Science Update: Days 5 & 6 revealed in high-fidelity climate record

Genesis 1:1 - 2:4 The Epic Creation Narrative

The epic creation narrative of Genesis chapter 1 begins with these profound words, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", and is summarized by the colophon in verse 4 of chapter 2:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

How can there be multiple generations in the day when God made earth and heavens?  We will lean on Moses, the man of God for insight.  In Psalm 90 Moses writes:

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

4 For a thousand years in your sight are put as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

Thus the time frame of the six cycles in the Genesis epic creation narrative are on God's timeline, not on a human timeline.  The repeated pattern characterized by one or more decrees and descriptive statements followed by an evening-morning demarcation can be metaphorically called either a day or a generation.  From God's perspective, it is as if all of these days or generations constitute a single day, or single time.  Hence the summary phrase "in the day the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" encompasses the entire six-day period.

The point of this textual analysis is to demonstrate that Genesis 1 describes six demarcated eras of creative activity of indeterminate length but of significantly progressive nature.  We wonder then, Can these "days" indeed be seen in the geologic history of the Earth?

When geology was in its infancy as a science, the answer would clearly have been "no".  Without adequate knowledge and characterization of the past, humans could have no better idea about the order of creation than that provided by the text of Genesis itself.  Genesis 1 is still the gold standard of creation narratives because it tells us who created and why the creation exists.

As geology developed, the answer morphed from "no" to "maybe", even passing perhaps through "certainly not" from some perspectives.  This is because the art of reconstructing past history from artifacts and scientific models is like the assembly of a puzzle for which the box top has been misplaced and some pieces are fit together wrongly and others are missing.  Only later, when more pieces are set aright can the overall image begin to take on meaning.  I believe that the answer has become "yes".  It has finally become possible to see the major outline of Genesis 1 in the geologic record of Earth's history as pieced together by modern science.

Summary of Genesis 1 and Geologic Timeline Harmony

• Hadean Eon: 4.5 to 4.0 BYA - corresponds to the time when Earth was Formless and Void
• Archean Eon: 4.0 BYA to 2.5 BYA - corresponds to Day 1: it is the era of light and photosynthesis
• Proterozoic Eon: 2.5 BYA to 650 MYA - corresponds to Day 2: development of the atmosphere
• The Phanerozoic Eon from 650 MYA to present is divided into three major periods
• Paleozoic Era: 650 MYA to 100 MYA - starts out Day 3: continents with land plants form; trees bearing fruit created; also dinosaurs are created
• Mesozoic Era: 100 MYA to 66 MYA -  wraps up at the end of Day 4: days are 24 hours long, climate is seasonal; dinosaurs go extinct
• The Cenozoic Era from 66 MYA to present is divided into two major periods
• Paleogene Period (excluding the Oligocene Epoch): 66 MYA to 34 MYA - corresponds to Day 5:  earth replenished with birds and the oceans with fish after the K-T extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and 75% of species; ancient mammal that later go extinct are also created on this day
• Neogene Period (including the Oligocene Epoch and Quaternary): from 34 MYA to 0 MYA - corresponds to Day 6: the origin of modern mammals and of human beings

Each Creation Day ends with or contains one or more Extinction Events that corresponds to a Reaping that then provides the Seeds for the next Creation Day.  For example, at the end of the Day 4, God mows down all the dinosaurs preserving only one or a few species of tiny birds from which he forms all the other kinds of birds on Day 5.  Many scientists mistakingly think this occurs by a naturalistic evolutionary process, but in reality this is God's husbandry at work as He develops many new kinds of animals from just one.  In somewhat the same way that dog breeders have created many breeds from one original wolf species in thousands of years, God, over millions of years, creates many new kinds of animals from each original species.

Day 5 and Day 6 In Focus

New research carried out by scientists at the University of California at Santa Cruz may buttress the Ages of Joy creation model for Creation Days 5 and 6.  In the article High-fidelity record of Earth's climate history puts current changes in context, a continuous and high quality climate record stretching back 66 million years into the past is described.  The research article was publish in Science on September 10.

