Springs of the great deep

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

The Springs of the great deep are described in the Bible as a source of a devastating global flood that was brought by God to destroy mankind due to their wickedness. Only Noah and his family were spared. While some have held that the source of the waters was a 40-day rain (see:canopy theory), today most creation scientists support that it was principally caused by waters of a subterranean origin, which are referred to as the, Springs of the great deep in the NIV, or Fountains of the great deep in the KJV.

Biblical Interpretation of the Phrase

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. NIV Genesis 7:11

Both the rain and the, springs of the great deep began to flood the Earth on the same day indicating that perhaps a common phenomena or event triggered the initiation of both natural events. These events, which has been speculated to possibly of been cosmic in nature (asteroids, meteorites, etc.) was arguably responsible for fracturing the Earth's crust into what are called plates and is now studied by science as plates, thus released the, springs of the great deep.

Some definite conclusions can be drawn from the Biblical text which include:

• The springs of the great deep refers to the splitting open of springs of subterranean waters, which along with a torrential downpour caused the worldwide flood to come about. ^[1]
• The springs of the great deep were the primary source of the water of the Genesis flood. Some suggest that it might have rained for the first time when the flood began, and instead that springs were the main source of water which nourished the Earth before the flood.

The latter conclusion is based largely on the duration of time that rain as opposed to the springs continued to flow. The Bible clearly states that it rained upon the Earth for only 40 days, while the waters flowing from below continued for 150 days.

Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." NIV Genesis 7:4

The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. NIV Genesis 7:24

Meaning of Springs (Fountains)

Just what did Moses mean by 'fountains of the great deep' (KJV) or 'springs of the great deep' (NIV)? Eighteen different Hebrew words were translated into 4 English words--cistern, fountain, spring, or well--in both the KJV and the NIV. They are also translated into a few other English words not shown here. (# KJV / # NIV)

The Hebrew word for springs/fountains in Genesis 7:11 is ma'yan. It was used 23 in the KJV Old Testament: 16 times as fountain, 2 times as spring and 5 times as well. And as can be seen, the English word spring is translated from 7 different Hebrew words in the KJV and 13 different Hebrew words in the NIV. And fountain is translated from 5 Hebrew words in the KJV and 4 Hebrew words in the NIV. This clearly illustrates how much the translation process is an art and not a science.

All 4 English words can have the same meaning--i.e. a source of water. However, each word has it's own specific meaning that makes it distinct from the others. Surely it is the same for the 18 Hebrew words. So when several Hebrew words are translated into as few as one or two English words, surely meaning and intent of the original authors becomes blurred and indistinct. This should make us suspect that the words fountain or spring are only approximations for the words in the original language.

Location

The exact depth of the waters known as the great deep within the Earth's crust varies with different models. The Hydroplate theory places the water below a 10-mile thick crust, the remnants of which are now the continental crust. This theory is the first flood model to deal with the springs of the great deep. Modeling the springs of the deep is an important aspect of any Flood model and one where hydroplate theory excels. It is an important aspect of flood geology but one that still requires much work.

Evidence and Plausibility

The idea of there being vast amount of water in the earth’s mantle is a well documented theory. There are a number of evidential grounds that lend credibility with which produce creationist predictions, others are actual observations of water currently in the mantle.

Location map showing the boundary of the High Plains (Ogallala) aquifer, major cities and roads, and altitude of land surface.

Large underground aquifers exist today that may represent remnants of the waters that burst forth during the global flood. One of the largest known aquifers is known as the High Plains Aquifer (Ogallala aquifer). The Ogallala is an ancient, non-replenishing body of water that supplies nearly one-third of the water used for irrigation in the US. The aquifer lies beneath 8 states in the U.S. and occupies some 175,000 square miles. More than 5 trillion gallons of water are pumped from the aquifer each year. [1]

In 1997 scientists discovered that the zone between the upper and lower mantle is actually wet and may contain about 10-30 times the amount of water currently in all of our oceans combined. Experimental work was followed and what was discovered is that 70% of what comes out of volcanoes is water. Additionally, certain minerals can hold water in even the worst temperatures. [2]

