“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. . . The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.”

Portions from Genesis 7:11-20

Where did all the water come from to cover the mountains to a depth of fifteen cubits (22 feet)? What are the “fountains of the deep”?

Geologists retrieved a sample of a mineral called ringwoodite that originated from deep below the surface of the earth. Under the heat and pressure of the middle mantle, water molecules can incorporated into the crystal structure of the mineral olivine to form ringwoodite. Water makes up around one percent of the mass of ringwoodite.

It is estimated that the ringwoodite in the earth’s mantle could hold more water than all of the surface water on earth—oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice caps—combined. Some geologists even think that there might be as much as three times the volume of the water in the oceans trapped in the mantle 250-400 miles under the earth’s crust.

If that isn’t fascinating enough, geologists also believe that much of this water might have been brought down into the mantle from the surface when one tectonic plates subducts under another plate. They even believe that there might be a water cycle between the mantle and the surface when rocks melt and bring water back to the surface. This mantle water cycle could have been a part of what occurred to cause the fountains of the deep mentioned in Genesis 7.

The science is still in its early stages, so we should be careful to not tie the fountains of the deep too closely to these findings. But they do seem to indicate there is not only more than enough water in the mantle to flood the entire earth’s surface, but also that there is a way for the water to come to the surface and then be reincorporated back into the mantle at the conclusion of the Flood.

When the findings of science are often used by those antagonistic to faith to try to disprove the historical account of the Bible, it is refreshing to learn something that supports the truth of the Bible. I truly believe that when we accurately interpret the Bible and scientific evidence that they will always agree. The times when they appear to disagree occurs either because of our ignorance of the natural world or our inability to interpret correctly, not because there is an actual contradiction.

“Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
declare, if thou hast understanding.”

Job 38:2-4