Paleomagnetic evidence seems to point to long ages and needs to be briefly considered here. When molten rock from volcanic ejecta cools, the magnetic particles in the lava align themselves ac- cording to the prevailing magnetic field as would iron filings around a magnet. The magnetic field of the earth seems to have undergone numerous reversals over geological time and if one argues that thousands or even millions of years elapse between each reversal, then this has time implications, which need to be examined.
In studying the earth’s magnetic phenomena, it needs to be noted that magnetic forces are different from electrical forces, in that the magnetic field does not tell us directly what the direction of the magnetic force is on a moving charge at any given point as in the case of an electric field. The earth contains many so called ferromagnetic elements which can form minerals, and thus rocks with magnetic properties. Sedimentary strata composed of material eroded from rocks with magnetic elements can also show magnetic inclinations, because as the particles settle out they can also orientate themselves according to the prevailing magnetic field. The magneti- zation that we can observe in any rock sample is composed of the primary magnetization that remains in the rock from its formation (the natural remnant magnetization), but also that of more recent secondary magnetization. The secondary magnetization can thus provide a distorted picture of the ancient or original geomagnetic field. Moreover, the rate of cooling of rocks can affect the magnetic properties of the sample. In sediments, the grain size of particles in that sediment as well as the direction of stream flow at the time of deposition can also affect the sample.
Any study of the paleomagnetism of the earth must therefore bear all these parameters in mind and it is not just a simple matter of determining the direction of particle orientation in the strata to determine whether there were magnetic reversals in the past.27 How can one thus explain the 180o flips in the polarity which have given
rise to the concept that there have been many geomagnetic reversals in the earth’s history which are thought to have taken place randomly every few million years? Again it is a question of perceptions molded by one’s paradigm. In the case of the observed paleomagnetic informa- tion, some investigators have proposed that major magnetic changes can occur within months or days, and one has even suggested reversal within a day.28 Considering that so many apparent proofs for long ages (such as the rate of rock formation from sediments, the rate of coal formation, petrifaction and mineralization) have been shattered by the observation that these events can occur extremely rapidly, even within days, then it becomes obvious that it is the paradigm of the researcher which sways the argument in favor of one or the other model.