" 'The theory of evolution is totally inadequate to explain the origin and manifestation of the inorganic world.' "—Sir Ambrose Fleming, F. R. S., quoted in H. Enoch, Evolution or Creation, (1966), p. 91. [Discoverer of the thermionic valve.]

"Evolution is perhaps unique among major scientific theories in that the appeal for its acceptance is not that there is evidence of it, but that any other proposed interpretation of the data is wholly incredible. "—*Charles Singer, A Short History of Science to the Nineteenth Century, 1941.

"We no longer feel ourselves to be guests in someone else's home and therefore obliged to make our behavior conform with a set of pre-existing cosmic rules. It is our creation now. We make the rules. We establish the parameters of reality. We create the world, and because we do, we no longer feel beholden to outside forces. We no longer have to justify our behavior, for we are now the architects of the universe. We are responsible to nothing outside ourselves, for we are the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. "—*Jeremy Rifkin, Algeny (1983), p. 244.

" ‘Creation' in the ordinary sense of the word, is perfectly conceivable. I find no difficulty in conceiving that, at some former period, this universe was not in existence; and that it made its appearance in six days . . in consequence of the volition of some preexisting Being. "—*Leonard Huxley, Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, Vol. II (1903), p. 429.

Within the past 50 years there has surfaced a large amount of scientific data which disproves evolution. In this present study we will focus on just one of these discoveries.

And this one discovery, which took years to carefully research, itself disproves the theories of the Big Bang, stellar evolution, and the formation of earth from molten rocks.

That discovery concerns something that is very small in nature, but there are trillions of them! Although evolutionary scientists have tried very hard to disprove this discovery, they have been unable to do so.

The man who researched it out is Robert V. Gentry, and the incredible discovery is astounding.

Consider these facts, uncovered by Gentry's discovery:

(1) The major basement rocks on our planet did not originate from the gradual cooling of molten lava, but came into being in their present solid form. That fact completely disproves the Big Bang and every other stellar theory of the evolutionary origins of the universe and our world.

(2) Those major rock formations came into existence within a space of less than three minutes time! Incredible? Yes! But you will find it true, as you read this study.

You are about to learn about the trillions upon trillions of radiohalos that are in all the granite rocks, boulders, mountains, and foundation strata of the world. Those little halos prove that those rocks came into existence in solid form within three minutes time:

1 - ROCKS AND GRANITE

THE FIRST ROCKS—There are many different types of rocks in our world, and no new ones have been added (with the exception of meteorites). But only certain rocks are still in their original form and shape. These are the original, or primordial, rocks of which one of the most important is granite. Scientists believe that the igneous rocks were formed from molten lava.

Throughout this set of books you would normally want to read everything. But in this one chapter, Origin of the Earth, we would suggest that you not read what is in smaller print unless you desire additional information. This is due to the fact that this chapter is somewhat more technical than the other chapters.

WHAT TYPES OF ROCKS ARE THERE?—There are three main types: (1) Igneous rocks, (2) Metamorphic rocks, and (3) Sedimentary rocks.

(1) IGNEOUS ROCKS—Scientists believe that all igneous rocks formed from molten lava (also called magma), but we will learn that this is not correct. There are two types of igneous rocks: intrusive and extrusive.

Intrusive rocks are thought to have cooled below ground. These are thought to include granite which is the best-known of them. Others include syenite, gabbro, pegmatite, diorite, and peridotite. Such rocks generally have a ground mass of crystalline grains surrounding other somewhat larger crystals,

The new data disclosed in this present study will reveal that, contrary to current geologic theory, certain of the intrusive rocks, such as granite, did not come from volcanic magma (molten rock). Instead; they initially came into existence in solid form.

Extrusive rocks cooled above ground; the most common of which is lava from volcanoes. Other types include rhyolite, obsidian, pumice, andesite, and basalt.

(2) METAMORPHIC ROCK—is rock that, over a period of time, has changed its appearance, and sometimes its mineral composition. These changes were caused by hot magma, pressure, heat, and/or chemical action. Included among such rocks are slate, marble, and quartzite. Great pressure can change one rock into another. For example, metamorphism recrystallizes the calcite in limestone to form marble.

(Weathering of a basement rock, such as granite, may change its surface appearance, but weathering alone does not make a rock metamorphic; only other changes can do that.)

(3) SEDIMENTARY ROCK—is sand, gravel, clay and other sediments broken loose from other rocks. These pieces were pressed into new rocks, which include sandstone (rock made of sand), shale (rock made of clay), conglomerate (rock made of sand, clay, and smooth pebbles), breccia (BRECH-ee-uh; a conglomerate with sharp pebbles in it), and limestone (rock made of crushed calcite). Sedimentary rocks are often found in broad, flat layers called strata. Fossils are found in those sedimentary strata, because the sedimentary rocks were laid down at the time of a massive flood; the same time when many animals suddenly died and were quickly covered by sand, clay, and gravel, which then became the present sedimentary rock strata found all over the world.

GRANITE—Granite is often called the "basement rock of the world." It is a primary foundation underlying all the continents, and, because it is often close to the surface, it is easily quarried in more than half the states in the United States.

WHAT IS GRANITE?—Granite is a hard crystalline rock that tends to be light-colored. Its crystals are large enough that you can easily see them. It is a mixture of very light quartz and feldspar crystals, along with some darker crystals which are usually mica and hornblende. The individual crystals in most granite are a fraction of an inch to about half an inch wide:

Granite is very solid and hard because it tends to have no cracks or seams in it. This is why it is quarried and used in building bridges and buildings. Because, unlike many other rocks, it does not tend to crack, granite can support immense weights—as much as 15,000 to 20,000 pounds per square inch (6,804 to 9,072 kg per square 2.54 cm]. This lack of cracking and crumbling, makes it invaluable for monuments and statues. There are few rocks as solid as granite.

(1) Rhyolite is chemically like granite, but it has much smaller crystals. We will later learn that granite, when melted by men, never hardens again into granite, but only into rhyolite! It is impossible for anyone, using any kind of technique, to make granite out of melted-down granite! As we shall discover, this is because granite was originally made in solid form. It cannot be produced from melted materials, and all attempts to do so fail.

(2) A rock that is similar to granite is gneiss (pronounced nice). The feldspar and quartz crystals in gneiss form thin layers between which mica crystals often lie in wavy bands. A similar rock is schist, in which the layers are thicker, more plate-like, and more horizontal than gneiss.

(3) Porphyry (POR-fih-rih) is the name of any igneous rock in which one kind of crystal is much larger than the rest. When a granite has large crystals of feldspar (one to several inches long), it is called granite porphyry. But it is still granite. (The mass of smaller crystals in which the larger ones lie is called the "groundmass.")

(4) Granite never contains fossils. This is very important, for it could not be one of the original rocks of the earth if it contained fossils.

Even evolutionary geologists are puzzled over the fact that granite and certain other rocks cannot be formed today.

"We find certain rock types in the geologic column that are not being seen to form . . anywhere on earth today. Where can granite be observed forming? . . Herz attributes the formation of anorthosite to . . possibly a great cataclysm . . It is possible that other rock types were created during and following catastrophic events on earth."—*Edgar B. Heylmun, "Should We Teach Uniformitarianism?" in Journal of Geological Education, Vol. 19, January 1971, p. 38.

WHY GRANITE IS SO IMPORTANT—If you want to build a house, you erect all the materials on a very solid foundation. If you do not do so, the ground beneath ma y eventually sink different amounts in different places, and the house will crack and may eventually collapse. All of our continents have been placed on a very solid foundation: granite. There is no rock more solid and enduring than granite. There are immense quantities of it beneath us.

