Width of the Atlantic

Wolgemuth has been posting this on FB:

The diagram below shows the Atlantic Ocean with North America and Africa have been separating at a rate of 1.2 in/yr. So if the earth were 10,000 years old, The Atlantic would be less than 1/4 mile across! What does this mean about young-earth creationism?

Also a screen shot stating:

3,500 miles = 220,000,000 in

220,000,000 in / 180,000,000 years = 1.2 in/year

I would say, the Atlantic did not exist to the time of the Flood.

I will for the purpose of this one ignore the idea of Atlantis, though I'll be back to it at the end.

The Flood was 2958 BC. 2958 + 2024 = 4982 years.

220,000,000 in / 4982 years = 44,159 in / year

If we presumed that the speed has been declining constantly, this means, the Atlantic would have been expanding 3610 feet or a little more than 2/3 of a mile per year back in 467 BC. This is not very credible.

How about, the decline has declined, it both started out more rapidly than 7220 feet per year in the Flood, and declined more rapidly than reaching half distance in 467 BC.

1.2 in / year * 4982 years = 5978.4 = 498.2 feet, less than 10 % of a mile.

220,000,000 in / 5978.4 in = 36,799 times faster.

36,799 * 36,799 = 1,354,166,401* times faster initially? No:

1 354 166 401 * 1.2 = 1,624,999,681.2 inches in the sole year of the Flood.
= 135,416,640.1 feet in the sole year of the Flood.
= 25,647 miles in the sole year of the Flood.

That's wider than it is today.

I think I just might take kind of a Fibonacci view of modelling decreasing velocity of the spreading out of the Atlantic. Peak velocity during the Flood.**

Let the period 4982 years be divided into 27 shorter periods. 184.518518 etc years.

Now take the Fibonacci series to the 27. The sum of all of these is 504228.

220,000,000 in / 504,228 = 436.310,557,922 in

The last period would have had 436.311 inches added, giving 2.365 inches per year as medium since 1840. And even since 1656, since the previous period would also have had 436.311 inches added.

Let this then be the module, multiplied by the diverse Fibonacci numbers.

2957 BC — 2772 BC

1283.7 mi

2772 BC — 2588 BC

835.9 mi

2588 BC — 2403 BC

516.6 mi

2403 BC — 2219 BC

319.3 mi

2219 BC — 2034 BC

197.3 mi

2034 BC — 1850 BC

122 mi

1850 BC — 1665 BC

75.4 mi

1665 BC — 1481 BC

46.6 mi

1481 BC — 1296 BC

28.8 mi

1296 BC — 1112 BC

17.8 mi

1112 BC — 927 BC

11 mi

927 BC — 743 BC

6.8 mi

743 BC — 558 BC

4.2 mi

558 BC — 374 BC

13707 ft, above 2 miles

374 BC — 189 BC

8472 ft, above a mile

189 BC — 5 BC

5236 ft, nearly a mile

5 BC — 180 AD

3236 ft

180 AD — 364 AD

2000 ft

364 AD — 549 AD

1236 ft

549 AD — 733 AD

764 ft

733 AD — 918 AD

473 ft

918 AD — 1102 AD

291 ft

1102 AD — 1287 AD

182 ft

1287 AD — 1471 AD

109 ft

1471 AD — 1656 AD

73 ft

1656 AD — 1840 AD

36 ft

1840 AD — 2025 AD

36 ft

So, is 1283.7 mi / 185 years too much? 7 miles a year. 100 feet a day.*** Too much for a stable world one could live in even far inland way from the Atlantic? Perhaps.

Does it add up?

1283.7 + 835.9 + 516.6 + 319.3 + 197.3 + 122 + 75.4 + 46.6 + 28.8 + 17.8 + 11 + 6.8 + 4.2 = 3465.4 mi
13,707 + 8472 + 5236 + 3236 + 2000 + 1236 + 764 + 473 + 291 + 182 + 109 + 73 + 36 + 36 = 35,851 ft = 6.8 mi

Nearly. Decently close.

So, for precise information on the width of the Atlantic, this is pretty lame. The sum total is too far from 3500 miles. It's just 3472.2 miles.

3472.2 is however the value for 220,000,000 inches. So, no, it's pretty exact, given the input data given. Not pretty lame after all.

What can be done about the 100 feet per day during the time after the Flood? Well, obviously, during the Flood itself, it could have been widening even more than that per day. The more it widened during the Flood, the less it had to widen after the Flood. That's one part.

Another part, what about Atlantis? What if in one go, by the sinking of a North Atlantic quasi continent, or an island larger than Australia, the Atlantic went from two straits of sea water to a huge ocean?

The thing is, The Old World and The New World, on this scenario, would already have been somewhat apart during pre-Flood times.

I think, the width of the Atlantic is no total problem, unless you dogmatise that 1.2 inches per year had to be the speed for all of the time, just because it's the speed we observe now.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. Francis of Sales
29.I.2024

* Idea after:

Creation vs. Evolution: Himalayas, ter
https://creavsevolu.blogspot.com/2020/05/himalayas-ter.html

** Idea after:

New blog on the kid : Avec un peu d'aide de Fibonacci ... j'ai une table, presque correcte
http://nov9blogg9.blogspot.com/2015/10/avec-un-peu-daide-de-fibonacci-jai-une.html

*** 30.48 m per day; 1.27 m per hour; 2.1166666667 cm per minute; 0.3527777778 mm per second