Ice Age

this will be the last post on this area, unless someone requests more. Dr. John Baumgardner, a highly trained Creationist scientist, has proposed the scenario of "runaway subduction" that explains the Genesis Flood. In his scenario, the present arrangement of continents is a result of a sudden breakup of one supercontinent through tectonic forces. This also entailed a sudden increase in ocean temperature causing it to boil and eventually producing the Biblical 40 days of rainfall. Then shortly thereafter, an Ice Age that lasts about 700 years occurs; among other things, this creates land bridges that allow animals to disperse to Australia and the Americas.

an obvious objection to this scenario is, why doesn't Genesis mention an ice age? something that causes the extinction of vast numbers of extremely large mammals surely merits some mention. evidently, the only mention of "ice" in the Bible occurs in Job, according to AIG:

Interestingly, there seem to be certain references to this Ice Age in the ancient book of Job (37:9–10, 38:22–23, 29–30), who perhaps lived in its waning years. (Job lived in the land of Uz, Uz being a descendant of Shem [Gen. 10:23], so that most conservative Bible scholars agree that Job probably lived at some time between the Tower of Babel and Abraham.) God questioned Job from a whirlwind, ‘Out of whose womb came the ice? And the frost of the heavens, who fathered it? The waters are hidden like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.’ (Job 38:29–30).

Such questions presuppose Job knew, either firsthand or by historical/family records, what God was talking about. This is probably a reference to the climatic effects of the Ice Age—effects not now seen in the Middle East.

the other passages from Job, are these:

9Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
10By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

22Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

i doubt anyone can interpret these two excerpts as evidence of an Ice Age. so, the conclusion is that the only evidence for an Ice Age in Biblical times is the phrase "the face of the deep is frozen." also, the claim that such effects are not now seen in the Middle East is misleading; here's a counterexample from the National Climatic Data Center:

Global Hazards and Significant Events
February 2003
A storm system produced heavy snow across parts of Israel, Lebanon and Jordan during February 24-26.

source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/feb/hazards.html

moreover, the phrase "the face of the deep is frozen" suggests that the oceans were frozen. as far as i can determine, as a non-expert, there is only one time this might have happened:

The Cryogenian (ca. 720–630 million years ago) was characterized by the most intense glaciations Earth has ever experienced, often called the “snowball Earth” glaciations.

source: http://www.geosociety.org/news/pr/05-01.htm

in this scenario, the oceans were covered with ice almost to the Equator. it seems implausible to me that mass migrations of animals to remote continents could occur in climate conditions that severe, or that the Bible contains no record of the hardships such extreme cold would cause. Creationists are fond of pointing out the occurence of Flood legends in many cultures, but how do they explain the absence of any Ice Age legends around the world?

if you're still reading, there's a connection between this Ice Age material and the previous entry on fossils. recall that it was claimed that large mammals were fossilized after the flood, during the Ice Age, but no mechanism was proposed. well, a mechanism is proposed for fossil humans:

Human fossils have been found, hundreds of them, but generally in deposits which most creationists would think were post-Flood (e.g. buried in caves during the post-Flood Ice Age—see What about the Ice Age?).

source: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4419.asp#r15

but large mammals probably didn't live in caves, so how were they fossilized?