okay, i will try to answer some of the points in the long post from gman. i do not pretend to have all the answers nor will i answer everything but i will answer what i can:
1. Building the Ark
Wood is not the best material for shipbuilding. It is not enough that a ship be built to hold together; it must also be sturdy enough that the changing stresses don't open gaps in its hull. Wood is simply not strong enough to prevent separation between the joints, especially in the heavy seas that the Ark would have encountered. The longest wooden ships in modern seas are about 300 feet, and these require reinforcing with iron straps and leak so badly they must be constantly pumped. The ark was 450 feet long [ Gen. 6:15]. Could an ark that size be made seaworthy
here you seem to lack faith in God and His ability. if you rcall, God gave noah the instruction to use gopher wood {cyprus,in another trans.} we are told in proverbs not to lean to our own understanding, thus if God said to use wood, then wood was sufficient for the job.
By saying wood is not good enough then you are also saying God doesn't know what He is talking about and that is just arrogant and wrong. we do not know how heavy the seas were that the ark had to endure. we can speculate but most likely we would be wrong plus you are removing God's protective hand from the equation, that is a mistake also.
we cannot compare ship construction between modern age and the ancient world because the wood simply because there are mitigating factors which come into play, like attitude, knowledge, willingness and methods plus most shipbilders do not follow the instructions of God when they build their ships.
2. Gathering the Animals from all over the world.
Even though God called all the animals to Noah, bringing all kinds of animals together in the vicinity of the ark presents significant problems.
Could animals have traveled from elsewhere? If the animals traveled from other parts of the world, many of them would have faced extreme difficulties.
why not? they obey their masters voice and God is their master so that is not in question. would they face extreme difficulties? i doubt it, as we know that the pre-flood geography was vastly different than our modern one. also, we cannot be sure how many species were in existence at the time. we know that all the 'kinds' were but not all the species that we have today.
How was the Ark loaded
this detail isn't mentioned in the Bible as it is not germane to the story, suffice it to say, that God has the knowledge to help noah and his family load the animals. this is basically a point that is a distraction from what God wants people to learn from the account.
this point #2 again removes God from the equation and leans heavily on ones own understanding.
3. Fitting the Animals Aboard
What is a kind
i think many animal experts should be able to tell you what this is and it is a boundary for reproduction purposes and basically demolishes any evolutionary thinking.
What kinds were aboard the ark?
all of them that needed to be there and God was specific about that.
Were dinosaurs and other extinct animals on the ark
yes there would be. the Bible does not say they were created long before man but on the same day thus i doubt if they were extinct at the time of the flood. all kinds had representatives which includes dinosaurs.
Were the animals aboard the ark mature
this is about the only time i think dr. dino a.k.a. kent ovind is right. i doubt that they were as after the flood they had a monumental task ahead of them thus mature pairs may not have fit into God's plan at the time. it would make more sense to have young ones but we do not know for sure.
could they all fit
do you really want to ask this question? since God gave the dimensions then YES they all fit.
In conclusion, an ark of the size specified in the Bible would not be large enough to carry a cargo of animals and food sufficient to repopulate the earth, especially if animals that are now extinct were required to be aboard
then you call God a liar and that isn't smart.
4. Caring for the Animals
Special diets
this is redundant as you ignore God's intelligence and foresight to have Noah prepare the right food for each animal. and again you lean to much to your own understanding and remove God from the equation.
5. The Flood Itself
Where did the Flood water come from
God tells us. He just doesn't tells us the amount except in general terms, it was enough to cover the then geography by 15 cubits. if you deny this then again you called God a liar. Titus tells us that God does not lie thus where it came from contained enough water to do what God wanted.
where did it go
citing recent discoveries, we do know that all the water did not disappear, it remained and changed the pre-flood geography to what we see today , basically. we also know of dreid up lake beds in the sahara and other desert regions which would account for some while glaciers, the poles and other spots would account for more.
