Noah's Flood - Where did the Water Com From?
One of the most frequent questions asked about the account of Noah’s Flood in Genesis is a matter of simple volume: Is there enough water? Where did the water come from?
When we look at the current geography of the earth, with Mount Everest
soaring over 29,000 feet into the atmosphere, the idea of a global flood seems
physically impossible. If all the moisture in the atmosphere were to
precipitate at once, it would cover the globe to a depth of only about an inch.
Even if the polar ice caps melted completely, sea levels would rise
significantly, but they would not swallow the continents.
However, a close reading of the biblical text, combined with insights
from geological models, suggests that the event described in Genesis was not
merely a case of "bad weather." It was a geological cataclysm of
global proportions that reshaped the planet's surface. To understand where the
water came from, we have to look beyond the clouds.
The "Fountains
of the Great Deep"
A common misconception is that the Flood was caused solely by forty days of rain. While the rain was a significant component, the Book of Genesis actually lists it second. Genesis 7:11 provides the precise sequence of the catastrophe:
"On that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and
the windows of the heavens were opened."
The primary source of the water was the "fountains of the great
deep" (in Hebrew, ma'yenot tehom rabbah). This implies the
violent rupturing of vast, subterranean water sources. The text describes a
scenario where the Earth’s crust fractured, releasing immense reservoirs of
water that had been trapped beneath the surface.
For centuries, this idea of underground oceans was dismissed as poetic
imagery. However, modern geophysics has provided some fascinating parallels. In
recent years, scientists have discovered evidence of massive amounts of water
trapped within the Earth’s mantle, specifically in a mineral called
ringwoodite.
In 2014, researchers confirmed that this transition zone in the mantle,
hundreds of miles down, could hold three times as much water as all the surface
oceans combined. While this deep-earth water is currently bound up in rock
structures, the very existence of such vast subterranean reservoirs aligns
intriguingly with the biblical description of a "great deep" that
resides beneath the continents.
In the context of the Flood narrative, the "bursting forth"
suggests catastrophic tectonic activity, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a
global scale that broke open the crust, allowing this pressurized subterranean
water (likely superheated and jetting into the atmosphere) to flood the
surface.
The "Windows of Heaven"
The second source mentioned is the "windows of heaven." This is the forty days and forty nights of torrential rainfall. For much of the 20th century, many scholars proposed the "Vapor Canopy Theory"—the idea that the pre-Flood earth was surrounded by a protective layer of water vapor that created a greenhouse effect. Upon the start of the Flood, this canopy collapsed. While this theory offers an elegant explanation for the source of the rain and the longevity of the patriarchs, many modern creationist researchers have moved away from it due to thermodynamic difficulties (the heat released by a collapsing canopy would be lethal).
A more robust explanation often cited today ties the rain directly to the
"fountains of the great deep." If the ocean floors and continental
crusts were rupturing with volcanic intensity, the heat would have vaporized
massive amounts of ocean water. This supersonic steam jets would shoot into the
upper atmosphere, condense, and fall back to earth as intense, global rain.
In this view, the "windows of heaven" were not a separate tank
of water in the sky, but the atmospheric consequence of the geological upheaval
happening below.
Where Did
the Water Go After the Flood?
If we accept that the fountains of the deep and the torrential rains
provided the volume, we are still left with the problem of Mount Everest. How
do you cover the highest peaks?
The answer lies in the understanding that the pre-Flood world likely
looked very different from our modern geography.
Psalm 104, which is often viewed as a poetic commentary on the Flood and
creation, gives a hint about the aftermath of the deluge. Speaking of the
waters, it says:
"The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you
appointed for them." (Psalm 104:8)
This verse suggests extreme vertical tectonics. Before and during the
Flood, the mountains were likely much lower and the ocean basins much
shallower. If the Earth were flattened out today, leveling the mountains and
raising the ocean floors, there is enough water in the current oceans to cover
the entire globe to a depth of nearly 2 miles (roughly 2.7 kilometers).
The biblical model implies that the Flood itself was the engine that
built the modern mountains. As the tectonic plates collided and the waters
receded, the mountains were thrust upward, and the ocean floors sank to
accommodate the drainage. The high peaks we see today, such as the Himalayas,
are composed of sedimentary rock containing marine fossils, testimony that these
heights were once underwater before being pushed up to their current elevation.
Conclusion
The biblical account of Noah’s Flood describes a complex, dual-source
event involving both subterranean geysers and atmospheric torrents. It depicts
a planet undergoing a radical restructuring, where the Earth's crust was
fractured and its topography permanently altered.
When you view the Flood not as a mere rainstorm but as a tectonic
cataclysm that utilized reservoirs deep within the earth, the narrative aligns
with a consistent internal logic. The water was there all along, hidden in the
"great deep", and it is still here today, filling the deep ocean
basins that cover 71% of our planet.
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