Niagara Falls Erosion Rate Supports Young Timeline
by Owen Borville
February 19, 2019
Geology, Natural Wonders
In 1841, Charles Lyell visited Niagara Falls where the Niagara River flows over a large escarpment cliff between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the United States-Canadian border. As the Niagara River flows, this 188 foot cliff is eroded and continues to be eroded. The escarpment cliff is composed of an upper layer of limestone on top of a softer layer of shale. As the harder limestone layer breaks into pieces and falls into the river during weathering processes, the softer underlying shale layer is easily eroded. During his visit, Lyell estimated that the river has been eroding the escarpment for 35,000 years along the 7-mile gorge carved into the escarpment at a rate of about one foot per year. This date, of course, is incompatible with the Biblical 6,000 year timescale. However, later research and investigation has shown that the erosion process occurred much faster in agreement with the Biblical time scale. Today's old-earth uniformitarian scientists estimate a faster rate of erosion between 4-5 feet per year and a 7-9,000 year time frame for the Niagara erosional process. This time frame is closer to the Biblical time frame but is still too large. Creationists have countered this time frame for the Niagara Falls erosion with the idea that erosion was faster in the past and has slowed down to today's rate. While evolutionists assume a constant, uniform rate of erosion of three feet per year during the entire process, creationists postulate that erosional rates were faster in the past, particularly during the Ice Age that followed the Genesis Flood 4,500 years ago.
As these large ice sheets began to melt, large amounts of meltwater flowed downstream along with the ice sheets themselves causing much erosion to the landscape. The flow of water in the past was likely much larger than the present. In addition, the seven mile gorge where erosion has taken place is not uniform but varies in width and thickness of sediments. The harder limestone layer is thinner downstream and could have eroded faster in the past. The gorge and river is also more narrow downstream, which would increase the erosional rates. It is also known that the upper limestone layer sometimes breaks off in larger pieces instead of uniform erosion, which increases the erosional rate. Unlike the smooth crest shape of the Horseshoe Falls portion of Niagara today, the crest once had grooves or incisions which would have increased the erosional rate. Another common assumption is that the Falls carved the entire seven mile gorge. However, other processes or events could have helped carve the gorge in the past, including glacial erosion from the ice or the receding floodwaters of the Genesis Flood. All of these factors would have reduced the age of the falls to the Biblical time scale (1) (2) (3). The uniformitarian philosophy promoted by Lyell fails to consider catastrophic processes in the past and assumes that geologic processes such as erosion occur at uniform rates throughout geologic history while the creationist philosophy considers catastrophic past events and variable rates of geologic processes such as erosion in the past.
(1) William A. Hoesch, M.S. 2006. The Big Thaw. Acts & Facts. 35 (12).
(2) John D. Morris, Ph.D. 2003. Dating Niagara Falls. Acts & Facts. 32 (5).
(3) Niagara Falls and the Bible. Creation 22(4):8–13—September 2000.
by Owen Borville
February 19, 2019
Geology, Natural Wonders
In 1841, Charles Lyell visited Niagara Falls where the Niagara River flows over a large escarpment cliff between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the United States-Canadian border. As the Niagara River flows, this 188 foot cliff is eroded and continues to be eroded. The escarpment cliff is composed of an upper layer of limestone on top of a softer layer of shale. As the harder limestone layer breaks into pieces and falls into the river during weathering processes, the softer underlying shale layer is easily eroded. During his visit, Lyell estimated that the river has been eroding the escarpment for 35,000 years along the 7-mile gorge carved into the escarpment at a rate of about one foot per year. This date, of course, is incompatible with the Biblical 6,000 year timescale. However, later research and investigation has shown that the erosion process occurred much faster in agreement with the Biblical time scale. Today's old-earth uniformitarian scientists estimate a faster rate of erosion between 4-5 feet per year and a 7-9,000 year time frame for the Niagara erosional process. This time frame is closer to the Biblical time frame but is still too large. Creationists have countered this time frame for the Niagara Falls erosion with the idea that erosion was faster in the past and has slowed down to today's rate. While evolutionists assume a constant, uniform rate of erosion of three feet per year during the entire process, creationists postulate that erosional rates were faster in the past, particularly during the Ice Age that followed the Genesis Flood 4,500 years ago.
As these large ice sheets began to melt, large amounts of meltwater flowed downstream along with the ice sheets themselves causing much erosion to the landscape. The flow of water in the past was likely much larger than the present. In addition, the seven mile gorge where erosion has taken place is not uniform but varies in width and thickness of sediments. The harder limestone layer is thinner downstream and could have eroded faster in the past. The gorge and river is also more narrow downstream, which would increase the erosional rates. It is also known that the upper limestone layer sometimes breaks off in larger pieces instead of uniform erosion, which increases the erosional rate. Unlike the smooth crest shape of the Horseshoe Falls portion of Niagara today, the crest once had grooves or incisions which would have increased the erosional rate. Another common assumption is that the Falls carved the entire seven mile gorge. However, other processes or events could have helped carve the gorge in the past, including glacial erosion from the ice or the receding floodwaters of the Genesis Flood. All of these factors would have reduced the age of the falls to the Biblical time scale (1) (2) (3). The uniformitarian philosophy promoted by Lyell fails to consider catastrophic processes in the past and assumes that geologic processes such as erosion occur at uniform rates throughout geologic history while the creationist philosophy considers catastrophic past events and variable rates of geologic processes such as erosion in the past.
(1) William A. Hoesch, M.S. 2006. The Big Thaw. Acts & Facts. 35 (12).
(2) John D. Morris, Ph.D. 2003. Dating Niagara Falls. Acts & Facts. 32 (5).
(3) Niagara Falls and the Bible. Creation 22(4):8–13—September 2000.
