Once part of a series of small mountain ranges, erosion. The coconino sandstone figure 1a, whose buffcolored sand piles up as thick as 300 feet 90 m in the grand canyon area and 1,000 feet 300 m in other areas, is one of the most common evidences raised against the genesis flood. Lithostratigraphic correlation of the coconino sandstone. Nickel is enriched 20 times in uranium ore deposits of the salt wash member of the morrison formation, relative to the composition of barren sandstone shoemaker et al. Hogan also drilled holes into the wall at several strategic locations where miners jammed wooden pegs they used to pull themselves up. Second, the footprints in the coconino sandstone are quite distinct individual toe marks are often visible. Photograph of coconino sandstone alongside simplified stratigraphic section of grand canyon, with inset showing the crossbedding seen throughout the formation. It was a windblown dune desert that stretched from presentday arizona all the way to canada.
The kaibab limestone forms the rim of the grand canyon. The coconino is composed of cliffforming, finegrained, wellrounded quartz sand and small amounts of feldspar, cemented primarily with silica. The grand canyon supergroup layer 11, a group of sedimentary and igneous volcanic rocks laid down between 1. The petrology of the coconino sandstone permian, arizona, usa. At that time i was engaged in a study of the coconino sandstone of arizonas grand canyon. The birth of the idea that led to this publication on global sand seas dates back to the late 1920s. The beginning of the story starts at the bottom of the. These pastelcolored layers stand out because theyre tilted at about 20 degrees. His primary interests are fossil fish taphonomy, the green river formation. The permian coconino sandstone is one of the most prominent layers of rock in the. Some coconino fills deep mudcracks in the underlying hermit shale 38 and the desert that created the coconino lasted for 5 to 10 million years. Considerable controversy existed then as to whether this sandstone was a subaqueous deposit or was composed of windformed dunes. Resource potential for commodities in addition to uranium. Their argument is that deposits like this would be impossible to form in the midst of a global flood as described in genesis.
Kaibab limestone this layer averages about 250 million years old and forms the surface of the kaibab and coconino plateaus. Coconino samples from the breadth and depth of the formation and. Standard thinking cites the coconino sandstone as perhaps the most difficult formation to reconcile within the flood model of earth history. Geoscience research institute footprints in the grand canyon. To discover the conditions under which the tracks were formed, animals were used to produce trackways in the laboratory on 1 dry sand, 2 moist sand, 3 wet sand, 4 underwater sand. It is part of familiar cliff exposures in places like grand canyon and sedona, arizona fig. It is also known as the kaibab formation in arizona, nevada, and utah. The rocks are essentially horizontal several unconformities occur in the sequence the formations from the base to the canyon rim, are. Thinking of the geologic record as a book is helpful to understand each page of earths history. Coconino sandstone formed about 275 million years ago as the area dried out and sand dunes made of quartz sand invaded a growing desert see 6b in figure 1. Great unconformity in dnm break in stratigraphy separating precambrian rocks from overlying, young cambrian rocks, called sauk transgression.
The coconino sandstone figure 1a, whose buffcolored sand piles up as thick. The data indicate that the coconino sandstone was deposited under wet conditions, not the dry sand dune conditions usually described. North rim of grand canyon showing coconino sandstone white. But desert sand dunes tend to have a higher angle, often exceeding 30 degrees. The top of the coconino sandstone was used as the datum for the stratigraphic sections plates 4 and 6 because. Composition and physical character the coconino sandstone consists essentially of rounded grains of quartz which are cemented by silica.
Sandstone, tim helble, who is one of the authors for the grand canyon book, has composed a 41imagedocument that discusses a view of a creationist, john whitmore, who makes a presentation titled ten myths about the coconino. In the big maria mountains, california, the kaibab limestone is highly. This is a classic application of the strawman fallacy present a statement as if reflects the current science, then tear it down. Grand canyon geology 2nd edition, 2003 online research. The coconino sandstone a response to john whitmores ten. Coconino sandstone and hermit shale bruce was showing us the fault and the difference between the hermit shale and the coconino sandstone. But its explanation for the 1,200 feet of dune sands in the coconino sandstone as an underwater deposit is even worse. The conventional view is that the coconino sandstone represents ancient windblown desert sand dunes, which would have. The sediments and trace fossils of the coconino sandstone record the advance and passage of a major eolian sand sea. A nature guide in grand canyon national park frommers.
