Lorence G. Collins

The American petrologist Lorence G. Collins: "Two paths branched out in the forest ... I took the less traveled ... that was the difference." From Robert Frost : "The Road Less Taken"

Lorence Gene "Larry" Collins (born November 19, 1931 in Vernon , Cowley County , Kansas ) is an American petrologist who is best known for his work on metasomatic processes.

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Myrmecite from Alastaro, Finland

Collins studied geology at the University of Illinois at Urbana , where he received his bachelor's degree (B.Sc.) with honors in 1953, followed by a master's ( M.Sc. ) in 1955. In 1959, he received a doctorate (Ph.D .). The dissertation had the magnetite - deposits in the state of New York to content.

In 1959 he took a teaching position at San Fernando Valley State College, now California State University, Northridge (CSUN). He held this position for 33 years until he retired in 1993. He taught geology , mineralogy and remote sensing . He initially worked as an "Assistant Professor" (assistant). In 1962 he became an "Associate Professor" (roughly private lecturer ) at CSUN and in 1966 head of the faculty.

In 1966, Collins published an article in National Geographic : Finding rare beauty in common rocks .

Collins has been working on myrmekite , an intergrowth of plagioclase and worm-shaped quartz, since 1972 . His investigations led him to several important discoveries in the field of petrology , which led him to question generally accepted magmatic explanations of granite formation . His research shows the importance of metasomatic repression reactions, which can take on regional proportions in places.

Collins has been married to the botanist Barbara J. Schenck since 1955 and has five children. The couple maintain a website about wild plants of California, which is divided into the four biotopes steppe (chaparral), desert, mountain landscape and California's north coast. Most of the illustrations are by Lorence Collins. His wife died on April 30, 2013.

Scientific discoveries

Wart myrm kit (center) with tiny worm-like quartz stems from Temecula , California. The plagioclase in the myrmecite has the same optical orientation as the quartz-free plagioclase twinned according to the albite law (gray-brown, top left). The Mymekit is surrounded by the alkali feldspar ( microcline ).

In 1972 Collins examined rocks near Temecula , California . Here he came across the intergrowth structure Myrmekite . However, their development did not agree with the accepted theories, which had previously assumed either a segregation of primary alkali feldspar or a sodium-calcium metasomatosis occurring at the edges of alkali feldspar. An extensive series of experiments with the help of thin sections , cathodoluminescence , electron beam microanalysis and a scanning electron microscope suggested a completely different method of formation: solutions containing potassium had reacted with the primary plagioclase to form myrmekite. This series of tests and field observations convinced Collins that the Myrmekite in Temecula must have originated in a completely different way than previously assumed by most geologists. His views aroused fierce opposition from recognized petrologists. Collins therefore wrote a book in 1997. He also published his research results on his own website.

Research scope

Since completing his PhD in New York State, Collins has conducted a variety of petrological studies in various geological terrains . This work focused on the southwestern United States. Collins has also carried out studies in the New England states , Canada ( Alberta , British Columbia and Ontario ), Europe ( Finland , Ireland , Norway and Scotland ), Azerbaijan , Iran and Australia . It was mainly about granitoids, gneisses , eye gneisses , mylonites and metamorphites .

Collins has published the results of this work, sometimes in collaboration with other authors, on his website, which so far contains over 50 contributions. In his last post, Collins summarizes his many years of research on myrmecite and the metasomatic formation of granitoids. He distinguishes three ways of originating, to which he added a fourth in 2018. The modes of formation are thus:

• Potassium metasomatosis of primary, zoned plagioclases
• Sodium and calcium metasomatosis in primary alkali feldspars
• Calcium metasomatosis of primary, albite-rich plagioclases (in anorthosites)
• Calcium and sodium removal from cataclastically stressed, primary, zoned plagioclases

Results

Microcline (above, black and with lattice twinning) penetrates and replaces primary plagioclase (below; light gray, speckled, with weak albite twinning) along an irregular contact area; in addition, veins penetrate the plagioclase. The relict preserved plagioclase in the microlecline, which cannot be explained given the magmatic origin of the two feldspar minerals, is significant.

