Microbal Disperson and the Genesis Flood

Both creationists and Darwinists study biogeography, which is the dispersal of living things around the globe. Creationists say that critters (more precisely, macroorganisms) dispersed after the Genesis Flood by various means. Some creationary suggestions (such as rafting) have been supported by secular scientists. What about on the microorganism level?

This is a slide culture of a Streptomyces sp. bacteria, which had been cultivated on tap water agar.
Credit: CDC / Dr. David Berd (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents)

Microbes do not have a history of traveling well, but many of the same kinds (biblical kinds apply here as well as on the macroorganism level). The paper linked below discusses how evolutionists cannot explain the biogeography of microorganisms, but the Genesis Flood is the most plausible model. It is rather technical and lengthy, but people with knowledge of science can still get something out of it as well as those with advanced training.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the claims made within microbial biogeography to see how Noah’s Flood applies to it. In this paper, there will not be a treatment of all ecosystems, but more of a focus on soil ecosystems. To do this, the fossil record is surveyed as scientific evidence for a global Flood. Then, a brief survey of macroorganisms and microorganisms are offered to highlight apparent discrepancies in biogeography. From the discussion of microorganism biogeography, a definition of the microbial kind is proposed around the family or genus level. Having established the microbial kind, different dispersal mechanisms are evaluated for their plausibility in providing the global distribution of the microbial kind over land (which is discussed next). Then, the biblical case for Noah’s Flood becomes the primary mechanism in place for producing global biogeography of the microbial kind in soils. A model for the Flood as a mechanism of microbial biogeography is offered with a specific case study in the soil bacteria Streptomyces. Finally, evidence from microbial biogeography is briefly discussed in terms of competing worldviews.

To read the entire paper, click on "Living Evidence of a Global Catastrophe: How Microbial Biogeography Supports Noah’s Flood".