Volcanic Lessons

"Now where did I put that beaker of lava? Oh, hi! I'm Professor Seismo, and I'm running some experiments on volcanoes today. Welcome to my laboratory. It must be around here somewhere. Ah, here it is...in my lunch box?! Oh, no, the lava roasted my apple! Hmmm, tastes pretty good though."

Editor's note:
Professor Seismo (pronounced SIZE - mo) is a dedicated scientist and a virtual genius. Most importantly, he loves the Lord Jesus with all his heart. He spends much of his waking hours researching God's creation in order to reveal the attributes of the Lord reflected in nature. But Professor is a bit forgetful and somewhat clumsy, so please forgive him that.

"My friends at HIS CREATION said you would be visiting today and I'm glad to have you in my laboratory. Let me take a moment to explain what I'm doing. I believe all creation reflects the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, He created everything and He keeps it running. Well, today I'm trying to discover exactly how volcanoes speak of God."

Editor's note:
As I mentioned, Professor Seismo is really smart. Somehow he figured out a way to shrink volcanoes down to the size of his thumbnail. Don't ask me how he did it.

"I hope Italy doesn't mind me borrowing Mt. Vesuvius one extra day. I'll try to get it back to them as soon as possible! Before I go any further, why don't I tell you how volcanoes are formed by God?

"If I could slice the world in half like this partially cooked chicken's egg...yuck, now that made a mess, didn't it? Well, if I could, you would see that we live on a thin crust of rock which is no more than 40 miles thick. Considering that the diameter of our planet is almost eight thousand miles, this is not very much. The earth's crust lies on top of the eighteen hundred mile thick mantle. The mantle is a dense rocky region of the earth's interior which contains pockets of molten rock called magma. Think of the earth's crust like the shell of a chicken's egg...one that hasn't been smashed... and the mantle like runny egg white inside. Deeper still is the core or 'yolk' of the earth, composed of both solid and liquid iron.

"Volcanoes are created when magma makes its way through the 'shell' or crust of the earth and comes out on the surface. Molten rock found above ground is called lava; below ground, magma. Volcanoes often form where there are deep crevices in the earth's shell. It would be even more accurate to say that the earth is like an egg which is slightly cracked. Several of these cracks can be found surrounding the Pacific Ocean. As a result, active and inactive volcanoes are common along the western coasts of the Americas, and the eastern coasts of Asia, including Japan and Indonesia, as well as several South Pacific islands. Volcanoes are so common here that some geologists refer to this entire region of the world as the 'ring of fire.'

"Did you know that volcanic activity is not limited to earth, and that Jesus placed volcanoes on the planets Venus, Mars, and on Jupiter's moon Io (EYE - oh) as well? Jesus was especially creative with Triton, a moon of Neptune. Because of its great distance from the sun and its frigid temperatures, volcanoes on Triton spew out liquid nitrogen instead of lava.

"Let me carefully dissect one of these earthly volcanoes I've collected and let's talk about the way in which Jesus constructed it. Now where did I put that thing? Ouch! MY PANTS ARE ON FIRE!"

Editor's note:
Professor Seismo moves aside his white lab coat and quickly reaches into his rear pocket pulling out a steaming volcano.

"There it is! You know you've got to be careful where you put these quick-tempered brutes. If we cut this volcano in two we will be able to see its internal anatomy.

"Note the column of molten rock running like a fluid-filled straw from the magma chamber beneath the earth to the top of the volcano. The vent is where this magma column meets the air and becomes lava. Magma can also travel diagonally in adjacent tubes called dikes, occasionally reaching the surface of the volcano. Sometimes molten rock from a dike spreads out within a volcano forming a sill. Jesus uses sills to support the structure of the mountain in the way He created ribs to strengthen our chest wall."

Editor's note:
The Professor's pants are still smoking.

"There are two basic kinds of liquid rock or lava produced by volcanoes: pahoehoe (pah - HOY - HOY) lava and aa (ah - ah) lava. Pahoehoe lava is hotter, thinner, and faster than aa, and forms a smooth ropy surface when it cools. Aa lava is thicker and slower than pahoehoe and creates a rough crust.

