When geophysicists discovered a huge water reservoir deep below the earth’s surface, Christian scientists said the finding could be an affirmation of the Biblical verse that talks about the Great Flood.
In mid-June, researchers Brandon Schmandt and Steve Jacobsen from the University of New Mexico and Northwestern University respectively found deep pockets of magma situated 400 miles below North America, a finding that suggests there is water present at these depths.
“Geological processes on the Earth’s surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight… I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades,” said Jacobsen.
If the scientists’ estimates are accurate, the amount of water underneath the earth’s surface would surpass the amount of water on top of it.
“If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans,” says the statement released by both researchers.
After the discovery was published in the journal Science, Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research, said, “According to Genesis 7:11, the ‘fountains of the great deep were broken during the Great Flood, leading some Christians to believe that the underground ocean discovery sheds light on the biblical account. These findings could potentially be related to the scriptural reference.”
“It is of course possible that water found below Earth’s crust could be what remains from the waters ‘of the great deep’ that burst as fountains to Earth’s surface to initiate Noah’s year-long Flood according to Genesis 7:11… I would not refer to this news as a ‘significant verification’ of the Genesis Flood since some may suggest other explanations for the water, but it is consistent with Scripture’s general reference to waters deep beneath the earth,” Thomas added, suggesting the very existence of water on earth poses a problem for secular scientists.
“Secularists faced a tough enough challenge in trying to explain how Earth’s ocean waters came from rock. They imagine hydrated minerals from space rocks collided to form Earth. But the heat from those collisions would have pushed out the water. Now they have to explain this newly discovered deep water, too,” Thomas explained.
According to Thomas, the Biblical account is ever more consistent with this scientific finding, since the Bible itself states God made the world as a watery sphere.
“Unlike secular thinkers, biblical scientists do not arbitrarily discount miracles, being open to the possibility that God built Earth with water like He said,” he concluded.
