Noah's Arc..Biblical legend or scientific reality?

by Blog Administrator

{The photo above is a half scale replica of Noah's Arc built in the Netherlands by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The Ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Photos and captions courtesy of various news and information sources -Ed.}

The bible indicates that a great flood was initiated by God because the earth was filled with violence and blood. (Gen 6)

There are historical accounts of a great cataclysmic flood in many cultures admitted by secular historians. The legend of Gilgamesh describes the great flood as recorded in Indian folklore. Although secular historians discount the flood as nothing more than a myth perpetuated in folklore, there is much physical evidence apart from the bible that affirms the great flood.

40 days and 40 nights: The biblical account maintains that the great flood was initiated by rain for 40 days and 40 nights and that the fountains of the deep were opened. The rain would have been driven by the fountains of the deep erupting into the atmosphere from a cataclysmic event such as an earthquake. A Mid-ocean ridge traversing the earth like the seams of a baseball suggests that a fault in the earth's crust released this pressurized water.

The earth's tilt and/or wobble was likely altered from the huge mass of water now accumulating on the earth's surface, resulting in dramatic climate change after the flood.

Photo: Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opened In SCHAGEN, Netherlands

The resulting flood depth may be estimated by a simple calculation. The total known water on earth is 1.4 billion cubic kilometers or 4.592E18 ft³ (cubic feet) of water. The earth's surface area can be estimated from 4/3 Pi(r)2, where r= earth's radius.

Then 4/3 * (3.14) * (2.089E07 ft)²= 1.827 E15 ft² (Sq. Feet). The maximum flood water height attainable is then: 4.592E18 ft3/1.827 E15 ft2 = 2513 ft. So the water depth during the flood could not exceed 2513 ft and must be near the maximum depth after 150 days by the Genesis account. The height of the pre-flood mountains was therefore 2500 ft or less.

The earth before the flood was not 75% water as it is today. The bible only mentions one sea in which the four rivers leaving the garden of Eden, emptied, i.e. Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. The release of water from the fountains of the deep would create massive change in the earth's surface, pushing up huge uplifts and creating vast sea trenches. The Isthmus of Panama is evidence of tectonic plate shift created by flood post trauma in which billions of tons of water were released under pressure.

"Contrary to previous evidence..the Isthmus of Panama was most likely formed by a Central American Peninsula colliding slowly with the South American continent through tectonic plate movement [during and after a great flood].. The canal's maintenance also exposes sediment layers and marine animal fossils, as well as strata of rocks and clay specific to numerous environments, including lagoon, delta, swamp, woodland and dry tropical forest." This is the expected progression of the land as the great floodwaters continued to abate. So the higher mountains that we observe today would have been created during and after the great flood.

Preflood seawater composition was very different, only mildly salty compared to 35,000 ppm salinity today. The evolutionary account of origin also makes a similar claim for mild salinity in the early oceans: "In the beginning the primeval seas must have been only slightly salty. But ever since the first rains descended upon the young Earth ~~hundreds of millions of years ago~~ [or thousands of years ago as in a great flood] and ran over the land breaking up rocks and transporting their minerals to the seas, the ocean has become saltier." - Herbert Swenson, US Geological Survey Publication. So how did the seas get so salty?

Given the huge underground caverns of salt and other mineral deposits throughout the earth, water released from beneath the crust, i.e. from the fountains of the deep, would have passed through many of these beds on its way to the surface leaching out minerals. Salt and other dissolvable solids would be picked up by the floodwaters and transported to the newly created seas. It likely took centuries for the salt levels to attain their present day levels as opposed to evolutionists' claim of 'millions of years'. Periodic melting of the polar icecaps causes certain regions of the oceans to be less salty.

The materials contained in seawater are consistent with known mineral deposits across the globe and provides good support for the bible's account.

The flood not only accounts for the origin of the oceans but also of the rich petroleum deposits we find today. Oil is formed from the remains of tiny plants and animals (plankton) that died in ancient seas ~~between 10 million and 600 million years ago~~ during a great flood. After the organisms died, they sank into the sand and mud at the bottom of the sea. Bacteria acting in the underground caverns where dead animals and plants were trapped after the floodwaters had abated, produced vast quantities of crude oil.

