Below is the online edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, by Dr. Walt Brown. Copyright © Center for Scientific Creation. All rights reserved.

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[ Frequently Asked Questions > What Triggered the Flood? ]

What Triggered the Flood?

At the end of the creation week, all that God created was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), so the flood was not inevitable at that time. In other words, the earth was not created with a “ticking time bomb”—a bad condition. Nor was the universe created with killer comets, asteroids, or meteoroids aimed at earth. Their presence at the end of the creation week also would not have been “very good.”

Indeed, most natural disasters are a consequence of the flood: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes, storms (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.), local floods, droughts, landslides, and impacts by comets, asteroids, and meteorites. [Pages 303–380 explain how comets, asteroids, and meteorites are a consequence of the flood.] Even mutations and other cellular damage caused by radioactive decay are a consequence of the flood. The origin of earth’s radioactivity is explained on pages 387–441. The index will help you locate explanations explaining why these natural disasters are a consequence of the flood.

Because of the depth of man’s sin¹ (Genesis 6:5–6), the earth was destroyed by a flood. We may never know with certainty what physical chain of events initiated the flood, but the Bible gives some intriguing clues and narrows the possibilities.

The hydroplate theory, summarized on pages 113–149, shows how a global flood, corresponding in every detail to the Genesis flood, easily explains 25 otherwise mysterious features of the earth and solar system. This theory postulates that a layer of water was below the crust of the preflood earth. The Bible tells us that the newly created earth had considerable subterranean water (see page 503).

Rock Movement.  First, visualize an important feature of the newly created earth. Imagine the entire earth’s surface covered by a sandwich arrangement in which a horizontal layer of rock (which will become the earth’s crust) has a layer of water above and below it. The rock layer is about 60-miles thick; each water layer is about 1 mile thick. The water above this rock layer will become surface water; the confined water below is subterranean water. If the rock layer were perfectly uniform in thickness and density, everything would be in balance.  Equilibrium would exist.

Undoubtedly, variations existed in the rock’s thickness and density. Heavier parts would sag downward, like an overloaded floor, causing additional surface water to flow into each depression. That added weight would increase each sag, so more surface water would flow into the growing depressions, driving them even deeper. and making contact with the chamber’s floor in many places.²

Pillars. Some sagging rock would also have been squeeze0d downward through the subterranean water, forming protrusions—or “pillars”—pressed against the chamber floor.  That was because the pressure within the rock at the base of the rock layer’s thicker, denser portions would exceed the subterranean water’s pressure pushing upward. If the pressure difference exceeded the rock’s shear strength at any point, rock would “flow” downward, deforming like putty. Compression tests on cylinders of rock subjected to high confining pressures, but larger axial loads, show that the rock cylinders deform like putty. [See “Highly Compressed Solids,” on page 625.]

Downward protrusions (pillars) would grow like the downward flow in a lava lamp, except the rock, a solid instead of a liquid, had internal strength due to atomic bonding. The deeper the sags, the greater this pressure difference would become, so rock would “flow” even deeper until all pillars pressed against the chamber floor. Pillars carrying an excessive load would thicken and penetrate slightly into the chamber floor, forming what we will call “sockets.”

If one squeezed a water balloon in a few places, it would bulge in other places. Likewise, as rock sagged downward, the fixed volume of subterranean water forced the thinner, less-dense parts of the crust upward, forming the preflood mountains.

Day 2. If, on Day 2 of the creation week, our “sandwich” encircled the earth like the outer three rings of an onion, water would cover the entire earth. In the following hours, the thinner and less-dense portions of the crust would rise out of the surface water and become dry land. Water would drain into depressions. This seems to be what happened on Day 3 (Genesis 1:9–10). Water covered the entire earth, then “God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas;” [Pages 536–544 further support this interpretation of Day 2.]

Genesis 1:9 says that the waters below the heavens were gathered into one place (i.e., one big ocean). Why, then, in the next verse did God call the collected waters “seas”—plural?  Answer: Multiple seas were honeycombed below the crust—separated by pillars. The Interpreter’s Bible explains:

“Seas” embraces more than the waters upon the face of the earth; it includes also the (supposed) subterranean waters upon which the earth was believed to rest ... and the circumfluent ocean, upon which the pillars of the firmament stood.³

Psalm 24:2a specifically states that God “founded it [the earth] upon the seas.”

Interestingly, Day 2 was the only creation day in which the Bible does not expressly say God saw that day’s work was “good.” Certainly, nothing bad was done on the second day, because at the end of the creation week, God saw that all He had made was “very good.” Apparently, the second day’s activity—the creation of the earth’s crust (the raqia) with liquid water above and below, the lifting of continents, and the establishment of the earth’s crust upon its foundation was not completed until Day 3.

