Browse Search Feedback Other Links Home Home The Talk.Origins Archive: Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy

Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2004
Previous Claim: CE130   |   List of Claims   |   Next Claim: CE230

Claim CE210:

High surface temperatures on Venus (900 degrees F, 482 degrees C), combined with its dense atmosphere, should long ago have eroded its surface features if the planet were four billion years old. Venus's features support a young age.

Source:

Pathlights, n.d. The age of the earth. http://www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/05agee2.htm

Response:

  1. A paucity of surface features usually indicates a young surface, not an old one, because there would be less time for cratering to occur. However, a young surface does not imply a young planet.

  2. In fact, there are few craters and surface features on Venus. This is taken as evidence that the surface is young. Venus shows evidence of volcanoes and rift valleys, suggesting some tectonic activity, which would help to renew its surface. Venus's thick atmosphere also reduces the impact of meteors and, as the claim notes, erodes features. The features on Venus are probably all less than a few hundred million years old.

Links:

Thompson, Tim, 1994. Is the planet Venus young? http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/venus-young.html
Previous Claim: CE130   |   List of Claims   |   Next Claim: CE230

created 2003-7-1, modified 2003-7-16