Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth
Comparative Essay 1
Dating the Rocks of the Grand Canyon (Old Earth vs. Young Earth)
Dating the rocks of the Grand Canyon is a scientific way to find out the age of this mysterious landmark. The age of the Earth and the Grand Canyon is a question both of a biblical interpretation and scientific investigation. It can be viewed by an old earth creationist and young earth creationist. The two creationists have a difference of opinion concerning the formation and age of the Grand Canyon rocks.
Old Earth View
Old earth creationist see the days of Genesis as long periods of time. The old Earth Creationist believes that the Grand Canyon strata were formed over millions of years and that the canyon itself was carved out in less than five million years. The old earth creationist sees the biblical view of Genesis as long periods of time, perhaps even millions of years. Some old earth geologist have adopted a new theory that suggest that about five billion years ago a westward-flowing stream of water(Colorado River) began to erode, upstream or toward the east, over what today is the Grand Canyon. Dr. Stephen Austin suggests that rock dating of the Grand Canyon is not an Comparative Essay 2 effective way. One way he does this is by pointing out the discrepancies in Radiometric dating. He begins by suggesting that Radiometric dating has many flaws and does not make a good clock because the initial conditions are not known and the rate of decay may not be constant (Austin 1994: 129, 2005).
Young Earth View
Young earth creationists believe that the strata of the canyon were formed as a result of Noah's flood and that the canyon was carved out less than five thousand years ago. Young earth creationist believe using the radiometric
References: L. Vardiman, A.A. Snelling and E.F. Chaffin (Eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, and Creation Research Society, St. Joseph, Missouri, 2000. Austin, Steven A. 1994. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, California: Institute for Creation Research.