I have noticed a lot of debate about Noah's flood and there are some misconceptions about how it could work scientifically.
This is not intended as a proof but I am hoping to raise the technical side a few notches.
Trying to cover a continent with water is like trying to make ice cubes sink in a glass partially full of water. The continents like the ice cube is floating. Adding water to the glass will just make the ice float higher.
That does not mean the continents did not sink. It just means you have to consider buoyancy.
The creation story does not indicate the world was flooded by rain unless you are looking at the comic book version.
The question we need to need to ask is what is the buoyancy of a vertical column through a continent and what is the buoyancy of a vertical column through the ocean? Both columns include a portion of the mantel layer in which they float.
The two columns contain a weight which is almost equal when the entire columns are considered even though the tip of the continent which is above seal level seems large to us. If for some reason the column through a continent became heaver then a column through the ocean the continents would sink until submerged. Water need not be added to make this occur.
According to verse 11 the ocean bottom is now broken allowing an average thickness of 400 foot of lava to be ejected into seawater. (The thickness is determined by scientific information given later). This kind of event causes Pumice which is lava which has cooled quickly after being ejected from a higher pressure area to a lower pressure area. Gases expand in the molten rock which cause bubbles in the rock formed. Before the bubbles can escape the rock hardens trapping the gas bubbles. The rocks have a specific gravity of about 0.6 which means they float having a lower specific gravity then water. One cubic foot of lava will cause five cubic foot of Pumice because Pumice is mostly hollow.
When the Pumice forms it will float to the oceans surface unless there are strong vertical upwards and downward currents or it is attached to the ocean floor.
When the Pumice reaches the surface wave motion will quickly grind the Pumice against itself into a fine silt which will fall to the ocean floor. Pumice is very brittle and structurally week compared to other rocks with thin walls of rock surrounding bubble structures.
Huge pumice 'island' floating in Pacific - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience | NBC News
Note that I did not say the ocean floor has not been elevated.
Our 400 of lava has caused a 2,000 elevation in sea level because of the enlarged volume of Pumice rock but all of the water column will not remain over the ocean. An elevated ocean will flood many of the continental areas.
Now we will consider the buoyancy of the continent and the ocean columns.
While this event is occurring the ocean is a mixture of Pumice and water which has a decreased density. The ocean column has also lost the weight of hundreds of foot of water to the land areas.
The continent has taken on the additional weight of a water column above most of the continental areas, rain will only increase the weight of the continents as any depression in the landscape will collect water and saturate ground areas. I do not think this is a major contributor to the buoyancy shift.
In short the continents have become heaver and the oceans have become lighter. When the continents begin to sink magma is forced out of the ocean floor volcano's causing more Pumice.
Eventually the decrease in the mantle portion of the continent column will cause a new balance point because the mantle is composed of very dense material.
Once the ocean floor is sealed Pumice will float to the surface, grind itself into a powder in the waves and settle to the bottom of the ocean. Which is what we find today however some areas are thick and others are not indicating the condition was uneven over the ocean floors.
ocean basin (Earth feature) : Deep-sea sediments -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia
The ocean water has now returned to its original density which means the continents have a lighter buoyancy column then the ocean does. The continents must rise from the ocean.
This process may take some time however. The continents will have many inland lakes captured during the rise of the continents and the soils are saturated. Plate tectonics will have formed much higher mountains then would have been formed on land due to the added buoyancy provide by submersion in the ocean water. There must be time for water runoff and evaporate from the continents. Glaciers will also affect the new continent elevation equilibrium point.
Noah was on the ark for a year and a half. There is no record how long it took to cause most of the land masses to elevate above water level. We have not elevated to the original sea level yet so you could say the flood has not ended.
As always your comments and correction are appreciated.
Duordi
This is not intended as a proof but I am hoping to raise the technical side a few notches.
Trying to cover a continent with water is like trying to make ice cubes sink in a glass partially full of water. The continents like the ice cube is floating. Adding water to the glass will just make the ice float higher.
That does not mean the continents did not sink. It just means you have to consider buoyancy.
The creation story does not indicate the world was flooded by rain unless you are looking at the comic book version.
There are two reasons given for the continents submerging. The first and therefore the most important is that the fountains of the deep were broken up. The fountains of the deep are volcano's which do discharge water along with many other materials. As it turns out the water or gas portion of the ejection is very important.
The question we need to need to ask is what is the buoyancy of a vertical column through a continent and what is the buoyancy of a vertical column through the ocean? Both columns include a portion of the mantel layer in which they float.
The two columns contain a weight which is almost equal when the entire columns are considered even though the tip of the continent which is above seal level seems large to us. If for some reason the column through a continent became heaver then a column through the ocean the continents would sink until submerged. Water need not be added to make this occur.
According to verse 11 the ocean bottom is now broken allowing an average thickness of 400 foot of lava to be ejected into seawater. (The thickness is determined by scientific information given later). This kind of event causes Pumice which is lava which has cooled quickly after being ejected from a higher pressure area to a lower pressure area. Gases expand in the molten rock which cause bubbles in the rock formed. Before the bubbles can escape the rock hardens trapping the gas bubbles. The rocks have a specific gravity of about 0.6 which means they float having a lower specific gravity then water. One cubic foot of lava will cause five cubic foot of Pumice because Pumice is mostly hollow.
When the Pumice forms it will float to the oceans surface unless there are strong vertical upwards and downward currents or it is attached to the ocean floor.
When the Pumice reaches the surface wave motion will quickly grind the Pumice against itself into a fine silt which will fall to the ocean floor. Pumice is very brittle and structurally week compared to other rocks with thin walls of rock surrounding bubble structures.
Huge pumice 'island' floating in Pacific - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience | NBC News
Note that I did not say the ocean floor has not been elevated.
Our 400 of lava has caused a 2,000 elevation in sea level because of the enlarged volume of Pumice rock but all of the water column will not remain over the ocean. An elevated ocean will flood many of the continental areas.
Now we will consider the buoyancy of the continent and the ocean columns.
While this event is occurring the ocean is a mixture of Pumice and water which has a decreased density. The ocean column has also lost the weight of hundreds of foot of water to the land areas.
The continent has taken on the additional weight of a water column above most of the continental areas, rain will only increase the weight of the continents as any depression in the landscape will collect water and saturate ground areas. I do not think this is a major contributor to the buoyancy shift.
In short the continents have become heaver and the oceans have become lighter. When the continents begin to sink magma is forced out of the ocean floor volcano's causing more Pumice.
Eventually the decrease in the mantle portion of the continent column will cause a new balance point because the mantle is composed of very dense material.
Once the ocean floor is sealed Pumice will float to the surface, grind itself into a powder in the waves and settle to the bottom of the ocean. Which is what we find today however some areas are thick and others are not indicating the condition was uneven over the ocean floors.
ocean basin (Earth feature) : Deep-sea sediments -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia
The ocean water has now returned to its original density which means the continents have a lighter buoyancy column then the ocean does. The continents must rise from the ocean.
This process may take some time however. The continents will have many inland lakes captured during the rise of the continents and the soils are saturated. Plate tectonics will have formed much higher mountains then would have been formed on land due to the added buoyancy provide by submersion in the ocean water. There must be time for water runoff and evaporate from the continents. Glaciers will also affect the new continent elevation equilibrium point.
Noah was on the ark for a year and a half. There is no record how long it took to cause most of the land masses to elevate above water level. We have not elevated to the original sea level yet so you could say the flood has not ended.
As always your comments and correction are appreciated.
Duordi
