Our Cave Trip & Science

Today we went in a cave on our family vacation. I was curious how different the cave was from the day it was discovered in the late 1800's. So I asked "How fast do mineral deposits form?" You know how the minerals drip and form amazing structures. So the guide tells me "Most geologists say about the thickness of a sheet of paper every 100 years. So the cave hasn't changed much."

(In the 1920's, they poured cement stairs and hand rails all the way down and back up in the cave)

On the way back up my 8 year old son noticed mineral formations taking over the cement stairs. So he asked "What's that?" Our guide explains "Now this is an interesting formation called (I forget the name). You will see how it has grown almost two inches tall on top of the stairs and is taking over the whole step."

So much for that sheet of paper every year... An inch every hundred years? So those would be 200 year years of growth on stairs with daily foot traffic from 1924?

There are so many variables involved in erosion. Grand Canyon or an underground cave, be skeptical and cautious of scientific estimations of these kinds. Compound their erroneous estimations over thousands of years and you get wild swings.

Here's a great article to consider:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/wog/cave-formations

If you are wanting even more here's a Grand Canyon page

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/cfol/ch3-grand-canyon.asp

I'm just saying, as one who believes the Bible and the timeline of the Bible, I don't believe the earth is millions of years old. Therefore, when I hear "Millions of years ago the earth was..." My red flag goes up. None of us were there, so don't tell me "The Earth Was..." You don't know, you are only guessing. Yet they talk to us about it like they know. They come up with formulas and educated guesses starting with this old age and work backwards to reach their conclusion.

Enjoy the information, but I recommend holding all old earth science and dates and times with an open hand.