Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / January 2008

Crater Creep

A tall pile of tar will slowly flow downhill, ultimately spreading
into a nearly horizontal sheet of tar. Most material, under pressure,
"creeps" in this way, although rocks deform very, very slowly.

Calculations show that the growing upward bulges of large crater
floors on the Moon should occur to their current extent in only 10,000
to 10,000,000 years (a). Large, steep-walled craters exist even on
Venus and Mercury, where gravity is greater, and temperatures are hot
enough to melt lead. Therefore, creep rates on those planets should be
even greater. Most large craters on the Moon, Venus, and Mercury are
thought to have formed more than 4,000,000,000 years ago. Because
these craters show no sign of "creep," these bodies seem to be
relatively young.

a. Glenn R. Morton, Harold S. Slusher, and Richard E. Mandock, "The
Age of Lunar Craters," Creation Research Society Quarterly, Vol. 20,
September 1983, pp. 105-108.

The above study drew upon the work of Z. F. Danes, which was described
as follows:

"The history of a circular crater in a highly viscous medium is
derived from the hydrodynamic equations of motion by Z. F. Danes. The
variation in shape of the crater in the course of time is expressed as
a function of a time constant, T, that involves viscosity and density
of the medium, acceleration of gravity, and radius of the crater lip.
Correspondence between theoretical crater shapes and the observed ones
is good. However the time constant, T, is surprisingly short if
commonly accepted viscosity values are used." Geological Survey
Professional Paper 550-A (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1966), p. A 127.

 Since Danes work was published, rocks from the Moon have been
returned to Earth and their viscosity has been measured. Their values
fall in the range of 10^21 to 10^22 poises. According to the
Geological Survey paper just quoted, "If viscosities of lunar rocks
were around 10^21 to 10^22 poises, the ages of large craters would
have to be only 10^4 to 10^7 years."

Most Scientific Dating Techniques Indicate That the Earth, Solar
System, and Universe Are Young.

For the last 150 years, the age of the Earth, as assumed by
evolutionists, has been doubling at roughly a rate of once every 15
years. In fact, since 1900 this age has multiplied by a factor of
100!

Evolution requires an old Earth, an old solar system, and an old
universe. Nearly all informed evolutionists will admit that without
billions of years their theory is dead. Yet, hiding the "origins
question" behind a vast veil of time makes the unsolvable problems of
evolution difficult for scientists to see and laymen to imagine. Our
media and textbooks have implied for over a century that these almost
unimaginable ages are correct. Rarely do people examine the shaky
assumptions and growing body of contrary evidence. Therefore, most
people today almost instinctively believe that the Earth and universe
are billions of years old. Sometimes, these people are disturbed, at
least initially, when they see the evidence.

Actually, most dating techniques indicate that the Earth and solar
system are young--possibly less than 10,000 years old.

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