Creation Science

Young Earth Creation Science Argument Index

 

G351:  Stalactites can grow very rapidly

 

Edited by Greg Neyman

 

Argument: 

Stalactites can grow very quickly. Some have been observed to grow more than half an inch per year. The largest stalactites and flowstones could have formed in a few thousand years.

Source:  Meyers, Stephen and Robert Doolan, 1987. Rapid stalactites? Creation Magazine 9(4) (Sep.-Nov.): 6-8. http://answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/docs/cen_v9n4_stalactites.asp
 

Response: 

 

  1. The young earth authors refer to processes for stalactite formation that are different from normal calcium carbonate limestones.  Growth rates are normally ten centimeters per thousand years

  2. Fast growing stalactites either grow from gypsum, or from concrete or mortar (from calcium hydroxide, which is 100 times more soluble than calcite

  3. Young earth creationist calculations do not account for the time for the cave to dissolve.  Without this slow process, often millions of years, there would be no stalactites in caves

  4. Radiometric dating for stalactites gives ages of over 190,000 years, whereas other cave deposits are dated at millions of years.  Carlsbad Caverns is dated at 11.3 million years

  5. Oxygen isotope measurements, which gives an indication of outside temperatures, directly correlate with multiple ice ages over the last 160,000 years

 

To learn more on this topic, read the TalkOrigins.org rebuttal.

Stalactite (Wikipedia)

 

 

     If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth.  Click here for more.

 

    Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism?  Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life?  If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.

 


 

 

Young Earth Creation Science Argument Index

 

Related Articles

Geology Articles

 

To learn more about old earth creationism, see Old Earth Belief, or check out the article Can You Be A Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?  

 Feel free to check out more of this website.  Our goal is to provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism, and honor God by properly presenting His creation.