johnmclarty.com

In a recent Facebook conversation with a minister, I made the point that nearly all Adventists who attend Adventist schools through college and then go on to complete a Ph.D. in biology or the earth sciences reject a short geochronology–whether that is a chronology of all matter or of just the phanerozoic rocks.

In response the minister said he didn’t see why a Christian would study biology or geology since it is a known fact that those sciences undermine belief in the literal historicity of Genesis 1-9.

The conversation between us was courteous and respectful throughout, but once I clearly understood his idea that certain sciences should be precluded from Christian study, I realized there was no point in talking further. I value science as a tool for investigating the world–even when the truth it reveals corrects my understanding of the Bible. He believes that science is a useful tool for investigation the world only if the truth it reveals agrees with what we already know from the Bible.

I do not know how to bridge that chasm.

Making plans for Talking Rock Tours 2017 in the SW. Also still considering an outing or two this fall doing NW geology in the neighborhood of Mt. Rainier.

Yesterday morning I went looking for a set of dinosaur tracks I photographed last year.

(Actually, I don’t know what kind of animal it was, but it was contemporaneous with dinosaurs.) My camera had recorded the GPS coordinates. However, I was unable to find it this year.

But while looking for the tracks pictured above, I spotted another track way made by a larger animal. A real dinosaur, this time, I think. (You might need to play with the angle of your screen to see it clearly.) Note the rings around the heel. This is characteristic of the deformation caused by a foot stepping in moist sand.

Most likely, the print we are seeing does not include the top layers of the original track. Those layers are missing and what we are seeing is the print made in layers below the surface as the pressure was transmitted down.

The Navajo Sandstone is full of animal tracks. These were not dead animals washed together into a heap by a flood or The Flood. They were living animals running around.

The pictures were taken in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The official name of the sandstone here is the Aztec Sandstone, but it is now recognized as an extension of the Navajo.

The picture below was sent to me by Tom Anderson, one of the participants in our 2017 Talking Rocks Tour. He noted that he had been so preoccupied with looking for dinosaur tracks that he failed to see the obvious feature on the sky line. It was only after he arrived home and was reviewing his photos that he realized he had a picture of Noah’s Ark.  Hope you can join us for the next tour, this fall or next spring. Who knows what we might find.  🙂

It’s important to realize that geology is not purely theoretical. Because of the centrality of historical interpretation to the practice of geology, we might be tempted to think that geology is as susceptible to bias as political history. However, geology has multiple checks on the power of bias. One of those checks is mining. Mining puts geological theory to the rude and ruthless test of money. Is this mine worth the investment? When the hole is dug and the ore is assayed, the theory turns into hard, cold fact–you make money or don’t. Either way, the mine might become a photo shoot.

  This structure is the head of a tram that carried ore from mines on Treasure Hill above Pioche, Nevada, to a mill down in the valley. In 1928 it cost 6 cents a ton to deliver a ton of ore to the mill via this aerial tram.