"Solid rock blown out of an erupting volcano is of several types. Very small rock fragments, about the size of fine sand, expelled from an active volcano are called ash. Pea-sized to egg-sized rocks are termed lapilli (lah - PILL - lee). Larger chunks of rock, some the size of houses, are known as blocks. Hot, molten rock which cools in mid-air after being shot out the vent, forms huge 'drops' of solid lava referred to as bombs. All of the above rocks thrown into the air by an exploding volcano are commonly designated by volcanologists as pyroclastics (pie - row - class - ticks)."

Editor's note:
There are several holes in the top of Seismo's lab table where smoldering volcanoes once sat. Whistling "How Great Thou Art," and seemingly unconcerned, the Professor picks up one of the volcanoes just as it starts burning its way through the floor. He sticks a long probe into its mouth.

"I've discovered that lava moving around inside a volcano produces tremors in the earth's surface which I measure with an instrument called a seismometer (size - MOM - mih - tur). Sometimes volcanoes produce violent earthquakes."

Editor's note:
Fair-skinned and very sensitive to light, the Professor decides to put on his favorite pair of sunglasses, as he walks across the well-lit room. Professor Seismo is now staring into the window of a special pressure chamber he designed to test the explosive power of volcanoes. He's still wearing his sunglasses.

"Boy, it's dark in there! I've got to get a new light bulb for inside the chamber.

"One of the most obvious ways an active volcano reflects the awesomeness of the Lord is by the sheer power it produces. It has been estimated that the famous 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa (crack - ah - tow - ah) volcano in Indonesia was equivalent to five billion tons of dynamite. It was so loud that the explosion woke people living in Australia 2,000 miles away! It created huge waves, known as tsunamis (sue - nah - mees), killing 36,000 people."

Editor's note:
The Professor moves over to his desk to examine a volcano under the microscope. The heat from the mountain is intense and he wipes the sweat from his forehead several times as he continues to peer through the instrument.

"If I could just get a little clearer focus...there, now I can see. WOW, those must be veins of silver and gold. You should see this! Mixed in with ordinary volcanic rocks, like granite and basalt, are an amazing assortment of valuable metals—zinc, copper, lead, tin, uranium, and mercury, as well as silver and gold. The impressive force of volcanoes is obvious, but somehow Christ has made this awesome power a companion with a rich variety of uncommon and rare elements.

"Did you know that Job was able to comprehend, in part, how God used magma to create precious metals and gems deep within the ground? The Bible records Job's understanding of this three thousand years before geology became a science:

The earth, from which food comes, is transformed below as by fire; sapphires come from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold. Job 28:5-6

"Uh oh! I'd better figure out how to insulate my equipment from the flames of these miniature infernos."

Editor's note:
Under the extreme heat of the fiery mountain Professor Seismo's microscope begins to soften. Within minutes, his prized instrument is reduced to a twisted pile of glass and metal.

"Guess I can use it for a door-stop. Well, before my microscope melted, I discovered that volcanic rocks also reflect the precious nature of the Lord Jesus Christ with a treasure trove of fragile minerals such as topaz, tourmaline, beryl, zircon, and moonstone. As with gold and silver, these beautiful rocks crystallize when superheated water surrounding a volcano cools."

Editor's note:
The phone is ringing...it's the Italian government. They want Mt. Vesuvius back!

"My brief studies have revealed the fascinating nature of the volcano. Actually, no two volcanoes are exactly alike, but they all reveal the character of their Creator in a special way. When Jesus suffered here on earth He could have called down from heaven enormous power—but He didn't, and during His ministry we saw only a glimpse of His strength. I suppose the volcano, which He made, is similar—the power unleashed in an eruption is only a fraction of the heat energy stored beneath the earth's crust.

"The infinite value of Christ our Savior seen in the treasure of His humility and sacrifice on the cross is also reflected in the volcano. The crude nature of the volcano reveals the precious metals hidden inside...similar to the physical body of Jesus embracing the precious Spirit of God.

"Thanks for coming to my laboratory today. I had a great time! I'd better clean up this mess and get these volcanoes back to their rightful owners before they become annoyed. I hope our time today will help you appreciate just how special a Creator we have! Goodbye for now!"

