Nick Matzke, . OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time. Deep Time, Creationism and National Parks...

Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.

Deep Time, Creationism and National Parks

Oregon State UniversityGeo307Feb. 9, 2007

Nick Matzke

National Center for Science Education

http://www.ncseweb.org

Rob

ert J

. L

i llie



What we do: • Watchdog group• Creationism/evolution archives• Networking during crises• Information Resource for

• Teachers• Students• Media



Outline

1. Deep Time

2. Creationism and where it comes from

3. Interacting with the public


Q. How old is the Earth?

A. 4.55 billion years (approximately)

(that’s 4,550,000,000 years)


Q. How old is the Earth?

Animal fossils: last 13 yardsAnimal fossils: last 13 yardsMesozoic (“Age of Dinosaurs”): 5-1.5 yardsCenozoic (“Age of Mammals”): 1.5 yards to presentModern humans: 4/10 of an inchWritten history: 3/100 of an inch


Q. How do we know?

A. Many lines of evidence


1600s – Archbishop James Ussher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ussher.jpg

The problem of “chronology”:

• Medieval Europe had the Bible, but there was not extensive speculation on the age of the Earth

• Scholars began to rediscover ancient histories – Jewish, Greek, Roman, etc.

James Ussher (1581-1656)


1600s – Archbishop James Ussher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ussher.jpg

• Adding up the generations in these various chronologies led to a date:

“In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, Gen. 1, v. 1. Which beginning of time, according to our Chronologie, fell upon the entrance of the night preceding the twenty third day of Octob[er] in the year of the Julian [Period] 710. The year before Christ 4004.”

(Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World) James Ussher (1581-1656)


1700s – views change

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:James_Hutton.jpg

• James Hutton:

• “Founder of Modern Geology”

• Explored geology of Scotland

• Realized the significance of “unconformities”

James Hutton (1726-1797)


Hutton’s Unconformity

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Siccar_Point.jpg/250px-Siccar_Point.jpg


Hutton’s Unconformity

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/distance/gg101/Programs/program12%20Geologic%20Time/program12.html


Unconformities

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/Pictures/Structure/structure.htm


Grand Canyon – Great Unconformity

http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/arizonasite/imagepages/unconformity.html


Unconformity:Missing Portion of the Geologic Record

Angular Unconformity

Parks and Plates©2005 Robert J. Lillie


Unconformities -- implications


“The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning - no prospect of an end.”

-- James Hutton



1800s – old earth widely accepted

• Most scientists were Christians

• Age of the earth not particularly controversial

• Several interpretations of the Bible




1900s – measuring the age

Radioactive atoms decay randomly, emitting radiation

Each element has a half-lifeBrent Dalrymple (1991)

radioactive decay


Additional evidence – radioactive decay

Nuclide Half-LifeFound in Nature?

50V 6.0 x 1015 yes

144Nd 2.4 x 1015 yes

174Hf 2.0 x 1015 yes

192Pt 1.0 x 1015 yes

115In 6.0 x 1014 yes

152Gd 1.1 x 1014 yes

123Te 1.2 x 1013 yes

190Pt 6.9 x 1011 yes

138La 1.12 x 1011 yes

147Sm 1.06 x 1011 yes

87Rb 4.88 x 1010 yes

187Re 4.3 x 1010 yes

176Lu 3.5 x 1010 yes

232Th 1.40 x 1010 yes

238U 4.47 x 109 yes

40K 1.25 x 109 yes

235U 7.04 x 108 yes

244Pu 8.2 x 107 yes

Nuclide Half-LifeFound in Nature?

