Slide 14 of 22
Notes:
Evidences that the geologic column was formed quickly, supporting a young Earth viewpoint include:
- Fossilized trees that extend vertically through multiple ages of rock strata (called polystrate fossils).
- All soils become populated with living things such as plants and worms, which leave a record. However, many strata layers do not show signs of this activity, implying they were not at the surface for very long.
- In many cases there is lack of a layer of soil between adjacent strata layers.
- In an unconformity between adjacent rock formations, the lower rock layers have been tilted and eroded. By tracing unconformities laterally through information from outcrops or oil wells, they can be resolved into an area where the layers or formations were either not deposited or not tilted or eroded, indicating that the unconformity does not represent a significant time lapse. Application of this technique can be extended to show that "the majority of the fossiferous column resolves into a single, continuous depositional sequence" (Morris).
- In some places entire rock layers can be seen bending, implying they were soft and not very old when uplifted.
- In some places the contact between adjacent rock beds (of totally different rock types, such as shale and sandstone) is very sharp, which would not be expected if the lower surface had been exposed to the effects of erosion for a long period of time.
- In many rock layers in many locations, surface features seen on the top surface of the lower bed must have been covered quickly to be preserved, such as animal tracks and ripple marks formed by water moving over the surface.
