Zion National Park and related areas of southern Utah contain exposures of the largest ancient wind-blown (eolian) dune system known in North America, preserved in the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. Despite the common lack of absolute age constraints, ancient desert sand seas (ergs) and their erg margins can record valuable paleoclimatic proxies in the sedimentary record. The central erg portion of...

The chronology of the geologic timescale’s stratigraphic units has been defi ned by a variety of methods. Over the decades many have waxed and waned in popularity, but at present the most important ones are: (1) radiometric dating, (2) astronomical “tuning,” (3) magnetostratigraphy, and (4) biostratigraphy. Each of these methods assumes deep time and uniformitarianism rather than demonstrating ...

BACKGROUND: For too many years the practice of systematics has been impeded by profound disagreements about the very foundations of this discipline, that is to say the type of information that should or should not be incorporated into a proper classification of life. Two main schools of systematics, both recognizing evolution, oppose each other: cladism states that the classification should onl...

Scientific creation battles the worldview of naturalism at the level of scientific fact and theory, but crucial battlegrounds are also found in the foundational concepts that shape the method and direction of science. One of these is summarized by the term “naturalism.” This debate is hindered by equivocal terminology, presuppositional inconsistency, and the use of secular premises by some Chri...

During the latter part of the last century, a profound change took place in our perception of the Earth. First, this change was holistic: Plate tectonic theory provided a unifying theme that seems to explain disparate observations about the Earth and how it works, and lets us see the Earth as a planet. Secondly, actually seeing the Earth from the Moon, and exploring the other planets provided a...

Analysis of the historical development of doctrines and theological motifs is a crucial but often neglected element of the interpretive process. Such investigations protect the interpreter from making the common mistake of reading later ideas back into the biblical text. This survey outlines the major views on Creation and the age of the earth advocated by Christians and Jews throughout history...

As technological demand for materials with specific physical properties has increased, the importance of strategic metals cannot be ignored. Strategic metals are those materials that have high economic value, are used in a variety of applications, and have few or no viable substitutions; supply may face the risk of restriction due to various technical, economic, or social factors. Mainly due to...