Today, the earth looks very different from how it looked thousands of years ago before the flood. Canyons, cliffs, mountains, and valleys exist today that didn’t exist before the global flood. This catastrophe left all kinds of scars all over the earth.
One of our readers, Lucy, recently asked us, “Did Noah’s flood make the great sand dunes?”
We asked Dr. Andrew Snelling, a geologist (a scientist who studies rocks). He specializes in fossils and flood geology. While the flood did change earth’s landscape forever, it didn’t create the dunes of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado.
Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa, Colorado
markbyzewski, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Snelling said, “Those sand dunes are not flood-related because they are on top of our current land surface, which was laid down after the flood. The sand would have piled up because of post-flood erosion.”
Erosion is the process by which soil is moved by wind, water, and other natural elements. The flood not only caused erosion but also changes in the earth’s climate. An Ice Age followed the flood, which eventually caused the sands in Colorado—which were trapped by a mountain barrier—to collect into dunes.
Even though these great sand dunes weren’t formed by the flood, they still remind us of how different our world looks now than it did in the beginning. All the beautiful places on earth now surely can’t compare to God’s original, “very good” creation before the flood—or to the new heavens and earth to come someday (2 Peter 2:13)!
Flood Formations
There are many incredible sights around the world that weren't part of God’s original creation. These flood formations, while beautiful, remind us of God's judgment when he sent the flood.
Victoria Falls—Zambia (Africa)
Cotton Castle—Turkey (Asia)
Uluru—Northern Territory (Australia)
White Chalk Cliffs—England (Europe)
Grand Canyon—United States (North America)
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