Claim CE020:
The observed rate of cosmic dust influx should have produced a layer 182
feet thick over the entire surface of the earth if the earth were 5
billion years old. The distinctive nickel and iron content of the dust
should make it easy to detect.
Source:
Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR: Master
Books, pp. 151-152.
Response:
- The observed rates used in Morris's calculation are based on dust
collected in the atmosphere; this measurement was contaminated by dust
from the earth. More recent measurements of cosmic dust influx
measured from satellites give an influx rate about 1 percent as large,
corresponding to a layer 66 cm thick at most over 4.5 billion years
(Kyte and Wasson 1986). An even more recent study of iridium and
platinum in a Greenland ice core yields an estimate of only about 14
kilotons per year of meteoric dust during the Holocene, compared with
the figure of 14 million tons per year that Morris used (Gabrielli
et al. 2004).
Links:
Thompson, Tim, 1996. Meteorite dust and the age of the earth.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/moon-dust.html
References:
- Gabrielli, P. et al. 2004. Meteoric smoke fallout over the Holocene
epoch revealed by iridium and platinum in Greenland ice. Nature
432:
1011-1014.
- Kyte, F. T. and J. T. Wasson. 1986. Accretion rate of extraterrestrial
matter: Iridium deposited 33 to 67 million years ago. Science 232:
1225-1229.
created 2001-2-18, modified 2005-2-12