Myrmecite (white and gray, with worm-shaped quartz stems) borders on orthoclase (gray; right side). Zoned plagioclase with a calcium-rich core (dark gray; left side) with a broad, sodium-rich border myrmite (light gray). The colored grains are biotite and muscovite. Cooma Granodiorite , Australia.

Collins' theses based on his research on Myrmekite are of great significance, as they provide information about the way granites are formed - a central problem area of ​​petrological research. Its results can be summarized as follows:

• Collins does not deny that most granitoids are of magmatic origin. On cooling, the melt crystallized out on the eutectic . For Collins, however, this is not the end point of development. It is generally known that feldspars can also form in the subsolidus temperature range of 650 ° C to 450 ° C below the eutectic. In his work, Collins shows that hot metasomatic liquids (especially those containing potassium and silicon ) can attack the igneous minerals and that exchange reactions occur with the primary minerals (see the figure on the right, an example of the displacement of zoned plagioclase by alkali feldspar in the Vrådal- Pluton , Southern Norway). The formation of myrmecite and quartz sieve structures are the signs of this process. The exchange reactions do not have to be restricted to a specific location, but can become important regionally. You can gradually transform originally mafic rocks such as gabbros and diorites into more SiO ₂ -rich rocks. A good example of this is the Wanup pluton near Sudbury in Ontario, where a conversion from diorite / gabbro to quartz monzonite / granodiorite took place.

Of far-reaching importance here is the positive correlation discovered by Collins between the quartz stem thickness in the newly formed myrmecite and the calcium content (An value) in the primary plagioclase of the surrounding granitoid. Model concepts which attempt to interpret myrmecite formation with the segregation of calcium and sodium from primary alkali feldspar or with a Ca and Na displacement reaction of the primary alkali feldspar cannot provide any explanation for such a positive correlation.

• Conversely, metasomatic reactions to the warming of parent rocks can be seen long before anatexis is reached. An example of this is the Cooma granodiorite in southeast Australia. Collins showed how the local metasediments are exposed to metasomatic exchange reactions and are thereby converted into granodiorite and migmatite . The fact that the Cooma granodiorite never reached the melting phase, but is based purely on mineral exchange, is important.

• Collins also emphasizes the crucial role of tectonic deformations in his work . Only through them can hot metasomatic solutions develop their full effectiveness. Only brittle ( cataclasis , fractures and faults ) and plastic deformation processes (folds, shear bands, shear zones and mylonites ) enable the solutions to penetrate the crystal lattice.

Collins encountered astonishingly stubborn opposition from established petrologists, although there is little doubt about the effectiveness of metasomatic processes. The best examples of this are fenites (Na-K metasomatosis) and skarns , whose metasomatic origin is generally recognized. Collins therefore raises two questions:

• To explain enriched basaltic magmas, a metasomatically changed (enriched) mantle (source rock: reticulated peridotite) is generally assumed, but in the earth's crust metasomatic processes are suddenly no longer to come into play?
• Sodium metasomatosis is generally accepted, so why not complementary potassium metasomatosis as well, although both elements behave chemically very similarly?

Dealing with creationism

Lorence Collins is Methodist and as a geologist the creationism set very critical. He has set up a domain on creationism on his website. Various aspects of creationist theories are presented here, in particular literal interpretations of biblical quotations and supernatural attempts at explanations. Collins shows that all of these aspects can be explained either by natural processes or by modern scientific methods. The website also has three posts in which Collins explains his own Christian philosophy.

Deluge

In contrast to the creationists, Collins considers a worldwide flood to be ruled out, but does allow the possibility of a regionally limited flood in southeastern Mesopotamia ( Iraq ), which should represent the historical core of the Noah's Ark myth . The alluvial plain of the Mesopotamian begins about 130 kilometers north of Baghdad and extends to the Persian Gulf . It is up to 270 kilometers wide and is traversed by the Euphrates and Tigris . The gradient is very low, on the 680 kilometers between Baghdad and the Gulf mostly less than 20 cm / km, extremely low values ​​are sometimes even no more than 2 cm / km. The flatness of this landscape favors floods with exceptional meteorological conditions in the surrounding highlands (Syria, Turkey and Iran), which are not uncommon in Mesopotamia. In the event of a millennium event, the villages near the bank wall may have been covered with water masses up to ten meters deep. Due to the curvature of the earth , the surrounding highlands cannot be made out, so the crew of a boat floating in the water must have had the impression that their entire known world was under water.