Robert Gentry's research establishes the fact that all of this granite came into existence in solid form within less than 3 minutes time. Yet if this is so, then all the rest of the world had to be brought Into existence just as rapidly. If the granite suddenly appeared in less than 3 minutes, while the rest of the world was molten rock, then the granite would have melted. So our world came into existence all at once—and all of its rock and mineral matter within 3 minutes.

HOW THICK IS THIS GRANITE?—This is an important question. According to standard geological theory, below some sedimentary strata, the granite begins and continues on a great distance, finally stopping at a point where seismic explosion tests reveal that the underground "radar" bounces off at a somewhat different angle. That point, called the "Conrad Discontinuity," averages about 7 km [4.35 mi.] below the surface of the continents. For many years it has been theorized that the granite goes down to about that distance and then, at the Conrad discontinuity, stops, and basalt begins.

The surprising discovery, made only recently, is that below the Conrad discontinuity,—the granite continues on uninterrupted) At the present time we have no idea how deep the granite may go. We already know it to continue down 4.5 km [2.7 mi.] past the Conrad line; perhaps it may continue on to the 20 mile [32 km] depth, where the Mohorovicic discontinuity occurs! Because the Conrad discontinuity has been so deeply penetrated, scientists now have absolutely no idea how deep that granite may extend below us. Yet Gentry's research shows that all that granite came into existence in solid form within less than 3 minutes.

"In the world of deep drilling, the Soviet Union stands far ahead of all other nations. Its current program features 11 deep-hole projects, including the deepest drill-hole in the world. Located on the Kola peninsula near Scandinavia, this granddaddy hole is 19 years old and presently reaches a depth of 12.066 kilometers [7.497 miles]. The Soviets will soon resume drilling at Kola, aiming for a depth of 14 to 15 km [8.699 to 9.32 mi.] ..

"Kola revealed how far from truth scientific theory can roam. Before drilling, the Soviet scientists performed seismic profiles and found several clear reflectors. One of the strongest sets fell at a depth between 7.5 and 8.5 km[4.66 and 5.28 mi.], where there was a sharp contrast in the seismic velocity of the rocks above and below the reflectors. This contrast, found on all continents, is called the Conrad discontinuity, and it supposedly represents the boundary between the middle and lower portions of the crust.

"According to theory, the crust resembles a layer cake, with sedimentary rock layers on top, acidic granite-type rocks in the middle, and thick sheets of basaltic rocks on the bottom. Since no one had ever drilled through the Conrad discontinuity to test this idea, the Soviet scientists relished the possibility of piercing the deep basalt region.

"Yet when the drill actually reached a depth of 7.5 km (4.66 mi.], the scientists did not find basaltic rock. Even at the present depth of 12 km [7.456 mi.], the drill has not crossed into the region of layered basaltic rock. The Soviets now believe that if the basalt layers exist, they must lie much deeper.

"That leaves open a question: What do the strong 7.5-km [4.86 mi.]-deep reflectors represent? Although theories abound, nobody quite knows, according to Vernik. Drilling showed that the reflectors don't represent any physical structure, such as a fault or a boundary."—*Richard Monastersky, "Inner Space," in Science News, October 21, 1989, pp. 138. 267. [Italics ours.]

2 - HALOS IN THE GRANITE

HALOS IN THE GRANITE—In order to better understand a rock, you need to look at it through a microscope. In the late 1800s, scientists began studying rocks with microscopes in order to better understand their crystals and composition. Learning how to cut rocks into thin slices, they turned their microscopes on certain rocks, especially granite,—and found small colored concentric circles inside them. What made those small circles?

This was the beginning of a line of research that resulted in the astonishing discovery described in this study.

When cut exactly through the middle, there would be a small grain in the very center, along with one or more circles around it. (To avoid confusion, in this report we shall always name that central dot the "grain," although it is actually a radioactive particle.) But when sliced just above or below this central slice, the grain in the middle would be missing and the circles would be smaller. This slicing proved that these were not circles, but spherical shells, that were around each central grain. These circles (actually sections of spheres) were given the name "halos."

SAYING IT AGAIN—When thin, translucent slices of certain minerals were examined under high magnification, some of them were discovered to have tiny dots imbedded in them. Surrounding these dots were concentric, colored rings. Each set of rings was actually a section (a slice) through a series of spherical shells, similar to when you slice through the many concentric circles inside an onion. The rings encircled the tiny grain in the center. That central grain was itself an entirely different mineral than the rock it was in.

COLORED CIRCLES—Although very tiny, these halos could be seen because they were of darker and different colors than the background mineral they were etched upon. (Color variation in minerals is called pleochroic, and so, because of their colors and shape, they were initially named "pleochroic (PLAY-oh-crow-ik) halos," but scientists today generally call them "radio halos," for reasons soon to be explained.

It was obvious that the small grain in the center was probably the solution to the mystery of the halo, but what was it? Then, about the beginning of our century, uranium and other elements were discovered to be radioactive.

WHAT IS RADIOACTIVITY?—All matter is made of atoms. At the center of each atom is a nucleus. An oversimplification would be this: Flying around the nucleus are electrons with negative electrical charges. The nucleus itself is primarily made of protons (positively-charged units, about 2,000 times heavier than electrons), plus neutrons (same weight as the proton but electrically uncharged or neutral). Certain chemical elements (called radioactive elements) continually disintegrate and emit radiation from their nuclei. This radiation includes alpha, beta, and gamma rays, or particles.

(1)The alpha ray (alpha particle) is a small high-energy particle given off from the nuclei (cores) of radioactive atoms when they disintegrate. Each one has a positive charge and consists of two protons and two neutrons held together. Matter easily stops or absorbs most alpha rays. One or two sheets of paper will stop most alpha particles. (We will learn that beta particles are too weak to cause the radiohalos.)

(2) Beta rays (beta particles) are electrons from the nuclei of radioactive atoms as they disintegrate. Because of their high energy, beta particles can pass through solid matter several millimeters thick, or half an inch of wood. The energy of a beta particle is determined by the thickness of material it can penetrate. Some beta rays are ordinary negatively-charged electrons, but others are positive-charged ones, called positrons. (We will learn that it is the alpha particles which cause the radiohalos.)

(3) Gamma rays are the same as X-rays and have no charge. (Lacking a charge, they were found to have nothing to do with the halos.)

Halo coloration is first seen after 100 million alpha particles; it becomes darker after 500 million, and very dark after 1 billion.

"The reason why alpha particles develop halos, which electrons do not, is that heavy charged particles demonstrate a phenomenon known as the Bragg Peak, which is not demonstrated by light particles. The alpha particle is more than 7,000 times heavier than the electron, and has twice the electric charge of the opposite sign.

"This Bragg Peak results from a rapid loss of energy toward the end of the particle's path. Therefore, if a single alpha particle of sufficient energy were released at a point on the surface of a sheet of photographic film, a light linear smear with a dense spot toward the end of its path would be seen on the developed film. When several alpha particles are emitted in all directions from the same source, therefore, the dense spots form a ring. Hence the halos."—E. Theo Agard, Letter to the editors, Spectrum, April 1990, p. 45.

JOLY’S RESEARCH—In 1907, John Joly of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, began investigating these strange rock halos in granite. He found that the halos in the biotite (dark mica) were the easiest to work with. This was because the biotite could easily be split into thin slices,—and unless they were sliced he could not view them under a microscope.