Kent Hovind proposed that the Flood water came from a comet
kent hovind is basically a moron, enough said.
How did the ark survive the process? Such a wholesale restructuring of the earth's topography, compressed into just a few months, would have produced tsunamis large enough to circle the earth.
the ark was in open water and we know that tsunamis are only dangerous when approaching land. plus the restructuring may not have touched off such waves as modern thought is based upon modern enviornment not on a world covered/submerged in water.
again you omit God from the equation, not smart.
6. Implications of a Flood
A global flood would have produce evidence contrary to the evidence we see
with thousands of years of civilizations tramping, building, removing dirt and so on, we are lucky to find any evidence then factor in natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, local floods, volcano eruptions and so on and what do you expect to find?
you need to consider what took place from then to now before thinking about evidence that should or should not be found.
Why is there no evidence of a flood in ice core series
maybe there is but secular scientists have no motivation to prove the Bible true. i have heard conflicting research which disagrees with your point.
Ice cores from Greenland have been dated back more than 40,000 years by counting annual layers
dating systems are subjective and too vulnerable to corruption, a non argument.
Why did the Flood not leave traces on the sea floors
why would it? seepage does not leave a lot of evidence plus the oceans never dried up. they had water in them and had more when the flood ended. how would we be able to tell if there is or isn't proper evidence? are you sure researchers know what they are looking for? given their track record, they could be staring at it and then attribute the evidence to some other calamity. ryan and pittman do that intheir work, so do other scientists.
7. Producing the Geological Record
this one i will leave to others more familiar with geology than i.
8. Species Survival and Post-Flood Ecology
How did all the modern plant species survive?
well logicallyGod did not suspend the ground's ability to produce vegetation when it receives water and nutrients thus once the water returned it is highly possible, as evidenced by the returned olive branch, that the ground started producing plants as it had prior to the flood.
Noah could not have gathered seeds for all plants because not all plants produce seeds, and a variety of plant seeds can't survive a year before germinating
are you sure they were in existence at the time of the flood?
How did all the fish survive
are you sure they all did or were in existence at the time of the flood?
9. Species Distribution and Diversity
How did animals get to their present ranges
again that is a detail we are not privy too because it is not germane to the story. How God does anything is not up to our approval nor inspection to see if it is valid. God keeps a hand in His work, if that weren't true we would not have miracles today. How God did it i do not know nor do i care because that point is another distraction to remove ones' eye from God and what He can do.
Why are so many animals found only in limited ranges
these are questions you have to ask God because once He allowed man to eat meat, He had to make some changes which we are not aware of at this time.
Why is there no mention of the Flood in the records of Egyptian or Mesopotamian civilizations which existed at the time?
these societies did not exist till after the disporia at babel. from what i am aware they do have flood myths but i would have to check my resources.
We can construct reliable chronologies for near Eastern history, particularly for Egypt, from many kinds of records from the literate cultures in the near East. These records are independent of, but supported by, dating methods such as dendrochronology and carbon-14.
who says that the secular works and secular dating methods are right or are infallible? if you take secular works over God's word then you have the wrong impression of God. again He does not give us a specific date because that is not what is important in this account. what is important is how God deals with sin and those who practice it.
get your priorities straight, here, you look too much to those who have no qualms about misrepresenting the pas t to fit their own ends, one needs to look to God first then evaluate the others not vice versa.
Why do other flood myths vary so greatly from the Genesis account?
flood myths vary because people stray from God and give evil a foothold to pervert the truth. all societies that do not follow God have no inclination to follow what is true, and can change their myths whenever they want to whatever they want according to their new cultural beliefs and superstitions.
Why should we expect Genesis to be accurate
it is God's word and God does not lie. if He did then how could we have hope of heaven when we die?
i have to go for now but will try to finish this in an hour...if i missed anything please go through your post and post an anotated version so it will be easier to reference. thank you.