THE PROBLEM OF GEOLOGICAL OVERTHRUSTS: 2

Did you know that the Appalachian Mountain range—which extends through many eastern U.S. states—originally jumped there out of the bottom of the ocean? Welcome to another evolutionary error. Read on. Evolutionary theory is a myth. This is science vs. evolution—a Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia, brought to you by Creation Science Facts.

CONTENT: Problem of Geological Overthrusts: 2

Lewis Overthrust: It is 135 by 15 miles, yet it also supposed to have slid sideways from someplace else
The Matterhorn: This gigantically high mountain is supposed to have traveled there from 30 to 60 miles away
The Appalachians: We are supposed to believe that this immense range jumped out of the ocean!
The Mythen: This high Swiss peak is supposed to have run there all the way from Africa
Conclusion: When will the evolutionists admit their geologic theories are ridiculous?

This material is excerpted from the book, FOSSILS AND STRATA.
An asterisk ( * ) by a name indicates that person is not known to be a creationist. Of over 4,000 quotations in the books this Encyclopedia is based on, only 164 statements are by creationists.
You will have a better understanding of the following statements by scientists if you will also read the web page, Fossils and Strata.

LEWIS OVERTHRUST

The Lewis overthrust, in Montana ,is another example of the overthrust problem. It is massive in size!

"The Lewis overthrust of Montana has a length of approximately 135 miles [217.25 km] and a horizontal displacement of about 15 miles [24 km]. Its fault plane dips to the southwest at an angle of about 3 degrees."—*William D. Thornbury, Principles of Geomorphology (1954), p. 268.

Since Thornbury wrote the above lines, additional research has disclosed that the Lewis thrustblock is 3 miles [4.8279 km] deep, 135 miles [217 km] long, and 35 to 40 miles [56.3-64.4 km] wide! (See *C.P. Ross and *Richard Rezak, "The Rocks and Fossils of Glacier National Park," in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 294-K (1959), pp. 422, 424.)

That is a lot of rock! In order to protect their fossil strata theory, the evolutionists soberly tell us that ALL THAT ROCK moved sideways many miles from somewhere else. This massive overthrust is truly vast in size. On a map of North America, (1) place a penciled "X" on a point a little north of Crowsnest mountain on Highway 3. On the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, (2) place a second "X" a little below Cut Bank, Montana. (3) Then go west, from that second "X" to the southern border of Glacier National Park, and include all of it to its southwestern border; place a third "X." (4) Now go north and include all of Glacier National Park to its northwest border; place a fourth "X." All that territory in the Pacific Northwest—with a thickness up to 3 miles [4.8 km] deep—is supposed to have traveled there from somewhere else!

Not only does the Lewis Overthrust include all of Glacier National Park and Chief Mountain, but what do you think is beneath it? —undisturbed shale! That is hardened clay that has never been disturbed. Shale crumbles easily when shattered or placed under grinding sideways pressure. That immense area of nearly horizontal rock is supposed to have slid sideways for a great distance over shale, without ever having disturbed it!

"The fault plane [as viewed from the Bow Valley] is nearly horizontal; and the two formations, viewed from the valley, appear to succeed one another conformably. The cretaceous shales [hardened clay beneath the Lewis overthrust] are bent sharply toward the east in a number of places; but, with this exception, have suffered little by the sliding of the limestone over them. And their comparatively undisturbed condition seems hardly compatible with the extreme faulting [horizontal sliding] which was necessary to bring them into their present position."—*J.L. Kulp, "Flood Geology," in Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, January 1950, pp. 1-15, quoting *R.G. McConnell, a Canadian geologist.

The Lewis overthrust should have pushed a great mass of broken rock (rubble or breccia) along in front of it and on its sides as it traveled sideways overland. But it did not do this. That, in itself, is a proof that the Lewis overthrust did not move sideways!

