This topic had not been investigated at the time of our primary science details page, and so this is a supplement to that page.

• Did you know that scientists believe that Africa and South America were once joined at their coastlines? They believe that most of the world’s land masses were one unit, and they call that supercontinent Pangea.
• Did you know that early after the Earth was formed, much of the surface was covered with water? Note that 70% is covered with water today, but they believe that initially, it was at or close to 100%.
• Do you realize that massive tectonic plate movement would be required to break apart Pangea? And we have no way of knowing what other dramatic tectonic plate movement may have occurred before that. But it is entirely possible that the tallest mountains were taller than the tallest today, and shorter at other times.
• Did you know that there may be more water under the Earth’s surface than in all the oceans put together? With tectonic plate movement, especially a large, “sudden” one, much of it could have been trapped and compressed in the mantle.
• Did you know that there have been at least five major extinctions in Earth’s history where 75–95% of the Earth’s species died?

We tend to look at things as they are today, but we need to realize that the Earth has gone through some very major changes in history. Most of those changes have been gradual over time. But it is completely reasonable to believe that there have also been some large and sudden changes too. Many scientists will not accept the possibility of a global flood, but what we know about Earth’s history makes it entirely possible.

There was a diatomaceous earth (and other minerals) surface mining area on Mt. Shasta in California that covered hundreds of acres and was quite deep. It is easy to say that trillions of diatoms came to their deaths on Mt. Shasta. But how did they get there? A process of Mt. Shasta being created by a slow movement of tectonic plates doesn’t make sense for a huge and dense graveyard of marine life on a mountain. Something large and abrupt is a more likely explanation.

If you could see our atmosphere from outer space, it would look like a very, very thin layer on Earth. Most of it is only about 20 miles (32 km) deep, and a thinner layer is in another 40–50 miles (a total of about 100 km). But the Earth is nearly 8,000 miles (a little under 13,000 km) wide. Mt. Everest is only about 5.5 miles (almost 9 km) tall. So, if tectonic plate movement could move Africa more than 1,700 miles (over 2,800 km) from South America, how easily could it create Mt. Everest quickly? And it could release and/or trap a large amount of water in the Earth’s mantle. If it trapped it, it would likely compress it as it completed its movement.

The real question is if tectonic plate movement has always been gradual, or if there may have been at least one or two large and sudden movements of these plates sometime in history.

What if there was a time in Earth’s history where mountains had not yet pushed up significantly, and there was a rather sudden and large plate movement that released vast amounts of water from below the surface because it was still mostly in under-mantle reservoirs? It could have been very easy to cover the surface of the Earth in those conditions. Then a related major tectonic movement, similar to an earthquake aftershock, opened up for much of that water to get trapped back under the land surface, with some of it under great pressure. Other plate movements could have had varying degrees of movement over Earth’s history and created what we see today with tall mountains.

The Bible describes two sources of water causing the flood: rain and waters from the deep. The wording sounds like most of the water came from under the Earth’s surface. Genesis 7:11–12 says, “… on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” And yes, it would be God actively using natural processes He created for the intended result. It would be like Him to use natural processes so we can observe them.

From what we know about the Earth and its history, the Bible account of the Flood is entirely plausible. We have no way of proving or disproving it, but from what we know about the Earth’s history, it could easily have happened. Toss in that there have been five major extinctions, and there may be good evidence for it. Note that these massive tectonic plate movements would also make geological dating methods much more complicated.