ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (10/02/84)
[] This is only tangentially related to creationism, but I have been struck by a series of comments by R. Miller which ridicule current ideas about geological history. In particular I seem to recall that he thinks that mountains being eroded or overthrusts occuring are humorous concepts. I'd like to explore this a bit more closely. So Ray, which of the following ideas do you find silly? 1. That sections of the Earth's surface appear to be moving relative to one another at typical rates of about an inch a year? 2. That these motions are persistent? (Notice that plate boundaries are made obvious by geological activity.) 3. That the Earth is about 4 1/2 billion years old? 4. That 4 1/2 billion years x 1 inch/year = 71,000 miles? 5. That the above points imply that continents have more than enough time to collide repeatedly? 6. That erosion occurs so that over several hundred million years even a tall mountain can be swept away? (Erosion rates are measurable after all.) I suspect, in advance of your answer, that your objections can really be reduced to an objection to estimates of the Earth's age, but if this isn't the case I'd appreciate knowing it. "I can't help it if my Ethan Vishniac knee jerks" {charm,ut-sally,ut-ngp,noao}!utastro!ethan Department of Astronomy University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712