ABSTRACTS
The Geology of the Kansas Basement: Part II
John K. Reed
The identification of deficiencies and errors in the presuppositions and methods of uniformitarian natural history should be accompanied by an empirical reinterpretation of geological data within the Biblical worldview. The wealth of geological and geophysical data demands a systematic replacement of the ruling paradigm by creationist explanations of the rock record. Such a reinterpretation is underway for the geology of Kansas, and the first step in that project addresses the basement. The erosional contact be tween the crystalline basement and overlying sediments can be interpreted as the erosional basal Flood boundary. The exception to this interpretation is found at the Midcontinent Rift System, a complex of basalt flows and adjoining sedimentary basins. This feature is interpreted as the tectonic basal Flood boundary, marking tectonic disruption associated with the Flood onset, with both basalt flows and sedimentation occurring between the onset of the Flood and its marine inundation of the region.
Why Mammal Body Hair Is an Evolutionary Enigma
Jerry Bergman
Mammal body hair is a complex structure that involves several basic parts, including a shaft, a root, and a follicle. The most common theory currently in vogue is that hair evolved from reptile scales. Although both scales and hair preserve well in the fossil record, especially in amber, no evidence of hair evolution has been found after more than a century of searching. Another problem is that all primates have thick, coarse hair called fur, and explanations as to how this fur was lost in human evolution are deficient and contradictory.
The Evolutionary Basis of Eddington's Solar Modelling
Jonathan F. Henry
In the early 1900s Arthur S. Eddington established the current theoretical basis for the operation of the sun and other stars. Generally, Eddington asserted that main sequence stars generate energy under a condition of hydrostatic equilibrium without contraction. Eddington is one of the more significant solar theorists of the last hundred years. His assumptions are firmly fixed in modern models such that they are often believed to be beyond reasonable doubt, virtually on a par with basic laws of physics. Further, his Quaker background is sometimes emphasized in a man ner which obscures the evolutionary presuppositions which he acknowledged as the basis of his theorizing. Scientifically, Eddington is better described not in terms of his Quaker background but as a convinced evolutionist. Evolutionary bias rather than scientific objectivity has been the driving force in stellar modelling since Eddington. Whether conventional solar fusion has been disproved or alternative solar energy sources have been confirmed is not addressed.
An Examination of the Odessa Meteor Craters (Ector County, Texas, U.S.A.) Within the Context of the Young-Earth Flood Framework
Carl R. Froede Jr., and Joseph Hurt
The Odessa Meteor Craters are located in West Texas (U.S.A.). The site is approximately five miles southwest of the town of Odessa, Texas in Ector County. The locale consists of five impact craters with the largest being approximately 550 feet in diameter and 103 feet deep. The impact event is viewed by uniformitarian scientists as having occurred between 10 to 50 thousand years ago. At the largest crater, the meteor penetrated Cretaceous-age limestone and underlying clastics creating a raised rim of considerable relief. In the intervening time erosion has removed much of the elevated rim and nearly filled the cra ter with sediments. The eroded nature of each of the impact craters suggests that they formed near the end of the Flood Event Timeframe while Floodwater was still slowly withdrawing from the North American continent. Fossils of Ice Age megafauna found within some of the craters suggests that they may have provided a source of drinking water. However, once the creatures entered the depressions some could not escape and they perished. Today, only the largest crater retains any visible expression of its catastrophic origin as the smaller craters have been filled with sediments.