146Sm 7.0 x 107 no

205Pb 3.0 x 107 no

247Cm 1.6 x 107 no

182Hf 9 x 106 no

107Pd 7 x 106 no

135Cs 3.0 x 106 no

97Tc 2.6 x 106 no

150Gd 2.1 x 106 no

93Zr 1.5 x 106 no

98Tc 1.5 x 106 no

154Dy 1.0 x 106 nomil

lio

ns

Note: this table excludes radiogenic elements (those produced by other decay processes). From The Age of the Earth by Brent Dalrymple 1991, p. 377.

bil

lio

ns

tr

illi

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s


Additional evidence Material Dated

Dates Material Formed This Many Years

Ago

Uranium to Lead Minerals1 Million to 4.6

Billion

Rubidium to Strontium

Minerals60 Million to 4.6

Billion

Potassium to Argon

Minerals 10,000 to 3 Billion

Uranium Series Disequilibrium

Minerals, Shell, Bone, Teeth, Coral

0 to 400,000

Carbon 14Minerals, Shell,

Wood, Bone, Teeth, Water

0 to 40,000

Fission TrackMinerals, Natural

Glass500,000 to 1

Billion

Thermo-luminescence

Minerals, Natural Glass

0 to 500,000

Electron Spin Resonance

Minerals, Tooth Enamel, Shell,

Coral1,000 to 1 Million

Geomagnetic Polarity

Minerals780,000 to 200

Million

Amino Acid Racemization

Shells, Other Biocarbonates

500 to 300,000

Obsidian Hydration

Natural Glass 500 to 200,000

Dendro-chronology

Tree Rings 0 to 12,000

Lichenometry Lichens 100 to 9,000

Isoto

pic

Rad

iati

on

Exposu

reO

ther

Technique

Many techniques for absolute dating:

Carbon-14 • half-life: ~5,000 years• range: 0 to 50,000 years

Uranium-Lead• half-life: 4.47 billion• range: millions to billions


The Creation/Evolution Continuum

• If someone says, “I am a creationist”, you should ask, “What kind?”

• Many different interpretations of the Bible

http://www.natcenscied.org/resources/articles/1593_the_creationevolution_continu_12_7_2000.asp


1920s – rise of fundamentalism

William Jennings Bryan Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)


1960s – rise of “creation science”

• John Whitcomb and Henry Morris were fundamentalists who read Genesis completely literally

• young earth (6,000 years)• Global Noah’s Flood

• They promoted something called “Flood Geology”, derived from the work of Seventh-Day Adventists

1961


1960s – rise of “creation science”

• They promoted something called “Flood Geology”, derived from the work of Seventh-Day Adventists

• Historian Ronald Numbers traces the complex history in The Creationists

1961


Evolution and the public

• Survey published in 2006

• U.S. ranks 2nd to last

1961


Evolution and the public

Gallup Poll on Creation and Evolution, 1982-1997 (Percent Answering True)

Question 1982 1991 1993 1997

God created people in present form, ~10,000 years ago 45 47 47 44

Evolution occured, guided by God 39 40 35 39

Evolution occurred, no interference by God 9 9 11 10


Young-earth creationism and the National Parks

1961

• Many different people use:

Public schoolsMuseumsNational Parks

• What should science interpreters say?



2001 National Park Service Management Policies, Chapter 7, Interpretation and Education:

• “Factual information presented will be current, accurate, based on current scholarship and science, and delivered so as to convey park meanings, with the understanding that audience members will draw their own conclusions.”

• “Interpretive and educational programs will be based on current scholarship and research about the history, science, and condition of park resources, and on research about the needs, expectations, and behavior of visitors.”

• “Acknowledging multiple points of view does not require interpretive and educational programs to provide equal time, or to disregard the weight of scientific or historical evidence.”



Some good things to remember:

1. Your job is to educate and help people understand the science. Listeners can make up their own minds about what they believe.

2. There is not one single “creationist” view. Inside Christianity there are many different ways of interpreting the Bible, and outside of Christianity there are many different religions. The government cannot intentionally promote any particular religious view.

3. However, the government can (and should) use and promote good science.


Best single book to read

by Eugenie Scott (2005)



What we do: • Watchdog group• Creationism/evolution archives• Networking during crises• Information Resource for

• Teachers• Students• Media


Nick Matzke, . OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time. Deep Time, Creationism and National Parks...

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