Tectonic Plates

[acesand8s]

A creationist debater recently argued that the Flood occurred in 2400 BCE and split Pangea into the modern set-up of continents.

So I have two questions. First, at what year was mapping accurate enough that the continents could no longer have been moving at that fast a rate? IOW, when can we be sure the continents were moving at a few centimeters a year? Second, tectonic plates would have had to have moved much faster than the current rate of a few centimeters per year. What would be the effect of such a rapid movement of the continents? I've read articles suggesting that the Cambrian Explosion could have been caused by the movement of tectonic plates at a few hundred feet per year.

[DPDarkPrimus]

They are easily disproved, I am sure. Link some of the articles, please.

[acesand8s]

http://www. platetectonics.com/article.asp?a=8&c=9

http://www. creationinthecrossfire.com/documents/CatastrophicPlates1/CatastrophicPlates1.htm

The beginning of the Cambrian, about 540 million years ago, was a time when animal life seems to have exploded, perhaps associated with or following changes in the composition of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Kirschvink et al. compiled paleomagnetic data from several continents and suggest that this was also an unusual time for plate tectonics. The data imply that all of the major continental plates rotated and moved rapidly during the Early and Middle Cambrian.

I know little to nothing about plate tectonics, so I don't know how valid the conclusions are or whether the theory is widely accepted.

[Tribun]

Is this again some of the YEC-shit?
I would not even bother to debate about it, because it is so brain-dead, that it is not worth debating (even when debating means ripping apart).

[SyntaxVorlon]

Ughhh. Point out that if the plates moved that fast they would make the earth quite hot.

[CorSec]

I'm sure the Chinese would have mentioned the fast moving continent in their writings. Oddly enough, they don't mention a big ass flood disrupting their civilization, either.

[NapoleonGH]

I'm sure the Chinese would have mentioned the fast moving continent in their writings. Oddly enough, they don't mention a big ass flood disrupting their civilization, either.

neither did the indians or the egyptians

[CaptainChewbacca]

Some people theorize that a shift in mantle convection could have temporarily accelerated tectonics during the cambrian. However, I wouldn't want to be around when it happened.

We can easily observe plate motion at least as far back as the K/T boundary. Further back and you have to look more carefully. The tectonic maps are pretty thorough.