A graphic image (Credit: Westerhold et. al., CENOGRID) provided in the article shows two distinct phases of Earth's climate.

The Fifth Day

From at least 66 million years ago to about 34 million years ago, the Earth experienced what is called Hothouse and Warmhouse climate conditions.

The so-called K-T extinction event occured 66 million years ago and is the point in time marking the extinction of the dinosaurs and of 75% of all species on Earth.  In the Ages of Joy creation model, it corresponds to the end of the Fourth Creation Day and the beginning of Day 5.

On the Fifth Creation Day, God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." Genesis 1:20

This statement from the Bible corresponds to the dramatic recovery of life on Earth following the mass extinction event that terminated up to 75% of all species of life on the planet.

During this recovery, God created all the kinds of flying birds known today.  God also caused teleost fish that swarm in the oceans to dramatically flourish, becoming 96% of all existing fish species.

It was the K-T extinction event (the metaphorical evening and morning of the Fourth Day) that opened up environments to flourish with all the new kinds of animals that God would create.

While there were also new kinds of mammals created during the Fifth Day, these largely when extinct and were replaced on the Sixth Day with the animals we know today.  In sharp contrast, most of the bird and fish species that took hold during the Fifth Day continue to flourish until the present time.

The Hothouse and Warmhouse climates were ideal for the flourishing and taking hold of birds, fish, and large marine mammals like whales and dugong.

The Sixth Day

In contrast to the birds and fish, the transition to the colder Coolhouse and Icehouse climates of the Sixth Day was hard on land animals.  Many species when extinct.  This phenomena is called the Mongolian Remodeling when describing Asian species and the Grand Coupure when referring to European species.  It occurred approximate 33.9 MYA and is labeled the E-O (Eocene-Oligocene) Extinction Event and corresponds to the figurative morning and evening of the Fifth Day.  Scientists regard it as the most significant global biotic reorganization since the K-T extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Just as the Fourth Day transitioned into the Fifth Day at the K-T extinction event, so also the Fifth Day transitioned into the Sixth Day at the O-E extinction event.

On geologic timelines, the Paleogene Period runs from 66 MYA right across this important O-E Extinction event through the Oligocene Epoch to 23 MYA, at which point the Neogene Period begins.  In hind sight, scientists would have been better off ending the Paleogene (meaning older kinds) at 33.9 MYA and starting the Neogene (meaning newer kinds) at that time.  None-the-less, the Bible provides the proper breakdown and we can still see the correspondence between Genesis 1 and the geologic timeline despite these issues.

At just the right time, starting about 34 MYA at the dawn of the sixth day, God introduced dozens of new varieties of plants utilizing a more efficient form of photosynthesis, call C-4 photosynthesis.  He also introduced grasses to the environment using C-4 photosynthesis.  These plants were the ideal food for the new cooler, dryer climate and the new kinds of grazing animals God created which the new kinds of wild animals would hunt.

While God had created many kinds of plants, including fruit trees, on Day 3 (back during the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic), He now turbo-charged those same kinds of plants from the original C-3 photosynthesis to C-4 photosynthesis.  The blessing on the Sixth Day of man and animals with green plants is significant in this context.

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Summary

The Cenozoic Era from 66 MYA to the present corresponds to Day 5 and Day 6 in Genesis 1 and this detailed climatic record clearly shows the two major periods into which this time is sub-divided.  During the first warmer period, all new species of birds rapidly arose after the K-T extinction and swarms of teleost fish exploded across the oceans to fill the vacated spaces.  Also, large marine mammals such as whales and sea cows became established in the oceans.  When the climate rapidly and permanently cooled, a major extinction event occurred specifically affecting land animals.  God replaced them with new kinds of land animals as described in the narrative regarding Day 6 in the Bible.