By the time Joly began his work, scientists knew that uranium is the beginning (parent) of a long line, called a radioactive decay chain. Each of the successive daughter products is a member of that chain, and each of those members is called an isotope. .

WHAT IS THIS DECAY CHAIN?—As the U238 (uranium 238) begins to disintegrate it first ejects an alpha particle. But now, lacking that particle, that U-238 atom has become an atom of Th-234 (thorium 234). (Because the Th-234 came from the degeneration of U-238, scientists call it an "isotope" instead of an "atom;" it is an isotope of U-238.) That Th-234 isotope then loses a beta particle and becomes Pa-234 (protactinium 234). Thus, these radioactive atoms are capable of spontaneously changing, or decaying, to atoms of a different type.

Picture from page 120

  CLICK TO ENLARGE

There are many radioactive isotopes in nature, but only three are at the very top of decay chains: The first is uranium 238, the second is thorium 232, and the third is uranium 235. All three form sizable decay chains, each about the same length as the other. Each one begins with an alpha emission, and each ejects both alpha and beta particles at various points in the chain. For our study, the one beginning with uranium 238. is the most important. (The "238" means that this uranium atom has 238 protons and neutrons in its nucleus, and therefore it has an atomic weight of 238. It is one of three isotopes of uranium; the other two are 234 and 235. All isotopes of an element have nearly the same chemical behavior.)

Uranium 238 begins a radioactive decay chain that ends with lead 206, which is a stable end product with no more radioactivity. This U238 decay chain gradually emits billions and billions of eight different alpha particles and 6 different beta particles.

RADIOACTIVE ALPHA PARTICLES MAKE THE HALOS—Joly discovered that it was these emitted particles that were causing the halos in the granite) Some of the radioactive isotopes in the U-238 decay chain emit alpha particles and some send out beta particles, Joly discovered that it was only the alpha particles which were making the halos.

Inside a mineral, alpha particles lose their energy quite rapidly as they collide with other atoms. A single alpha particle will ionize about 100,000 atoms as it travels, leaving behind it a short damage trail which remains as a permanent scar in the rock. Certain laboratory techniques can make those fission tracks visible. Since these trails move outward from the central radioactive grain, only where the particles stop is the rock especially marked, for that is where they do the most damage. The result is a colored halo.

WHY DO THE BETA PARTICLES NOT LEAVE HALOS?—The beta particle is lighter in weight than the alpha particle. Because of its light weight, the beta particle is bumped by atoms it collides with and therefore makes a zigzag path. In addition, because the lighter-weight beta particle has more energy, it can go a greater distance than the alpha particle before it comes to rest. Therefore beta particles do not make halo marks since they bounce around and stop at different distances from the grain. In contrast, the alpha particles, which are so heavy that they plow straight ahead before stopping a certain distance away, make clear-cut stopping-place halos. Keep in mind that it is only because there are billions of alpha particles in the nucleus of each grain, that it can send out so many that they finally etch that small halo of stopping places.

THE DIAMETER OF THE HALO RINGS—Joly had to figure out whether the size of these halos matched the uranium decay chain. Did the distance that the particle-type had to travel, match the distance its halo was from the grain? A definite correlation here would prove that radioactive isotopes had caused those halos.

After painstaking research, Joly discovered that, within mica, the alpha particles travel only 1/2000 as far as in air. Careful calculations based on that fact proved that the halos were, indeed, from the grains of those various radioactive isotopes (uranium, thorium, polonium, etc.).

Picture from page 121.

A URANIUM 238 HALO—The picture shows a complete U-238 halo, as found in granite and similar substances:

 The diagram shows a uranium 238 grain at the center, with the many concentric rings a halve made by it and its daughter products. Each halo ring is identified by its isotope, and its alpha energy level is stated in MeV (million electron volts). Keep in mind that each of the rings comes only from the eight alpha particles in the complete chain as they were emitted; the beta particles make no halos. That is why there are only eight rings. (All eight of the rings may be hard to see, but there are eight of them there; the second inner ring is actually two rings very close together. In actual practice, only five rings are generally visible because some alpha energies are almost identical.)

THE HALF LIFE CLOCK—If all we had accomplished was to identify halo rings as coming from radioactive elements, it would not be worth writing this report. But there is a clock hidden in each granite halo! We can actually know without question how long it takes for the radioactive grain in the center to make each of those halos! It is all keyed to half-life.

WHAT IS A HALF LIFE?—Half-life is the time required for a radioactive substance to lose one half of its radioactivity. As an atom of U-238 gives off its billions of alpha and beta particles, it gradually decays (loses its radioactivity). At the end of a half life, one half of its radioactivity will be gone. At the end of another half life, another one-half will be gone. If that atom of U-238 originally had 1000 particles, it would only have 500 at the end of its first halt life. After the second half life, it would only have 250 remaining. Half-life and decay rate are closely related. Each radioactive substance takes a certain amount of time to lose half of its radioactivity. Isotopes that decay quickly have short half lives; those that decay more slowly have longer half lives. At the present time, U-238 is decaying very slowly with a half life of 4.5 billion years.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DECAY RATE —Because of this time factor, scientists at first became very interested in these tiny halos in granite. They assumed that those halos could help determine the age of the earth, and it was thought that, by studying these halos, they also might be able to learn whether the decay rate of radioactive substances has always been constant. So they were quite interested in Joly's discoveries and calculations about rock halos.

HENDERSON STUDIES THE HALOS—About 10 years after Joly stopped his halo studies, another researcher began working on a few of them. G.H. Henderson, a physicist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia studied them for ten years during the 1930s.

Joly had only worked with uranium and thorium halos. Henderson's research was primarily with uranium and thorium halos, but he also did some work with four other types of halos which he did not take time to identify. These four he called the A, B, C, and D halos.

GENTRY BECOMES INTERESTED—Time passed, and then about 20 years after Henderson stopped his research, a young man by the name of Robert V. Gentry, became interested in them again. It was the clocks found within the halos—the dating factor hidden in those tiny circles—that intrigued him. As they do with so many other students, his teachers at the university had gradually won over young Gentry to evolution. As an evolutionist, he wanted to find out whether the decay rates had always been constant. But Gentry was an honest man, and willing to go wherever the evidence led him.

Near the end of the 1962-1963 school year he asked for permission to do his doctoral research on the topic of the halos in granite. When asked why, he said that the studies might reveal something about the age of the earth. In reply, he was told to change his topic, but he persisted in his request. He was then sternly refused permission to study the subject, and the comment was made that if he discovered something which might upset the present datings of earth's prehistory, the university might get into trouble with the scientific community! And that they did not dare do.

Gentry gave the matter a lot of thought. He would have to change his topic or drop out of school. Since he was given a year to decide, he spent his savings on a trip to Nova Scotia to personally examine Henderson's research papers and his collection of halos, carefully sliced from the biotite (mica) of granite. Some of Henderson's halo slides and samples were still at the Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Returning later to the States, Gentry again requested Georgia Tech to let him do the halo research; and for the third time he was refused permission. So he dropped out of school and began studying the halos on his own.

We will not here detail Gentry's life story, nor all of his research and the immense controversy that it has since stirred up in the scientific world. But we will mention here that, after presenting a research paper at the American Geophysical Union in Washington D.C., Gentry was invited to join the faculty of Columbia Union College in Tacoma Park, Maryland. Soon he had a well-equipped laboratory to work in. Later, a scientist replied to one of his scientific papers by suggesting a line of research he ought to do.