Commenting on the fact that there is an "absence of rubble or breccia" pushed up by the Lewis fault when it supposedly slid sideways for miles, *Ross and *Rezak, two experienced geologists, then express their own doubts:

"Such a slab moving over ground, as is now believed to have existed, should have scarred and broken the hills and have itself been broken to a greater or less extent, depending on local conditions. No evidence of either of these things has been found."—*C.P. Ross and *Richard Rezak, "Flood Geology," in Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, January 1950, p. 424.

A University of California scientist personally examined the point of contact where the Lewis fault rests on the rock beneath it, and made the following statement:

"At the actual contact line, very thin layers of shale were always present . . A thin band of soft shale sticks to the upper block of Altyn limestone. This seems to clearly indicate that, just before the Altyn limestone was deposited . . a thin wafer-like one-eighth to one-sixteenth inch layer of shale was deposited . . Careful study of the various locations showed no evidence of any grinding or sliding action or slicken sides such as one would expect to find on the hypothesis of a vast overthrust.

"Another amazing fact was the occurrence of two four-inch layers of Altyn limestone intercalated with [inserted between] Cretaceous shale . . Furthermore these were cemented both to the upper Altyn limestone and shale. Likewise careful study of these intercalations showed not the slightest evidence of abrasive action such as one would expect to find if these were shoved forward in between layers of shale as the overthrust theory demands."—Walter E. Lammerts, personal letter, dated November 27, 1957, to H.M. Morris, quoted in J.C. Whitcomb and H.M. Morris, The Genesis Flood (1961), pp. 189-191.

Fantastically large frictional forces would have to be overcome in sliding these mountainous masses of rock horizontally. No one has figured out how it could have been done. It is far beyond the laws of physics. But, undaunted, some evolutionists said it could happen if its undersurface were wet! One scientist (*Terzaghi) did some testing and found that water would actually increase frictional drag, not lessen it.

"The thickness of the Lewis Overthrust—the six layers of rock which are supposed to have slid sideways over "younger" strata—is surprising.

"This strata mix-up was first identified by Willis in 1901, who named it the Lewis Overthrust. Let us now consider the over-riding rock strata which forms the supposed thrust sheet. Starting at the bottom of the belt strata, the Altyn Limestone has an average thickness of 2,300 feet [701 m]. The Appekunny above it is 3,000 feet [914 m] thick. This continues on up until the rock column reaches a minimum height of three miles. These over-riding rocks form what is called the `Belt Series.' "—John W. Read, Fossils, Strata, and Evolution (1979), p. 30.

The Lewis Overthrust is 135 miles [217.25 km] long, and its maximum thickness is 3 miles [4.8 km]!

From top to bottom, this is what we find in the "belt strata" of the Lewis Overthrust, as viewed in Glacier National Park:

Kintla Argillite—This is found on some mountaintops.

Shepard Limestone—This limestone is 600 feet [183 m] in thickness.

Siyeh Limestone—This second layer of limestone is nearly a mile [1.6 km] thick, generally over 4,000 feet [1,219 m] from top to bottom!

Grinnell Argillite—Argil is a type of clay, and argillite is a fragile shale. This strata is over half-a-mile thick, 3,000 feet [914 m].

Appekunny Argillite—This second layer of shale is over 3,000 feet [914 m].

Altyn Limestone—Limestone is composed primarily of calcium carbonate and is not as strong as many other rocks. This layer averages nearly half-a-mile in thickness, 2,300 feet [701 m].

We have provided you with a detailed description of the Lewis Overthrust, in order to demonstrate the impossibility of the overthrust theory. But there are many other overthrusts elsewhere in the world. If the overthrust theory is incorrect—then the entire concept of the "geological column" is wrong,—and the rock strata, with their enclosed fossils, were NOT laid down over a period of long ages!

THE MATTERHORN

This theory requires that the gigantic Matterhorn mountain pushed itself sideways 30 to 60 miles.

