Standard Response: Quran Science and Mountains
Posted on September 14th, 2007 | by admin |
**EDIT**
There is a video by Dr. Zakir Naik stating that a famous geologist, a certain ‘Dr. Frank Press’ wrote in a respected book on geology (called ‘Earth’) that the ‘function’ of mountains was to ’stabilise the earth’.
After a fair amount of searching I failed to find a page number for this statement, or a direct quote.
I did however find this:
http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1-1-b.htm
If you look carefully, you will see that the statement that the ‘function’ of mountains is to ’stabilise’ the earth isn’t attributed to Dr. Frank at all. It’s from a book on quranic geology. It seems that Dr. Zakir Naik jumped the gun on that one a bit.
However, if anyone can show me Dr. Frank’s quote, along with the context, page number and a photo of the pages of the book covering that chapter, I’m listening.
**/EDIT**
A short video debunking the claim (which I failed to find in any scientific resources) that mountains - as written in the Quran - keep the earth from shaking.
This is often stated by Islamic apologists as a scientific fact, whereas the evidence, as you will see, suggests something very different.
Links to resources:
http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/seismic/
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-major-mountain.htm
This video isn’t a point-by-point refutation of the fallacious and scientifically false ‘Miracles of the Quran - The Function of Mountains’ video doing the rounds of YouTube. That is here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DP5wUO2X2q0&watch_response
Duration : 0:2:10 Views : 688.
25 Responses to “Standard Response: Quran Science and Mountains”
By redman19892003 on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
Take the …
Take the parentheses out then enter it into the URL
By transferosome on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
‘Take the …
‘Take the parentheses out then enter it into the URL’
Out of what?
By redman19892003 on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
I sent it to you in …
I sent it to you in the comments
By redman19892003 on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
Mountains prevent …
Mountains prevent the movement of Crust not the mantle
By redman19892003 on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
Go down to where it …
Go down to where it says Isostasy
By redman19892003 on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
Were you able to …
Were you able to look at it?
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
The site you …
The site you mention is:
ww w(dot)physicalgeography(dot)ne t/ fundamentals/ 10h (dot)ht ml
(remove brackets, swap ‘dot’s for full-stops and remove spaces.)
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
The site says:
‘ …
The site says:
‘When the Earth’s crust gains weight due to mountain building or glaciation, it deforms and sinks deeper into the mantle (Figure 10h-3). If the weight is removed, the crust becomes more buoyant and floats higher in the mantle.’
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
So the formation of …
So the formation of mountains CAUSES the movement associated with isostacy, rather than preventing it. Again, this goes contrary to your claims.
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
The site uses the …
The site uses the idea of ice over a liquid as an analogy:
‘One interesting property of the continental and oceanic crust is that these tectonic plates have the ability to rise and sink. This phenomenon, known as isostacy, occurs because the crust floats on top of the mantle like ice cubes in water.’
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
This is to help …
This is to help illustrate the up-down movement of isostacy - which balances out crust weight with mantle bouyancy over very long time periods.
Your claim is that, without mountains, the crust would ’slip’ sideways over the ‘icy’ mantle, causing earthquakes… Which isn’t confirmed or even hinted at by your source.
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
‘tectonic plates …
‘tectonic plates have the ability to rise and sink.’
No mention of the possibility of sideways movement.
‘The addition of glacial ice on the Earth’s surface causes the crust to deform and sink (a).When the ice melts, isostatic rebound occurs and the crust rises to its former position before glaciation (b and c). A similar process occurs with mountain building and mountain erosion’
All talking of up-down motion.
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
It’s plain to see …
It’s plain to see that the concept they were trying to get across with the ice analogy was the up-down motion of a solid floating in a liquid, tending towards equilibrium.
If you have another source stating that the crust-mantle boundary is ’slippery’, and that movement would occur across it if mountains weren’t present, please post it up here.
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
Also, if you look …
Also, if you look at the mantle as a liquid, the pegs analogy becomes ridiculous. You don’t hammer pegs into water to fix something firmly.
You appear to think that the crust-mantle boundary is liquid. Actually the crust is the most brittle layer, with progressive layers becoming more plastic, until you reach the liquid layers below. Isostacy only seems to work because of the plastic nature of rocks over geological time periods.
By redman19892003 on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
1) I did not say …
1) I did not say the mantle is liquid nor did i say that the area between the crust and mantle is liquid.
2) “It’s now known that most mountain ranges are underlain by crustal roots floating atop the hot plastically deforming mantle.” this is taken from
walrus(dot)wr(dot)usgs(dot)gov(/)infobank(/)programs(/)html(/)school(/)moviepage(/)06(dot)01(dot)23(dot)html
By redman19892003 on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
3) Equilibrium- A …
3) Equilibrium- A condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system. -taken from answer(dot)com . Now you tell me with common sense, what happens when an equilibrium is set off?
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
“It’s now known …
“It’s now known that most mountain ranges are underlain by crustal roots”
Yeah. Find the bit that states that mountains stop crustal slippage.
By transferosome on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
It’s not really …
It’s not really coherent to talk of ’setting off’ equilibrium. Anyway, as your source clearly states, the lack of equilibrium is CAUSED by mountain formation, which sets off the MOVEMENT, leading towards a state of isostacy (equilibrium).
Mountains cause the movement. Your quran is wrong.
By redman19892003 on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
Ummm… Where …
Ummm… Where exactly does it say that?
By redman19892003 on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
In no way do the …
In no way do the mountains cause the “lack of equilibrium”. Obviously your not understanding what your reading. Isostasy is the term used to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium between the Earth’s lithosphere and asthenosphere. Masses of ROCK press down on the earth which then brings it to an Isostatic equilibrium. I think you should read carefully.
By transferosome on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
‘Isostasy is the …
‘Isostasy is the term used to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium between the Earth’s lithosphere and asthenosphere. Masses of ROCK press down on the earth which then brings it to an Isostatic equilibrium.’
redman19892003, you are missing the point. Isostacy can be achieved with or without mountains. Without mountains the crust will ride higher. With mountains it will ride lower.
By transferosome on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
Over a ( …
Over a (geologically) long period of time, up-down movement of the crust will tend towards isostacy. Mountain creation (like ice formation or erosion) changes the mass distribution on the crust. Isostacy is broken, and the crust needs to move up or down to re-establish it.
By transferosome on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
Mountains aren’t a …
Mountains aren’t a stabilizing force - they just cause isostacy to occur at a different depth. Creating a mountain changes that depth, meaning movement must occur to reestablish isostacy.
You seem to think that more mountain = less movement, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that is the case.
By transferosome on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
Think about how ice …
Think about how ice behaves in a glass of water.
Anyway, I am open to correction if you feel I’ve made a mistake. I’m going to make a video about this, so feel free to try to knock holes in my understanding, so I’m more likely to get it right when I do.
By transferosome on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
‘Ummm… Where …
‘Ummm… Where exactly does it say that?’
From your source:
‘When the Earth’s crust gains weight due to mountain building or glaciation, it deforms and sinks deeper into the mantle (Figure 10h-3). If the weight is removed, the crust becomes more buoyant and floats higher in the mantle.’