Polystrate fossils: evidence for a young earth
Fossilized tree stumps passing through many geologic layers are commonly found in some part of our planet, hence the name polystrate fossils (poly = many; strate = layer).
It is not possible for polystrate fossils to have been slowly deposited over many thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, because the upper part of each tree would have rotted off before any deposition protected it. Polystrate fossils thus indicate rapid sedimentation and are indicative of a global flood, as reported in the Bible.
Assuming that the total thickness of UK coal deposits is about 1000 m and was formed in about 10 million years at a constant rate of deposition, it would have taken 100,000 years to deposit a 10 m high tree; this is ridiculous.
In other words, if a 10 m high tree had been emplaced in 10 years, that would mean that coal deposits 1,000 km thick would have been formed in a million years, or 10,000 km thick in 10 million years. This is just ridiculous We cannot escape the conclusion that deposition must have happened very rapid at some times, but that there must then have been great interruptions in sedimentation at other times, although one has the impression of uniform and continuous deposition. "Derek Ager, emeritus professor of geology at the University College of Swansea
Derek Ager was not a Bible believer and he despised creation scientists. And yet, despite his training, he could see that the geological evidence pointed to rapid sedimentation and emplacement.
And although the sediments look as if they were deposited evenly and continuously, he suspected that there must have been long interruptions in the deposition. Why? To support the theory that the Earth is millions of years old, despite the evidence.
Polystrate fossils provide direct evidence that the rocks formed rapidly, as would be expected from a young creation.
