CorrectionsAnswers Research Journal, Volume 3, 2010

p1–21Those Enigmatic Neanderthals
by Anne Habermehl, Independent Scholar
Young-earth creationists rightly consider that Neanderthals were human, but are divided on various issues, mainly because of the opposing views of Jack Cuozzo, author of Buried Alive! and Marvin Lubenow, author of Bones of Contention. These differences include Neanderthal lifespan, causes of the Neanderthal distinctive morphology, why the Neanderthals disappeared, length of Neanderthal children’s maturation time, whether we can place Neanderthals in biblical history, and the related issue of whether Homo erectus was human. In addition, Neanderthals are implicated in matters that include the Babel dispersion, earth’s breakup, DNA, patterns of world population, the Ice Age, archaeology, and historical timeline.

p23–36Numerical Simulation of Precipitation in Yosemite National Park with a Warm Ocean: A Pineapple Express Case Study
by Larry Vardiman, Institute for Creation Research, and Wesley Brewer, Fluid Physics International
Precipitation from a warm winter, orographic storm during Christmas of 1996 in Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada was simulated with the NCAR mesoscale weather model called WRF. The sea-surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean upwind of the mountains was prescribed to six different fixed temperatures and the resulting simulated precipitation compared to the actual storm precipitation. Warm sea-surface temperatures increased the precipitation above normal by as much as a factor of four. Based on the likely increase in precipitation rate and frequency of storms following the Genesis Flood, glaciers thousands of feet thick would have developed in a few hundred years.

p37–59Untangling Uniformitarianism
by John K. Reed
An assessment of the meaning and role of uniformitarianism in natural history is demanded by: (1) the confusion it has generated for nearly two centuries, (2) the recent revolution in geology that has rejected traditional uniformitarianism in favor of neocatastrophism, and (3) the accusation by some who embrace neocatastrophism that diluvialists—failing to understand nuances of uniformitarianism—argue futilely against the straw man of Lyellian gradualism. The first level of this much-needed assessment focuses on the semantic confusion, which is significant. Some suggest that identifying four distinct definitions of “uniformitarianism” resolves all problems. However this scheme does not go far enough: though it helps clarify the issue, it is no solution. I propose a more radical step of eliminating unnecessary terms to advance conceptual clarity. Of the nine terms associated with uniformitarianism, seven can be replaced or eliminated. This proposal refutes the accusation that diluvialists do not understand uniformitarianism, showing rather that it is the accusers who misunderstand key concepts about earth’s past.

p61–69Inherit the Wind
by Jerry Bergman
The history, contents, and specific sections of the popular play titled Inherit the Wind, which purports to be a replay of the Scopes Trial, are reviewed. Although the play was widely believed to be an accurate synopsis of the historical trial, often called the Trial of the Century, it grossly distorted the actual events of history. A number of documented examples are provided to illustrate this now well-supported conclusion of skewed history.

p71–90Baraminological Analysis Places Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Australopithecus sediba in the Human Holobaramin
by Dr. Todd Charles Wood
The baraminic status of fossil hominids was tested using statistical baraminology techniques. Eight previously published cladistic studies of fossil and extant hominids were reexamined with baraminic distance correlation (BDC) and multidimensional scaling (MDS). Results indicate that hominins may be divided into as many as four different holobaramins: (1) the genus Homo (including Australopithecus sediba), (2) the genus Paranthropus, (3) Australopithecus africanus, and (4) Gorilla, Pan, Australopithecus afarensis, and Australopithecus garhi. These results tentatively confirm the common creationist claim that fossil hominids can be divided into human and non-human categories. In contrast to many creationist claims, however, the present results indicate that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and—most surprisingly—Australopithecus sediba belong in the human holobaramin. Future studies should focus on including postcranial characters in baraminic distance calculations and developing a model for understanding biological similarity and the significance of human-like australopiths and the ape-like humans.

p91–106A Proposed Bible-Science Perspective on Global Warming
by Rod J. Martin, Independent Researcher, Santa Clarita, California
Media coverage of global warming has been increasing for over twenty years. Major proponents include the United Nations, politicians, environmentalists, and celebrities. Oddly, the church has had little to say on the issue and has made scant use of Scripture to evaluate the alleged problem. This paper will identify the major goals of global warming advocates, propose a biblical (young-earth creationist) framework for evaluating the issue, and highlight basic scientific data related to the alleged claims. It will be shown that the Bible provides sufficient counsel to enable Christians to evaluate the claims of global warming and arrive at a confident position that is in accord with real science. The contention that man’s activities are causing global warming, as described in the media and by its advocates, is a myth. There is no reason either biblically or scientifically to fear the exaggerated and misguided claims of catastrophe as a result of increasing levels of man-made carbon dioxide (CO₂).

