Display #9:

Fast stalactite growth:

Numerous claims have been made within the framework of uniformitarianism to "prove" that the earth and everything in it is older than the suggested 6,000 to 10,000 years of age alluded to in the scriptures.  For example, cave ages have been estimated in part by the size and length of stalactites growing in them.  Stalactites, such as these on the right, "grow" by water leeching through the rock into the cave, dissolving calcium and other minerals, and then depositing them as they drip from the cave roof.  The other end of this happens on the floor with stalagmites where the water lands on the floor, again depositing dissovled minerals.  Over time this build up makes these formations resembling icicles.  Beautiful in their appearance, growth rates have been measured, then an age of a stalactite extrapolated from these growth rates.

The numbers have varied dramatically and recently been recanted completely by some because of discoveries like the stalactites shown here.  It has now been shown that the growth rates aren't necessarily consistent.  For example, a typical growth rate that had been suggested as a rule of thumb in the past was that it took 1,000 years to grow one centimeter.  The longer stalactite in the photo measures over 20 centimeters, therefore:  1,000 years X 20 = 20,000 years.
By those estimations, this stalactite alone poses a problem for the claim that the earth is only 6 to 10 thousand years old - and believe me, there are plenty of other stalactites to be found which are considerably larger!
 

However, this stalactite was retrieved from the Rolphton Hydro Electric dam on the Ottawa River, built in the 1950's.  This picture, showing a 20 centimeter scale with the yellow line, shows the deposits "in situ"  (in place).  You can see the build up on the pipe head and hand valve, while just off the bottom of the picture stalagmites were also quite thick. Although an exact age for these stalactites cannot be ascertained, we do have a good idea of its maximum age.  One duty of the workers at the dam is to remove these calcite deposits - to clean them off!  Noone knew exactly when this specific area was last cleaned, but it was estimated at certainly less than five years.

Though some would say this is to be expected because of the conditions, this is my point exactly!  The conditions in nature can vary dramatically, from time to time and location to location.  There is absolutely no reason to believe that stalactite growths we see are extremely old.  They can be very young.