Claim CD203:

The occurrence of limestone deposits that are so great and so uniform defies explanation except by massive precipitation from chemical-rich waters, consistent with catastrophism, not uniformitarianism. Dolomite sediments are not being formed at all today; they also require an exceptional explanation.

Source:

Response:

1. Uniformitarian processes explain limestone formations far better than catastrophism does:
   • Limestones form continuously today over wide areas (such as the Caribbean) as calcium carbonate is precipitated from water directly and through the actions of organisms. Limestone formation easily fits within conventional geology.
   • Limestones appear in strata interleaved between strata of sandstones and other rocks. A single event could not explain all the layers.
   • Limestones often include fragile fossils that could not survive catastrophic transport.
   
   Dolomites require no exceptional explanation. They form via diagenesis (a sort of chemical rearrangement in the deep subsurface) from calcite, the main ingredient of limestone. Creationism does not explain the origin of dolomite.
   
   
2. Limestone could not have formed quickly from massive precipitation, because the formation of calcite releases heat. If only 10 percent of the world's limestone were formed during the Flood, the 5.6 x 10²⁶ joules of heat released would be enough to boil the flood waters (Isaak 1998).

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