Carol Hill and Stephen Moshier also share this point of view in their study. The two authors point out the fact that the Garden of Eden is underlain by up to 10,000 meters thick Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments . These sediments in turn are partly fossil-bearing and the tar for caulking the ark came from them. In this case, the geological conditions clearly speak against a single global flood event.

A similar situation exists at Ararat , the alleged landing site of the ark. The stratovolcano is underlain by sedimentary rocks over 1000 meters thick. In the one year period mentioned in the Bible, it is physically impossible that

• the sediment package has been deposited and solidified
• the Ararat broke through the sediments and then built up at over 5000 meters above sea level and
• the lavas cooled and solidified so that Noah's ark could land safely there.

All of this suggests that the creationists on Mount Ararat may look in vain for the remains of the ark.

In Gen 6-8  EU it is reported that Noah and his family could only leave the ark after a year. The receding tide undoubtedly left lakes slowly drying up , in which evaporites began to precipitate. According to the Bible, such sediments should therefore only be found after the actual Flood sediments. But evaporites come in all continents in all geological periods before (as an example may the rock salt leading Permian Haselgebirge serve at the Bad Reichenhall and Hallein is degraded). In addition, the deluge sediments contain several red clay layers with dry cracks - which also contradicts a single gigantic flood event.

Pleochroic courts around polonium

Myrmecite with coarse, worm-shaped quartz stems (white and cream-colored), surrounded by microcline (grating, light gray). The plagioclase of the Myrmekite is brownish dots (formation of sericite). The microcline penetrates the plagioclase at fractures and encloses some quartz stems. Quartz islands of comparable or smaller size appear in the microcline (above) as ghost myrmkite. Wanup Pluton near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

A favorite argument of the creationists for their conviction that granite and thus the entire earth came into being on the third day of the creation week are the pleochroic courts around radioactive polonium atoms . This hypothesis was put forward by the physicist Robert V. Gentry , who had investigated pleochroic halos around polonium atoms in pegmatitic biotite (and fluorite ). Polonium is a naturally occurring element with many radioactive isotopes , including ²¹⁸ Po, ²¹⁴ Po and ²¹⁰ Po. These three isotopes are the last decay products within the eight-step decay series of uranium ( ²³⁸ U) before the formation of stable lead ( ²⁰⁶ Pb). With each of these decay steps high-energy alpha particles are released. In the case of the polonium embedded in the biotite structure, the surrounding lattice structure of the biotite is destroyed by the alpha bombardment and a glass is created that appears as a dark pleochroic halo in the thin section, provided that between 10 ⁹ and 10 ¹⁰ polonium atoms were present.

The radius of this radiation damage is different for each individual polonium isotope. If all three polonium isotopes are present, three different radii can be observed. ²³⁸ U is usually found in biotite in the crystal lattice of zirconium or uraninite inclusions . Its decay series can theoretically produce eight different radii, including the three radii of polonium. However, the polonium radii can also occur completely independently of the rest of the decay series. These isolated occurrences form the basis for Gentry's argumentation that the earth was created on the third day of creation:

Gentry assumes that the crystallization time of large granitic magma bodies within the earth's crust takes at least 5 million years. The half-lives of ²¹⁸ Po, ²¹⁴ Po and ²¹⁰ Po are only 3.05 minutes, 0.2 seconds and 140 days, respectively. With such short half-lives, it does not matter how much polonium was originally present in the magma, because by the time it was finally incorporated into the lattice structures it had long since decayed back into stable Pb-206. Since most granite petrologists attribute the formation of granite exclusively to a solidification of liquid magma, Gentry's train of thought seems quite logical. For him, the presence of pleochroic courts around polonium can only mean that granite did not gradually crystallize out of a melt, but formed abruptly on the third day of creation and thus justifies a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Collins' research, however, shows that not all granitoids crystallize from a liquid magma (see results above). In some places it is quite possible that granitoids form below the solidus temperature; Deformation can cause the finest cracks in solid parent rock and hot metasomatic fluids can then penetrate the rock. If there is enough uranium in the parent rock , radioactive radon ( ²²² Rn) can develop and move freely in cracks as a noble gas . Since Rn-222 is the forerunner of ²¹⁸ Po, its diffusing movement ultimately leads to the formation of pleochroic halos around newly formed polonium. As long as the deformations and thus the chemical exchange reactions persist, pleochroic halos can naturally form over longer periods of time, and an “instant solution” on the third day of creation then no longer has to be resorted to. It is very interesting that Collins always found associated myrmecite in the granitoids at all the places with pleochroic courts around polonium in the biotite .

