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Oard (2016b) and Oard and Reed (2017) Still Making Outdated Claims about Pre-Pleistocene Glaciations and Denying Reality
Kevin R. Henke, Ph.D.
January 8, 2021 update
Introduction
Since 2009, young-Earth creationist (YEC) Michael J. Oard continues to deny or ignore current research results that overwhelmingly support the existence of glaciations during the Precambrian, Ordovician and Carboniferous. Typical examples are Oard (2016b), Oard and Reed (2017, Appendix 5, pp. 195-197), Oard (2019), Oard (2020a) and Oard (2020b). The claims in Oard (2016b) and Oard and Reed (2017, Appendix 5) are especially so erroneous, repetitive and outdated that almost all of them have been previously refuted by the following essays at this website:
Pre-Pleistocene Glaciations were Real, but Flood Geology is Mythology: An Introduction
Tillites Exist and Glaciomarine Deposits are Still Inconsistent with Noah's Flood
The Cold and Hard Evidence of Ordovician Glaciations Continues to Accumulate and Bury Flood Geology
Ordovician Eskers and Other Glaciogenic Structures are Real
No Justification for Oard (2009a) Misrepresenting Le Heron et al. (2005) on Ordovician Glaciations
Glendonites: As Ancient Cold Water Indicators
Mr. Oard’s “Diagnostic Criteria” Fallacy and the Rejected Eocene Glaciations
In this essay, I’ll make some general comments, but I won’t bother repeating the details that I’ve already stated in the above essays. The reader may refer to them for more information.
Oard (2016b) Inaccurately Denies the Existence of Tillites
Oard (2016b) begins by claiming that “all” the Precambrian “snowball Earth” glacial deposits “appear” to have formed in ocean water. Later, when discussing pre-Pleistocene glacial deposits in general, Oard (2016b), as well as Oard and Reed (2017, p. 196), state that “nearly all” of these deposits formed in ocean water. Obviously, Mr. Oard believes that if he can convince his readers that all or nearly all of these pre-Pleistocene glacial deposits formed in ocean water, it would be easier for him to argue that these deposits actually formed from underwater landslides during Noah’s Flood. Although most pre-Pleistocene glacial deposits are glaciomarine; that is, deposited in ocean water, there are many examples of glacial deposits (tillites) and features that formed on ancient continents and not underwater. Oard (1997a; 2009a; 2009b, 2016b), as well as Oard and Reed (2017, Appendix 5), repeatedly ignore or improperly dismiss the existence of these features (for specifics, see: Tillites Exist and Glaciomarine Deposits are Still Inconsistent with Noah's Flood and Scientific Evidence Continues to Confirm the Reality of the Permo-Carboniferous (Late Paleozoic) Glaciations and Undermine YEC-endorsed Impact Hypotheses ). In other words, as shown in the above linked essays, Oard (1997a; 2009a; 2009b, etc) often selects a few statements from articles that he finds useful and then ignores the rest of the articles that are full of data and observations that utterly refute his YEC agenda.
Snowball Earth
In my essay “21st Century Science Continues to Support the Existence of Late Precambrian Glaciations and Refute Flood Geology”, I discuss the Snowball Earth hypothesis, where the Earth may have been entirely glaciated at certain times during the Neoproterozoic (Late Precambrian). Oard (2009a; 2016b; 2019; 2020b) and Oard and Reed (2017, p. 195) clearly oppose the hypothesis because it’s flatly incompatible with YEC biblical interpretations. The alternative to the Snowball Earth hypothesis is the “Slushball Earth” hypothesis, which is equally incompatible with Flood geology and a young creationist Earth. Extensive glaciers are simply not going to form and melt multiple times on a Earth that is only 6,000 years old or during Noah’s Flood. In his attack on the Snowball Earth hypothesis, Oard (2016b; 2019) and Oard and Reed (2017, p. 195) argue that if the event ever occurred, the effect would likely have been permanent. Yet, Abbot and Pierrehumbert (2010) and Le Hir et al. (2010) argue that this claim is false. Volcanic ash from widespread volcanism during the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia would have changed the Earth’s albedo, contributed to the melting of the glaciers and ended any Snowball Earth. Substantial increases in volcanic carbon dioxide from these widespread eruptions would also have increased greenhouse conditions on the Earth and ended the Late Proterozoic glaciations. Although Oard (2016b) and Oard and Reed (2017, p. 195) do not provide details, Mr. Oard dismisses these proposals for ending a Snowball Earth as “some far-fetched ideas.” Somehow, Mr. Oard considers the existence of a talking snake, magic fruit trees, and other biblical stories to be more realistic than widespread volcanism and increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, and their known impacts on the melting of glacial ice.
Oard (2016b) Continues to Misrepresent How Geologists Now Identify Glacial Deposits and Distinguish Them from Nonglacial Deposits
When discussing the evidence for pre-Pleistocene glaciations, Oard (2016b) constructs a strawperson scenario and overemphasizes scratched and poorly sorted rocks and large areal deposits as the evidence for the pre-Pleistocene glaciations. He feels that these features can be readily reinterpreted as evidence of underwater landslides during Noah’s Flood. Oard (2016b) even cites his error-filled report, Oard (1997a), and claims that various landslides can produce “all of the features” used to identify ancient glacial deposits. As discussed in my previous essays listed above, this claim is absolutely false. Oard (2016b), as well as Oard and Reed (2017, pp. 195-197), continue to fail to mention far more important features and other evidence in the recent literature that are totally incompatible with Flood geology and other nonglacial explanations. These features definitively indicate the presents of multiple pre-Pleistocene glaciations. Some of this evidence includes: the results of paleogeographic and other large-scale studies (Young et al., 2004; Gutiérrez-Marco et al. 2010; Moreau et al. 2005), stable isotope analyses (Finlay et al. 2010; Brenchley et al. 2003; Holmden et al. 2013), facies analysis and modeling (Birgenheier et al 2009; El-ghali et al. 2006), sea level cycles in the geologic record (Dabard et al. 2015), fossil evidence (Kumpulainen et al. 2006), and Precambrian ice and sand wedges (Williams et al. 2008; Hoffman and Li, 2009).
