the above mechanisms will be perfect. Thus, while the uniformitarian model violates several known facts about the fossil record, flood geology is consistent with all of them, and flood geology is the superior model.
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References
- Alroy J. 1998. Cope's Rule and the dynamics of body mass evolution in North American fossil mammals. Science 280:731-734.
- Benton MJ, Wills MA, Hitchin R. 2000. Quality of the fossil record through time. Nature 403:534-537.
- DiMichele, W. A. and R. B. Aronson. 1992. The Pennsylvanian-Permian vegetational transition: A terrestrial analogue to the onshore-offshore hypothesis. Evolution 46:807-824.
- Erwin, D. H. 1989. The end-Permian mass extinction: what really happened and did it matter? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 4:225-229.
- Sues, H-D and P. E. Olson. 1990. Triassic vertebrates of Gondwanan aspect from the Richmond Basin of Virginia. Science 249:1020-1023.
- Woodmorappe, J. 1982. "Anomalously Occurring Fossils" Creation Research Society Quarterly, Volume 18.
See Also
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