p107–118Geomorphology of Uluṟu, Australia
by Ken Patrick, Cedarville University, 251 North Main St., Cedarville, Ohio 45314
A famous and well known Australian inselberg, Uluṟu, is an interesting geological feature in that its geomorphology is still a matter of controversy among conventional geologists. Traditionally, Uluṟu’s stratigraphical history began hundreds of millions of years ago, being fashioned into its current contour only as recently as between 60 million years ago until the present. The process by which Uluṟu’s shape came into relief tends to be understood in terms of a two-stage weathering then subsequent erosion process. This paper will seek to show that problems with the current hypotheses must force the interpreter into another direction. A three-stage process is proposed here. Phase one assumes a cataclysmic mega-flood which initially deposits the Uluṟu sandstone. Phase two is tied closely to phase one, but involves the regressional nature of this flood which rapidly etches out ancestral Uluṟu’s basic form. Phase three invokes the reality of a tropical climate and large volumes of precipitation that culminate in the formation of a vast inland lake. Water processes associated with this lake etch out a suite of features on Uluṟu’s surface, which until the present have been interpreted as sub-surface weathering fronts.

p119–145Numerical Simulation of Precipitation in Yosemite National Park with a Warm Ocean: Deep Upper Low and Rex Blocking Pattern Case Studies
by Larry Vardiman and Wesley Brewer
Precipitation from two cold, winter orographic storms during February 2005 and April 2006 in Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada was simulated with the NCAR mesoscale weather model called WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model). The sea-surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean upwind of the mountains was prescribed with six different fixed temperatures and the resulting simulated precipitation compared to the actual storm precipitation. Warm sea-surface temperatures increased the precipitation above normal by a factor of about six. Based on the likely increase in precipitation rate and frequency of storms following the Genesis Flood, glaciers thousands of feet thick would have easily developed in a few hundred years following the Genesis Flood.

p147–152Why Orthodox Darwinism Demands Atheism
by Jerry Bergman
A common claim is that no conflict exists between modern neo-Darwinism and orthodox biblical Christianity. The conclusions of many of the most eminent biologists today and a major study of leading biologists were reviewed, finding that they strongly disagree with the non-conflict hypothesis.

p153–158Baraminological Analysis Places Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Australopithecus sediba in the Human Holobaramin: Discussion
by David N. Menton, Anne Habermehl, and David A. DeWitt
A discussion on a previous ARJ paper in regard to Australopithecus sediba and its classification.

p159–164Is the Sodium Chloride Level in the Oceans Evidence for Abiogenesis?
by Jerry Bergman
The percentage of salt in human body ﬂuids and seawater is often used to provide evidence that life originated abiogenetically in the sea. This paper examines this assumption and ﬁnds the evidence shows that the levels of salinity in seawater and human blood are markedly different. The data and the evidence do not provide support for the theory of the chemical origin of life in the sea.

p165–190The Geology of Israel within the Biblical Creation-Flood Framework of History:
by Dr. Andrew Snelling
Precambrian (pre-Flood) schists, gneisses, and related metamorphic rocks, intruded by granites outcrop in the Elat area of southern Israel. Their radioisotope ages range from 800–813 Ma to 600 Ma. Also, just to the north of Elat is the Timna Igneous Complex, a 610–625 Ma series of granitic intrusions. All these rock units across this region were then intruded along fractures by swarms of dikes. Together these metamorphic and igneous rocks form the northernmost part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, which would have likely been a section of the pre-Flood supercontinent Rodinia, established by God’s creative activity on Day Three of the Creation Week. It is thus envisaged that this cataclysmic rate of formation of these rocks during an episode of accelerated radioisotope decay accounts for their apparent long history when wrongly viewed in the context of today’s slow process rates. Unconformably overlying these Precambrian crystalline basement rocks are terminal Precambrian conglomerates, arkoses and interbedded, explosively-erupted volcanics that were obviously deposited by catastrophic debris avalanches as the pre-Flood supercontinent began to break up, with accompanying igneous activity that coincided with the bursting forth of the fountains of the great deep. It is envisaged that another episode of accelerated radioisotope decay must have begun months previously, the released heat progressively increasing so as to initiate the igneous activity that ultimately triggered the renting apart of the pre-Flood supercontinent at the onset of the Flood cataclysm. The pre-Flood/Flood boundary in southern Israel is thus determined as the major unconformity between the Precambrian crystalline basement and the overlying terminal Precambrian conglomerates, arkoses and volcanics, almost identical to that boundary as determined in the U.S. Southwest. The few ²¹⁰Po radiohalos found in some of the basement granitic rocks are likely due to the basinal fluids that flowed from the basal Flood sediments when heated by burial under the overlying thick, rapidly-accumulated sequence of Flood sediments.

