4h) Continued
iii) What about the Water Vapor Canopy?
The suggestion that there was a water vapor canopy around the Earth may not be supportable in terms of the physics we understand, according to my friend, Dr Walter Brown. This "Canopy Theory" was first proposed by Isaac Vail in 1874 and revised in 1921. This and similar canopy theories suggest that a thin spherical shell of water, either as a gas, a liquid, or ice particles surrounded the entire Earth at its creation. There are several scientific problems with this theory that we should look into. I respect Dr Brown’s in-depth analysis on this subject and defer to his account from his book, "In The Beginning" (ISBN 1-878026-0101 "In the Beginning" 7th edition is now available on-line at www.creationscience.com.) Here are some representative arguments from that source, which have held up pretty well in my on-line forum debates:
- The larger the canopy, the
greater the heat problem. Water vapor falling as rain will release heat. The
amount of heat released from the water needed to cover the earth to 40-ft thick
is estimated to raise the temperature of the water and the atmosphere to 810
degrees F or 450 degrees Centigrade. No conceivable way to remove this heat has
been suggested.
- If the canopy were made of liquid water or ice, then it would not float up
there. It would have to be traveling at orbital velocity to remain aloft. The
kinetic energy associated with this motion would then transfer to heat energy
when the material falls to earth. Again the rise in temperature is incredible,
even higher than with the vapor canopy.
- Another issue is that a canopy with enough water to flood the earth even
partially, would not allow enough sunlight through for life to exist.
- Raindrops only form around tiny particles, which are swept away in a
relatively short time as it rains. Hence, the rain from the canopy would
actually choke itself off.
- The weight of any canopy will increase the atmospheric pressure below, making
oxygen and nitrogen toxic to many animals and humans.
Instead of a canopy of water, Dr Brown would say that there were clouds. His theory is that there were fountains of the Deep, ie vast pools of water below the Earth's crust, which erupted to cause the Great Flood. [Checkout the Section on Hydroplate Theory at this URL http://www.creationscience.com/]
Personally, I feel that there was some kind of minimal vapor canopy prior to the Flood, which established a more temperate climate worldwide. However, the majority of water needed to flood the earth came from those reservoirs below the surface (the fountains of the deep). They were indeed under pressure from the weight of 10 miles of land above them. I feel that this water erupted due to either God's will or a major asteroid impact (or both), or perhaps some manmade catastrophe brought about by the Anti-deluvians themselves. We can only speculate at this point.
Dr Brown's scenario is extremely interesting to me, and I don't want to over simplify his extensive research here. Yet, I'd like to cover some of his key points here for the record:
In short, this theory states that the fountains of the deep erupted causing
the first rain and flooding the Earth. This theory fits the statement in
Genesis where God separated the waters above from the waters below and the
middle was called the firmament (sky). However, the rains spoken of in Genesis came
not from clouds, but from the fountains of the deep erupting and then falling
back to earth as rain or as snow in the polar regions. He suggests that 17
major geological observations today can be explained by what followed.
Once the crack reached down to those reservoirs it allowed the pressurized
water to erupt up and out. The crack then widened as the water rushing out wore
away the edges. The crack propagated around the globe where the Atlantic Ridge
is today. When it widened enough the mantle below bulged up through it, lifting
the surrounding land and causing the continental plates to spread apart rapidly
(He estimates them moving at over 40 mph). The sediments washed from the sides
of this 40,000-mile long crack spewed out on either side and cover the land and
sea creatures for miles. Hence the fossils that are found on both sides of the
Atlantic Ridge. Meanwhile, the moving continental plates eventually smash into
whatever is on the far side and buckle as would a blanket if you pushed it
along the floor. Hence the major mountain ranges are parallel to the Atlantic
Ridge. Also, the continents as seen today on either side of the Atlantic ocean
fit together perfectly when you include the Atlantic Ridge mountain range in
between the two halves.
All this could not have taken 600 million years to happen, because normal weathering and erosion would have destroyed the evidence of that fit long ago. What is happening now in Plate Tectonics is the dramatically diminished residual effects of this catastrophic global event some 10 thousand or so years ago. Anyway, read the far more detailed scenario in Dr Brown's new version of "In The Beginning". I particularly respect his attention to scientific methodology and details in his supporting evidence.
26 July 2001
For more on this and a response to any questions, please email any comments to nasamike@nasamike.com