Now we can see why. On Day 2, immediately after the crust was created with liquid water above and below it, the crust had to deform. Heavier portions sagged and squeezed down pillars, while lighter portions rose out of the water. On Day 3 (after establishing the pillar structure—the foundations of the earth), God stated in Genesis 1:10 that “it was good.” Later on Day 3, after vegetation was created, God made a similar statement. Thus, Day 3 was the only creation day in which two “it was good” pronouncements were made.

Psalm 104:3, in describing Day 2,⁴ states (with my interpretations in brackets), “He lays the beams [pillars] of His upper chambers [the crust] in the [subterranean] waters.” By Day 3, surface water had drained into depressions, exposing dry land—a “good” condition (Genesis 1:10) necessary for what God would create next: life.

Peter also seems to describe these events. He states that in the latter days mockers will not understand that,

The earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  (II Peter 3:5–6)

This is consistent with the following interpretation: On Day 2, a nearly horizontal crust, or “expanse,” was formed in the midst of the liquid water covering the earth (Genesis 1:2,6,7,9). On Day 3, lighter portions of the crust rose out of the water, causing water above the rising crust to flow into depressions (Genesis 1:10). In other words, the earth (its crust) was formed out of  (rose out of) surface water and was formed by pressure from subterranean water. Some might incorrectly think “forming the earth out of water” implies alchemy; that is, water (H₂O) was changed into SiO₂, (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄, and a host of other minerals that comprise rock. (Even if alchemy occurred, one would not say rock formed by water; one would say rock formed from water.) Actually, “out of” is used in a spatial sense. The King James Version clearly conveys this idea of the land rising out of water:  “... the earth standing out of the water ... .” The Complete Jewish Bible states, “long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of the water and existed between the waters.” II Peter 3:5b [emphasis added]

An ancient writing, ascribed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (A.D. 80–118), vividly described these events as follows:

Until the third day of creation, the earth was level as a plain and water covered the whole earth. When God said [Genesis 1:9], “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered,” the mountains and hills arose and other parts became depressions. The waters filled these depressions and they were called seas.

With remarkable insight a few lines later, he states that “the earth is spread upon the water just like a ship which floats in the midst of the sea.”⁵

After about 2,000 years,⁶ the water below the crust burst forth as “the fountains of the great deep,” combined with surface water, and, as Peter wrote, flooded and destroyed the earth in a global cataclysm. The Greek word katakluzo, from which we get our word “cataclysm,” is translated as “flooded” in II Peter 3:6. In describing Noah’s flood, the Bible never uses the normal Greek or Hebrew words for flood. Noah’s flood was much more; it was an unparalleled, global cataclysm—earth’s defining geological event.

The Hebrew word raqia is usually translated as “expanse” or “firmament.” Pages 536–544 explain why raqia is sometimes identified with “heavens” but in other contexts refers to earth’s preflood crust. [See "Was There “Fire in Waters” ?" ]

Pressure from the compressed subterranean water supported most of the crust’s weight; pillars supported the rest. Every 12 hours, tidal effects, caused primarily by the Moon’s gravity, lifted the subsurface water (and, therefore, earth’s crust), just as tides lift ocean surfaces today. At low tides, the crust settled. Each pillar’s pressure on the chamber floor increased and decreased twice daily. These loose, flexible, contacts could be described as “sockets”—indentations in the chamber’s floor.

The Bible says the earth was founded on pillars. Psalm 75:3b says, “It is I [God] Who have firmly set its [the earth’s] pillars.” In Job 38, God demonstrates His authority by giving Job the most difficult science examination of all time. In verses 4–6, God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding, ... On what were its bases sunk?” This word, “bases,” is translated in all 54 other places in the Bible as “pedestals” or “sockets” which held pillars.

Two verses later, in Job 38:8–11, God says that he caused a confined sea of water, enclosed in a dark cloud, to burst forth—apparently describing the fountains of the great deep.

Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb, when I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and I placed boundaries on it, and set a bolt and doors, and I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop.”

This was one of earth’s most dramatic physical events ever.

Recorded Ancient History. Ancient extrabiblical writings, although not having the authority of biblical passages, also describe this pillar structure within the subterranean water. As one example, the British Museum’s The Book of the Cave of Treasures (dated at about A.D. 300–599) states:

And on the Third Day God commanded the waters that were below the firmament to be gathered together in one place, and the dry land to appear. And when the covering of water had been rolled up from the face of the earth, the earth showed itself to be in an unsettled and unstable state, that is to say, it was of a damp or moist and yielding nature. And the waters were gathered together into seas that were under the earth and within it, and upon it. And God made the earth from below, corridors and shafts, and channels for the passage of the waters; ... Now, as for the earth, the lower part of it is like unto a thick sponge, for it resteth on the waters.⁷  [emphasis added]

The Bible often speaks of “the foundation(s) of the earth.” On Day 3, the earth’s crust was literally established, or set (using pillars), on its foundation. Had this not happened, the crust would have continually tottered (or undulated, like the surface of an earth-size waterbed). Perhaps this is why the psalmist wrote, “He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever.” (Psalm 104:5) Only by understanding some basic physics and the role of subterranean water, will these matters—and the global flood—be clear.

