Relationship Status of Opals to the Earth — It's Complicated

G'day. Uniformitarian explanations for the very complicated formation of the opal are inadequate, and biblical creationist theories involving their formation due to the Genesis Flood fit the data far better. It is not time, not millions of years, but conditions that make the difference. In fact, opals can be made in laboratories in a matter of weeks! For that matter, diamonds can be made in labs, too.

morgueFile / cohdra

This attractive gemstone is mainly found in a certain area of Australia. (There are some bland common opals, but you're not likely to find them mounted in a ring.) You can get fine opal jewellery on a cattle baron's salary, but even the ranch hand that works for him can save up and afford a good-looking piece his own self, too.

Precious opal, with its dazzling display of brilliant blues, greens, yellows, and fiery reds, is one of the most recognizable Australian icons. More than 95 percent of the world’s opals are mined in this one country, explaining why it is the national gemstone. In fact, most gem-quality opals come from one locale in Australia—the Great Artesian Basin.

So what is so unique about Australia’s Great Artesian Basin that it produces so many precious opals? The answer is revealing because it hints at unique circumstances that dovetail perfectly with the closing stages of the global cataclysmic Flood recorded in Genesis 7–8.

It is also revealing to see how quickly opals can form. Laboratories can “grow” them within weeks using the right ingredients. When such experiments grow opals within the same kind of rock material that contains natural opals, the rapidly grown opal is virtually identical to the natural stones. Furthermore, commercial production of high-quality imitation opals has flooded the market, and these gems, too, are often difficult to distinguish from natural opals.

To read the rest, rock on over to "Rapid Opals in the Outback", mate.