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
|
| | 1. Redwall limestone—delicate marine organisms fossilized
2. Relocated animals—fast moving water
3. Nautiloid Canyon—Nautiloids only in one layer; nautiloids in similar orientation
4. Trackway of quadruped footprints
|
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 years | | | 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—an example is Hurricane fault
4. Rapid erosion—boulders within sandstone
5. Upwarp zone—3,000 feet 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 | | 2. | River erosion cannot explain the flat plane—must have been sheet water erosion | | 3. | Erosion of the canyon | a. | Ancestral River theory | | b. | Runaway gully | | c. | Breached dam | | | 4. | Mt. St. Helens comparison—new drainage basin of the Toutle River | |
G. Doubtful dating methods
|
| | | 1. | Lava flows of the Cardenas Basalt (bottom of Canyon) dated: | 1.7 billion years with Sm/Nd | | 1.1 billion years with Rb/Sr | | 0.7 billion years with K/Ar | | | 2. | Vulcan's throne—cinder cone volcano on North rim dated as 1.23 billion years old with Rb/Sr | |