Tidal Pumping. Each tidal cycle in the subterranean chamber (driven by the Sun’s and Moon’s gravity) stretched and compressed the pillars.⁸ This cyclic compression—tidal pumping—twice a day for about 2,000 years, constantly heated the pillars and subterranean water. The pressure increased in the chamber—but not to the “breaking point” as we will see in Genesis 2:6, and if we take seriously Genesis 1:31: “And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good.” A ticking time bomb under everyone’s feet would not have been good, let alone “very good.”

As temperatures rose throughout the chamber from tidal pumping, the water became supercritical, so the more soluble minerals, such as quartz, dissolved certain minerals within the granite ceiling, such as quartz. Thus, the lower crust became porous. [See pages 124–125 and pages 612–613.]

Hot water was then rapidly and easily transferred up through the spongelike (porous) lower crust by natural convection, a rapid process. (Heat transferred by conduction through the solid rock crust is extremely slow.) While the circulating hot water was sealed under the upper crust, the heat was not. Consequently, the soil-water zone, just below the earth’s solid surface was heated from below. Therefore, steam exited into the atmosphere at millions of locations throughout the earth, primarily through the elevated, thinner, and less dense continents. [See Figure 236 on page 477.] That steam is described in Genesis 2:6: “But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.” Each night, the atmosphere’s warm water vapor (steam) radiated its heat into outer space and condense as heavy dew, abundantly watering the ground over the entire earth. That condensed water then recharged the hydrosphere. This cycle was ongoing, driven by heat from tidal pumping in the subterranean chamber.

That steady state condition was reached without pressures or temperatures that would cause the crust to fail. Therefore, it was either man’s sinful actions (or inactions) or a direct act by God that later caused the crust or pillars to fail.⁹ Yes, these are only possibilities, but they bring us to the same starting point as the strictly scientific hydroplate theory. Regardless of how one reaches that point, everything that follows is within the scientific realm. Heat could then be rapidly and easily transferred up through the spongelike (porous) lower crust by water convection.

Heat is required to produce water vapor that can then become a mist. For a mist to “water the whole surface of the ground” and provide water for all animal and plant life, the heat must be generated globally, uniformly, and at regular, closely-spaced time intervals.  What was that heat source?

It has been shown that it would have taken 10 years for tidal pumping in the subterranean water to make the liquid water in the subterranean chamber supercritical if that liquid water was initially as cold as ice water (32 degrees Fahrenheit). [See "Tidal Pumping: Two Types" on page 612.] In that case, it would have taken at least 10 years for the earth’s crust to become porous enough for heat from tidal pumping to begin producing the mist that daily watered the earth. Preflood rivers and vegetation would not have had a water source for at least 10 years. Life on earth would have become extinct. Because that did not happen, we can reasonably conclude that the initial temperature of the subterranean water was much warmer that ice water.²

explains why the subterranean water was supercritical after the second day of creation.

The Rupture. On one day, the crust ruptured and the flood began.

On the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open. (Genesis 7:11)

Some water from the jetting fountains fell as rain. Subterranean water flowed with unimaginable force horizontally through the subterranean chambers and up through the globe-encircling rupture. As subterranean water was escaping upward, the pillars had to support more of the crust’s weight, because the subterranean water supported less. Each pillar’s collapse increased the load on the remaining pillars, so more pillars collapsed, much like a falling house of cards. Each collapse produced huge waves in the surface water and pressure pulses in the subterranean water. Rock fragments from the crushed pillars were swept up by the escaping waters and accelerated into space by the powerful fountains of the great deep. Some rocks merged to become comets and asteroids.¹⁰ Those that did not merge became meteoroids. Thus, the pillars, or foundations of the world, collapsed. This may be what Psalm 18:15 refers to when it says, “Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare.”

How hot might the high-pressure water have become? Question 5 on page 346 explains why some meteorites reached temperatures of at least 1,300°F. Some minerals in other meteorites were even hotter,¹¹ a fact that perplexes meteorite experts, because meteorites came from supercold outer space, where temperatures are almost absolute zero (-460°F). This heating was not due to impacts or atmospheric, friction because the heating occurred not just on meteorite surfaces, but throughout meteorites. Iron meteorites came from crushed pillars, as explained on pages 341–382, so pillars and the subterranean water exceeded 1,300°F.

Sinking Continents. Since lighter (and higher) portions of the crust were supported entirely by subterranean water, primarily the continents and preflood mountains sank as the subterranean water escaped during the flood phase. Therefore, the flooded earth resulted as much from sinking continents as from rising water.

