"First, an Ice Age would not require colder winters. In fact, colder air works against the formation of glaciers, because Glaciers are made out of snow, and colder air cannot hold as much moisture and thus cannot precipitate as much snow. One of the coldest places on earth is Siberia, and it does not have glaciers.
The formation of the vast glaciers of the Ice Age required
1) much more snow; and
2) cooler summers, so that the glaciers would not melt back to their starting points each summer.
Although creationists have long held that the pre-Flood seas were
warmer than today’s oceans, the Flood would have heated the water even more. Genesis 7:11 states that at the beginning of the Flood, “all the fountains of the great deep burst forth,” implying that water shot into the air from cracks or fissures in the earth....that this water came from deep in the earth’s crust, it would be hot, because the crust of the earth grows about 20º to 30ºC warmer with each kilometer of depth.
Catastrophic plate tectonics theory provides an independent explanation for the heating of the oceans during the Flood. Molten magma rapidly erupted from the submarine ridges, forming new ocean floor as the continents moved apart. The ocean water must have absorbed immense heat in the process of cooling this new ocean floor basalt. We noted that a criticism of catastrophic plate tectonics theory is that the heat generated by such rapid seafloor spreading would have boiled the oceans. Clearly, the rapid seafloor spreading could easily have supplied the heat necessary to warm
the oceans.
Warmer water evaporates much more quickly than cold water. The high rate of evaporation from the warmer post-Flood oceans led to greater precipitation. (Californians are familiar with the affects of “El Niño,” ) ...the average precipitation over mid- and high-latitude continents would have been at least triple the current rate.
The second requirement for an Ice Age is much cooler summers, and these are supplied by the greater volcanic activity in the first few centuries after the Flood. The modern view of volcanic activity is that much of it is caused by plate movement. Volcanoes tend to be clustered along the margins of plates and along submarine
ridges. Most of the world’s active volcanoes are located near convergent plate boundaries where subduction is occurring, particularly around the Pacific basin.
In catastrophic plate tectonics theory, plate movement was extremely rapid during the Mesozoic and later stages of the Genesis Flood. During this time, vast quantities of new ocean floor were being formed, separating the continental plates of North and South America from those of Europe and Africa. We would expect to find evidence of hyperactive volcanism during the Flood and during the first few centuries after the Flood, and that is exactly what we find.
Elevated volcanic activity continued into the Pleistocene—the post-Flood world of the Ice Age. Worldwide studies of volcanic ash layers in deep-sea sediments show that there was heightened volcanic activity during the Pleistocene. Much of the Ice Age volcanic activity was of the explosive type that would have ejected vast quantities of ash and aerosols into the upper atmosphere.
Lyellian assumptions space these eruptions by hundreds of thousands of years, over the course of millions of years, minimizing their effect on climate. But if all of these eruptions occurred within a few hundred years, they would have had drastic effects on the world’s climate. The dust and especially the aerosols that volcanoes eject into the upper atmosphere reflect solar radiation away from the earth, lowering temperatures. The effect is the same as the “nuclear winter” scenario frequently discussed during the Cold War years.
Eventually, the factors that caused the Ice Age reversed themselves. The oceans cooled to their present temperatures, reducing evaporation and precipitation to current levels. Meanwhile, the rapid plate movements of the Flood and early post-Flood years decelerated to the present slow pace. Slowed tectonic activity reduced volcanic eruptions, which allowed the skies to clear of dust and aerosols, which in turn allowed the sun to warm up the earth. Warmer summers melted the continental glaciers back to their present locations, but the much colder oceans allowed ice caps to form at the poles."
David Read, from Dinosaurs -- An Adventist View, Ch.9
The formation of the vast glaciers of the Ice Age required
1) much more snow; and
2) cooler summers, so that the glaciers would not melt back to their starting points each summer.
Although creationists have long held that the pre-Flood seas were
Catastrophic plate tectonics theory provides an independent explanation for the heating of the oceans during the Flood. Molten magma rapidly erupted from the submarine ridges, forming new ocean floor as the continents moved apart. The ocean water must have absorbed immense heat in the process of cooling this new ocean floor basalt. We noted that a criticism of catastrophic plate tectonics theory is that the heat generated by such rapid seafloor spreading would have boiled the oceans. Clearly, the rapid seafloor spreading could easily have supplied the heat necessary to warm
Warmer water evaporates much more quickly than cold water. The high rate of evaporation from the warmer post-Flood oceans led to greater precipitation. (Californians are familiar with the affects of “El Niño,” ) ...the average precipitation over mid- and high-latitude continents would have been at least triple the current rate.
The second requirement for an Ice Age is much cooler summers, and these are supplied by the greater volcanic activity in the first few centuries after the Flood. The modern view of volcanic activity is that much of it is caused by plate movement. Volcanoes tend to be clustered along the margins of plates and along submarine
In catastrophic plate tectonics theory, plate movement was extremely rapid during the Mesozoic and later stages of the Genesis Flood. During this time, vast quantities of new ocean floor were being formed, separating the continental plates of North and South America from those of Europe and Africa. We would expect to find evidence of hyperactive volcanism during the Flood and during the first few centuries after the Flood, and that is exactly what we find.
Elevated volcanic activity continued into the Pleistocene—the post-Flood world of the Ice Age. Worldwide studies of volcanic ash layers in deep-sea sediments show that there was heightened volcanic activity during the Pleistocene. Much of the Ice Age volcanic activity was of the explosive type that would have ejected vast quantities of ash and aerosols into the upper atmosphere.
Lyellian assumptions space these eruptions by hundreds of thousands of years, over the course of millions of years, minimizing their effect on climate. But if all of these eruptions occurred within a few hundred years, they would have had drastic effects on the world’s climate. The dust and especially the aerosols that volcanoes eject into the upper atmosphere reflect solar radiation away from the earth, lowering temperatures. The effect is the same as the “nuclear winter” scenario frequently discussed during the Cold War years.
David Read, from Dinosaurs -- An Adventist View, Ch.9
