More Whopper Sand Evidence of Global Flood | The Institute for Creation Research

More Whopper Sand Evidence of Global Flood

In the U.S. Gulf Coast region, the Upper Jurassic Norphlet Sandstone rests right on top of thousands of feet of Middle Jurassic salt, known as the Louann Salt. Secular geologists believe this sandstone layer was deposited by the windblown accumulation of sand in an arid environment. These kinds of deposits are commonly called aeolian deposits.1
 
Secular scientists never address or explain exactly how this claimed desert deposit supposedly formed across much of the offshore Gulf of Mexico region and came to lie directly on top of thick salt beds. And recent discoveries in deep water make this interpretation even more improbable as the sand layer is far more extensive than originally thought.1
 
The Upper Jurassic Norphlet Sandstone was first described onshore at Norphlet, Arkansas. It’s been drilled for natural gas and oil for many years in places like Mobile Bay, Alabama, and in the shallow-water regions of the Gulf of Mexico. The Norphlet averages less than 300 feet thick near the Gulf Coast, but thickens to closer to 1000 feet in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.1 The first well drilled in the deep water with the Norphlet as a target was begun in 2003 in the offshore region referred to as De Soto Canyon.2 Since then, numerous wells have been drilled in deeper and deeper water.

The Norphlet is another case where uniformitarian geology fails. Tweet: The Norphlet is another case where uniformitarian geology fails.

More Whopper Sand Evidence of Global Flood: http://www.icr.org/article/more-whopper-sand

@icrscience

#Science #Geology

In 2018, several large discoveries in the Norphlet in deepwater Gulf of Mexico were reported by Shell and Chevron. Chevron announced a Norphlet discovery at their Ballymore prospect in 6,536 feet of water in the area known as Mississippi Canyon, south of Louisiana. This well was drilled to 29,194 feet and found 670 feet of net pay in the Norphlet.1 (“Net pay” refers to the part of the sandstone layer with enough permeability in the wellbore to produce oil.)
 
Also, in 2018, Shell announced a Norphlet well at their Dover prospect about 170 miles south of the Louisiana coastline. This well was drilled in 7,500 feet of water in the Mississippi Canyon protraction also, finding 800 feet of net pay.1
 
Shell’s Louise Durham reported, “This is the company’s sixth discovery in the Jurassic-age Norphlet geologic play in the Gulf. It joins such high-profile finds as Appomattox, approximately 13 miles away.” She continued, “The Norphlet ranks as the first extensive post-salt deposit in the central Gulf Coast.”1
 
Not only has the Norphlet now been found to extend into the deepwater portion of the Gulf of Mexico, but it may also continue right across the Gulf of Mexico as a blanket sandstone bed to the offshore region of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.2 This sand bed covers an area that is “several hundred thousand square kilometers across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and outward into the deepwater Gulf.”1
 
Essentially, this is another Whopper Sand.3 But it was deposited earlier in the rock record than the original. It’s comparable in size to the Ogallala Sandstone bed that extends for 174,000 square miles across the Great Plains states.4
 
The Norphlet is the newest deepwater oil and gas target. And yet its massive extent cannot be adequately explained by conventional models, let alone with an aeolian interpretation. How did a thick “desert” sandstone just happen to become spread across nearly the entire deepwater Gulf and on top of thousands of feet of pure salt? And how did this thick sandstone bed get nearly 200 miles offshore? Uniformitarian scientists have provided no answers, yet they continue to find more sand and oil in the Norphlet.
 
Salt beds are only deposited in an underwater marine setting. So how did the ocean mysteriously and suddenly disappear, exposing a massive pure salt layer, and then become a terrestrial desert landscape all in the blink of an eye?
 
Sadly, secular geologists merely label any sandstone that has large cross-beds as aeolian, like they did with the Coconino Sandstone in Grand Canyon. And yet the Coconino contains minerals like carbonate ooids and flakes of mica minerals that cannot form in an aeolian environment.5,6 The ooids and minerals are best explained by a marine deposit.

Blanket sands are best explained as massive Flood deposits as the waters advanced and/or retreated. Tweet: The Norphlet is another case where uniformitarian geology fails.

More Whopper Sand Evidence of Global Flood: http://www.icr.org/article/more-whopper-sand

@icrscience

#Science #Geology

The Norphlet is another case where uniformitarian geology fails. Blanket sands are best explained as massive Flood deposits as the waters advanced and/or retreated. The Norphlet appears to be a mid-Flood deposit near the base of the Zuni Megasequence. Rapid shifts in rocks types (i.e., from salt to sandstone) are best explained by sudden shifts in direction of tsunami-like waves, bringing in sediment from different locations and sources during the Flood.
 
References
1. Durham, L. S. 2018. Shell makes large discovery on Deepwater GoM. AAPG Explorer. 39 (7): 24-25.
2. Saunders, M. et al. 2017. Mapping the Jurassic Norphlet Sandstone along the northern margin of the Yucatan Peninsula. AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90291. AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, April 2-5, 2017.
3. Clarey, T. 2015. The Whopper Sand. Acts & Facts. 44 (3): 14.
4. Clarey, T. 2018. Palo Duro Canyon Rocks Showcase Genesis Flood. Creation Science Update. Acts & Facts. 47 (7): 10.
5. Cheung, S. et al. 2009. Occurrence of dolomite beds, clasts, ooids and unidentified microfossils in the Coconino Sandstone, Northern Arizona. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 41 (7): 119.
6. Whitmore, J. H., R. Strom. 2010. Petrographic analysis of the Coconino Sandstone, Northern and Central Arizona. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 41 (7): 122.
 
*Dr. Timothy Clarey is Research Associate is at ICR and earned a doctorate in geology from Western Michigan University.

The Latest
NEWS
April 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things...

NEWS
Human Evolution and the Inner Ear
The vain attempt by evolutionists to make an evolutionary connection between people and ape-like ancestors continues. This time, it is in regard to...

CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...

NEWS
''Blood Worm Moon'' Total Lunar Eclipse 2025
Barring cloud cover, about 75% of the country saw the total lunar eclipse, aka the “Blood Worm Moon.” Texas had good weather conditions...