Fossil and Radioisotope Dating

Fossil Dating

Evolution is completely at odds with the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Law of Biogenesis—and it has never been observed within living populations or proven by empirical science. Nevertheless, paleontologists Paleontologists study prehistoric life forms on earth by examining plant and animal fossils. assume evolution and an old earth as their premise, and use animal or plant fossils to establish relative geological ages of specific rock layers and formations. Such fossil assemblages are known as index fossils which have been specifically chosen by paleontologists to represent a particular sedimentary rock layer.

Based on the rule of superposition Superposition assumes the youngest rock layer is on the top and the oldest is on the bottom—but in reality, this is not the case throughout much of the world. Most often, rock formations are inverted, folded, inserted, repeated, or missing, and fossils are in reverse order contrary to uniformity theory. Such formations are consistent with catastrophic processes occurring within a short period of time.—that is, the lower the strata, the older the fossil—creatures thought to have evolved first are considered to be the oldest and are placed at the bottom of the geologic column and creatures thought to have evolved later are placed higher up on the geologic column. Paleontologists simply guess how long it would take for one fossil animal to evolve into another, and then date the fossils and rocks accordingly. Again, evolution is assumed as a basis or premise for this dating technique.

This has led many competent scientists to object to what is termed circular reasoning. Evolutionists maintain the age of index fossils is validated by the superposition of rock strata and the age of rock strata is validated by index fossils. Isn’t this circular reasoning based on the assumption of evolution and uniformitarianism?

Standard Geologic Column

The standard geologic column and time scale as depicted in most science textbooks, with transitional creatures evolving toward more complex forms, are completely and utterly misleading and fictitious and do not represent the real world.

Let’s take a quick look at the problems associated with the standard geologic column and time scale shown above.

1.         In the real world, about 95% of all fossils are marine invertebrates, mostly shellfish (i.e., clams). Of the remaining 5%, about 95% are algae and plants. Of the remaining 5%, 95% are non-marine invertebrates and insects and 5% are vertebrates (0.0125 percent of the total). Of the vertebrates, only 1% of these consist of a single bone (0.000125 percent of the total). The standard geologic column (as shown above) as depicted in most textbooks does not represent the real world.³⁶

2.         If uniformity theory over many millions of years were true, rock layers and formations would be uniformly deposited regionally and globally. In reality, this is not the case. The typical situation in geology is that only a few rock formations are superposed (that is, younger rock layers placed over older rock layers). Most often, rock formations are inverted, folded, inserted, repeated, or missing, and fossils are in reverse order from that demanded by evolution. Such inconsistencies are found throughout the world and are completely consistent with catastrophic geologic processes (that is, earthquakes, volcanism, flood, sedimentation, orogeny, and erosion) occurring within a short period of time.

3.         If evolution were true, there should be billions of transitional fossil forms. So where are all the in-between types? If there were a slow evolutionary transition from amoeba to higher animal to man over billions of years, one would expect to find billions of examples of transitional fossils and living in-between types. For instance, if the limb of an amphibian had slowly transitioned into the wing of a bird, one would expect to find a long succession of fossil forms with multiple stages of transition over these billions of years--one stage gradually transitioning into another. The fact of the matter, none have been found. This alone should convince most rational people that evolution is a lie.

Some evolutionists answer the criticism by claiming that evolution proceeds “too slowly” and the real evidence of evolution is found in the fossil record. But where are the millions, if not billions, of true transitional structures—after all, there are billions of non-transitional fossil structures! Not a single unequivocal transitional form with transitional structures in the process of evolving has ever been observed within the billions of known fossils. Fossil evidence exactly fits the creation model, for creation insists that each animal “kind” was created fully formed.

4.         Except for mountain ranges and massive igneous intrusion, the entire earth is covered by hundreds of feet of sediment layers containing fossil remains of drowned animals and plants. Many sites throughout the world have billions of well-preserved creatures (i.e., shellfish, algae and plant fossils, insects, and fish with scales, fins, and other soft parts, and polystrate trees) violently mixed together. Remember that sediment is almost always deposited underwater. During gradual erosional and depositional processes as we observe today, dead fish and land animals are quickly devoured by scavengers and bacterial decomposition. When animals die in water, they will either float to the surface or sometimes sink to the bottom, and disintegrate in a matter of a few days or weeks.During gradual erosional and depositional processes (uniformitarian processes as we observe today), dead fish and land animals are quickly devoured by scavengers and bacterial decomposition. When animals die in water, they will either float to the surface or sometimes sink to the bottom, and disintegrate in a matter of a few days or weeks.

Unless fish and land animals, including insects and other fossil remains, are quickly buried and sediments harden rapidly, soft tissues will quickly decay. Preservation of fossils suggests rapid burial, not slow and gradual processes as proposed by evolutionists and secular geologists.

The geologic column as we know it today has been grossly misinterpreted by a secular scientific community that assumes slow depositional processes and evolutionary doctrine, and ignores overwhelming evidence of a worldwide flood event. In fact, the fossil record does not represent a history of life on earth over millions of years, but rather the order of burial during a cataclysmic worldwide flood that entombed plants and animals in massive tons of sediment!

For example, sea creatures such as invertebrates (that is, sponges, jellyfish, coral, sea urchins, trilobites, and lampshells) tend to be found in the lower strata because of their immobility, vertebrate fish midway through the strata because of their increased mobility, and the land vertebrates tend to be found in the top layers because of their much higher level of mobility. The immobility of plants and mobility of animals would account for the depositional patterns of the fossil record, including the general absence of human fossils (including birds and mobile animals) in the flood sediments.