Schermerhorn (1974) was Not Ignored by Secular Geologists and Even Oard (1997a) Admitted It
After mentioning scratched and poorly sorted rocks and their frequently large areal extents, Oard (2016b) proceeds to try to fit this small part of the total evidence for pre-Pleistocene glaciations into his Flood geology scenario. In the process, Oard (2016b) cites one of his favorite articles, Schermerhorn (1974), which he also frequently cites in his other works on pre-Pleistocene glaciations, such as: Oard and Reed (2017, p. 195), Oard (1997a), Oard (1997b), and Oard (2008a). Oard (2016b) states:
“A major problem is that other processes can create the features that secular scientists think indicate ancient ice ages. Even a few secular scientists have pointed this out,6 but have been ignored.”
The reference for footnote 6 is Schermerhorn (1974). Oard (2016b) pretends that secular scientists have “ignored” Schermerhorn (1974) and Schermerhorn’s warnings that nonglacial rocks may have scratches and other features that could be misidentified as having a glacial origin and that great caution must be used to distinguish a glacial from a nonglacial rock. However, many researchers fully recognize the important contributions in Schermerhorn (1974), including: Eyles and Januszczak (2007, p. 196), Fairchild and Kennedy (2007, pp. 899, 907), Young (1993, p. 675), Deynoux and Trompette (1976, p. 1313), Chumakov (2008, pp. 108-109, but incorrectly lists the year of the Schermerhorn article as 1975), etc. Even Oard (1997a, p. 27) blatantly contradicts Oard (2016b) and admits:
“Since Schermerhorn's paper of 1974, which Young (1993, p. 675) considered a benchmark paper, geologists became more careful to document diagnostic features.”
So, Mr. Oard, which is it? Do you believe that secular geologists are ignoring Schermerhorn (1974) or not? Because secular scientists did not ignore Schermerhorn’s warnings about confusing glacial with nonglacial rocks, methods for distinguishing glacial from non-glacial rocks have greatly advanced since 1974 and even Schermerhorn soon admitted that at least some pre-Pleistocene glaciations were real (Young, Williams, and Schermerhorn 1976, p. 379) (also see the evidence in the numerous 21st century papers that I cite in the above essays). But, by simply reading the disinformation in Oard (2016b), no one would know that. Oard (2016b) prefers to leave his readers in 1974 and ignore more recent advances and evidence in the investigation of pre-Pleistocene glacial deposits (e.g., Birgenheier et al 2009; Brenchley et al. 2003; Dabard et al. 2015; El-ghali et al. 2006; Finlay et al. 2010; Gutiérrez-Marco et al. 2010; Hoffman and Li, 2009; Holmden et al. 2013; Kumpulainen et al. 2006; Moreau et al. 2005, Williams et al. 2008; Young et al., 2004; Catuneanu et al., 2005; Le Heron et al. 2009, Le Heron et al. 2010, Le Heron and Dowdeswell 2009, Masri 2017, and Loi et al., 2010).
South African Glacial Deposits Still Identified as Glacial
Oard (2016b) mentions that glacial deposits in South Africa cover most of the country and that their large areal extent is based on “scratched outcrops.” Once more, Oard (2016b) omits critical details and presents an oversimplified scenario that is easier for him to attack as a strawperson argument (see Scientific Evidence Continues to Confirm the Reality of the Permo-Carboniferous (Late Paleozoic) Glaciations and Undermine YEC-endorsed Impact Hypotheses ). The age of the deposits in South Africa is Late Paleozoic. As indicated by the discussions in Blignaut and Theron (2012) and Catuneanu et al. (2005), as examples, the Dwyka Group and related rocks in southern Africa are still identified as glacial and not massive submarine landslides from Noah’s Flood as Oard (2009a; 2016b) hopes. Many of these deposits are tillites; that is, continental, and not marine, glacial deposits.
Conclusions: Oard (2016b) Fails to Understand and Present the Current Literature on Pre-Pleistocene Glaciations
Rather than becoming current with the most recent research on pre-Pleistocene glaciations, Oard (2016b) largely recycles the disinformation and incorrect conclusions in Oard (1997a; 2009a) and his other articles and book chapters. Oard (2016b), like his previous articles and books, fails to provide any YEC answers to pre-Pleistocene glaciations, and Oard and Reed (2017, pp. 195-197) simply repeats some of the disinformation in this article. Mr. Oard consistently ignores important evidence in the literature that undermines Flood geology and a young Earth, and then falsely claims to have “answered” the geologic challenges that totally refute his YEC agenda. Sometimes, as shown by his statements on Schermerhorn (1974), he ends up contradicting himself.
I fully recognize that Oard (2016b) was originally an article in Creation magazine, that the intended audience is laypeople and not scientists, and that the articles in this magazine are not meant to have a lot of technical details. However, even so, Oard (2016b), as well as Oard and Reed (2017, pp. 195-197), are full of disinformation that Mr. Oard should have corrected long ago. Mr. Oard continues to mislead his readers with his cherry-picking of science articles, and his incorrect and often outdated claims.
References
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