You said you were interested in learning of my geological expertise. You can get info about me from the internet by using the search terms: difley north horn. I have several research papers on dinosaur tracks, bones, eggshells, associated fossils, biostratigraphy & paleoenvironments; also a number of abstracts you may be able to read on line. These include the same topics above as well as about dinosaur nests & trace fossils ("worm trails"). You can get more by entering search terms: difley sindacharax.

If you want to see the full length articles not available on line I can mail those. However they are probably not the kind of papers most church people would be interested in.

I have 2 degrees in geology with emphasis on paleontology. Currently I work for a paleontological consulting firm where I look for fossils at proposed well pads & pipelines before they drill on government land. I’ve had experience working with radiocarbon dating of Pleistocene lake stratigraphy & thermoluminescence (sometimes also used as a geologic dating method).

I got into geology when I realized that there were a number of things wrong with the usual "creationist" reasoning concerning geology. For example, I saw glaring discrepancies (& even fraud) in the ark-on-Ararat stories. I noticed that every time "upside down strata" was mentioned it was in geographic locations like mountains which could be easily explained by thrust faults & overturned beds.

Also, I just had to know the truth of the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition which WCG literature indicated coincided with Lucifer’s rebellion. In Utah was a place called North Horn Mountain on which it was said the transition which marked the end of the dinosaurs could not be detected. I thought it had to be recorded by indications of upheaval if church doctrine was correct. So I went looking. It took a little while, but I found the interval (see my published papers). Dinosaur eggshells & tracks & certain algal fruiting bodies were traced upward to their end (after learning to recognize them - not as easy as it sounds).

A key to learning is not to be afraid of what you might learn.

It is possible to learn to read the rocks like reading a book. That is exactly what the creationists who set up the geologic column did in the early 1800s. They used the same principle as is used to allow the Bible to interpret itself: they worked out the order of the simple & clear parts of the geologic column, then used that standard to understand the more obscure strata. Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859 (after the geologic column was basically established). He complained through 2 chapters about how the geologic record failed to support his theory. The geologic column was in no way contrived to defend evolution as a number of creationists today have accused.

So there is a theory of evolution (Darwinian gradualism) & there is the factual geologic column which is sometimes called "evolution". This conflict in terms causes confusion. You can go out on a field trip & prove that the geologic column is true by observation. But you can't prove Darwinian gradualism. In the column, the fossils appear suddenly. Some paleontologists, seeing this pattern, devised the theory of "punctuated equilibrium".

There is much more I may write if you would like to hear from me on this topic. Just as there is a factual geologic column versus the theory of gradualism, there are facts set out by the Bible versus peoples’ interpretation of the Bible. The observable geologic record may not agree with those interpretations of the Bible; I can explain why. Also I believe that the geologic record shows God’s orderly pattern of creation not just a record of chaotic destruction. It shows physical processes which are at work today. You can see in the rocks analogs of present day environments & animal activities. I would be glad to answer any specific questions you might have on this.

Sincerely,

RD