The Ark Covered in Lava

The lava reached the top of the ridge and began to travel down the side of the mountain, covering the ark. The path of the lava can be distinctly seen in the present mud-flow area. One way mud flows are formed is when water is trapped over a long period of time in the slowly decaying lava. Then, when the lava finally deteriorates into soil, the tremendous amount of water captured and retained in it, begins to flow, sometimes quite rapidly and catastrophicly, which is called a mud-slide.

The weight of this tremendous amount of molten rock (lava) flowing upon the ark caused the 2 top decks to collapse. If that is so, why wasn't the ark burned up? There are 2 possibilities as to why it wasn't burned up- the first is this: assuming the lava was the type which would have caused a wooden object to catch on fire, if the ark was completely covered by lava rapidly, this would cut off the oxygen supply and combustion would not be possible.

But, supposing it was covered more slowly,- it is a documented fact that lava does not always cause combustion. I will use a quote from a "good ole evolutionary science book:

"It might be supposed that the high temperatures of the lava would give off an enormous amount of heat, This is not so, however, and it is quite usual for a flow to pass through a forest or town without causing a fire. One flow from Paricutin even piled up against oaks and cotton-woods without destroying them.... How can we explain this anomaly of high lava temperature and absence of fire and flames? To begin with, lava consists of a vitreous mass which is a poor conductor of heat. It also cools quickly at the surface, becoming covered with a crust which in some measure prevents further heat radiation from inside the mass. This a lava flow has, as it were, a constantly forming insulating case around its molten interior, so that the fron of the flow is preceded by a protecting crust." (The New Larousse Encyclopedia of the Earth, pub. by Hamlin Publishing Group Limited, copyrighted 1961, revised edition 1972, page 158.)

Either way you choose, the fact that the ark was covered by lava DOES NOT in any way mean that it had to be burned up. The fact that the decks seem to be uniformly collapsed indicates that it was covered rapidly, which would have cut off the oxygen supply. We do have specimens which display some burning, but it seems to be very limited in extent.

The Ark Revealed when Lava Deteriorated

The lava covered the ark and sealed it in an air-tight "capsule". So why is it now visible- why isn't it still encased in the lava? Because lava deteriorates and breaks down over time into fertile soil. Let's again go to the same book we referred to above:

"The soils which develop from the decomposition of the lavas, cinders and ashes are exceptionally rich in potash, lime and phosphates..... Many districts of the world with a high agricultural population owe the richness of their land to volcanic material." (ibid., page. 173.)

Hawaii is an excellent example of this- their wonderful soil which produces the beautiful exotic flowers we associate with this paradise, are a result of the decayed lava, so rich in the nutrients necessary for perfect growth. But it takes lava a very long time to deteriorate- how long depends on the type, etc., and we cannot know exactly how long the ark was covered. However, over time, as the lava began its deterioration process, it was no longer air-tight.

The Remains Were Fossilized

The ark is situated on a mountain side and it slopes. The front end is at about a 6,350 foot elevation while the lower end is at about the 6,250 foot elevation. The lava deteriorated over time, and being no longer air-tight, it was no longer water-tight. The region experiences several months of snow with the accompanying cold temperatures. In the spring, the snow slowly melts and as it does, the water flows down the mountainside. This means that as the lava began to deteriorate, this water began to flow through the material which covered the ark.

As the water slowly seeped over the preserved structures of the ark, it began to wash away minute particles of the wood and metal fittings of the structure. This took place on a molecular level- molecule by molecule was washed away. But as each molecule broke loose and washed away with the water, it left a "hole" the exact size of the molecule that had broken loose.

As the water flowed over the structure, some of the molecules it picked up from materials it had passed over prior to arriving at the ark, lodged in the "molecule holes" left in the structure.. The process I am describing is called "petrification", or "mineral replacement". For an object to become petrified, 2 things are ALWAYS required-

first, that the object be buried rapidly,

• and second that it have water flowing through it.

If it is not airtight and has no water flowing over it, it suffers from decay and is not preserved. The evolutionists will be quick to tell you that petrification takes millions of years to occur, but this is simply not the truth. If petrification does not occur at least a rapidly as the decay rate, the object simply decays away. Next...