The coconino sandstone has an average crossbedding angle of 25 degrees, which is consistent with the angle for sandwaves deposited by water. Its history of the ice age as a brief post noahs flood event goes on to be breathtakingly preposterous. What is the composition rock type of the lunar crust that fills impact basins and craters across the moon. Most young earth creationists point to the grand canyon as a product of noahs flood.
The grand canyon tells one of the worlds greatest geologic stories. The kaibab limestone is a resistant cliffforming, permian geologic formation that crops out across the u. Those results are consistent with the findings of northrop et al. An analysis of crosslamination the coconino sandstone jstor. Because mica occurs in books it often appears as a long thin strand. Based on the rocks, how might the climate of the area have changed between deposition of the hermit shale and the coconino sandstone. A chemical analysis of a representative rock sample of the coconino sandstone showed that its composition was as follows. Vertebrate tracks known as chelichnus gigas from the coconino sandstone in grand canyon.
The courthouse had the 1950s coconino sandstone facing and. Pdf a new trace fossil from the permian coconino sandstone of. You can see the coconino sandstone is white and forms steep cliffs. The coconino sandstone is one of the more wellknown permian sandstones of the western united states. This formation spreads across the colorado plateau. The highest of these beds may be equivalent to nobles hermit shale, but the lowest are probably equivalent to his supai formation. Coconino sandstone, the result of a permian age coastal dune field.
Johannsen, manual of petrographic methods new york. The permian coconino sandstone is one of the most prominent layers of rock in the grand canyon and is important to. The permian coconino sandstone is one of the most prominent layers of rock in the grand canyon and is important to creationists because it has often been used by conventional scientists to discredit the bible since it is a supposed windblown eolian deposit. It is composed primarily of a sandy limestone with a layer of sandstone below it. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Papers concerning the palaeontology of california, arizona, and idaho, carnegie institution, washington d. Animal tracks, mud cracks and raindrop imprints prove that the hermit was often exposed to air. The left portion of stratigraphic section shows geologic eras to which layersareassigned and corre. Creation science rebuttals creation magazine coconino sandstone startling evidence for noahs flood volume 15, issue 1, december 1992. Creation science rebuttals, creation magazine, the. Additional complexity involved with the coconino sandstone to further discuss the complexity that applies to the origin of the coconino sandstone, tim helble, who is one of the authors for the grand canyon book, has composed a 41imagedocument that discusses a view of a creationist, john. Features in the coconino, including large swooping lines that look like pulled taffy, tell us that 260 million years ago this part of arizona was covered with windblown desertcoastal dunes. He has written numerous articles and book chapters and is coauthor of. Its distinctive features allow researchers to piece together the history of this unique location, one of americas treasures and a unesco world heritage site.
The coconino sandstone was a saharalike sand sea, called an erg. Move your cursor over the photographs to highlight the featured layers. Both invertebrate and vertebrate traces indicate that the substrate was for the most part, very dry though it is clear that light rainfall or. Coconino sandstonethe most powerful argument against the. Johnson contributions to the hydrology of the united states geological survey watersupply paper 1539s prepared in cooperation with the arizona state land department united states government printing office, washington. This second edition of the leading book on grand canyon geology contains the most recent discoveries and interpretations of the origin and history of the canyon. Origin of the coconino sandstone in the grand canyon. I can no longer add to or correct the original web site, although it will remain online as is. As a formation, other materials are present, mostly as thin seams of clay minerals, mica, and secondary silica, calcite, and gypsum. This rock formation is particularly prominent in the grand canyon, where it is visible as a prominent white cliffforming layer. Coconino sandstone permian period, 280 million years old, 350 feet thick tan to nearly white prominent vertical cliff. In the head of marble canyon about 500 feet of red shale and sandstone containing beds of blue limestone in their lower part were observed beneath the coconino sandstone. Coconino sandstone and hermit shale bruce was showing us.
