Zeitschrift für Geologie und Geophysik
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The Rise of Diapirs: A Catastrophe Scenario

William M DeJong

Current theory explains the kilometers high salt pillars (‘diapirs’) that our found on many sites on Earth as the result of a millions of years lasting gradual process of cold flow of rock salt, which is pushed upward by the overburden of soil covering it. This explanation rests on the theory of David Griggs that plates of rock under high long-lasting stress behave like a fluid, possess the intrinsic property of viscosity and can be described by the equations of fluid dynamics. Lately, Griggs’ theory has been falsified as a chain of mistakes, each of them violating one or more principles of correct academic research. To fill the resulting gap in geological theory, we explain diapirs as produced in short time by salt lava pushed upward in kilometers deep muddy, back and forth moving water. This explanation requires replacing the established uniformitarian scenario for the development of the geological outlook of the Earth by a catastrophe scenario. The catastrophe scenario we present does not only explain how diapirs arise but also the emergence of the main geological characteristics of the Earth, including its waterflow related geological macrostructures. The outcome of the catastrophe scenario is highly concordant with the actual geological and geophysical evidence, in contrast to the uniformitarian scenario.