In order to complete it, he obtained permission to work in the research section at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Moving there, he was able to use its multi-million dollar facilities for over a decade.

(You can read the entire story of Robert Gentry and his discoveries for yourself in his excellent book, Creation's Tiny Mystery, available from Earth Science Associates, Box 12067, Knoxville, TN 37912. You may wish to order a copy for yourself or a friend. The book is only $12.95, plus $2.00. for shipping and handling.)

In this present study we will briefly summarize some of the principal discoveries that Gentry made. He brought to light factual information regarding the foundation stones of our planet—that shakes the foundation stones of evolution to pieces!

Unfortunately, those who believe that this world has been here for millions of years inevitably find themselves opposed to Gentry's research. Not being able to refute his findings, they fervently wish he would pack his evidence and forever depart.

THE D HALOS FIRST—As you will recall, although Henderson in the 1930s focused his work on uranium halos in granite, he also, without trying to identify them, did some work on what he called the "A, B, C, and D halos."

When Gentry began his halo research, he initially focused on the D halos, since they had the smallest diameter from the grain to the outermost circle.

Studying the halos in granite, Henderson had found five types: U-238 halos, and what he called A, B, C, and D halos. In his research papers, Henderson suggested that the D halo might be radium 226 (Rio-226). Since radium has a half life of only 1600 years, Henderson thought that the Ra-226 ought to be radioactively extinct. Carefully examining it, Gentry found that the D halo was not significant. It was only partially-decayed U-238. Upon careful examination he discovered that the grain of radium 226 in the center of the D halo was not extinct. It was still emitting radiation. Later experiments by Gentry revealed that the D halos were caused by incomplete uranium radioactivity. Then he discovered that the A, B, and C halos were not the result of uranium decay, that is, not daughter products of a U-238 chain! This was a major discovery.

HOW IS THE GRAIN AND ITS HALOS TESTED FOR EXTINCTION?—When the radioactive grain in the center of the halo stops emitting radiation, then that particular halo unit is extinct. All of its half lives are finished and there is no more radiation being emitted. The grain has changed to lead 206 (Pb-206).

Although millions of alpha and beta particles are emitted by each grain, the grain itself is small enough that it only emits a few at a time. The number it emits over a given time is in relation to the length of its half life. If it has a long half life, it will give off radiation more slowly, if it has a short half life, it will emit its radiation more rapidly.

Auto-radiography was the only technique in the early 1960s which could test the central grains and their halos for radioactivity. In order to make an auto-radiograph, a special photographic emulsion had to be poured over the exposed flat surface of mineral containing the grain and its halo. The grain specimen must be on or very close to the surface of that split mica section. The specimens that Gentry selected sometimes had an assortment of uranium, A, B, C, and/or D halos. 

Because it would take several weeks for the emulsion to be properly exposed, the emulsion-covered halos were placed in a refrigerator to insure that the film was not exposed by light, thus fading out the trails, during that time. 

When later developed, an alpha particle from the grain would show as a small trail across the emulsion. In the normal course of emitting alpha particles from the central grain, about half of the alpha particles would go downward into the mica; these would not be photographed. Another halt would go upward above the sliced section of material; these would produce marks on the special photographic emulsion as short black trails of ionized atoms. Later viewed under a microscope, such trails would clearly be seen on the photograph. If these tell-tale trails did appear, it would be known that that grain was still radioactive and not extinct.

THE A, B, AND C HALOS—In all his work with the D halos, Gentry had had no success. Nothing definite had been learned and he might have given up. But then he turned from the D halo to the A, B, and C halos. At first, he had not been interested in them for the simple reason that they seemed to have no activity. Whenever he had taken auto-radiographs of the uranium halos or the D halos, he obtained clear-cut dark trails made by their alpha particles. But the A, B, and C halos were a complete dud. They never made any trails. Then he finally recognized the truth of the situation: the A, B, and C halos were totally extinct! Timewise, they had totally ended all their half-lives. They had once been radioactive, but had already turned into the end product, lead (Pb-206).

At this point, Robert Gentry was on the verge of making the discovery that would topple all the theories of stellar and planetary evolution proposed by modern evolutionists. But it would take the exhaustive work of many more years before he would have sewn up every loophole of possible question.

EXTINCT - AND IDENTIFIED—Gentry's first discovery was that the A, B, and C halos were already extinct. They obviously had much shorter half lives than many radioactive elements. But, if those halos had been formed in isolation apart from longer half-life elements,—the granite they were imbedded in could not have become rock-hard solid any longer than the time it would take for the A, B, and C particles to form their halos. This was highly significant. Because all their half lives were already fully completed, the time required for their host granite to form into solidity could not be older than the entire decay cycle of those halos! But more: As we shall learn shortly, because these halos are found by the trillions upon trillions in granite and related rocks all over the world, the message they bring to us is a very important one. Granite all over the world may have formed into its present solid form much quickly than evolution teaches it has.

After careful observations over a period of time, Gentry identified Henderson's mysterious A, B, and C halos. The A halo was polonium 210 (Po210); the B halo was polonium 214 (Po-214); the C halo was polonium 218 (Po-218).

HOW WERE THESE HALOS IDENTIFIED?—Very carefully, Gentry measured the distances from each of the rings to the grain in the middle. Using known radioactive information, he was able to positively identify each of the three types of radiohalos. In doing this measuring he had only the alpha emissions to work with, for beta particles make no rings.

ISOTOPES OF POLONIUM—There are three isotopes of the element polonium in these granite halos. These are Po-210, Po-214, and Po218. These isotopes do occur in the uranium decay chain, but this would not mean that they were decay products of uranium. They might have originated with primordial (original) polonium itself. This would be a halo that began with polonium, and never had any parent above it, such as uranium.

WERE THEY PRIMARY HALOS?—Checking back on Henderson's papers, Gentry found that Henderson had also written a tentative conclusion on this. Seeing that they were extinct, Henderson was at first puzzled, but then decided that these halos had to be secondary halos—just the result of some uranium that had somehow gotten into granite,—rather than primary halos, that is, made directly by radioactive polonium grains apart from any uranium.

HENDERSON'S THEORY— Henderson assumed that these halos would have had to be caused by uranium,—for if they were not caused by it, their presence in the granite would topple the entire framework of evolutionary speculation as to the origins of the earth.

Henderson theorized that these three halo types (A halo - Po-210, B halo - Po-214, and C halo - Po-218) were caused by a very small flow of uranium through tiny cracks in the rocks. As the uranium traveled along—and decayed as it went—it would gradually produce the halos of various daughter products able to make halos.

WHAT U-238 DECAY PRODUCTS MAKE HALOS? —Carefully analyze again the "Uranium 238 Decay Chain" that we printed earlier in this study. Only those radioactive substances which emit an alpha particle will produce a halo. Checking that chart, we find that only eight of the fifteen in the chain emit alpha particles. These eight are as follows: U-238, U-234, Th-230, Ra-226, Rn-222, Po-218, Po-214, and Po-210.

HE DID NOT HAVE TIME TO ANALYZE THEM—Henderson admitted that he had not had time to carefully check out the A, B, and C halos, but thought that they must be of secondary origin. He said that the halos were not primary but secondary; they did not come from the polonium, but from something farther up the chain of decay. Because that other radioactive substance would have had a much longer half life, its presence would salvage the evolutionary view of long ages back to the beginning of our planet.