THE GREATEST ARTIST OF ALL

God uses the stuff of volcanoes, magma, in combination with water in a rare and beautiful way. In the September/October 1992 issue of CREATOR we explained how the Lord utilizes various pigments to paint the leaves of fall colors. We now investigate the Creator's use of hot water to decorate a unique landscape, and create a dynamic and wonderful three-dimensional "painting." With this present examination, we again realize the creative skills of the greatest of all artists, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The "canvas" of which we speak is the high plateau of northwestern Wyoming in the United States, and the name people have given to the Lord's masterpiece is Yellowstone National Park. There are other areas of the world, such as Iceland and New Zealand, where He has placed geysers and hot springs, but they are rare. Let's examine some of the reasons why this place called Yellowstone is considered a shining jewel among His handiworks.

The "paint" the Creator uses in Yellowstone National Park is steaming water, bubbling up from the ground and forming geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. The Lord Jesus heats the water one to two miles deep within the earth's crust, using molten rock called magma—the same magma that erupts from volcanoes in the form of lava. (In the past, Yellowstone had volcanic activity; for now it is quiet.) Cool rain or water from melted snow continually makes its way downward from the surface, warming as it goes deeper and deeper into the earth.

As you may know, water boils at 212° F. (100° C.) at sea level. Those who cook in or near mountains probably realize that the boiling point of water decreases with an increase in altitude. It is therefore necessary to boil an egg longer in Denver, Colorado (altitude 5,280 feet), than in Tokyo, Japan (sea level).

The opposite is also true, however. If someone were to descend deep into the earth's crust, they would find that the temperature at which water boils increases dramatically. Research at the Kilauea (kill - ah - WAY - ah) volcano in Hawaii has shown that water at a depth of over one mile remains a liquid and does not boil even at temperatures greater than 600° F.!1 Like the enthusiasm of a young painter, the Lord Jesus Christ uses this superheated water as the energy of His artistic creations in Yellowstone.

It is this hot underground water that makes possible the geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots of this national park. The water beneath Yellowstone is under enormous pressure from the rock and water above it. Superheated water is actually less dense than surface water, causing it to rise upward through the cracks and crevices in the overlying rocks, like a hot-air balloon rising up through the chilled morning air.

As the pressurized scalding water reaches the surface, one of several things can happen. Sometimes the Lord mixes it with cool water to form beautiful hot springs, pools of crystal-clear water at temperatures of 195°-200° F. In other spots, Christ allows the water to boil before it reaches the surface, releasing steam out of the ground like the whistling vapors of a tea kettle. These steam vents are called fumaroles (FEW - mah - roles). Like a talented sculptor preparing for his next magnum opus, Yeshua sometimes takes the boiling water of hot springs and mixes in clay. With the appearance of oatmeal or thick soup cooking on a stove, these regions of bubbling clay are referred to as mud pots. He adds color to these unusual formations by combining various minerals with the boiling mud, creating what are called paint pots.

The most spectacular of the Lord's multidimensional creations on the Yellowstone canvas is the geyser (GUY - zir). The term geyser comes from the Icelandic word, geysir, which means "to gush," an apt description! The Heavenly Father placed some 200 different geysers in northwestern Wyoming, the greatest concentration in the world.

A geyser is basically an eruption of water, very similar to the eruption of lava from a volcano. Water builds up heat and pressure in rock chambers under the ground. The length of time it takes water to generate enough energy to erupt varies from geyser to geyser. At some critical point a rush of steam out the geyser vent creates a chain-reaction which causes much of the water in the underground chambers to spew forth with the expanding steam, thus forming a fountain of hot water. Partially or totally emptied, the geyser chambers then gradually fill with water to prepare for the next eruption.

The length of a geyser's display, the time between eruptions, and the height of a geyser varies greatly. A very predictable geyser, called Old Faithful, erupts every 33 to 96 minutes (average, 65 minutes).2 Its eruptions last two to five minutes, and the average height of the steam and water column is 130 feet.

