This scenario contrasts dramatically with the biblical creation account which proposes that life on earth has existed for only a few thousand years. On the other hand, some other time-dependent processes change at rates which challenge generally accepted geochronology. Rivers carry sediment to the ocean at a rate that would fill the oceans at least 19 times over in 3500 million years, yet oceans are still very empty. Attempts to explain this by recycling sediments into the crust of the earth by various mechanisms are not very satisfactory. Present rates of sediment formation indicate that there should be 14 to 23 times as much as is found.
Intermittent action is used as an explanation.
Mountains are rising at rates of 100 km in 100 million years. Intermittent action is again used to explain the discrepancy. In 3500 million years, the present production rate of volcanic ejecta would produce 20 to 80 times more than is now found. Also supporting a recent existence for man are the historical and archaeological data which are abundant but very recent. On the other hand, the 4600 million years assumed for the age of the earth is many orders of magnitude too short to account for the highly improbable events postulated for the evolutionary development of life.