Thus, the combination of both pleochroic courts around polonium and myrmecite allows the conclusion that not all larger granitoids can have arisen from liquid magma, since neither structure is of magmatic origin.

The "Noah's Ark" at Dogubeyazit

The alleged Noah's Ark near Dogubeyazit , Turkey

→ Main article : “The“ Noah's Ark ”at Dogubeyazit” in the Noah's Ark article

In 1977 the creationist and amateur archaeologist Ron Wyatt claimed that a stone structure found south of the Ararat near Dogubeyazit ( eastern Turkey ) was Noah's Ark of the Bible. It is around 160 meters long (see the illustration on the right). In 1985 David Fasol, who investigated the structure with Collins and others, made twelve thin sections available to him. Collins found no evidence of petrified wood . The rusty iron parts that were mistaken for rivets, bolts and washers made of iron-titanium alloy turned out to be oxidized, titanium-containing magnetites that came from volcanites ( andesite and basalt ). The magnetite, which occurs frequently in Eastern Turkey, was enriched in soapy layers within the structure-forming sediment sequences. Some of these sediment layers consist of lahars (volcanic mud flows) with embedded volcanic blocks, which could give the impression of the walls, upper deck, gunwale and railing of a ship.

Collins' investigations into the ark in question were documented on a National Geographic television program "The Truth Behind Noah's Ark" ("The Truth About Noah's Ark").

Subsequent investigations by other geologists at the site also showed that the rock was clearly in-situ. The shape of the boat was also carved out by the erosive activity of mud flows.

Three other structures, comparable in size and shape, can be found near the Little Ararat.