Jesus uses water to form a three-dimensional portrait of His creativity, but He also uses it to paint the ground itself. In the Mammoth Hot Springs area He passes hot water through limestone rock, dissolving calcium carbonate in the process. Calcium carbonate is the same material that forms sea shells and the outside of eggs. As the calcium carbonate-laden water flows over uneven terrain, it gets deposited, forming beautiful white terraces of a rock called travertine (TraV - er - teen). Christ sprinkles the travertine terraces with other minerals, giving it many wonderful hues.

One final, but very significant method that the Lord employs as the Master Artist is through His creation of life at Yellowstone. Hot springs wonderfully illustrate a special challenge to Christ's design of life. Run-off from the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park contains abundant algae surviving at water temperatures up to 167° F. In combination with iron, sulfur, and manganese, the Lord uses these tiny plants to brilliantly color the hot springs red, orange, yellow, green, and brown.

In addition to heat-resistant algae, the Lord Jesus designed bacteria capable of living in boiling water. Some bacteria are even able to thrive in hot sulfuric acid! This incredible achievement is still a mystery to us...

Ephydrid flies, spiders, beetles and wasps live on the edges of scalding geyser basins. Before diving into the lethal water of a hot spring for its algae meal, the ephydrid fly wraps itself in a bubble of air. Surrounded by the thermal insulation of the bubble, the fly is able to remain submerged for a short time without being singed!

Art galleries are filled with paintings which reflect the personalities of the artists who beget them. The great masterpiece, creation, also reflects the character of its Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:20). Christ's canvas is the fabric of creation itself, and the "paints" He uses are as varied as the stars in the sky. With the medium of searing water in underground cauldrons, He renders breathtaking classics, such as the geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone. Praise be to the One Who leaves His signature throughout creation, that He can be given the glory and honor He so richly deserves!

NOTES
1 Robert W. Decker and Barbara B. Decker, Mountains of Fire: The Nature
of Volcanoes, (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 164.
2 William R. Keefer, The Geologic Story of Yellowstone National Park,
(Yellowstone Library & Museum Assoc., 1987), p. 85.

THE PRICE
OF WISDOM

How much does knowledge cost these days? What is its worth? In the United States, the education of a single child through college takes an investment of thousands upon thousands of dollars. Why do we spend so much on instruction?

First of all, no one wants to be thought of as dumb. If you have ever struggled with this, you know the feeling of humiliation that goes with it. A sense of security seems to accompany knowing more than someone else. We mostly invest in education, however, to gain opportunities in life—opportunities we might otherwise miss without training.

If education is essential, then what should we learn? What should we know? In this age of computers, we are capable of feeding ourselves a gluttony of facts, but what information is important?

A man in the Bible, named Job, had a grasp on the answers to these questions:

But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living....It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver. Job 29:12-13, 15

Job displayed great wisdom, but where did that wisdom arise? Let's read his answer:

And He said to man, "The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding." Job 28: 28

True wisdom is a priceless treasure gained only with a proper love, respect, and fear of God. What then should be our response? We should desire to know God and obey Him, the only Wisdom that lasts!

This divine knowledge--to know the living God of the universe--came at a tremendous price. In order to communicate this understanding of infinite value, God had to send His Son to earth to tell us personally. More than that, Christ Jesus, His Son, had to die on a cross for our sins to be forgiven, and come back to life to show us how to shun evil.

If we accept Christ's sacrifice for us and commit ourselves to a relationship with God through Him, then we will experience eternal security and God's strength. Christ will place His Spirit inside us.

For God, Who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

Do you desire to invest in true wisdom, knowledge that cannot be forgotten? Do you desire to know the source of that understanding, God Himself? Please take a moment to pray the following prayer. Commit yourself to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and receive from Him His Spirit, the guarantee of eternal life.

Dear God, I recognize that I have lived my life indeependently of you and you cinsider this sin. Please forgive me through your Son, Jesus Christ--through His death on the cross. Jesus, please come into my heart right now and become my King and my God. I accept your gift of eternal life. Show me how to live in the way you want me to live. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

Contact us at HIS CREATION if you made this commitment. We want to help!