© Lloyd, Charles Chandler

 

Fossils
That distinctive layers do exist is generally accepted. Theorizing begins with how the fossils got there. In the uniformitarian view, as long as a type of creature such as a trilobite existed, occasionally some of them would be fossilized, accumulating in layer upon layer of sediment deposited gradually over millions of years. Thus the point at which trilobite fossils diminish in number or disappear from higher rock layers is considered the time of extinction; all the layers below record "trilobite life as usual". The catastrophist view is that until a catastrophic event occurred there was virtually no fossilization going on. Then suddenly whole series of sedimentary layers were laid down. They hardened into rock and fossilized the creatures buried in them. Thus the point at which trilobite fossils diminish in number or disappear from higher rock layers marks the end of their extinction event, which includes all the layers piled up below that point. The difference is important. Which is right?

Unburied carcasses disintegrate quickly, so fossilization requires rapid burial. The very slow accumulation of sediment on the floor of a lake or ocean in the uniformitarian scenario could hardly cover even a leaf. Covering a dinosaur would take millennia, so local floods, landslides, or quicksand-like pits are postulated. Yet many strata extend over vast regions. Large numbers of creatures and plants are found fossilized together, often broken in pieces or piled up. The uniformitarian scenario does not fit reality. On the other hand, the catastrophist scenario requires no special pleading, particularly for the action of huge tsumani-style waves of water. The work of French geology researcher Guy Berthault3 has shown that multiple layers of graded beds of sediment can be deposited simultaneously by a single wave, and that lamination is affected by current speed. On a large scale, this would produce a whole series, or sequence, of strata from an individual wave. Deposition by wave after wave over an area could lead to repetitive groups of sequences.