Fonts

• Collins, LG: Critical Analysis of the book "Rethinking Radioactive Dating" by Vernon Cupps . 2019 ( [1] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Myrmekite in the Sherman Granite in Wyoming-Colorado . 2019 ( [2] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Understanding the natural ancient origin of oil versus a biblical Genesis Flood origin of oil . 2019 ( [3] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Reply to Andrew Snelling's arguments regarding cliffs formed in the walls of the Grand Canyon . 2018 ( [4] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Analysis of article “Grand Canyon Carved by Flood Runoff” by Tim Clarey . 2018 ( [5] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Origin of the Coconino sandstone in the Grand Canyon . 2018 ( [6] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Good science versus bad science and the Genesis flood story . 2018 ( [7] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Biological Reasons Young-Earth Creationists' Worldwide Flood Never Happened . In: Skeptical Inquirer . 2018, p. 52-57 ( [8] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Response to Ken Ham and YouTube comments by Andrew Snelling . 2018 ( [9] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: Glacial tillites, geologic history, and biblical scientific accuracy . 2018 ( [10] [PDF]).
• Collins, LG: When Was Grand Canyon Carved - Millions of Years Ago or Thousands of Years Ago? How do we know? In: Reports of the National Center for Science Education . v. 35, issue 4, 2015, p. 2.1-2.8 . ( [11] [PDF]).
• Lorence G. Collins and Barbara J. Collins: More geological reasons Noah's flood did not happen . In: Reports of the National Center for Science Education . v. 32, issue 6, 2012, p. 1-12 .
• Lorence G. Collins and Barbara J. Collins: Pleistocene Continental Glaciers: A Single Ice Age Following a Genesis Flood or Multiple Ice Ages? In: Reports of the National Center for Science Education . v. 31, issue 5, 2011, pp. 1-11 .
• Lorence G. Collins and Barbara J. Collins: Origin of Polonium Halos . In: Reports of the National Center for Science Education . v. 30, issue 5, 2010, p. 11-16 ( [12] ).
• Collins, LG: Yes, Noah's Flood May Have Happened but Not over the Whole Earth . In: Reports of the National Center for Science Education . issue 5, 2009.
• Collins, LG: Muscovite-garnet granites in the Mojave Desert: Relation to crustal structure of the Cretaceous arc: Comment . In: Geology . v. 25, 1997, pp. 187 .
• Collins, LG: The metasomatic origin of the Cooma complex in southeastern Australia . In: Theophrastus Contributions . v. 1, 1993, p. 105-112 .
• Collins, LG and TE Davis: Origin of high-grade biotite-sillimanite-garnet-cordierite gneisses by hydrothermal differentiation, Colorado . Ed .: SS Augustithis, High Grade Metamorphics. Theophrastus Publications, Athens 1992, pp. 297-338 .
• Collins, LG: Origin of the Isabella pluton and its enclaves, Kern County, California . In: California Geology . v. 42, 1989, pp. 53-59 .
• Collins, LG: Myrmekite, a mystery solved near Temecula, Riverside County, California . In: Geology . v. 41, 1988, pp. 276-281 .
• Weigand, PW, Parker, J. and Collins, LG: Metamorphic origin of garnets in the Lowe granodiorite, San Gabriel Mtns., California . In: Transactions of the American Geophysical Union . v. 62, no.45, 1981, p. 1060 .
• Collins, LG: Manganese and zinc in amphibolite near the Sterling Hill and Franklin Mines, New Jersey . In: Economic Geology . v. 66, 1971, p. 348-350 .
• Collins, LG: Host rock origin of magnetite in pyroxene skarn and gneiss and its relation to alaskite and hornblende granite . In: Economic Geology . v. 64, 1969, p. 191-201 .
• Collins, LG: Finding Rare Beauty In Common Rocks . In: National Geographic . v. 129, no. 1, January, 1966, pp. 121-129 .
• Collins, LG: Geology of the magnetite deposits and associated gneisses near Ausable Forks, New York (unpublished doctoral thesis) . University of Illinois, 1959, pp. 147 .

book

• Hunt, CW, Collins, LG and Skobelin, EA: Expanding Geospheres . Polar Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-9694506-1-3 , pp. 421 .

Web links

• Lorence G. Collins website
• Myrmekit website by Lorence G. Collins
• Barbara J. Collins website of the wild plants of California

Individual evidence

1. ^ September Promotions Announced for 39 State College Educators , Los Angeles Times . May 20, 1962, p. SF3. Retrieved September 16, 2009. 
2. ^ VSC Faculty Joins Protest of State 'Bias' , Los Angeles Times . November 17, 1966, p. SF1. Retrieved September 16, 2009. 
3. ↑ Lorence G. Collins: Myrmekite - A mystery solved near Temecula , In: California Geology, Vol. 41, No. 12, pp. 276-281.
4. ↑ Table of contents of the individual articles
5. ↑ A fourth type of myrmekite origin in early Proterozoic terrane in northeastern Wisconsin
6. ↑ Evolution of a layered diorite-gabbro to become a layered quartz monzonite-granodiorite in the Wanup pluton near Sudbury, Canada ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ Metasomatic origin of the Cooma Complex in southeastern Australia
8. ↑ Articles directed against creationism
9. ↑ Salt, pepper and blah blah
10. ↑ Do Christianity and Science contradict one another ?
11. ↑ Challenging criticism from a theologian
12. ↑ ^{a b} Collins, LG, 2009, Yes, Noah's Flood May Have Happened but Not over the Whole Earth, Reports of the National Center for Science Education, September-October issue, (in press)
13. ↑ Hill, CA, and Moshier, SO, 2009, Flood Geology and the Grand Canyon: A Critique , v. 61, n. 2, p. 99-115.
14. ↑ Pleochroitic courts around polonium and myrmecite in pegmatites and in granites
15. ↑ Gentry, RV, 1988, Creation's Tiny Mystery, 2nd ed., Earth Science Associates, Knoxville, 348 pages.
16. ↑ AA Snelling: Amazing 'Ark' exposé. In: Creation ex nihilo, Vol. 14, No. 4 (1992), pp. 26-38.