But at the last, Henderson was still not certain. In his notes he admitted he had not researched out whether or not the polonium halos were primary or secondary in origin, and he suggested that this secondary origin hypothesis still needed to be checked out. He intended to do so himself, but, being diverted by a war production assignment at the onset of the Second World War, he died shortly afterwards.

HENDERSON INCORRECT—Meticulous investigation by Gentry was to reveal that all of the polonium halos (the A, B, and C halos in the rocks) were primary and not secondary. Fortunately, Gentry was soon to have available to him certain techniques that were not developed until after Henderson's time. There are substances which can be placed on the surface of the rock sample, which will make visible all previous damage trails left by any passing radioactive substance in earlier ages. These laboratory checks revealed no uranium anywhere near many of these polonium halos.

With the passing of time, it was to be totally established by Gentry that these polonium halos were not caused by contamination from uranium solutions leaking through tiny cracks, cleavages or conduits in the mica. They were primary polonium halos, not secondary ones! Advanced research techniques disclosed that, although some of the halos were contaminated by uranium or above-polonium decay products, the larger number stood clear and free of contamination.

In summary, then, careful laboratory examination revealed that, most of the time, (1) the halos were isolated by themselves, (2) there were no other uranium halos nearby, (3) there was no evidence of contamination from uranium flows, which would have left telltale damage trails behind, and (4) the halos were themselves in areas totally free of tiny cracks, cleavages, or conduits in the mica. As mentioned earlier, granite is one of the most solid substances in nature, which naturally tends to be freer from cracks than many other rocks.

PROBLEM WITH THE A AND B HALOS—Those A, B, and C halos that were clear and free of contamination were closed-system time clocks, and the clocks had entirely run down, so that their time span (the time during which their halos formed) should be able to be known.

But, of the A.B, and C halos, even though the polonium halos were but rarely caused by flow contamination, there was the possibility that the A and B halos were not always the products of only Po-210 and Po-214. The reason for this was that, just above Po-210 and Po-214 on the decay chain, are other isotopes which had kicked out invisible beta particles. Therefore, Gentry could not be certain that the half lives of Po-210 and Po-214 were the clocks governing the A and B halos.

WHY ARE THE PO-210 AND PO-214 HALOS NOT AS RELIABLE AS THE PO-218? —Once again, let us turn to the chart of the Uranium 238 Decay Chain, which is to be found earlier in this study.

As you examine it, you will notice this: (1) There are 14 radioactive isotopes, plus a 15th, which is lead 206 (Pb-206). (2) Eight of these isotopes emit an alpha particle. These eight are U-238, U-234, Th-230, Ra-226, Rn-222, and the A, B, and C halos: Po-218, Po-214, and Po-210. (3) Only these eight can produce halos. (4) The other six isotopes only emit beta particles and therefore do not by themselves make halos. These six are Th-234, Pa-234, Pb-214, Bi-214, Pb-210, and Bi-210. (The last one, Pb-206 is end-of-the-line lead, which is a stable element. It, of course, produces no radiation or halos.)

Po-214 and Po-210 each have two beta-emitting isotopes above them in the chain. Those beta isotopes could invisibly lengthen the clocks found within the Po214 and Po-210 halos.

PROBLEMS FROM NON-HALO ISOTOPES—Although the six beta-emitting isotopes do not make halos, they could affect the time clocks of certain halos. Only an alpha-emitting isotope in the uranium chain which immediately follows another alpha-emitting isotope—can have its half life and decay rate clearly identified. Therefore only the C halo could be used for clock purposes.

WHY ARE THE A AND B HALOS NOT AS USEFUL —There is a more detailed explanation: Looking at the Uranium 238 Decay Chain chart, you will notice that polonium 210 (Po-210; the A halo) gives off a halo-making alpha particle. Just above it on the chain is bismuth 210 (BI-21 0) which gives off a non-halo making beta particle. Just above the Bi-210 is beta-emitting lead 210 (Pb-210). When we see an A halo, it could have been caused by (1) Po-210, but it could also have been caused by (2) Bi-210 and Po-210, or it could have been caused by (3) Pb-210, Bi-210, and Po-210. Because the Pb-210 and Bi-210 produce no halos, the grain in the middle may originally have been polonium 210, or it may have been Bismuth 210, or even lead 210. We cannot tell. Only the third of these, the polonium 210 will make halos, but either of the three isotopes may have been the original grain. Therefore we cannot with certainty date an extinct Po-210 from our knowledge of Its halt life, for the half lives of one or both of the other isotopes may be included.

When we examine the B halo (Po-214), we find the same problem. There are two beta-emitting isotopes just above it (Bi-214 and Pb-214).

But when we examine the C halo (Po-218), WE FIND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR! Polonium 218, the "C halo," is the answer. (1) Like the A and B halos, it has a very short half life. (2) Like the A and B halos, it is already extinct. All of its radioactivity is gone, therefore we can know the halo clock has stopped at a certain time setting. (3) Unlike the A and B halos, it has no beta-producing isotopes just before it (the Rn-222 that precedes it is an alpha-emitting isotope), therefore we can mathematically determine the beginning and extent of its clock of half lives.

DIAGRAMS OF THE A, B, AND C HALOS—Earlier in this report there was a diagram of a complete set of uranium 238 halos. It would be well, at this point, to view the complete set of halo rings for Po-210 (A halo), Po-214 (B halo), and Po-218 (C halo),—and at the same time learn the time clock of their half lives:

On the next two pages will be found illustrations of all three halos. The first is a Polonium 210 halo, the second is a Polonium 214 halo, and the third is a Polonium 218 halo.

In the discussion of each of the three halos, given in the next three paragraphs, you will frequently want to consult those diagrams.

EXPLANATION OF THE PO-210 HALO—Comparing this diagram with the diagram of the Uranium 238 Decay Chain, we learn that polonium 210 (Po-210) goes directly into lead 206, therefore it only makes one ring or halo. The half life of Po-210 is 138.4 days, which is very short! Just above it, in the chain, is bismuth 210 (Bi-210) and lead 210 (Pb-210). Bismuth 210 has a half life of 5 days, but lead 210, which is the highest possible factor involved in this halo, has a half life of 22 years, which is also quite short. Only one halo is produced (that of Po-210), but we cannot know for a certainty whether this visible halo includes only Po-210, or also BI-210, and possibly Pb-210 as well.

EXPLANATION OF THE PO-214 HALO—Polonium 214 (Po-214) results in two rings, first the Po-214 ring which is the outer one, then later, after changing first into Pb-210 and then into Bi-210, it becomes Po-210, which then sends forth another visible ring, which is the inner one. Having set forth the Po-210 particles, the final change into Pb-206 occurs, and total decay is achieved. But Po-214 may have started this halo series, or it may have been Pb-214 or BI-214. Bismuth 214 has a half life of 18.8 minutes, the half life of Pb-214 is 26.8 minutes and the half life of PO-214 is only 164 microseconds!

Pictures from page 126

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It is very possible that some of the halos observed in the granite originate with Po-214. This would mean that that granite was formed in less than 164 microseconds. But there is no way of proving this.

EXPLANATION OF THE PO-218 HALO—Gentry found Polonium 218 (Po-218) to be the KEY isotope in the entire uranium 238 decay chain! Portrayed in the diagram below, we see the small grain of Po-218 in the middle, and three outer rings. These rings are as follows: The first one to be formed is the middle ring, the Po-218 ring. The second halo to be etched on the mica is the outermost ring of Po-214. The third ring to be marked is the innermost halo, which was etched by Po-210.

The half life of Po-218 is only three minutes!