p191–207Anisotropic Synchrony Convention—A Solution to the Distant Starlight Problem
by Jason Lisle
We here explore a way in which light from distant galaxies can reach earth within the biblical timescale. Though the universe is created mature, we will ﬁnd that this by itself appears to be insufﬁcient to explain our ability to see distant events, prompting the need for a solution to the “distant starlight problem.” The concept of synchrony conventions in physics is examined. The fact that relativistic physics precludes an absolute, invariant synchrony space is reviewed. We then explore the consequences and motivation for the use of the standard Einstein synchrony convention, followed by an investigation of alternative synchrony conventions.
In particular, we ﬁnd that an observer-centric anisotropic synchrony convention eliminates the distant starlight problem by reducing radially inward-directed light travel-time in the reference frame of the observer to zero. Such a convention implies that everything in the universe has an age of a few thousand years as we currently see it. The biblical basis for such a convention is explored. Potential objections to this synchrony convention are considered. When the anisotropic synchrony convention is applied to standard cosmological parameters, a new young-universe cosmological model emerges which makes falsiﬁable predictions.

p209–266Numerical Simulation of Precipitation in Yellowstone National Park with a Warm Ocean: Continuous Zonal Flow, Gulf of Alaska Low, and Plunging Western Low Case Studies
by Larry Vardiman and Wesley Brewer
Precipitation from three winter storms during December, 2005; November, 2006; and October, 2008 in Yellowstone National Park was simulated with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) mesoscale weather model called WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model). The sea-surface temperature of the Paciﬁc Ocean upwind of the western United States was prescribed with six different ﬁxed temperatures and the resulting simulated precipitation compared to the actual storm precipitation. Sea-surface temperatures over 30°C (86°F) increased the precipitation above normal by as much as a factor of four. Based on the likely four-fold increase in precipitation rate and doubling of the frequency of storms following the Genesis Flood, glaciers over a kilometer (3,300 ft.) thick would have developed in a few hundred years.

p267–309The Geology of Israel within the Biblical Creation-Flood Framework of History: 2. The Flood Rocks
by Dr. Andrew Snelling
The sedimentary strata that cover most of Israel are an obvious record of the Genesis Flood. A major erosion surface (unconformity) at the base of the sedimentary sequence cut across the Precambrian (pre-Flood) crystalline basement rocks. This resulted from the catastrophic passage of the Flood waters as they rose in enormous tsunami-like surges over the continental land at the initiation of the Flood event. These rising Flood waters transported sediments and marine organisms over the continental land. Many thousands of meters of marine sediments were thus deposited on a vast scale across Israel, rapidly burying myriads of marine organisms in fossil graveyards. Land organisms were similarly overwhelmed by the Flood waters, their remains buried with the marine organisms. The global extent of some of these sedimentary layers in Israel is confirmed by correlations of strata across and between continents, such as the sandstone with pebbles at the base of the Flood sequence, and the massive pure chalk beds at the top. The biblical account of the Flood describes the formation of mountains from halfway through to the end of the year-long Flood event. Thus late in the Flood powerful tectonic upheaval processes overturned and upthrust Flood-deposited sedimentary strata to form these mountains. Simultaneous isostatic adjustments also resulted in restoring continental land surfaces as the Flood waters receded and drained into new deep ocean basins. In Israel this great regression is marked by the end of the widespread “marine” sedimentation and an erosion surface across the country. The subsequent minor local continental sedimentation represents residual post-Flood geologic activity. The end of the Flood also coincided with the commencement of the rifting that opened the Red Sea and the Dead Sea-Jordan River rift valley, as well as the uplifting of the Judean Mountains and the upthrusting of Mt. Hermon.

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CorrectionsAnswers Research Journal, Volume 3, 2010

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