True Book of Mormon Geography

Something else that is or should be shown to have occured is a massive change in the land. The following verse is what was prophesied, followed by the verse of what occured:

21 Yea at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours and the earth shall shake and tremble and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth which are both above the earth and beneath which ye know at this time are solid or the more part of it is one solid mass shall be broken up
22 Yea they shall be rent in twain and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth yea both above the earth and beneath. (Helaman 14:21-22)

11 And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward.
12 But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;
13 And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.
18 And behold the rocks were rent in twain yea they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth insomuch that they were found in broken fragments and in seams and in cracks upon all the face of the land. (3 Nephi 8:11-13, 18)

Proof of this change can easily be seen today just below the Niagara Country Club. Please note the distance the land has receded on the following map from the Niagara Country Club to current day Niagara Falls:

The next image shows just how much the land was pushed up:

This image was shot from the Canadian side looking under the Peace Bridge northward toward Lake Ontario/Sea North. The displacement you see fulfills the prophecies cited above.

The falls were first studied by one of modern geologies founding fathers, Charles Lyle. Lyle, who pioneered the early understanding of earth secrets was intrigued by the concept of geological time.

 

Lyle (1840's) was using the principle that things that we see are going on today can be used as examples for what went on in the past. (Dr. Marcus Bursik, University of Buffalo)

 

Lyle believed the world wasn't shaped in a few days or even years. But by slow change, over millions and billions of years. This directly contradicted the much shorter time Biblical scholars said the world had been in existence. Lyle realized that dramatic geological change was going on in front of his eyes at Niagara Falls. If he could measure it, he might be able to calculate the fall's age. Lyle's technique was brilliantly simple. He noticed below the falls, was a great gorge locals said was steadily increasing in length, as the water wore away the ledge of the falls. The falls they said were slowly moving upstream.

 

To discover the age of the falls, all Lyle needed was some simple math.

"He realized that the falls had started at Niagara Escarpment, which is about 35,000 feet from here [the current falls]. So if the falls receding at one foot per year, and receded 35,000 feet that would give an age for their present position of 35,000 years." (Dr. Marcus Bursik, University of Buffalo)

Lyle's calculation was based on simple measurements, but wrong guesswork. He thought the falls were receding by one foot a year, but today we have much better records to go on.

"This plaque commemorates Table Rock which is where the falls were at the beginning of the 19th century. Since that time they've receded about 600 feet." (Dr. Marcus Bursik, University of Buffalo)

So in the last 200 years, the falls have steadily retreated at a rate of not one foot, but an astonishing three feet a year. So instead of Lyle's calculation of 35,000 years old, the Niagara Falls were a third of that figure. Just 12,000 years old. A mere blink of an eye in earth's 4.5 billion year history. ("How the Earth Was Made - Great Lakes" History Channel, 3/24/2009.)

That is an oversimplification, particularly when modern restricted flow rates (50%-75% prevented), seasonal changes, sudden ledge collapses (as listed below), the initial loss when the land changed, are not factored in.

• 1818 - Huge rockfall in the American Fall produced an earthquake.
• 1823 - Large piece of Table Rock fell.
• 1828 - Large section of Horseshoe Fall fell producing an earthquake.
• 1846 - Large section of Table Rock collapsed.
• 1850 - Large section of Table Rock collapsed.
• 1852 - Large piece of Horseshoe Fall fell.
• 1882 - Section of the Horseshoe fell.
• 1889 - Section of the Horseshoe fell.
• 1905 - Section of the Horseshoe Fall fell.
• 1931 - 280 foot section collapsed from the American Fall.
• 1934 - Section of the Horseshoe Fall fell.
• 1936 - Section of the Horseshoe Fall fell.
• 1937 - Section of the Horseshoe Fall fell.
• 1954 - Largest rockfall at the American Fall.
• 1954 - A 190 foot by 40 foot section at the American Fall feel.
• 1963 - 1000 tons of material fell into the gorge at Goat Island.
• 1967 - 100 tons dislodged from the dry wall crest at Prospect Point.
• 1974 - 7 tons fell from cliff above Maid of the Mist building.

Q. Was the gorge made during the ice age?

No. The gorge has been made by the Horseshoe Fall since the end of the ice age.

Q. What will happen to the falls in the future?

This is a very difficult question to answer. Since the flow of the upper river is controlled by the power authorities, and much remedial work has been done the past few decades to reinforce the falls and their immediate surroundings, the falls will probably change very little for a long time to come. Nature had intended to dry up the American Fall and Bridal Veil Fall, but water is forced into their channels using the water control dam upriver. The Horshoe Fall would have continued cutting out a gorge for quite some time, rising another 60 feet (18.3 meters) in height, but it has slowed down, and some scientists think it will stay in one place, like the American Fall and Bridal Veil Fall. Only time will tell what effects human efforts will have on the great cataracts.

[Source: Paul Gromosiak, Niagara Falls Q & A, 1989.]

After the land changed, ships could no longer pass through the Niagara Gorge or presumeably the St. Lawrence River (for big ships) also, further isolating their already hidden lands. There is evidence at a Viking site in Sop's Arm, Newfoundland that the land was lifted up 24 feet:

(Duane R. Aston, The Other Side of Cumorah, 2003, p. 38)

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