In article <
Js2dneGa3qI4_NDN...@earthlink.com>,
This is highly entertaining.
"Now, lets take a look at continental drift or plate tectonics.
According to today's popular scientists, the continents of today were
once connected in an original continent by the name of Pangea."
"...today's popular scientists"???? Seriously? That's a very bad sign.
And not too long after:
"Initially those who first proposed this idea of continental drift were
thought to be crazy. However, with discoveries of paleomagnetism and
other evidences, such as the rather obvious puzzle-piece match of
various continents, the theory quickly gained popularity. "
What is this obsession with popularity? What does popularity have to do
with whether or not a hypothesis is supported enough to be a theory?
OHMIGAWD, it gets ever more ridiculous:
"Fad or not, the popularity of plate tectonic theory is undeniable and
this popularity is felt by some to be limiting the exploration of any
other possible theories as belief in plate tectonics is so strong that
it is difficult to get any other hypothesis published if it seems to
move against this paradigm."
These idiots do not have a clue how science is done. So how can anything
they say about science matters be true, much less make sense.
"The fact of the matter is that scientists are finding certain aspects
of the earth's crust that simply are not easily explained by the theory
of plate tectonics as it currently stands. Some of these problems are
more readily apparent than others. Perhaps one of the more easily
discernable problems is one that involves the maintenance of fit of the
continents over the course of 200+ million years of drift since Pangea.
Consider that over relatively short time periods, erosion, deposition,
and sedimentary river delta deposits change edges of landmasses
significantly. For example, three hundred years before Christ, Ephesus
was a seaport city on the coast of the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor. Within
only 800 years, the city was no longer a port city, but an inland city.
The historian Pliney said that, in ancient times the sea used to wash up
to the temple of Diana [in Ephesus]. The reason for this regression of
the sea is that the relatively small rivers of Cayster and Meander run
near the city. Over the years they deposited so much sediment that the
land extended some several miles in a relatively short time. Today
Ephesus is located about five miles inland.
"With all the erosion and on all the various continents and rivers
depositing deltas like the ones at Ephesus, should the continents not,
over a 200+ million year period, loose the shape of their ancient
coastlines? Currently, according to the US Army Corp of Engineers,..."
and off we go into a lot of handwaving about how coastal erosion cannot
be explained using plate tectonics and, in fact, disproves it. Somehow.
Oh, wait:
"So, knowing this, let us be very conservative and say that an average
coastline changes only one centimeter per year. This would not be
enough erosion to worry anyone right? However, how much change would
that be in 200 million years? The change would be two thousand
kilometers (1,200 miles) . . . Enough to erode (or deposit) half way
through the United States! This does not appear to be the case
though. The coastlines of the various continents still match up very
well - not to mention the fact that the continents themselves have not
been washed away within this time. I mean, judging by the current rate
of erosion, Louisiana would have been subjected to 5 billion square
miles of erosion/deposition in 200 million years. That is more than 300
times the size of the entire North American Continent (15 million square
miles)! That is actually fifteen times more land than the entire
surface area of the Earth itself to include that covered by water (317
million square miles)!
"Now, I am not saying that rates of erosion do not fluctuate and change,
but it seems fairly obvious that with even minimal amounts of
continental erosion, the continents of today would not match up so
easily if they really had separated from each other over 200 million
years ago. The evidence does not appear to fit the theory - not even
close. An extremely rapid continental drift in the recent past seems
much more likely. A great deal of sudden energy would be required to
cause such a rapid and global continental drift. Such a sudden release
of energy would most likely cause incredible global catastrophe.
Massive floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes would occur suddenly on a
global scale."
Yes, this is part of the article that Andrew seems to think proves that
his god exists. Somehow.
I can't read anymore. My stomach hurts from so much laughing at the
amazing lack of knowledge and the misunderstandings that arise from it.
Shooting themselves in the foot.