Polystrate Fossils:
Evidence for the Flood
By Clint Bishard
Jesus Created Ministries
What
are Polystrate Fossils? They are fossils that cross two or more sedimentary
layers (strata). Petrified trees are good examples of polystrate fossils (like
the one shown in the figure).
Polystrate fossils provide great
evidence for the geologic column being laid down as the result of catastrophic
processes and fit very well with the creation model of science. However, the
evolutionary based uniformitarian model believes that the layers in the
geologic column were laid down slowly over long periods of time with even
millions of years of time passing between each sedimentary layer.
How could these trees have been
fossilized if it took millions of years for each strata to form as evolutionary
timeframes dictate? Impossible! The trees would have rotted away long
before the next layer came. Yet, these polystrate fossils are found on every
continent all over the world. Some eroding mountainsides have exposed hundreds
of these together covering large numbers of strata which clearly had to be
buried in one geological event. Most all of these trees exhibit the
abrupt breaking of their root systems.
The answer to this geologic puzzle
is found in the Scriptures. The Bible clearly describes a year long
catastrophic event that ripped up the foundations of the earth and flooded the
entire world with water. This event is known as Noah’s flood and can be found
in Genesis.
Noah’s flood stands as a testimony
of God’s judgment on man’s sin and it serves as a warning to us. The Bible
also teaches that the world will one day be judged again by fire (2 Peter
3:3-7). Would you be ready if this happened today?
* Figure from In The
Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, 6th
Edition, pg. 9; Dr. Walt Brown