Involved in this set of halos were four beta particle radiations—from Pb-214, Bi-214, Pb-210, and Bi-210. But they do not in any way affect the timing of the rings, since they themselves do not produce rings.

3 - POLONIUM 218 HALO

POLONIUM 218 THE KEY—Only in polonium 218 can we know the beginning and ending and thus exact time cycle—of a very short radioactive isotope! Because of this, in every instance in which we can find the polonium 218 halo system clearly isolated from other higher-chain isotopes, we can point to it and say, "The rock in which this halo structure is etched—was brought into existence in less than three minutes!"

Since the polonium halo is formed within three minutes, all the polonium in the central grain would have run through its full thirty-minute lifespan long before the rocks could have hardened!

The granite had to be already solid before that Po-218 halo could form on its surface. And the halo is clearly formed by the end of the first Po-218 half life, which is three minutes.

Pictures from pages 127-128

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WHY CAN WE BE CERTAIN OF THIS THREE MINUTE LIMIT?—Neither traces of uranium 238, nor any of its daughter products above polonium 218, are located near most of those polonium 218 halos found in granite. The original grain in the center of the Po-218 halo cross section is polonium 218 and only polonium 218. As soon as it began to emit its particles, it shot them out very rapidly. Three minutes later, it had completed its half life. Within that period of time, one-half of all the polonium 218 alpha particles had been radiated outward. This amounted to billions and billions of particle emissions. But one-half of all of them were completed within just three minutes. Here are three startling facts: (1) During the time of that first half life, the Po-218 halo was clearly formed,—etched in granite. (2) After that first three minutes, the second half life of three minutes occurred. So in six minutes, three fourths of all the P-218 alpha particles had been radiated into that Po-218 halo. (3) When were all those three-minute half lives completed? In about 30 minutes.

It is important to keep in mind that the halo can only be etched inside a solid rock—never inside a molten rock. No marks of a halo can be made on magma or lava. The granite would have had to be solid in order for the Po-218 halo to be etched onto it.

WHEN DOES ONE ISOTOPE CHANGE INTO THE NEXT?—At what point did the Po-218 change into the next lower isotope on the radioactive chain, which is lead 214? The changeover occurs gradually. As the grain of Po-218 sends out an alpha particle of Po-218, the emitting part of the grain became lead 214. As an other particle is shot out, another part of the grain changes from Po-218 to Pb-214.

WHY ARE NOT ALL THE HALOS A CERTAIN DISTANCE FROM THE CENTER?—Looking again at the Po-218 halo diagram, we ask: Why did the Po-218 alpha particles go out farther than the later Po-210 particles? And why did the Po-214 particles go the farthest from the grain in the center?

Here is the answer: Look again at the diagram of the Po-218 cross section. The Po-218 halo is formed by Po-218 alpha particles, each of which has an energy level of 6.00 MeV (million electron volts). The Po-218 halo particles (each with 6.00 MeV of energy) were just strong enough that each particle could travel only a certain distance before stopping and etching itself into the mica. That is what formed that PO-218 halo. Later, the Po-214 alpha particles shot out with an energy level of 7.69 MeV, which is higher than 6.00 MeV, 8o they traveled out the farthest before stopping and marking their halo. Finally the weaker Po-210 grain sent out its 5.30 MeV alpha particles, and they did not go very far.

HOW CAN WE BE CERTAIN THAT THE PO-218 HALO IS NOT CONTAMINATED?—Since all of the halos—including those of Po-218 —are to be found in the uranium 238 cross section, diagrammed earlier in this study, how can we be certain that it was not uranium 238 or another of the higher-chain isotopes that made these Po-218 halos? We can know with certainty that neither uranium, nor another isotope higher in the radioactive chain, made them because no halos above Po-21 8 are to be found in these special Po-218 halo systems! Only Po-218 and its daughter products (Po-214 and Po-210) have their halos etched there. So the polonium halos in mica are not of secondary origin.

There is yet another way that secondary halos could be formed: from passing streams of uranium solutions. But later in this study we will learn that a technique (alpha-recoil) was used which proved that all of the polonium halos (Po-218, Po-214, and Po-210) in granite were of primary origin, for they were free of contaminating secondary origin.

A "secondary polonium halo" would be a halo caused by a grain of polonium "of secondary origin." Secondary polonium would be a daughter product of the U-238 chain. We can know that this particular grain of polonium is secondary because (1) it will have all the parent halos encircling the polonium halos. These parent halos would be: U-238, U-234, Th-230, Ra-226, and Rn-222; or (2) there will be obvious evidence that the polonium came from a radioactive flow of materials through a crack in the rock. But in this case, special tests can identify marks from that contaminating flow. More on this later in this chapter.

A "primary polonium halo" would be a halo caused by a grain of polonium "of primary origin." Primary polonium 218 would have been in that rock when it originally became solid. We can know that this particular grain of Po-218 is primary because (1) there are no parent halos encircling its halo, and (2) tests reveal that no contaminating flow of radioactive fluids could have caused that Po-218 halo.

Because of the extremely short half life of Po-218, it could not etch its halo on the rock before the rock was solid—because no halo marks would appear on molten rock. Nor could it do it after the rock became solid—because the Po-218 was there originally and did not slide into place afterward. This is a tighter schedule than the "chicken and the egg" problem, for all primary polonium 218—and all the rocks they are found in—had to originate at the same time; not one after the other!

POLONIUM 218 AN ORIGINAL ISOTOPE—Evolutionary scientists consider it impossible for polonium 218 to be the originator of a halo complex. They tell us that it violates one of their cherished speculations, which is this: They theorize that, originally, only uranium existed. Gradually it disintegrated into thorium, radium, and all the rest, including polonium, and finally ending in lead. The evolutionists say that billions of years ago, when the earth was a molten mass of liquid rock, only uranium 238 was present; none of is daughter products.

But if that theory were true, then, because uranium 238 has a half life of 4.5 billion years, throughout the world all of the uranium 238 chain would be in equilibrium today. Whereas, we find ALL the isotopes in the chain that are not extinct (uranium 238, Thorium 234, etc.), plus lead.

It is an assumption that ONLY uranium 238 was present in the beginning. Just an assumption and that is all.

In contrast there IS proof that trillions of grains of polonium 218, Po-214, and PO-210 in granite rocks did NOT originate with uranium or with any radioactive substance above that of polonium 218.

First, no halos from any radioactive substance higher in the chain than polonium 218 is to be found in those halos. The halos themselves speak to us, telling us their story. Second, a newly-discovered technique (alpha-recoil) was to prove that those Po-218 radiohalos were primary and not secondary.

BUT CAN WE BE CERTAIN OF THOSE HALO IDENTIFICATIONS?—Yes we can, because it is just a matter of simple measurement, if you have the proper equipment with which to measure the halos. The numbers of halos encircling the central grain, and the distance each one is from the center—identifies the originating grain. (But that, of course, must be within the limits that we discussed earlier. An originating isotope can only be identified with certainty if (1) it emits alpha particles, and (2) it is immediately preceded by another alpha particle-emitting isotope, which is the case with Po-218.)

HALF LIFE AND DECAY RATE—Half life and decay rate of a radioactive isotope are closely related. And they can reveal to us a span of time when something happened in the distant past. In the above diagrams, we have seen the half lives of the A, B, and C halos.

