Rapid Crystal Growth Supports Flood Model | The Institute for Creation Research

Rapid Crystal Growth Supports Flood Model
Secular scientists are finding exactly what Flood geologists have predicted all along—huge crystals can and did grow extremely fast. In other words, magmas can cool into minerals in a matter of days!

Geology students are taught that large-crystal igneous rocks called pegmatites1 take vast amounts of time, even millions of years, to solidify and cool. Secular geologists reason that the minerals need a lot of time to nucleate and grow—bigger minerals need big amounts of time, similar to plant growth.

But a new study published in Nature Communications demonstrated that large crystals in pegmatites can grow to massive sizes in just a few days.2 Scientists from Rice University and University of California, Riverside examined trace element concentrations in the Stewart pegmatite in southern California. What they found shocked them: The trace element distribution in the crystals was best explained by accelerated crystal growth. They may have grown to meter-size (three feet) in just a few days.2 Co-author Cin-Ty Lee, a Rice University geology professor, stated in a UPI report on the study:

Pegmatites cool relatively quickly, sometimes in just a few years, and yet they feature some of the largest crystals on Earth….The big question is, really, “How can that be?”3

Lead author Patrick Phelps, a graduate student at Rice, added:

We examined crystals that were half an inch wide and over an inch long….We showed those grew in a matter of hours, and there is nothing to suggest the physics would be different in larger crystals that measure a meter or more in length. Based on what we found, larger crystals like that could grow in a matter of days….We’d done the math and the physics. That part was sound. While we didn’t expect it to be that fast, we couldn’t come up with a reason why it wasn’t plausible.3

In fact, this rate was nearly unbelievable and totally unexpected, defying conventional thought. It was several orders of magnitude faster than what had previously been taught in the classroom for decades.3

But should rapid cooling and rapid crystal growth be a surprise? It wasn’t too long ago that secular scientists found that magmas (molten material) can ascend through the crust at much faster rates than expected. These rates were also surprising to deep-time thinkers.

In fact, the rapid ascent of magmas was found to be much more common than geologists once believed.4,5 Terry Plank and Philipp Ruprecht determined that the magma beneath Costa Rica’s Irazú Volcano rose roughly 35 km (22 miles) in just months, or at most a few years.5 They also found that some magmas can ascend 10 km (6.2 miles) in just 10 minutes. That’s nearly three times faster than a human can run a 10 km race!

What is so shocking to the uniformitarian scientific world is the speed of these events. Geology students worldwide are taught that magmas take millions of years to ascend to the surface and many more millions to cool and crystallize. Pegmatites were thought to be the slowest-growing crystals of all because of their massive size. Taking away the assumed deep time for these crystals to form takes away the uniformitarian argument that the formation of igneous rocks requires a lot of time.

Instead, secular science is finding that minerals grow and magmas move at rates predicted by Flood geologists. Pegmatite crystals and solidified granites could have easily formed in the past 4,400 years since the upheaval of the biblical Flood. No fabricated concept of deep time is necessary—not millions or even tens of thousands of years.

Science is confirming the time frame of the Bible. Even fast-growing crystals testify to the recent Genesis Flood.

Stage image: A sample of Republic granite from Dr. Tim Clarey's personal collection from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Stage image credit: Michael Hansen/ICR. Copyright © 2020.


References
1. Pegmatite is a descriptive term for an igneous rock with crystals averaging larger than about a half-inch long. Some pegmatite crystals can even exceed several feet in length.
2. Phelps, P. R., C.-T. A. Lee, and D. M. Morton. 2020. Episodes of fast crystal growth in pegmatites. Nature Communications. 11: 4986.
3. Hays, B. Earth grows large crystals, rare elements in just minutes. UPI Science News. Posted on upi.com October 7, 2020, accessed October 15, 2020.
4. Clarey, T. Express-Lane Magma Indicates Young Earth. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org September 13, 2013.
5. Rosen, J. 2016. Crystal clocks. Science. 354 (6314): 822-825.

*Dr. Clarey is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his 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...