Catastrophic plate tectonism is an explanation that has no supporting evidence, no explanation for the evidence that refutes it, and no viable mechanism. There are three general categories of fatal problems with CPT:
(1) Mechanism (discussed previously: http://www.christianforums.com/t60449)
(2) Rate of plate motions (discussed previously: http://www.christianforums.com/t50891)
(3) Configuration of the plates--this thread
Catastrophic plate tectonism is wishful thinking devised by young earth creationists to circumvent the fact that there is a lack of water available for a global flood to occur given earth's topography. It serves as a way to "flatten" earth's topography and generate it afterwards to produce what we see today.
Creationists usurp the notion of a supercontinent fragmenting, but this is only half the story. CPT is summarized by the compression of the breakup of Pangea over the past ~200 million years into a single year.
However, this still fails to explain earth's topography.
Paleomagnetic studies (simplified: measuring the orientation of magnetized minerals in rocks, the orientation of the rocks in the ground, and radiometric dating) give us the position of the continents with respect to the earth's dipole magnetic field.
They show that the configuration of tectonic plates has changed such that there has been more than one supercontinent. Supercontinents form in cycles, which explains the facts that (1) mountain ranges are not all the same age as CPT would predict and (2) mountain ranges that were in the supercontinent interior, like the Appalachians, exist. CPT does not predict the existence of the Appalachian Mountain range.
The Appalachians were a result of the formation of Pangea, not its breakup. They formed in three stages, two of which were the accretion of continental fragments (e.g., Taconic) and finally the collision of Europe and Africa which sutured the continents together. These stages took place mainly from the Devonian to the Permian. Pangea then fragmented after the Appalachians formed from these collisions, and therefore, CPT cannot account for their existence. CPT only allows for half the story (the breakup of pangea) without accounting for mountain ranges that still exist, but were formed before Pangea existed.
Here are some visual aids to consider:
Here is a generalized diagram of the earth during the Devonian. The ocean between modern North America (Laurentia) and modern Africa/Europe (Baltica) was reduced by the subduction of the oceanic crust between these continents beneath Africa (see the line with the triangles indicating the direction of subduction). The other two collisions of continental fragments sutured onto modern North America (Laurentia) in the early stages of the formation of the Appalacians (see the line with dash marks). This is prior to the formation of Pangea:
Here is a generalized diagram indicating how mountain ranges that do not result from volcanic activity along a subduction zone form: continental collision. You can see the two accretionary events as the Taconic and Avalon terranes collided with Laurentia in the Silurian and Devonian. Formation of Pangea caused the uplift that formed the Appalachian Mountains at the end of the Paleozoic:
And finally, here is a java animation constructed from paleomagnetic data. This illustrates what creationists claim CPT is (minus the ages of course). As you can see, the continents are diverging. The Appalachians were once at the center of Pangea and formed because of those collisions rather than after it:
http://www.scotese.com/sfsanim.htm
Usually the focus is on the Himalaya mountain range which CPT could predict if it overcame the other falsifications against it, and this distracts from what CPT cannot explain. CPT does not predict the existence of the Appalachian range because there is no collision with North America to form them. Their existence prior to Pangea brings back the water problem CPT was designed to avoid in the first place (minus all other problems with CPT). Thus, their existence disproves a global flood/CPT combination used by YECists.
Sources:
Condie, Kent C. and Sloan, Robert E. Origin and Evolution of Earth: Principles of Historical Geology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1998. (Image 1 - Devonian plate configuration)
http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/valleyandridge/valleyandridge.htm (Image 2 - Paleozoic plate tectonic cross section from the United States Geological Survey)
OP Summary:
In conclusion, the crux of my argument is that since the Appalachian Mountain Range was formed as a result of the assembly of Pangea rather than after its breakup, their existence is not predicted by catastrophic plate tectonism, which proposes a low-relief supercontinent that fragmented over the course of one year.
Since CPT does not predict their existence, CPT is false, and the supercontinent is no longer a low-relief one, but rather one with a tall mountain range, reintroducing the problem of a lack of water on earth for a global flood to occur thereby falsifying a global flooding event as well.