Genesis 7:20 says that the flood waters covered all preflood mountains by 15 cubits (about 22 1/2 feet). Today, mountain heights vary by thousands of feet, so why did many, if not all, preflood mountains have similar elevations? (Some commentators say that “at least” 15 cubits of water were above all the earth’s mountains. Others say that the text means the Ark, whose height was 30 cubits, must have been only half submerged and did not run into mountain peaks.) The explanation becomes clear if we recognize that: (a) today’s mountains were formed by completely different mechanisms than those on the preflood earth, and (b) the preflood earth’s crust was founded on and spread out above liquid water (Psalms 24:2, 104:3, and 136:6). Here’s why the flood waters covered the preflood mountains by 15 cubits:

On Day 3 of the creation week, the higher a continent rose out of the surface water, the more pressure it exerted on the subterranean water directly below. To demonstrate this buoyancy effect, support a large rock under water with one hand. Notice how the pressure on your hand increases as you slowly lift the rock out of the water. Therefore, as the land rose higher, it would have risen more slowly, giving preflood mountains similar heights.

About 2,000 years later, as the flood waters rose and continents sank, this same buoyancy effect caused preflood mountains not yet covered by water to exert greater pressure on the water still under the crust. This reduced their height and lifted lower mountains, nearly equalizing mountain heights above the rising water—just as Genesis 7:20 states.

As the flood progressed, pillars were increasingly crushed, so more and more of the crust rested on the subterranean chamber floor, slowing the water’s escape. The vertical walls on each side of the rupture were about 60 miles high. Because the rock’s pressure in the bottom half of each wall exceeded its crushing strength, the unsupported, unconfined walls continually crumbled—for 150 days (Genesis 7:24). During that time, the high-velocity fountains of the great deep removed that rubble, widening the rupture hundreds of miles.

Mass deep in the mantle shifted slowly toward these relatively unloaded portions of the chamber floor. Suddenly, the chamber floor buckled upward beneath the widened rupture, first forming the Mid-Atlantic portion of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge. The crust slid downhill on lubricating water, away from the rising Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Sliding continental plates—hydroplates—eventually crashed and compressed during the “compression event.”

Weaker portions of the hydroplates crushed, thickened, and buckled—all within one hour. [See "Could Earth’s Mountain Ranges Form in Less Than an Hour?" on page 499.] In doing so, the new, postflood continents rose out of the flood waters, allowing water to drain into newly opened—and temporarily very deep—ocean basins. Buckled mountains also formed, as shown in Figure 50 on page 117. For each cubic mile of land that rose out of the flood waters, one cubic mile of flood water could drain. (Note: Today, the volume of all land above sea level is only one-tenth of the volume of all water on earth.) Other dramatic consequences in the Pacific, including formation of huge ocean trenches, are discussed on pages 155–192.

Sliding rock-on-rock contacts quickly became molten rock-water mixtures. This is why magma contains a surprising amount of dissolved water. Some of the subterranean chamber’s water appears to remain: a thin saltwater layer under portions of all continents at the depth predicted by the hydroplate theory,¹² and a thick, water-laden layer under the Tibetan Plateau.¹³

Conclusions.  The creation was “very good.” Sometime after the Fall but before the flood, a chain of physical events began that produced a global flood. The earth then was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11), so humans may have been directly responsible, although we cannot be sure exactly how it began. Nevertheless, that cataclysm had many consequences: layered fossils; coal, oil, and methane deposits; major mountain ranges; the Ice Age; and dozens of other global features. Our challenge is to explain their details in the simplest, most internally consistent way that adheres to the laws of physics. (If that explanation happens to conform to the biblical account, that is no reason to reject it.)

The events of the flood become clear and dozens of scientific problems that befuddle evolutionists are solved when one understands the events of the second creation day and that a large volume of water was trapped under earth’s early crust.

For centuries, hundreds of sincere questions about the flood have been asked; they deserve thoughtful, accurate answers. Without clear explanations, a “vacuum” has existed into which evolutionists have placed faulty theories. If we simply tell others (especially nonbelievers) to believe the Bible, we create unnecessary resentment because the questions remain, faulty explanations continue to be universally taught, and we may appear self-righteous.

Day 2—a key to explaining the flood—has been poorly understood. As Peter wrote, people would not understand that earth’s crust was formed out of water and by water that later flooded the earth. This proposed interpretation of Day 2 helps us appreciate the presence of so much subterranean water, the power of “the fountains of the great deep,” why they all erupted so quickly (on one day), and where the flood waters came from and where they went. Had the flood been better understood before Charles Darwin popularized evolution, many more people would have recognized that evolutionary explanations are ridiculous. Evolution would not have flourished. Our task, then, is to explain to others what we now know about the flood.

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