The existence of polonium 218 halos reveals that the granite of our earth—which is the major foundation rock under all the continents of our planet—all came into existence in a solid form in less than three minutest

BUT HOW CAN A FEW PO-218 HALOS PROVE THAT?—They can, because there are trillions upon trillions upon trillions of polonium 218 halos scattered throughout all the granite of our globe! "Trillions and trillions of them?" Yes, trillions and trillions of them. Even one original Po-218 halo would be of massive importance, if a researcher happened to discover it and recognize its implications. But there are vast quantities of them all about us! Nearly everywhere you go, those halos are somewhere beneath your feet. For they are in all the granite in the world! They time-date all that granite!

In two places in his book, Gentry gives a glimpse of the frequency with which such radioactive halos appear in the basement rocks, such as granite.

Here is the first quotation:

[Speaking of the Po-21 8, Po-214, and Po-21 0 halo complex:] "Polonium radio-haloes occur widely and not infrequently (total about 10¹⁵ to 10²⁰) in Precambrian rocks."—Robert Gentry, Creation's Tiny Mystery, p. 49.

Using the halo counts he had been able to make in many samples, and then comparing them with known scientific estimates of the amount of basement granitic rocks in the world, Gentry arrived at a figure of 10 with 15 to 20 zeros after it. That is one octillion halos! Here it is written out:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Here is the second quotation:

". . Po-218 halo (some of my natural specimens contain more than 10⁴, of Po halos/cm³): "—Creation's Tiny Mystery, p. 65.

TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS OF HALOS —Thus we find that there are great quantities of polonium halos in even a rather small amount of rocks. In addition, we now know that the granite goes down many miles below us!

Gentry made careful centimetric counts in portions of his samples, and then extrapolated upward in order to arrive at estimates for those entire small samples. He found that some of his samples had over 10,000 Po-218 halos in them. Imagine a sample of granite in your hand, with a total mass about that of a golf ball. And yet it may have over 10,000 Po-218 halos in it! How many are there in all the granite in the world?

You can quickly see that these halos are no little matter! They may be small, but they are found so frequently in the foundation rocks of our planet that the time-dating they reveal is of the utmost importance.

"This would imply that in some instances only a few seconds elapsed before the radioactivity responsible for certain anomalous halos became extinct. Yet if this extinct radioactivity existed for only a few seconds, how did it get buried in the crustal rocks? This is impossible according to some theories of the origin of the earth. "—Robert Gentry, "Cosmology and Earth's Invisible Realm,"

in Medical Opinion and Review, October 1987, pp. 78.

"My challenge to this [evolutionary] view hinges on the simple fact that I claim the various types of polonium haloes that exist in these Precambrian granites initiated from primordial rather than secondary Po radioactivity, and that these primordial Po haloes constitute prima facie evidence of virtually instantaneous creation of these rocks.

"Likewise, unless the creation of the radioactivity and rocks were simultaneous there would be no picture—no [polonium] halos. Further, by virtue of the very short half-life, the radioactivity and the formation of the rocks must be almost instantaneous."—Robert Gentry, Op. cit., p. 65.

AN UNDERLYING PROBLEM—A basic reason evolutionary scientists cannot accept such new light, is because of their devotion to what they call "the uniformitarian principle." But it is a theory, not a principle. This concept teaches that everything in the past has happened in the same way at the same rate as it does today. Yet this is only an assumption.

It is only a hypothesis that present rates of accumulation, decomposition and erosion have never changed throughout all past time.

Dripstone (stalactites) hang from a tunnel in London which was not used from 1941 to 1974. In 33 years, those stalactites had started their growth and were already over 24 inches in length. There they hang in that tunnel like long pointed swords, but they cannot really be there because the uniformitarian principle teaches that stalactites just do not form that rapidly. Theory is nice, but it ought to square with the facts. (More on this in chapter 6, Age of the Earth.)

There is no room in the "uniformitarian principle" for an instantaneous creation of granite. Therefore the scientists cannot accept it. Yet, whether they like it or not, the facts are there proving that it happened. As with the stalactites, the formation time span of the Po-218 halos is known.

Obviously, the polonium 218 halos shatter many other evolutionary theories as well.

There is no possible way for the universe to have evolved from an explosion of nothing into everything as the evolutionists now teach, and for all the long ages of earth's pre-history to have occurred,—if all the granite was formed almost instantly not long ago. The billions of years thought necessary for the earth to evolve from a nebulous mass simply evaporate when confronted by such evidence.

GENTRY RECLASSIFIES GRANITE—After carefully studying the Po-218 halos for a time, Robert Gentry recognized that granite did not belong in the category in which geologists had placed it. They said it was an igneous rock, and that it had hardened out of hot magma—liquid rock. But if the granite had originated from molten rock, it could not have formed those polonium halos, and they would not be there—by the millions—for us to see today.

Since the polonium halo is formed within three minutes, all the polonium in the central grain would have run through its full thirty-minute lifespan long before the rocks could have hardened!

The granite had to be already solid before that Po-218 halo could form on its surface. And the halo is clearly formed by the end of the first Po-218 half life, which is three minutes.

So Gentry reclassified the granites as "primordial rocks" or "Genesis rocks. " He had three reasons for doing this: (1) Granite has large numbers of those polonium 218-halos. (2) Granite is the foundation or basement rock undergirding all the continents of our globe. (3) Granite is devoid of fossils.

Fossils are the remains of the plants and animals that suddenly died at the time of the Flood that covered the earth. (It is described in Genesis, chapters 6 to 9.) We find such fossils in sedimentary rock strata, which was made when wet materials containing pebbles, clay, sand, and gravel were laid down and pressed together.

Granite stands out as different in several ways. One is that it is not a sedimentary rock; it was not pressed into shape at the time of the Flood. Another is that there are no fossils in the granite. Granite has no fossils because it was SOLID before the Flood occurred. In contrast, the sedimentary rocks have fossils because they were laid down by that Flood.

(Keep in mind that although the true granites have no fossils, geologists sometimes use the term "granite" loosely to include certain non-granitic rocks,—and some of them at times have fossils.) The true granites are coarsely crystalline rocks with an intermingling of the light-colored minerals quartz and feldspar, plus smaller amounts of biotite (mica) and hornblende. Fossils are never found in that type of rock.

ARE THERE OTHER "GENESIS ROCKS?"—To define our terms, by "Genesis rock," we mean a rock that was in solid form at the time our planet first came into existence. Granite was one of those rocks. But there are others. The Genesis rocks are the ones which have a coarse crystalline structure: This would primarily include granite, gabbro, diorite, and granite porphyry.

4 - SECONDARY HALOS

WHAT ABOUT THE MOLTEN ROCK IN THE EARTH?—Underneath the continents we find what geologists call the "continental mass of granite." As a result of the Flood a lot of sedimentary rock was pressed into shape. Beneath the enormous quantity of light-colored granite which is the foundation rock of our continents, there is molten rock (called magma). Occasionally some of that molten rock comes to the surface (through volcanic vents) and then hardens into rock. Sometimes the outflow is light-colored (from melted granite) and when this lava hardens it becomes rhyolite, with tiny crystals, instead of the large, coarse ones found in granite. But most of the time this magma hardens into very dark rock—much darker than granite. In fact it is almost black. Commonly called lava, it is actually basalt. Basalt comes from melted gabbro.

Like granite, gabbro is also a Genesis rock (a rock which was made solid and did rot come from molten rock). It also has large crystals, but, unlike granite, it is almost black. When gabbro is melted into lava and then hardened again into rock—it becomes a different rock. Like other Genesis rocks, once gabbro has been melted and rehardened, it never reforms itself into the large crystals that it originally had. Instead, it becomes a different rock with fine (very small) crystals; it becomes basalt.

