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Ocean Currents and a New Ice Age theologically driven as scientific, he puts forth a well- Although distinct ocean currents have been known about researched and plausible explanation of the effects that a for some time, scientists have recently determined that ocean comet "near miss" would have on the Earth's climate.* He currents play a crucial role in climate and weather. New also discusses motives and beliefs—almost a creationist's research has shown that shallow, warm-water currents from rebuttal to geologic uniformitarianism—and provides a the Pacific flow westwards, around Africa, and then history of scientists and writers espousing a catastrophic northwards along the African and European coasts.* The flow approach to Earth geology. Since the 1920s, George of these waters keeps Europe balmy in contrast to its McCready Price, Byron C. Nelson, Alfred M. Rehwinkel, counterpart, Labrador, across the Atlantic. It provides Henry Morris, Charles Hapgood, Ivan T. Sanderson, Western Europe with a third as much warmth as the Sun does, Immanuel Velikovsky and Dolph E. Hooker, among others, and is part of a global oceanic have carried the banner of a sudden system that maintains the climatic catastrophic approach to explaining Status quo. ice ages. In the North Atlantic, the Gulf Donald Patten proposes a The phenomenon that provides Stream carries heat in the form of completely different theory as Patten and others with some punch warm water to the north and east. to their proposition is the bizarre And as it moves north, it evaporates to the cause of the ice age— evidence of the frozen mammoths, and transfers its heat to the coastal . which is still a mystery today. areas. The warm water becomes one that involves a Although mammoths are not the sole saltier with evaporation, and when it catastrophe of global animals that have been found frozen reaches the latitude of Iceland its . (rhinoceroses, sheep, horses, oxen, density reaches a point that it sinks proportions. lions, tigers and bison have also to the bottom. Then it becomes part been found), as an extinct species of the cold-water return cycle and they have been at the forefront of flows southwards in the Atlantic scientific research. Their remains, towards Antarctica, around Africa and back to the Pacific via sometimes whole, have been found in Siberia and Alaska by Australia. If by some way the warm waters ceased, Europe the tens of thousands and have provided the world with an would enter a mini ice age. Recent studies suggest that this is ongoing supply of ivory. a possibility and that the present conveyor belt in the North Russia has a 2,000-year-old tradition of providing ivory Atlantic is unpredictable.* Since the end of the last ice age, from Siberian islands. Between 1880 and 1900, nearly 20,000 the Arctic icecap has tusks were taken from a single continued to melt, allowing island. It is estimated that fresh water into the North there may be up to three Atlantic. If too much fresh million mammoths still buried water enters the ocean in Siberia.’ According to a (thereby diluting its salt National Geographic article, content and keeping it less experts estimate that there are dense), it will not sink and 600,000 tons of ivory still join the return currents at the available for recovery.'° A bottom; it will remain where sudden calamity, such as an it is, blocking the warm asteroid impact or a comet currents from entering and near miss, fares well in thus altering the climate of explaining the deaths of Europe. || Deep Cold Water millions of animals. — Its The cold, salty water that precedent is seen in the flows from the South Atlantic |_| Shallow Warm Water greatest extinction of all at the and eastwards near the end of the Cretaceous period, Antarctic coast sinks into the depths, thereby boosting its when a giant asteroid impact resulted in the extinction of push to the interconnected system of ocean currents. dinosaurs. According to Wallace Broecker of Columbia University, New In his comet near-miss theory, Patten also explains the York, Antarctic surface waters are sinking at only a third of formation of mountain ranges and why they are distributed in the rate they were a hundred years ago. If this is correct, the an arc across the continents. When this icy visitor came too slowdown in the Antarctic deep current will make the close to Earth, it became trapped in orbit for a period of nine Antarctic region colder and the Gulf Stream warmer. The months, circling as another moon. On two occasions when it present global warming trend began during the 1880s and came quite close, its gravitational pull exerted extreme force received a boost during the 1970s from man. Broecker not only on the oceans, creating giant tidal waves, but also on believes that this warming is man-made and is fighting the Earth's molten core. Magma in the core reacted in much against a natural cooling trend.’ the same way as the oceans do to a gravitational force. As a result, with each close pass of the comet, a wave of molten The Visiting Comet rock was pulled upwards, forcing the Earth's crust upwards. Donald Patten proposes a completely different theory as to As this comet danced in Earth's orbit, ice that had broken the cause of the ice age—one that involves a catastrophe of away from its mass was deposited in vast quantities through global proportions. Although his idea seems to be as much electromagnetic deflection. [Note: the "dirty snowball" Donald Patten proposes a completely different theory as to the cause of thei ice age— ae = aba te proportions. @ Deep Cold Water ©) Shallow Warm Water The Visiting Comet Donald Patten proposes a completely different theory as to the cause of the ice age—one that involves a catastrophe of global proportions. Although his idea seems to be as much 44 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2007 one that involves a catastrophe of global www.nexusmagazine.com