In fact, the posters presented by students and faculty of cedarville university at the 2010 annual meeting of the geological society of america gsa in denver, colo. This formation spreads across the colorado plateau province of the united states, including northern arizona, northwest colorado, nevada, and utah. Petrology of the coconino sandstone answers in genesis. It underlies entire coconino plateau, as well as the extensive plateau country north of. Click the coconino sandstone and the toroweap formation in the diagram for details on their formation. It consists almost entirely of large crossbeds fig. First published 24 jan 2003, old earth ministries website. For example, dr davis young, professor of geology at calvin college in grand rapids, michigan, in a recent book being marketed in christian bookshops, has merely echoed the interpretations made by evolutionary geologists of the characteristics of the coconino sandstone, arguing against the flood as being the agent for depositing the coconino. This rock formation is particularly prominent in the grand canyon, where. Kaibab limestone to supai formation hit the trail at. Coconino sandstone is proposed for the crossbedded gray to white sandstone of aubrey group, which is so conspicuous in walls of grand canyon. It temds to form a slope and it undercuts the coconino sandstone. All these are soft, fine grained sedimentary rocks, weathering to form gentle slopesas in this photo of isis temple with coconino sandstone at the top. Chemical analysis of sample of the coconino sandstone source.
Looking west from the summit of the tallest dune, perhaps you could have seen the distant shimmer of panthalassa, the world ocean of the time of pangaea. Muav limestone, temple butte limestone redwall limestone, supai sandstone, hermit shale, coconino sand stone, and the toroweapkaibab limestones. In the coconino sandstone, concentrations of dissolved solids range from less than 500 mgl in the northeastern part of the province to more than 25,000 mgl north of the little colorado river in the southcentral part. The coconino sandstone is a pure sand made of quartz grains, so it is a gleaming white where a fresh surface has been exposed by a rock fall. Sandstone is identified by its sandy texture which often translates into a gritty feel. Coconino sandstone, sand waves, sandstone petrology, dolomite. Here, he cites mckee, who in 1934, published the coconino sandstone its history and origin1. Water in the coconino sandstone for the snowflakehay. Arizona red, flagstaffs distinctive sandstone, played a pivotal role in the citys economy as well as its architecture. Cambrian formation, sandstone and shale with coarse to pebbly transgressive marine sandstone at its base, signaling a major rise in sea level. Move your cursor over the photographs to highlight the. Origin of the coconino sandstone in the grand canyon csun.
Water in trie coconino sandstone for the snowflakehay hollow area navajo county, arizona by phillip w. Future additions will be added to the new web site stone quarries and beyond. The lower part of the trail originally consisted of a series of hand and toe holds between metal ladders and ropes fastened to the nearvertical coconino sandstone wall. An introduction to grand canyon fossils is the only book of its kind focusing on the fossils of the national park, and it will be a delight to readers young and old fascinated by evidence of life hardened in stone. The coconinos starring role in the creationistgeologist. The hermit formation forms a red slope below the coconino sandstone cliff. In some places sandstone and shale also exists as its upper layer.
Some coconino fills deep mudcracks in the underlying hermit shale and the desert that created the coconino lasted for 5 to 10 million years. The coconino sandstone is a widespread formation that crops. Environments in which sandstones form include beaches, sand bars, deltas and dunes. As you also know, geologists have long contended that. Arizonas coconino sandstone a deposit seen in the grand canyon and elsewhere plays a central role in the creationist argument that the upper rocks of the grand canyon were deposited during noahs flood. Coconino sandstone is a geologic formation named after its exposure in coconino county, arizona.
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