Christian faith in an age of science . ve series of strata, by the supposition of epochsof universal extermination, each of which was fol-lowed by the creation of a new fauna and flora. Thetwo Niews, of course, naturally fit together, for it couldeasily be supposed that the violent convulsions whichthe physical geologists were compelled to assume, werethe occasion of the universal exterminations of ani-mals and plants of which the paleontologists seemedto find evidence. The contrast between the old and the new views ingeology is illustrated in the interpretation of the phe-nomenon of unconform
Christian faith in an age of science . ve series of strata, by the supposition of epochsof universal extermination, each of which was fol-lowed by the creation of a new fauna and flora. Thetwo Niews, of course, naturally fit together, for it couldeasily be supposed that the violent convulsions whichthe physical geologists were compelled to assume, werethe occasion of the universal exterminations of ani-mals and plants of which the paleontologists seemedto find evidence. The contrast between the old and the new views ingeology is illustrated in the interpretation of the phe-nomenon of unconformable strata. In many cases itis observed that a series of strata is tilted up to a moreor less steep inclination, and that, upon their edges,which have been planed off to an approximately hori-zontal surface, there rests a later series of nearly hori-zontal strata. If the strata in such cases are fossilifer-ous. it is usually observed that the fauna and florarepresented in the upper series of strata differ very 52 Unconformable Strata. Fig. 4.—Wall of Grand Canon of the Colorado River,formability is seen at two levels. From Powellsration of the Colorado River, 53 Uncon- Explo- The Extension of the Universe in Time widely from those represented in the lower. The in-terpretation of the facts according to the older geologywould be that the interval between the deposition ofthe two sets of strata was marked by an epoch of con-vulsion and universal extermination. The modern in-terpretation would be that, after the deposition of thelower series of strata, there ensued an elevation of theearths crust in that vicinity, which may have beensomewhat rapid or very slow, but was not violent orconvulsional, and that the region thus elevated re-mained above the water level long enough for the rocksto be extensively eroded. Later came a subsidence ofthe area in question; and, as the district came to bedepressed below the water level, it came to be coveredby a new series of horizontal strata.
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