Continuing
from the previous post on why the Nephites knew they were on an island, and our
responses to the several comments sent to us on this by a reader. In the last
post, the question the reader asked “The
Mediterranean climate you mention would have been very different when they
first landed under your theory with the absence of the Andes mountains,”
which led to an understanding of earthquakes, continuing here:
Consider that the
average earthquake is from 10 to 30 seconds (a minute is extremely long for an
earthquake), plus a few readjustments in the earth following, called
“aftershocks,” with the devastating quake in Christchurch, New Zealand, February
2011, that was a 6.3 but produced accelerations in excess of 2g with the
strongest shaking lasting for less than10 seconds, with the usually wobbling
continuing for another 10 seconds or so. The great earthquake of San Francisco
of 1906 lasted between 45 and 60 seconds. The 9.0 earthquake in Japan lasted
about the same length. The Sumatra earthquake in
2004, measuring 9.2, triggering the Indian Ocean tsunami, also has the longest
recorded rupture (about 800 miles), and released something the size of a 100
gigaton nuclear weapon, 99.725% greater than the largest weapon ever deployed
by the U.S.—a 25 Mt (megaton) bomb. The 6.7 Northridge (Los Angeles) earthquake
in 1994 lasted 8 seconds and was felt as far away as Las Vegas and Baja California,
and was the largest major earthquake to strike an urban area since the
Long Beach earthquake in 1933, which was a 6.4 lasting 10 seconds. The second
largest earthquake ever recorded, the 9.2 Alaskan quake of 1964 lasted 240
seconds (4 minutes), with the largest earthquake, near Valdivia, China in 1964,
a 9.5 quake lasted about 10 minutes, perhaps the longest earthquake ever recorded.
With this in mind,
consider what the disciple Nephi said of the devastating earthquakes during the
crucifixion: “And it came to pass that thus
did the three days pass away. And it was in the morning, and the darkness
dispersed from off the face of the land, and
the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend, and the
dreadful groanings did cease, and all the tumultuous noises did pass away”
(3 Nephi 10:9, emphasis added).
One can hardly
imagine the devastation brought about by three days of earthquakes before the
shaking stopped and the earth ceased to tremble.
During these three
days, mountains fell, in some places into level valleys, while in other places,
level valleys rose up into mountain ranges “whose height was great.” There is
simply no way to know what part of the Andes, if any, were high mountains
before this time, what mountains fell and where, and which were the ones that
rose to great heights—we only know that it happened. And since its purpose was
to be a sign: “another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death” (Helaman
14:14), and that sign was for the purpose that “many shall see greater things
than these, to the intent that they might believe that these signs and these
wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that
there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men” (Helaman
14:28). Thus the signs of the mountains would certainly be seen throughout the
Land of Promise, and so all would have an opportunity to know first hand of the wonders of God
and believe. This was no minor event, nor one hidden in a corner of the land,
but something widespread so much so that none could deny its occurrence.
Secondly,
Mediterranean Climates (for the purpose of growing plants) is far beyond the
outside climate (temperature), but includes soils, soil types, soil erosion and
rejuvenation, mineralogical composition, coherence and permeability, etc., also
the oceans involved, high pressure cells, natural vegetation types, location on
a continent, latitude, being on western side, irregularity of rainfall, and
numerous other factors with which the height of mountains have absolutely no relationship.
Reader: “The sudden appearance of the Andes during
the destruction would have caused a major change in climate.”
Response: “Not
necessarily, depending on where the mountains were before, and what their
height might have been, and how they affected the winds coming off the Humboldt
Current, which has nothing to do with the mountains, but with the Antarctic
currents that flow northward along the coast of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. The
highest point in the Mediterranean Climate Los Angeles Basin is 3,111 feet,
which is Sandstone Peak in the Malibu Canyon/Santa Monica Mountains area, with
an average of 1266’ to 3010’ mountain heights throughout the entire region—it
is interesting that the Judean Mountains heights of Mediterranean Climate
Israel is 3280 feet, almost identical to Los Angeles.
Mountains only half the height of the
present Andes are still considered to be quite high in terms of their effect on climate
and weather conditions
It should also be
noted that the height of the mountains in both places, as in Chile and Peru,
does not affect the Mediterranean Climate of the preceding valleys, but affects
the lack of moisture beyond the mountains in the regions to the east, causing
deserts, jungles, etc.
Reader: “Having the same soil/climate as Jerusalem
would not have been necessary…
Response: A
Mediterranean Climate, of which there are only a few in the world, is not
dependent upon very high mountains like the Andes; in fact, in no other place
where a Mediterranean Climate exists do we find extremely high mountains
affecting a climate condition. Where I come from, in Southern California, one
of the five Mediterranean Climates outside the Mediterranean Sea area, has very
low hills cupping the Los Angeles basin. However, you err in the point of the
seeds and how they react to different climates in the ground. Up until the 19th
century, seeds simply did not grow anywhere other than where they were
originally produced. It took, through modern technology and knowledge
(experimentation) that if a seed was to be destined for another place, it had
to be systematically grown over several stages in a development process toward
that climate. Even today, with all that we know, a seed will take a few years
to develop to the point where it can produce natural crop results in an entirely
different climate than what you see it approved for on the back of the package.
Reader: “…since they were mostly growing corn,
wheat and barley, which can grow in many different areas and climates/soil
types.”
Response: Today, with
modern knowledge, one can grow a lot of things in a lot of areas; however, in
the ancient past, seeds grew where they were developed; if tried to grow
elsewhere, it would take a view years of constant adjustment while the seeds
became accustomed to the change in their origin of soils, temperatures,
precipitation, etc. As for corn, to come to harvest quickly corn requires warm
temperatures, rich soil, and even, regular watering. Too cold or damp soil
inhibits seed growth; is susceptible to frosts; poorly draining soil; soil with
cutworms, aphids, beetles, moths, earwigs, armyworms, etc., bird activity, tough
soil that doesn’t allow deep watering, soil has a phosphorus deficiency,
problem with overhead irrigation (too much rain), weeds growing wildly nearby,
irregular watering, poorly drained soil, unsteady temperatures, late freezes,
and a number of other problems face growing corn—especially in new environments
that are not that well known. In fact, some corn varieties simply do not grow in
some environments, and the only cure is to take out that variety and plant
another.
As for wheat, it
prefers cool weather, neutral soil, with warm, dry weather for ripening. Alter
that sequence and you get poor yields. There are different seeds for growing
seasons—in Mediterranean Climates, it does very well, but in too much heat, too
cold weather, unless you have a variety of temperature seeds, wheat is not so
easy to grow and produces poor yields.
Barley is one of the oldest grains (member of
grass family) and currently is fourth most produced in the world (136 million
tons, covering 219,000 square miles)
As for barley, the
elevation of growing is very important, as is the temperature, and has poor
tolerance to acidic soils, and can be over-watered and does well in highly arid
areas, such as dry deserts. Barley also has too many disease problems for most
growers to handle—and is not particularly grown in South America or does well
there.
Once any of these
grains are settled in an area, they will eventually do well and grow
abundantly; the problem is getting them started in soils, temperatures, and
conditions not natural to them or their seed origin. I know it is difficult for the non-agriculturist today to think seeds would have trouble growing anywhere, but take away our modern knowledge and technology and we would be back in the days of pilgrims as we tried to grow seeds in areas where they did not originate, even though that growing change was slight.
(See the next post, “Clarification for
Another Reader – The Isle of Promise – Part V,” for more on why the Nephites
and particularly Jacob knew they were on an island”)
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