Everyone has seen photographs of the triangular shaped Matterhorn. It lies in the Pennine Alps, on the border between Valais, Switzerland, and the Piedmont region of Italy. Located 40 miles [64.4 km] east of Mount Blanc, the Matterhorn is one of most spectacular mountains in the world. It looks like a gigantic, steeply pointed pyramid, and is 14,685 feet [4,476 m] in height.

Did you know that all of the Matterhorn—from bottom to top—is a gigantic overthrust! Evolutionary geologists tell us that the entire mountain moved there—horizontally—from many miles away!

It takes mountain moving to bolster up the flimsy theory of evolution.

The Matterhorn is supposed to have pushed its way sideways from some 30 to 60 miles [48.2-96.6 km] away. Traveling overland those long distances (probably stopping once in awhile to catch its breath), it successfully arrived without leaving any evidence of the grinding crunch it ought to have left in its wake. Yet the Matterhorn is only one of a number of Swiss mountains that are out of the standard geological order. They all had to be muscled into position from leagues away.

THE APPALACHIANS

The massive Appalachian Range is supposed to have jumped out of the ocean!

As with many mountain ranges, geologists always thought that the Appalachians (which includes most of the mountains in Eastern America) were upthrust mountains—pushed up from below. But then they made a shocking discovery: Underneath it all is some supposedly "younger" strata. Well, there is only one answer to that:

"The Appalachians, which run from Newfoundland to Alabama, were probably formed not by upward thrusting, as previously believed, but by a thick conglomerate of oceanic and continental rock that was shoved horizontally at least 250 kilometers [155.3 mi] over existing sediments . .

"Beneath that jumble [of the Appalachians] . . lies a younger, flat, 1-5 km [.62-3.1 mi] thick layer of sediments that `no one thought existed.' The unbroken, wide extent of the layer . . and its similarity to sediments found on the East Coast indicates that the mountains `could not have been pushed up.' "—*Science News, 1979.

A small, but excellent 64-page booklet, that is filled with pictures and diagrams that focus on the "mixed-up strata" problem is Fossils, Strata, and Evolution (1979), by John G. Read.

Walter Lammerts spent years collecting geological articles dealing with the problem of overthrusts. He has published eight lists, documenting 198 wrong-order formations in the United States alone. (W.E. Lammerts, "Recorded Instances of Wrong-Order Formations or Presumed Overthrusts in the United States: Part 1-8," Creation Research Society Quarterly, eight issues between September 1984 and June 1987.)

THE MYTHEN

Another massive mountain in the Swiss Alps is the Mythen Peak. This one is really a marathon runner. The Mythen ran all the way from Africa into Switzerland!

—It probably got wet as it went through the Mediterranean Sea! In this mountain you will find the Eocene strata (55 million years old) lying under Triassic (225 million), Jurassic (180 million), and Cretaceous (130 million) strata. According to the theory, the Eocene is supposed to be on top of the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic,—but instead it is under all three!

CONCLUSION

When will the evolutionists admit their geology theories are ridiculous?

Common sense disproves the evolutionary theory of overthrusts (sideways movements of immense rock masses from miles away), but three researchers decided in 1980 to check it out scientifically. They disproved the entire overthrust theory, as they showed that —would produce so many fractures in the overthrust rock as to entirely crumble it! Such abnormally high pressure would be impossible. Here is how they described the problem in scientific language:

"If we assume that rocks have no tensile strength . . then when the pore fluid pressure exceeds the least compressive stress, fractures will form normal to that stress direction. These fractures limit pore pressure . . We suggest that pore pressure may never get high enough to allow gravity gliding . .; the rocks might fail in vertical hydrofracture first."—*J.H. Willemin, *P.L. Guth, and *K.V. Hodges, "High Fluid Pressure, Isothermal Surfaces for appreciable distances."—*Philip B. King, "The Anatomy and Habitat of Low-Angle Thrust Faults," in American Journal of Science, Vol. 258-A, 1960, p. 115.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

To the next topic in this series:

FOSSILS AND ROCKS: CIRCULAR REASONING: According to the evolutionists, each is dated by the other!