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Artist's rendering of woolly mammoth. This extinct member of the elephant
family probably made its home in the upper reaches of North America.
type of catastrophe demanded by the
evidence would sabotage the idea tbat
the "present is the key to the past."
In the preface of the same book,
P.
S.
Martín asked:
"If
dimatic change was responsible,
then it must have been a change of a
magnitude not known previously. Are
meteorologists prepared to recognize the
possibility of a dimatic shock wave of
UNPRECEDENTED DlMENSION
?"
In fact, unprecedented is a weak
word. Better phrased is Hibben's expla–
natioo:
"Throughout the Alaskan mucks,"
said this startled scientist, "there is evi–
dence of atmospheric disturbances of
unparalleled violence. Mammoth and
bison alike were torn and twis ted as
though by a
cosmic hand in godly rage"
(Frank
C.
Hibben,
The Lost Ameri–
cam,
New York: Apollo Editions,
196l,
p.
177).
Then it is possible that singular and
extraordinary ravages of nature could
have delivered the knockout punch.
Climatic shock waves- not seen since
- could have delivered the fatal blow,
extinguishing the breath of myriads
of land mammals.
The idea, admittedly, may be hard to
accept - but it
is
possible! Are we
afraid to think the unthinkable?
The question becomes: Does the fos-
sil record show a worldwide upheaval
of suffident dimension to expJain the
virtual ext.irpation of life on land?
The answer, of course, is
yes.
Catastrophe Across
Siberia
Workers who have studied the fossil
finds in Siberia are egually astonished
by the specter of mass extinction.
World-known British zoologist Ivan
T.
Sanderson, discussed the Siberian
remains in a popular magazine article
some years ago:
"The greatest riddle ... is when, why
and how did all these assorted creatures,
and
in
such absolutely countless num–
bers, get killed, mashed up and frozen
into this horrific indecency?" (Ivan
T.
Sanderson, "Riddle of the Frozen
Giants,"
Satlfrday
Eveni11g
Post,
Janu–
ary
16, 1960,
p.
82.)
Tn thinking about the vast hordes of
bones in Siberia p lus ana lyzing the pre–
served specimens, Sanderson was con–
strained to conjute up a scenario of vast
catastwphe.
Earthwide Catadysm
He concluded his death-by-catastrophe
theory on this shocking note:
"There would be forty days and
nights of snow in one place, continent–
wide floods in another, and roaring
hunicanes, seaquakes and earthquakes
.
Ambo><odor
College Arl
bringing on landslides and tidal waves
in others, and many other disturbances"
( Ibid., p. 83).
This does not mean that all the
details of this series of catastrophes
followed the "Sanderson scheme." How–
ever, it is quite clear that the catas·
trophes had to involve elements he
mentioned - and be on the same order
of magnitude described. In no other
way can one account for the evidence.
ÜNLY
this type (one may bicker about
details) of catastrophe would be able to
put an end to mammal life in the way
which explains the record in the earth's
surface.
How else does one explaiu young and
old cast about, toro apart and frozen?
Wl1at other theory would account for
cases of fresh or only partially decayed
meat? What about vast masses of ani–
mals - including entire herds? These
are all piled together into gulleys, riv–
erbeds, holes. How does one explain the
chaotic caldron of mud, sbattered trees,
huge stones, bits and picces of animals?
These are
ALL
evident in Alaska and
across Siberia. No theory of uniformitar–
ianism; no theory dependent on present
conditions explains them. Worldwide
catastrophe is the only answer.
Can
Sorne
Disagree?
Astounding as it may seem, one sci–
entist took Sanderson to task for pos–
tulating a doomsday-like dcstmction.
In his artide, Pleistocene geologist