Creation Research Database

Numerical Modeling of the Large-Scale Erosion, Sediment Transport, and Deposition Processes of the Genesis Flood (Revised)

Baumgardner, John R. (2018) Numerical Modeling of the Large-Scale Erosion, Sediment Transport, and Deposition Processes of the Genesis Flood (Revised). Answers Research Journal, 11: 9. pp. 149-170. ISSN 1937-9056

Abstract

This paper describes a numerical model for investigating the large-scale erosion, transport, and sedimentation processes associated with the Genesis Flood. The model assumes that the dominant means for sediment transport during the Flood was by rapidly flowing turbulent water. Water motion is driven by large-amplitude tsunamis that are generated along subduction zone segments as the subducting plate and overriding plate, in a cyclic manner, lock and then suddenly release and slip rapidly past one another. While the two adjacent plates are locked, the sea bottom is dragged downward by the steadily sinking lithospheric slab beneath. When the plates unlock, the sea bottom rapidly rebounds, generating a large-amplitude tsunami. Theory for open-channel turbulent flow is applied to model the suspension, transport, and deposition of sediment. Cavitation is assumed to be the dominant erosional mechanism responsible for degradation of bedrock as well as for erosion of already deposited sediment. The model treats the water on the surface of the rotating earth in terms of a single vertical layer but with variable bottom height. Illustrative calculations show that with plausible parameter choices average erosion and sedimentation rates on the order of 9 m/day (0.38 m/hr) occur, sufficient within a 150-day interval during the Flood to account for some 70% of the Phanerozoic sediments that blanket the earth's continental surfaces today.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science (General) > QS Creation Science (General) > QS7 The Genesis Flood
Q Science (General) > QE Geology > QE101 Flood Geology. Catastrophism
G Geography and Anthropology > GB Physical Geography > GB400 Geomorphology
Depositing User: Admin
Date Deposited: 04 Sep 2026 23:44
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2026 23:44
URI: https://crsq.creationresearch.org/id/eprint/1710

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