Seawater also contains the two most important gases for sustaining life, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Availability of Food after the flood:

Evolutionists have claimed that there would have been no food available after the flood because of the salt water. It should be noted that saltwater isn't always detrimental to plant growth, plants exhibit some tolerance depending on the degree of salinity. Belgium suffered salt water flooding of many of their crop fields during the 2^nd world war but were still able to grow: "Seawater flooding in Belgium produces bumper Crop"

Supplies may have been low immediately after disembarking from the ark but seaweed (kelp) would have been abundant. It's rich in Iodine, so it could have been eaten by both man (as it is in Japan) and beasts, a boost to the immune system. Especially helpful in lieu of disease from contact with human and animal waste in the arc and being near dead creatures immediately upon leaving the arc.

The bible says: "Make thee an Arc of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark; and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch..The length of the arc shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits." - - Gen 6:v14-15

Photo: A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been

Ark construction and feasibility

The Ark was most likely space frame or Semi-monocoque (hybrid) design rather than rib and keel construction. This eliminates the hogging associated with ships like the USS Constitution not to mention the logistic problems of a 300 cubit (600') keel.

No one knows what gopher wood is today. Several ideas have been put forth suggesting that it might be some form of laminated construction material or simply pitch saturated wood. If the latter, then why state the double requirement for pitch "within and without"? Would not the term 'gopher' itself convey that meaning? And, if it's a laminate, then why isn't it stated as to how the layers are to be developed as God did when telling Moses on the mount to take care to make all the things He commanded according to the patterns given?

The fact that gopher wood is not mentioned anywhere else in the flood account implies that it was a wood well known to the inhabitants of the time. It may be just another term for a common tree variety today that fell out of usage after most perished in the flood. Brazilian Ipe {eepay} is a wood known by many different names, some of which are 'Amapa', 'Greenheart', Tahuari'... etc. The unique 'gopher' designation could describe a variety of wood species just as the term 'Santos Mahogany' does.

"Santos Mahogany is grown in countries all the way from Mexico to Argentina... This rich species of Mahogany is deep reddish-brown to orange-brown in color in its heartwood. It is tougher and stronger than typical Genuine Mahogany, and it wears incredibly well over time. "

If the Arc's dimensions can be taken literally then why not the type of wood? Gopher, like 'Santos Mahogany', could have grown only in the area where the ark was built. Destroy the habitat and you destroy the species. Extinction is not unknown in our own time. The available supply of Gopher wood may have been destroyed either by the force of the flood, a higher salt-water concentration or simply an over abundance of water from the ensuing deluge.

The term 'gopher' does not necessarily infer a stronger wood than other species but perhaps it simply offered superior decay resistance like Ipe. Ipe resists insects, moisture and rot, highly desirable characteristics for a construction material during the 100 year long building of the Arc. Gopher may have been a wood better suited to marine use, just as one selects maple for building furniture, rather than cottonwood or elm. Many kinds of wood today are capable of satisfying the structural loading requirements of the Arc such as Hickory, Teak, and White oak.

The Arc and its frame would have been constructed with trunnels or dowel pins made with a hardwood like locust. Although Brazilian Ipe and Locust woods are difficult to work by hand, they make excellent fasteners because of their shear resistance 2060 psi and 1760 psi respectively. All wood in and outside the Arc would have been coated with a pitch sealant.

Pitch: a dark oily liquid obtained by distillation of coal tar, used as a preservative for wood. Pitch contains some 150 different compounds, creosote is one used to preserve wood such as rail ties. Noah's pitch likely didn't depend on distillation. "There are examples of stave churches that have been preserved with pine tar for nearly a thousand years.."

Photo: Deck not quite ready in time for the opening...

Arc construction began in May of 2005.

Huibers did most of the work himself with his own hands, of course, using modern tools and with some occasional help from his son Roy.