(1) Mechanism (discussed previously: http://www.christianforums.com/t60449)
(2) Rate of plate motions (discussed previously: http://www.christianforums.com/t50891)
(3) Configuration of the plates--this thread
Catastrophic plate tectonism is wishful thinking devised by young earth creationists to circumvent the fact that there is a lack of water available for a global flood to occur given earth's topography. It serves as a way to "flatten" earth's topography and generate it afterwards to produce what we see today.
Creationists usurp the notion of a supercontinent fragmenting, but this is only half the story. CPT is summarized by the compression of the breakup of Pangea over the past ~200 million years into a single year.
However, this still fails to explain earth's topography.
Paleomagnetic studies (simplified: measuring the orientation of magnetized minerals in rocks, the orientation of the rocks in the ground, and radiometric dating) give us the position of the continents with respect to the earth's dipole magnetic field.
They show that the configuration of tectonic plates has changed such that there has been more than one supercontinent. Supercontinents form in cycles, which explains the facts that (1) mountain ranges are not all the same age as CPT would predict and (2) mountain ranges that were in the supercontinent interior, like the Appalachians, exist. CPT does not predict the existence of the Appalachian Mountain range.
The Appalachians were a result of the formation of Pangea, not its breakup. They formed in three stages, two of which were the accretion of continental fragments (e.g., Taconic) and finally the collision of Europe and Africa which sutured the continents together. These stages took place mainly from the Devonian to the Permian. Pangea then fragmented after the Appalachians formed from these collisions, and therefore, CPT cannot account for their existence. CPT only allows for half the story (the breakup of pangea) without accounting for mountain ranges that still exist, but were formed before Pangea existed.
Here are some visual aids to consider:
Here is a generalized diagram of the earth during the Devonian. The ocean between modern North America (Laurentia) and modern Africa/Europe (Baltica) was reduced by the subduction of the oceanic crust between these continents beneath Africa (see the line with the triangles indicating the direction of subduction). The other two collisions of continental fragments sutured onto modern North America (Laurentia) in the early stages of the formation of the Appalacians (see the line with dash marks). This is prior to the formation of Pangea:
Here is a generalized diagram indicating how mountain ranges that do not result from volcanic activity along a subduction zone form: continental collision. You can see the two accretionary events as the Taconic and Avalon terranes collided with Laurentia in the Silurian and Devonian. Formation of Pangea caused the uplift that formed the Appalachian Mountains at the end of the Paleozoic:
And finally, here is a java animation constructed from paleomagnetic data. This illustrates what creationists claim CPT is (minus the ages of course). As you can see, the continents are diverging. The Appalachians were once at the center of Pangea and formed because of those collisions rather than after it:
http://www.scotese.com/sfsanim.htm
Usually the focus is on the Himalaya mountain range which CPT could predict if it overcame the other falsifications against it, and this distracts from what CPT cannot explain. CPT does not predict the existence of the Appalachian range because there is no collision with North America to form them. Their existence prior to Pangea brings back the water problem CPT was designed to avoid in the first place (minus all other problems with CPT). Thus, their existence disproves a global flood/CPT combination used by YECists.
Sources:
Condie, Kent C. and Sloan, Robert E. Origin and Evolution of Earth: Principles of Historical Geology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1998. (Image 1 - Devonian plate configuration)
http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/valleyandridge/valleyandridge.htm (Image 2 - Paleozoic plate tectonic cross section from the United States Geological Survey)
OP Summary:
In conclusion, the crux of my argument is that since the Appalachian Mountain Range was formed as a result of the assembly of Pangea rather than after its breakup, their existence is not predicted by catastrophic plate tectonism, which proposes a low-relief supercontinent that fragmented over the course of one year.
Since CPT does not predict their existence, CPT is false, and the supercontinent is no longer a low-relief one, but rather one with a tall mountain range, reintroducing the problem of a lack of water on earth for a global flood to occur thereby falsifying a global flooding event as well.
