How do fossils provide evidence about Evolution?

Answer 1

Rocks Contain Evidence of a Worldwide Deluge

Rocks contain important evidence about the origin of the earth. Geologists classify rocks into three basic types based upon the processes by which the rocks are formed. The first type isigneous rock, which is formed from magma. If magma reaches the earth's surface, it changes into the lava that spills from volcanoes. Once the rocks hit the surface, they are subject to environmental factors such as wind, rain, and even catastrophic events (like a worldwide Flood).

These factors will cause rock to fracture into small pieces that become cemented together. Cement is made up of chemicals that, when mixed with water, harden in a short period of time. Rocks are made up of small fractures or sediments are classified as sedimentary. The third type of rock is metamorphic-rock that has changed dramatically into a new chemical composition. For instance, limestone changes into marble when placed under tremendous heat and pressure.

A set of basic questions arises when one considers the processes required to form these three kinds of rock. The answers offered by the evolutionary model leave gaping holes in the search for intelligent conclusions. The catastrophic worldwide Flood model offers a more rational, coherent framework for answering these basic questions.

1. How do the sedimentary rocks get hard?

Sedimentary rock needs water for cementing the tiny particles of sediments together. Where did the water come from? Evolutionists resolve this dilemma by waving the magic wand of "time." They insist that the sediments are washed into rivers, lakes, and oceans, and then fall to the bottom and pile up in layers. After many years, these sediments harden in layers, with those on the bottom hardening first. The problem with this theory is that there are beds of sedimentary rock everywhere on top of the earth's crust. Most of the large mountain chains are made of sedimentary rocks. How did all those sediments collect and become cemented together to make towering mountains? The logical answer is a worldwide Flood.

2. Is there an alternative to time as the mechanism of rock formation?

Yes! Rock formation can be explained by means of two processes, compaction and cementation that could have occurred within one year after the waters of the Flood began to subside.

Global Floodwater would have collected a huge amount of sediment. When the Floodwater came to rest, the sediment would have begun to fall out. At the beginning, before the water started to evaporate, there would have been a great deal of pressure on the bottom layers. This would cause compaction. Creation Geologist John Morris explains this as a pancake effect.

"When a pancake layer of sediments is covered with other pancakes, the sand grains are pushed closer together; squeezing the water out. Compaction is the first step in turning sediment into a sedimentary rock, but not the only step." John Morris, The Geology Book,(Master Books, Green Forrest,AR.2000) p36.

The second step is cementation. The glue that hardens the rock is generated by the warm water and minerals produced by the effects of the Flood. It does not take a long time for the rock to harden into layers. The layers that are observed are actually strata of sediments called, as John Morris put it, "pancakes."

This process need not take a long time. Remember, making sedimentary rocks is like preparing cement. To make cement you need to have the proper ingredients and the right conditions. The waters would have been warm and deep at one time, giving the added energy needed for compaction. The worldwide Flood model provides the massive amount of water and sediment that would be needed to build the thick pancake layering for the mountains present today. It makes for a more intelligent alternative.

3. What supplied the massive pressure and heat needed to make metamorphic rocks?

The heat and pressure required to make the vast amount of metamorphic rock in the earth's crust is not today available. The source of energy to do that has to be tremendous and is not presently observed anywhere on earth. A catastrophic Flood that is spoken of in Genesis 6-9 could produce the forces needed to create metamorphic rock on the scale observed today.

4. Why are fossils found in abundance on every continent?

Fossils are traces of plant and animal life that existed in the past and are found only in sedimentary rocks. Creationists believe that fossils were deposited during the global Flood, an obvious source of the water needed for both compaction and cementation. Fossils number in the trillions and suggest a swift catastrophic event that buried them before any decay or decomposition occurred. Rocks at one time had to be soft or have a liquid to flow over them and bury them. Castings of thousands of fish have been found in sedimentary layers. If these fish had lain on the ground exposed to the elements they would have disintegrated rapidly. Fish bones and scales do not harden…they scatter. Yet there are fossilized castings that show bone, and even scale, as if somebody took a picture and embedded it in the rocks. Fish fossils, for example, are common in the Green River Shales in Wyoming. One would have to conclude that these fossils, as observed today had to be the result of a catastrophic event that would cause rapid burial. The fossil evidence points to a worldwide Flood.

Answer 2

Answer:

Evolution is the change in allele frequency over time in a population of organisms. For a simple look at this consider the bones of, say, elephant ancestors and see that change, genetic change leading to morphological change, took place. Examples like this abound in the fossil record.

Fossils show a number of things:

• The most obvious thing is that they show that there were different lifeforms in the past, that do not exist now.
• They also show a number of diverging progressions of traits: a basal form living somewhere in the far past, and then through time, a number of slightly altered forms existing, diverging from their basal form and from one another.
• In some cases, they show how these diverging forms approach modern forms in morphology.
• They show that these primitive forms adhere to the same nested hierarchies as the forms that exist today.

Answer 3

Fossils are a doorway to the past. They show us what was, and by tracing through the layers in which they are preserved and looking at the various types, we can follow changes in the characteristics of life through time. That's evolution, and the fossil record provides stunning support for the "connectedness" of life across the past millennia.

The tree of life, that brilliant idea given to us by Darwin, suggests that life today is based on life in the past. Nothing could be more correct. Life existed long ago, and it changed -- evolved -- over time to give us the lifeforms we see today. For many millions of years, the fossil record provides page after page of the history of life here and of the changes it underwent to get to where it is today.

Those who disagree with the ideas associated with fossils and evolution are those who apply a broad suspension of logic and critical thinking to what is right in front of them. These individuals, the ones who doubt evolution and the things the fossil record says in support of it, hold a minority opinion, and the block that is science stands opposite them.

Answer 4

Fossils are like the clues the police use to solve a crime.

Each one tells a story. Like clues to a crime, where the police don't have to find a print of every footstep taken by a subject or confirm every thing that he did, the clues paint a logical outline of all the events around the crime.

Like clues in a crime the police do not initially identify a person they want to pin the crime on and then seek to tie him to the event - they find a number of clues which identify potential subjects of interest. They then attempt to prove the relation of these suspects to the crime until the trail of evidence is strong and dependable. Usually multiple facts on the same evidence are considered - for a crime it might be fingerprints and video tape and eye witnesses, for fossils it could be carbon 14 and dendronchronology and geologic strata.

Answer 5

Fossil evidence basically shows that many organisms have evolved.

Answer 6

By looking at fossil bones and studying their common ancestors.

Answer 7

they show that ancient species share similarities with spies now on earth

Answer 8

Fossil evidence shows how organisms and species have evolved over time. They are the ancient remains of plants and animals that are imprinted on rocks or sediments.