The bible indicates that there were 3 decks. The door or gangway would have been located at the 2nd deck elevation, whether in the side or in one of the ends, is still a matter under consideration. An earthen or wooden ramp would have had to be built by Noah and his family for the animals to board.

In the real Arc, ramps would have guided the animals to the upper or lower decks. Noah, his family and smaller animals and birds were likely on the top deck where the Arc's windows provided light.

Rainwater could have been collected during the 40 days rain depending on how the Arc's windows were fashioned. The food supply could be augmented by fishing from an Arc window at either or both ends of the ship.

The Coelacanth (see-la-kanth) fish "..astonished ichtyologists..[who] had been convinced that the last coelacanths were found only off eastern Africa, mainly in the Commoros archipelago. They had been thought to have died out around the time dinosaurs became extinct {70 million years ago -Ed.}, until one was found there in 1938. "

Photo: The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark opened for the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder.

In Noah's full size Arc, there would be room for some 35,000 species in small cages not including those that could survive in the sea.

Animals taken aboard the ark would have likely been very young, despite the obvious accommodation benefit, they would have longer lives in which to reproduce and replenish the earth. Small animals and reptiles would not grow dramatically in one year on the arc and reptiles are known to go long periods without food. In the dark holds of the ship, the animals would have spent most of their time sleeping.

The vertebrates would require approximately 146 railroad cars to house at the smallest 18" cubit dimension and the ark could contain some 500-railroad cars at the smallest dimension of the cubit.

There would be adequate storage space for food and water for each creature.

Photo Rampway similar to what would have been used to guide animals above or below the main deck.

It's calculated that the real Arc drew between 19 to 24 feet of waterline with its cargo and "..all manner of food" and water.

The first deck would have been completely submerged.

Dinosaurs & Man: (Job 40, v15-23 and Job 41, v15-21 ): "..in 1856, French workers were digging a railway tunnel when something monstrous stumbled towards them, emerging from a large boulder from the Jurassic period, that they had just split open... it was examined by a palaeontologist, and identified as a Pterodactyl.."

Evolutionists claim that man experienced a brush with extinction in the past, which supports the role Noah and his sons had in repopulating the earth.

'Human line 'nearly split in two': "The Genographic Project's findings are also consistent with the idea - held for some years now - that modern humans had a close brush with extinction in the evolutionary past [Or from a great flood!]. The number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 [or just Noah & his family!] before numbers began to expand again in the Late Stone Age. "

Photo: Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.

Skin color after the flood: (Acts 8:v27) If Adam and Eve were Middle Eastern in complexion, all the variations of man from Caucasian to Negroid could have been passed along to the generations from this genetic trait through Noah. The people of like coloration would have tended to separate into like bands or tribes. Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin.. "In fact, several scientists said..new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome -- the complete instructions for making a human being."

Pigmentation Gene - SLC24A5: The anthropology of race and the discovery of a skin color gene, SLC24A5 ".. researchers then looked at two different human populations in which people with European and African ancestors had mixed relatively recently - African-Americans and African-Caribbeans. They found that, on average, people with two copies of the European version of the gene had the lightest skin. People with two copies of the non-European version of the gene had darker skin, and people with one copy of each version of the gene had skin color somewhere in between. "

Further Evidence of the great flood: Trees petrified in the aftermath of the flood: CONCLUSION.." The evidence presented here provides a basis for additional detailed research that could be done. Such research would be beneficial for our understanding of these unique fossil deposits. Offhand, the in situ model would appear to be the simplest and most natural explanation, but closer examination uncovers features that are difficult to explain for trees in growth position. A transport model involving the flotation of trees and organic debris in a body of water, as illustrated in Spirit Lake, gives a better fit to the data as observed in the Yellowstone Petrified Forests. We propose that the Yellowstone Petrified Forests provide an example of catastrophic deposition" as in the onset of a great flood.

"Now that I am old and Gray...give me the time to tell This new generation (and their children too) About all your mighty miracles." (Psalm 71:18 ) The bible says what it means and it means what it says.

Attachments:

Noah's Arc Wind Effects.doc (329KB)