Denali

Late Cretaceous Cantwell Formation Dinosaur Tracksite, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA, Refutes the “Briefly Exposed Diluvial Sediments” (BEDS) and other Flood Geology Scenarios

Kevin R. Henke

December 14, 2016

Fiorillo et al. (2014) describe numerous hadrosaurid dinosaur tracks in the lower unit of the Late Cretaceous Cantwell Formation, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA. The lower unit mostly consists of alluvial fan, stream and lake deposits with some poorly developed paleosols (Fiorillo et al. 2014). The tracks are well preserved, include hadrosaurids of all ages, and indicate the movement of a multigenerational herd. These data are incompatible with Flood geology, including the BEDS (Briefly Exposed Diluvial Sediments) scenario proposed by young-Earth creationist (YEC) Oard (2011).

Oard (2011, pp. 93, 126) mentions that young juvenile dinosaurs are very rare in the geologic record. If BEDS were true, very young dinosaurs should be nearly absent from the geologic record. When compared with adult hadrosaurs, young juveniles are less likely to be strong enough to survive the waters of Noah’s Flood and swim or float to the brief safety of a BEDS, where their tracks could supposedly be preserved in the middle of the geologic record. So, how did all of the dinosaurs in the Cantwell Formation avoid death and burial from the initial part of Noah’s Flood and how did the herd stay together? Denali National Park is underlain by thick marine Paleozoic rocks, including a lot of volcanic and tectonically deformed rocks (National Park Service 2010). So under the BEDS scenario, this area would not have been a good hideout for a large group of hadrosaurs during the deposition of the Paleozoic sediments and volcanic deposits. Oard (2011, p. 122) speculates that floating dinosaurs could have been transported from 30 degrees latitude to the polar regions in a few days from 60 mile per hour (mph, 100 kilometers per hour) Flood currents. But, how would young and weak hadrosaurs survive such a trip?

Oard (2011, p. 136) also suggests that floating mats of vegetation could have transported dinosaurs to and from BEDS. But, how could vegetative mats keep a large herd of hadrosaurs together? How did they find a large enough mat to support all their weight and if they took separate mats, why did they all land in the same place in Alaska? As usual, BEDS and other aspects of Flood geology are untenable and far-fetched scenarios that are simply designed to keep YEC views of Genesis from sinking.

The pollen of the Cantwell Formation also creates another problem for Flood geology. As actualists expect, the pollen indicates that the formation had a late Campanian or early Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) age (Fiorillo et al. 2014). But, how would Noah’s Flood segregate Cretaceous pollen from modern or Paleozoic pollen? In the past, YECs have attempted to demean the reliability of pollen fossils in dating rocks. For example, they made claims about geologically out-of-place “Precambrian” pollen. However, considering their shallow sampling techniques and the lithologies of their samples, their Precambrian samples were probably contaminated by pollen-laden surface water percolating into the subsurface. So, the pollen problem is real and is yet another issue that is fatal to BEDS and other Flood geology scenarios. It’s simply time for Mr. Oard and other YECs to stop making excuses for the dead doctrine of Flood geology.

References

Fiorillo, A.R., S.T. Hasiotis, and Y. Kobayashi. 2014. “Herd Structure in Late Cretaceous Polar Dinosaurs: A Remarkable New Dinosaur Tracksite, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA,” Geology, v. 42, n. 8, pp. 719-722.

National Park Service. 2010. Denali National Park and Preserve: Geologic Resources Inventory Report, National Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR – 2010/244, National Park Service: U.S. Department of the Interior: Fort Collins, CO, USA, 73pp.

Oard, M.J. 2011. Dinosaur Challenges and Mysteries: How the Genesis Flood makes Sense of Dinosaur Evidence including Tracks, Nests, Eggs, and Scavenged Bones, Creation Book Publishers: Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 175pp.