Dr Alexander V. Lalomov

Geological data themselves do not tell us about history of geological objects. Every specialist interprets available data through the prism of his experience and, in the first place, on the base of his interpretive framework. There are two main alternative platforms in geology which are used in interpretation of geological data: uniformism and catastrophism, and in dependence of the platform the same data can be used to derive opposing conclusions. Moreover, sometimes belonging to certain doctrine do not let scientist to see clear evidences of past geological conditions which conflict with fundamental principles of his scientific school. Even if he see these evidences, he can not to make obvious conclusions. As an example of such situation I would like to look at uniformitarian view to origin of Flisch Formation of Crimea peninsula (southeast Europe, Black Sea coast).

FF has many interesting features, such as dragging grooves, erosion grooves (parting lineation), cross beds and trace fossils, which let researcher to interpret the sedimentary strata and determine conditions of FF origin. These features clearly confirm rightness of catastrophism interpretive framework.

The uniformitarian papers concerned to the Flisch Formation origin describe all features listed above in detail. But the final conclusion that "sedimentation of flisch occurred in marine basins bordering with mountain systems similar to present Black Sea in conditions of small oscillatory tectonic motions during time span of 30 million years" looks all the more unexpectedly. Belief in long age Earth and slowly processes of sedimentation do not allow them to make obvious conclusions.

Only examination of scientific conclusions allows determining rightness for existing one or another research foundation. There are many difficult and unsolved problems in geology, and if we want to be unbiased then we must recognize that not all of them have final decision on the base of catastrophic framework just now. But in numerous cases, principles of Flood stratigraphy and theory of recent creation are confirmed with verification of the framework against all relevant data.