Geological Events and Theories after the Flood

Noah's Ark came to rest on a mountain range in an area now called Turkey. Humans and animals migrated to other continents like Australia and North America.

 "And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan." (Genesis 10:25 KJV)

"And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one [was] Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name [was] Joktan." (1 Chronicles 1:19 KJV)

In the Hebrew language the word 'Peleg ' means a dividing by a "small channel of water" and is root associated with the meaning of earthquake. The Hebrew word used as 'divided ' in the passage means to "split" something. According to the genealogy (Genesis 11:10-17) Peleg was born 101 years after the flood. Peleg was so named because of an event of significance to the people living at the time of his birth.

A plausible interpretation would be that it describes an earth-splitting event such as a valley opening in the ground and filling with water. That could have happened anywhere along the Dead Sea Rift and may have been associated with a delayed adjustment of the earth's plates in response to the rapid subsidence of the sea floors by the flood.  When the weight of the waters of the flood forced the sea floors downward a strain would have developed between the oceanic and continental portions of the crustal plates and tectonic pressures were redistributed. 100 years later the strain redistribution may have caused the earth's crust to rapidly break in weaker places, An abrupt change in sea levels could possibly accompany such an event.

From tectonic maps, a possible location of this Peleg event is found in the Middle East. It is called the Afar Triangle, a geological breaking off of Saudi Arabia from Africa. This is a fracture in the continental crust and is different from deep ocean divergence zones in that a mountain range was sheared and dragged apart.

The area on the African continent running south from that fracture is the Great African Rift Valley which runs down into the middle of the African continent.Two gulfs, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, form a Y-shape at the northern end of the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez, which goes north to the Suez Canal, is the eastern gulf and is only 60-70 meters deep. The Gulf of Aqaba, in contrast, is an extension of the Red Sea rift zone, and is approximately 1800 meters deep. The rift continues north along the bottom of the Red Sea, up into the Dead Sea Rift area of Israel, up the Jordon river valley, and northward. The Peleg event is probably a local reference to a widening of that Rift near Israel.

The path of the Rift from Israel continues south for the entire length of Ethiopia. It matches the described path of the river Gihon, one of four that flowed from the garden of Eden. "And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasses the whole land of Ethiopia."(Genesis 2:13 )

It is possible that man and animals migrated to Australia and the Americas on dry land during the 100-year interval between the flood and the tectonic plate settling. Sea levels have risen since the post-flood migrations began, even after the Days of Peleg. The geology of the region between Indochina and Australia shows that the sea between the two continental masses is relatively shallow.The same is true of the Bearing Straits separating Alaska from Russia, where the waters are only about 50 feet deep between the tip of Asia and North America. In the 100 years following the flood, and before Peleg narrow land bridges may have existed between many places across the globe, which today are submerged. It is possible that sea levels following Noah's flood were lower than today, and that the levels could have increased during the tectonic adjustment of Peleg's day or afterwards. The fact that the ruins of many ancient cities in the Mediterranean Sea are found underwater today, tells us that global sea levels have increased since those cities were built.

Shortly after the Ark landed on the mountains of Ararat, the families of mankind spread across the world. At that point in time mankind all spoke a common language and the bulk of them appear to have migrated eastward. "These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread." (Genesis 9:19 KJV) "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." (Genesis 11:1-2 KJV) The land of Shinar is Babel (Babylon) and the Bible says the Lord confounded their language and scattered them across the face of the Earth.

In the Atlantic ocean, just off the New England coast, there is an underwater mountain chain, The New England Seamount chain, that stretches about 1,600 miles southeast of New England. This chain has more than 30 major peaks, all a kilometer (3,281 feet) or more below the surface. There is evidence to confirm that the tops of these seamounts were once at or above the surface of the ocean in the recent past. Deep-sea dredging of some of these seamounts brought up Eocene (37-58 mya) limestone, which is of shallow water origin. In a visit to the seamount in the research submarine Alvin, there was the first eyewitness report of dead coral (coral only grows near the surface). Rock samples were also collected which contained bits of dead algae (which only grows within 100 meters of the surface). The conclusion is that the sea level has changed drastically since the Eocene. Since gradual processes are inadequate to explain the New England Seamount observations, one conclusion is that either the sea floor sank catastrophically or that extraordinary volumes of water were added catastrophically.

The tops of the submerged New England Seamounts are at the same approximate depth as the edge of the Continental shelf, a depth of about 1000 meters worldwide. This edge is called the Continental Slope, a zone where the sea floor plunges sharply downward to the Continental Rise and the deeper abyssal plains. This slope's contour, defines the actual edges of the continents. The continental slope connects the continental shelf and the oceanic crust. It begins at the continental shelf break, or where the bottom sharply drops off into a seep slope. It usually begins at 430 feet (130 meters) depth and can be up to 20 km wide. The continental slope, which is still considered part of the continent, together with the continental shelf is called the continental margin. The continents have their closest "fit" at the 1000-meter depth, where they can be put together like a jigsaw puzzle.

80% of the canyons on the edge of the Continental Shelf can be traced back across the flat plain of the Continental Shelf, following submerged river beds, to the mouths of rivers that exist today. This shows that most of the underwater canyons are extensions of present-day rivers, and the canyons were most likely cut when the continents stood higher above sea level.

The existence of the submerged river beds across the shelf indicate that at some time in the past, the Continental Shelf was above sea level, and rivers flowed gently across those coastal plains until they reached the edge area. Near the edge zone the gently flowing rivers turned into cascading rapids and falls, the accelerated flow and sediment load further eroding the deep canyons.

This data suggests the floors of the great ocean basins sank to greater depths and that today's sea level is about 1000 meters higher today than it was before the Flood.

1. J.R. Heirtzler, et al, "A Visit to the New England Seamounts" American Scientist 65 (1977)

2. Wolfgang Schlager "The Paradox of Drowned Reefs and Carbonate Platforms" Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 92 (1981)

3. Harold L. Levin "Contemporary Physical Geology", Crustal Deformation and Global Tectonics, page 290, (1981)