It is an interesting fact that scientists cannot make Genesis rocks, such as granite and gabbro! When they try to do so, they only produce very fine (small) grained rocks, such as rhyolite or basalt, which, because they are so different, also have different names. The molten lava—or magma—down deep in the earth is a liquid form of the Genesis rock, gabbro, which lies closer to the surface.

CAN PO-218 HALOS BE MADE IN THE LABORATORY?—This is something else that man cannot do. All that would be required would be to carefully lay a grain of polonium 218 on a rock and let it form a halo. And the halo would be formed in only three minutes time. But no one has been able to do it. The problem is that polonium is one of the most mobile and unconfinable of the radioactive elements. You cannot put it in one place and keep it there.

This greatly increases the mystery of those polonium halos in granite. How did they get into that solid rock? As uranium gradually disintegrates, it slowly breaks down into daughter products. But polonium halos are often found in granite by themselves,—so how did they get there? There is no possible way that that polonium could be tied down long enough for a three-minute halo to develop!

Chart from page 128

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(1) If polonium by itself could get into solid granite, by the time it had entered that rock, the first three minutes would be long gone. Imagine polonium penetrating solid granite, and then penetrating solid mica and other crystals within that granite—and doing it all almost instantaneously? (If it did not do it almost instantaneously, the halo could not be formed properly, for too much of the alpha particles would be gone within even a minute and a half.)

(2) If a higher-chain radioactive isotope entered the granite, and then later turned into Po-21 8, which would then make Po-218 halos,—the halos of the parent isotopes) would be there along with the Po-218 halos!

It is all part of the mystery. Just as man cannot create life in the smallest bug or blade of dried grass, so he cannot make granite or produce polonium halos. It just cannot be done.

THE CRUCIAL QUESTION: SECONDARY ORIGIN—How did the polonium get into the granite so that it could make that halo. Here is the problem. The polonium 218 could only have entered the granite in one of four ways:

(1) It could have entered the granite by itself. The resultant Po-218 halo, made within three minutes, would be of primary origin.

The problem here is that it could not enter the granite rapidly enough to etch that rapidly formed halo inside the rock.

(2) A polonium 218 halo could have been in that rock from the beginning,—when that rock was first brought into existence. Then the Po218 halo would be primary.

The problem here would be that the rock had to be solid when the Po-218 grain was first within it! And that fact would knock down the theoretical house of cards that evolutionary science has erected.

(3) A uranium 238 isotope could have already been in that rock, or entered it. After all the parent halos were made, eventually the Po-218 halo would be made. That Po-218 halo would be of secondary origin.

The problem here would be that the parent isotopes would then have had to leave their circular halos—right beside the later-made Po218 halo.

(4) If a parent isotope were traveling along, it might send out a Po-218 halo as it went through the rock. Then the Po-218 halo would be secondary.

The problem here is two-fold: [7] There would be parent halos nearby, since the Po218 halo is made within three minutes. [2] the alpha-recoil technique (discussed below) proves that no parent isotopes passed near the Po-218 halo—even if it had ages to make the Po-218 halos [3] Because we are talking about very solid rock, the parent isotope could not pass through the solid mica quickly enough to produce three-minute halos—and get away fast enough and not be seen by other tell-tale halos before or after.

The great mystery is that we find such large numbers of the Po-218 halos entirely by themselves! We find some in concentric circles with uranium halos, but we also find them totally isolated. It is those isolated Po-218 halos that date the host rock as having been totally solidified in less than three minutes time. And there are trillions and trillions of such isolated Po-218 halos in granite.

GENTRY DECIDES TO FIND SECONDARY ORIGIN HALOS—As Robert Gentry did his research on the polonium halos, he wrote article after article, which was submitted to and published in scientific journals. Reading these articles, some scientists became very emotional. Complaining that his researched observations of Po-218 would topple all the carefully-erected theories cherished by evolution, they wrote replies attempting to disprove the significance of the Po-218 halo.

Their objections generally took one of two forms: (1) Yes, it is a mystery at the present time, but eventually it will somehow be shown to exactly fit evolutionary theory. (2) In spite of the fact that the Po-218 halos obviously were isolated and of primary origin, they are really of secondary origin. Gentry is somehow incorrect, although we cannot explain exactly how.

But in spite of all the opposition, there the Po-218 halos were—free and clear and distant from all other radioactive halos, pointing us to Creation and repudiating evolutionary theory. Those halos were original, not secondary. They could not be the eventual result of a parent isotope. Those Po-218 halos were IN THAT ROCK when it was first brought into existence!

Gentry answered this "secondary origin" objection in two ways. First, he carefully tested the isolated Po-218 halos with the "alpha-recoil" technique. Second, he went out and located actual secondary polonium halos—and in the process made still more valuable discoveries.

We will first look at the "alpha-recoil" technique, and then we will follow him in his search for clear-cut secondary polonium halos.

THE ALPHA-RECOIL TECHNIQUE—This is the advanced laboratory analysis technique which clearly established that those isolated Po-218 halos had NEVER at any earlier time been contaminated by a solution of uranium 238 or other parent isotopes.

WHAT IS ALPHA-RECOIL?—In order to more accurately test whether polonium halos were of secondary origin, Gentry recognized that he needed to use a method that could show whether a uranium solution had ever passed through a given specimen of mica. This technique would have to be able to show the minutest amount of damage from the uranium in those solutions. It would not matter when in the past it might have occurred, the damage would still be there. What was needed was a method that could make that damage visible.

A newly-discovered technique made this analysis possible. It is the alpha-recoil technique. When an atom decays by alpha emission, as the alpha particle shoots out, there is a small amount of recoil by the atom (just as when a bullet fires, the gun rebounds in the other direction). The recoil of the atom leaves a small damage pit, for the nucleus of the atom has bumped into the mica. By etching the atom with a special acid, these tiny pits are enlarged sufficiently to be seen under a high-power microscope.

The critics of Gentry claimed that the polonium radiohalos came from passing uranium atoms. But any uranium solution traveling through the mica, which might have supplied radioactivity for polonium halos in that mica, would also have had to leave very distinct additional damage pits behind, which could later be seen by the alpha-recoil technique. (We say "very distinct," because all mica specimens have a slight background density of some damage pits.) The mica specimens, containing polonium halos caused by passing uranium isotopes, would have a higher damage-pit density than the adjacent areas which are devoid of polonium halos.

Gentry conducted a lengthy series of experiments that spanned many months. There was no doubt. When flowing uranium solutions caused halos, they always left additional damage pits. But those polonium halos which were isolated had no damage pits around them.

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM FLUORITE —Gentry not only found isolated polonium 218 halos in mica, he also found them in fluorite. Fluorite sometimes occurs along with mica in the so-called "granitic pegmatites." These are regions within granites where crystals can be quite large. Sometimes these crystals are several feet in length.

Gentry found that Po-218 halos are common within fluorite also,—and that they are virtually identical to the Po-218 halos in mica. Sometimes these halos occur near the edge of the fluorite, and sometimes deep within it—far from any mineral edges or defects.

Polonium 218 halos in fluorite in defect-free regions are very significant, because this mineral does not have the perfect cleavage property of mica. Since no cleavages exist, there could be no possible way for uranium solutions to flow into it and cause those Po-218 halos.

The isolated Po-218 halos in mica were found to be primary because the alpha-recoil technique proved that no uranium had ever been near them. The isolated Po-218 halos in fluorite were primary because there was no way the uranium could possibly get to them.