Many secular geologists believe that there was a global, or near global, flood on Mars, but ironically persist in taking a position that maintains strict implausibility of that happening on Earth. In a US Geological Survey, the estimated amount of water needed to carve the Martian channels is tens of meters deep, over the whole face of the planet. This problem led some scientists in a 1996 New Scientist article, that there is a layer of water up to half a kilometer thick in the Martian crust. Thus, concept of huge underground reservoirs is not just a creationist idea. [3]

There seems to be water beneath the Tibetan Plateau. According to a 2001 Science report, a layer of aqueous fluids could produce the conductance observed in Tibet with a lower fluid fraction and/or layer thickness than considered above for partial melt. For example, a layer only 1.6 km thick containing 10% of 100 S/m brine would be needed to yield the observed 10,000-S conductance. (Wenbo Wei et al p. 718.)

Scientists have also discovered a blob in the earth's mantle. It is located more than 500 miles under the western Caribbean Sea and is about 80 miles thick by 380 miles tall. This is most likely lava, but this may be a left over of a spring that ruptured during the Flood. This fits nicely with hydroplate theory. [4]

According to a recent model, there is a strange anomaly in the pacific. It appears to be an enormously huge section of hydrate minerals. Though this is a far cry from a fountain of the deep, it fits nicely into the idea. This could very well be the left over of a fountain.[5]

Motohiko Murakami, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, found that there may be five times the amount of water in the mantle then all the earth’s oceans. He found the water about 1,000 kilometres below the Earth's surface at temperatures of 1,000^o C. He also did calculations on the capability of water to be held under such pressures.

National Geographic magazine quotes him as saying,

The idea of there being great amounts of water in the mantle is actually needed for the old earth model. Water transports materials and is responsible for some seismic properties.[8]In fact, if it is assumed that there is no water below the crust, much water would be missing. The old earth model for the earth’s formation requires much more water then what is seen at the surface. [9]

One phenomenon that has eluded scientist for some matter of years is unexplained earth quakes in the deep mantle. Theoretically, water in the deep parts of the earth could explain this. Water being squeezed out of it’s source could cause underground earth quakes and can potentially cause plate movement.[10]

There is also the Beijing Anomaly. It is an anomaly in seimic waves, which hint (at a 700-1400 km depth) at a large amount of water in the mantle.[11] More recently, researchers found that there is a reservoir as large as the Arctic ocean in the mantle.[12]

Related News

• 3-D model shows big body of water in Earth's mantle Researchers at Washington University have discovered a water reservoir within the earth’s mantle, perhaps as large as the Arctic Ocean. The finding may lend support for the existence of the Fountains of the great deep described in the Bible as breaking open during the flood of Noah. PhysOrg.com February 08, 2007.

References

1. ↑ The Fountains of the Great Deep by Gerhard F. Hasel. Origins 1(2):67-72 (1974)

External links

Creationist

• Drowned from below by Alexander Williams. Creation ex nihilo 22(3):52–53. June 2000.
• ‘Fountains of the Deep’ on Mars? by Creation Ministries International
• Deep Waters Lou Bergeron. New Scientist, August 1997.
• The Fountains of the Great Deep by Gerhard F. Hasel. Origins 1(2):67-72 (1974).

Secular

• Wenbo Wei et al., “Detection of Widespread Fluids in the Tibetan Crust by Magnetotelluric Studies,” Science, Vol. 292, 27 April 2001, p. 718.)
• Earth and planetary letters 244 (2006) 302-314 by Yumei He, Lianxing Wen, and Tianyu Zheng. Geographic boundary and shear wave velocity structure of the 'Pacific anomaly' near the core-mantle beneath the western pacific.
• Large Blob Discovered Deep in the Earth Newswise. Sept. 24, 1999.
• Earth could hold more water Phillip Ball. Pure Water Gazette. 8 March 2002.
• Inner Earth May Hold More Water Than the Seas Ben Harder. National Geographic News. March 7, 2002.
• Water in the Earth’s mantle N. Bolfan-Casanova. Mineralogical Magazine; June 2005; v. 69; no. 3; p. 229-257.
• Earth's Deep Water Cycle Steven D. Jacobsen and Suzan van der Lee. Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 168, 314 pages, hardbound, 2006.
• Beijing Anomaly Wikipedia. 2007, March 5.

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See Also

• Geothermal vent
• Geyser
• Black smoker

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