Are mountains pegs?

by Saif min Suyufillah

Critic:

It is semantically incorrect to equate “roots” with “pegs” because “roots” are not the same as “pegs”.Roots are the result of natural processes. In the case of mountains, the “roots” are created by the collision, and subduction, of continental plates. “Pegs” are made by humans and are driven into the ground by humans. It should also be mentioned that not all mountains, such as volcanoes, have roots.

Response:

Following are some definitions of peg from Cambridge dictionary.

peg noun (HOOK)

› [C] a small stick or hook that sticks out from a surface and from which objects, especially clothes, can hang: He took off his coat/hat and hung it on the peg.› [S] a reason for discussing something further: They decided to use the anniversary as the peg for/a peg on which to hang a TV documentary.

peg noun (FIXING DEVICE)

› [C] a device used to fix something into a particular place:

1.The verse does not mention the word roots,rather it is simply mountains.

2.The process of formation of mountains is not discussed in any verse,rather the simple fact is mention that the mountains act as pegs.

Critic:

The obvious fallacy here is that mountains are a part of the earth’s crust which also “float” on the mantle along with the rest of the earth’s crust. Pegs cannot hold something firm when they are “floating”! Mountains do not stabilize the earth’s crust through isostacy, it is the crust that stabilizes itself through its own isostacy. Additionally, the collisions between the tectonic plates, of the earth’s crust, that cause earthquakes rather than prevent them.

One of the more bizarre claims made by some Muslim apologists is

By fixing the Earth’s crust they prevent any sliding over the magma layer or amongst the layers themselves. In short, mountains can be compared to nails holding strips of wood together. The fixing effect of mountains is known as isostasy in scientific literature.

Muslims simply cannot decide what isostasy is! Professor Press, whom numerous Muslim websites mentions, says “the crust of the earth floats on a liquid”. So how can mountains play the role of “nails” holding the solid crust to a liquid?

Response:

The Crust does not float over the liquid,rather it is firmly attached to a denser solid below,and the floating of that solid mantle over the core is much negligible than (if there would be) the case of crust sliding or rolling over the mantle.

See the picture below.Do you think that the blue layer could float over the brown layer on the right side?No.

pegs

Now decide it yourself…

pegs

The role of these insertions is obvious from the pictures.

The floating at any level would not be as pronounced as the sliding of uppermost 2 layers.

Why don’t you see that the formation of these mountains is to establish a balance?

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Critic:

Mountains are the outcome of collisions between strata of the earth’s crust; the result of the encroachment of a given stratum on another one. These strata that go deeper and deeper enable the crust layers to integrate.

Where is this information given in the Qur’an?

Response:

The information in Quran is simply that the Mountains are like pegs.This is evident from the recent studies.

Critic:

Mountains do not stabilize the earth’s crust through isostacy, it is the crust that stabilizes itself through its own isostacy. Additionally, the collisions between the tectonic plates, of the earth’s crust, that cause earthquakes rather than prevent them.
Response:
This stabilization process results in te formation of mountains.

And He has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest IT [the earth] should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves; 16:15

Is not He (better than your gods) Who has made the earth as a place of settlement, and has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein, and has set a barrier between the two seas (of salt and sweet water). Is there any ilah (god) with Allah? Nay, but most of them know not. 27:61

He created the heavens without any pillars that you can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs 31:10

Have WE not made the earth as a bed, And the mountains as pegs?78:7

Mountains are mentioned in Quran to be acting in the way avoiding the earth “shake us away” (3 verses) and in 1 verse as pegs.

Earth Shake you away

Here “shaking” is important (The position of Earth, Crust and the gravity)
“You” is also very important (i.e human life form)

Shaking denotes the instability,not only that of crust but also in terms of Earth’s position in orbit during rotation and the “Gravity” of Earth as well,plus the position of Earth during revolution around the sun (the mass and Gravity all are important here).

Besides the instability in literal sense,it could be regarding the instability of “human life form” as well,as in all of these 3 verses it is clearly mentioned for “you i.e humans”.

The mountains contribute to the important geobiochemical cycles as well, important to allow human life in Earth.An example is Carbon cycle
Many physiological processes are also dependant upon gravity, which are definitely affected much,when the humans are in the space.

Mountain formation contributing to isostasy

According to Encyclopedia Britannica,

isostasy, ideal theoretical balance of all large portions of Earth’s lithosphere as though they were floating on the denser underlying layer, the asthenosphere, a section of the upper mantle composed of weak, plastic rock that is about 110 km (70 miles) below the surface. Isostasy controls the regional elevations of continents and ocean floors in accordance with the densities of their underlying rocks.

Mountain formation in the process of outgassing

The transfer of heat and material in the mantle helps determine the landscape of Earth. Activity in the mantle drives plate tectonics, contributing to volcanoes, seafloor spreading, earthquakes, and orogeny (mountain-building).

Mountains as barrier

Mountains act as a barrier for the number of processes occuring inside the deeper layers of Earth,from reaching the surface in the same intensity.
-Mantle Convection
Movement in the mantle (i.e. convection) is expressed at the surface through the motions of tectonic plates. Driven by heat from deeper in the interior, this process is responsible for Continental Drift, earthquakes, the formation of mountain chains, and a number of other geological processes.

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