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Sediment In The Oceans Says The Earth Is Young

How old is the earth? Billions of years or just thousands of years?

Where is all the sediment? Wind and water erode about 20 billion tons of sediment into the oceans every year. The average thickness of the sediment in the oceans is 1300 feet. That much would accumulate in just 12 million years. That's the maximum age of the earth based on ocean sediment. A few million years not billions of years.

And 12 million years is just the upper limit for the time to accumulate 1300 feet of sediment. It is based on the assumption that the erosion rate has always been the same as today. If we take Noah's flood and the sediment that would result from the flood into account, the amount of sediment we see in the oceans today is consistent with a 6,000 year age for the earth. On the other hand, if the earth is billions of years old, there should be a lot more sediment on the ocean floor. A LOT!

In addition, mountains should not exist. The continents are estimated to be 2.5 billion years old. At the current rate of erosion and uplift (landmass being added), a thickness of 93 MILES of continent would have eroded in 2.5 billion years. It has been calculated that the North American continent should have been eroded down to sea level in ten million years. So the question isn't just, "Where is all the sediment?" An even bigger question is, "Why are the continents still here?"

More Information

The Sands of Time: A Biblical Model of Deep Sea-Floor Sedimentation (ICR Paper)

Sea Salt, Erosion and Sediments (AIG / ICR)

Sea-Floor Sediment and the Age of the Earth (CMI Monograph Review)