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I. Evidences that lead us to consider the history of the Earth as revealed at the Grand Canyon
| | A. Ocean over the continent | | 1. Sponge and coral fossils in limestone
2. Hermit shale—fossil ferns and marine fossils
3. Hermit shale does not have the characteristics of a river delta |
B. Rapid burial
C. Widespread strata | | 1. Thin, individual strata layers can be followed 200 miles
2. Long distance transport of sand |
D. Short time between strata | | 1. Torroweap/Kaibab boundary interpretations: | | a. formed by two different oceans that covered the continent at different times; boundary represents millions of years of missing time.
b. boundary has no soil zone—represents short period of time between formations— one flood could have deposited both | 2. Supai/Hermit boundary interpretations: | | a. water deposited the Supai; soil layer built up, water deposited the Hermit
b. two layers seem to intermingle | 3. Great Unconformity Dox/Tapeats | | a. boundary represents 0.5 billion years:—missing
b. see no evidence of chemical erosion at boundary—no evidence of 0.5 billion yrs.
c. Erosion is physical—marks the beginning of the Flood | |
E. Massive tectonic upheaval | | 1. Preflood rock was shaved off by the early flood waters
2. Sixty mile formation—crossbedding sandstone alternating with breccia and boulders
3. Faulting in the canyon—ex. Hurricane fault
4. Rapid erosion—boulders within sandstone
5. Upwarp zone—3,000 ft. vertical upheaval extending hundreds of miles |
F. Rapid erosion | | 1. Kaibab limestone—flat, like a plane, but it is an erosion surface because in other places, there are layers over the Kaibab
Red Butte Erosion (Sidebar 3)
2. River erosion cannot explain the flat plane—must have been sheet water erosion
3. Erosion of the canyon
(For a review of the theories of erosion, see Module 9:
A Geologist Looks At Noah's Flood:
Theories for the Formation of Grand Canyon) | | a. Ancestral River theory
b. Runaway gully
c. Breached dam | 4. Mt. St. Helens comparison—new drainage basin of the Toutle River
(See Module 5: Mount St. Helens:
The Geologic Effects of the Eruption)
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G. Doubtful dating methods |
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