Claim CG010:
The oldest living thing (a bristlecone pine) is younger than 4,900 years,
supporting a recent date for a worldwide cataclysm.
Source:
Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR: Master
Books, p. 193.
Response:
- The age of the oldest living thing does not indicate dates of events
happening before it. It merely shows that no global cataclysm happened
less than 4900 years ago.
- Tree rings give an unbroken record back more than 11,000 years (Becker
and Kromer 1993; Becker et al. 1991; Stuiver et al. 1986). A
worldwide cataclysm during that time would have broken the tree ring
record.
- The King Clone creosote bush in the Mojave Desert is 11,700 years old.
Links:
Matson, Dave E., 1994. How good are those young-earth arguments? A close
look at Dr. Hovind's list of young-earth arguments and other claims.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-yea2.html#proof27
References:
- Becker, B. and B. Kromer, 1993. The continental tree-ring record --
absolute chronology, 14C calibration and climatic change
at 11 ka. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 103
(1-2):
67-71.
- Becker, B., B. Kromer and P. Trimborn, 1991. A stable-isotope
tree-ring timescale of the late glacial Holocene boundary. Nature
353: 647-649.
- Stuiver, Minze et al., 1986. Radiocarbon age calibration back to 13,300
years BP and the 14C age matching of the German oak and US
bristlecone pine chronologies. Radiocarbon 28(2B): 969-979.
created 2003-5-8
