REALL News - Vol 06 No 04 - 1998

Magazine Overview

This document is page 1 of a magazine issue titled "Volume 6 Issue 4" published in April/May 1998 by The REAL News. The main article, "A Visit to the Institute for Creation Research Part One" by Karen Bartelt, details a skeptical group's experience at the Institute for Creation Research (ICR).

A Visit to the Institute for Creation Research

On January 9, 1998, a group of approximately 25 skeptics, participating in a workshop sponsored by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, visited the "Museum of Creation and Earth History" run by the Institute for Creation Research in Santee, CA. The ICR staff had been informed of the visit and suggested an introductory lecture followed by a museum tour.

The lecture was delivered by geologist Dr. Steve Austin. He presented a video, also shown at the Mt. St. Helens visitor center, which detailed the St. Helens eruption with a strong emphasis on the velocities of mudflows and the volume of material deposited elsewhere. Austin's primary objective was to use the Mt. St. Helens eruption as evidence that catastrophes cause rapid, large-scale geological changes. He claimed that his observations of the eruption had converted him from an evolutionist to a believer in catastrophism and creationism. The author notes that Austin presented a "straw man" argument, implying that mainstream geologists ignore catastrophic events, a view challenged by a Ph.D. paleontologist within the group.

Austin then presented slides of the Mt. St. Helens area, showing stratified volcanic ash deposited in layers over a few hours, which he referred to as "sedimentary rock." He implied that this demonstrated how large-scale sedimentary strata, such as those found in Illinois, could be formed rapidly. When asked if he had evidence for rapid deposition of typical sedimentary rocks like limestone, sandstone, or shale, Austin could not provide any examples. The author expresses concern that less-skeptical visitors might be convinced by this presentation.

Austin also discussed mechanisms for the rapid formation of coal, referencing trees buried vertically at the bottom of Spirit Lake and suggesting coal formation was occurring there. He then referred to the petrified forests in Yellowstone Park as remnants of ancient catastrophes, though he did not explicitly link them to Noah's Flood. The article points out that the sequential burial of twenty-seven forests, as suggested by some interpretations of the Yellowstone petrified forests, was not mentioned by Austin.

Furthermore, Austin failed to explain why these Yellowstone forests, if they were models for catastrophic burial and coal formation, did not contain coal deposits. The article cites Erling Dorf's research on the petrified Yellowstone forests, which noted conglomerates, breccias, volcanic tuff, and lava beds, but no coal.

Age-Dating Agnosticism and Radiometric Dating

Despite describing himself as an "age-dating agnostic," Austin shared that he had radiometrically dated the Mt. St. Helens lava dome using potassium/argon dating, yielding an age of 350,000 years. This was presented to imply that radiometric methods are unreliable. The article outlines several potential issues with this claim:

1. Low-Potassium Samples: Austin sent young, low-potassium rocks to Geochron Laboratories, which expressed reluctance to analyze such samples. He proceeded anyway, stating in his paper that he did not disclose the origin of the samples, raising ethical questions and potentially introducing large error margins.
2. Dating Xenoliths: Austin may have dated xenoliths (pieces of solid rock within the lava) rather than the lava itself. While he claimed to have removed xenoliths, there is no proof, and he did not attempt to date them separately. The date was published in the "Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal," a creationist publication, and the article suggests a mainstream journal would have required more thorough explanations, leaving open the possibility of contamination from older rocks.
3. Expertise in Dating: The article questions Austin's expertise in radiometric dating, citing his involvement in the ICR's "Grand Canyon Dating Project." It references a 1992 ICR Impact article where Austin claimed to have found Rb/Sr ages of 1.34 billion years for Grand Canyon lavas, which Chris Stassen has debunked, explaining that these ages might represent minimum ages for the mantle source material.

Grand Canyon Erosion and Animal Tracks

Austin's final point concerned the rapid erosion of volcanic ash in the Mt. St. Helens area, which he termed the "Little Grand Canyon," suggesting it as a model for catastrophic erosion in larger areas. He proposed that large pluvial lakes once existed above the Grand Canyon and that the canyon was formed when these lakes catastrophically drained. This theory presumes that recently deposited volcanic ash has properties similar to lithified limestone, sandstone, and shale, a notion not accepted by most mainstream geologists.

As a young-earth creationist, Austin likely believes the Grand Canyon's sedimentary strata were laid down rapidly during the Great Flood. The author raises a significant challenge to this view: the presence of animal tracks within the sedimentary layers, such as dinosaur tracks in the red Kayenta formation. The author finds it inconsistent to claim that all life was obliterated by a flood, yet animal tracks exist in the flood deposits. Austin acknowledged these as animal tracks made by animals walking in mud or sand, but he did not satisfactorily explain how animals could have been active so soon after a global catastrophe.

Stuart Nevins and Pseudonyms

At the end of the presentation, a question was raised about Stuart Nevins, an author whose tracts were published in the late 1970s. Austin admitted that he had published under that pen name, leading the author to question the sincerity of his recent conversion to creationism based on Mt. St. Helens.

References

The article lists two references: S. Austin's "Excess Argon within Mineral Concentrates from the New Dacite Lava Dome at Mt. St. Helens Volcano" (Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, 1997) and E. Dorf's "The Petrified Forests of Yellowstone Park" (Scientific American, 1964).

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The article is written from a skeptical perspective, critically examining the geological arguments presented by Dr. Steve Austin of the Institute for Creation Research. The recurring themes include the debate between creationism and evolution, the interpretation of geological evidence (such as volcanic eruptions and fossilized forests), the reliability of radiometric dating, and the challenges posed by scientific evidence to young-earth creationist models. The editorial stance is clearly critical of creationist claims, highlighting perceived inconsistencies, questionable methodologies, and the use of pseudonyms.