Coconino Sandstone

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Coconino Sandstone at the Chute of Muddy Creek, Utah
Coconino Sandstone at the Chute of Muddy Creek, Utah

Coconino Sandstone is a geologic formation that spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.

This rock formation is particularly prominent in southeastern Utah, where it can be seen in a number of national parks and monuments, including Zion National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, the San Rafael Swell, and Canyonlands National Park. It is also present in the Grand Canyon, where it is visible as a prominent white cliff forming layer. Coconino sandstone frequently appears just below the Kaibab Limestone or the Toroweap layer. Coconino layers are typically buff to white in color, considered by most geologists to be the remnants of sand dunes deposited in eolian processes (wind-deposited) approximately 260 million years ago,[1][2] a conclusion strongly supported by a great deal of diverse evidence.[3]

[edit] Creationist claims

Some creationists including the geologist Leonard R. Brand have claimed that fossil tracks in the Grand Canyon's Coconino Sandstone point to an underwater deposition, rather than desert wind deposition of dry sand.[3][4][5] Their working methods and conclusions have been severely criticised.[6][3][7]


[edit] References

  1. ^ McKee, E.D., 1979. "A study of global sand seas: Ancient sandstones considered to be eolian." U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1052, Reston, VA: USGS
  2. ^ Middleton, L.T., D.K. Elliott, and M. Morales, 2003, "Coconino Sandstone," in S.S. Beus and M. Morales, eds., Grand Canyon Geology. Oxford University Press, New York, New York. ISBN: 0195122992
  3. ^ a b c CC365.1: Coconino Sandstone deposition environment.. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  4. ^ Brand, L.R. and Tang, T., 1991. "Fossil vertebrate footprints in the Coconino Sandstone (Permian) of northern Arizona: Evidence for underwater origin." Geology, vol. 19, pp. 1201–1204.
  5. ^ Geology Today, vol. 8(3), May–June 1992, pp, 78–79 (Wet tracks).
  6. ^ Steven A Austin, Wilfred Elders. NCSE Resource. Trivializing Creationist Scholarship: A Reply to Dr Wilfred Elders and Elders Replies. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  7. ^ Lockley, M.G. and A.P. Hunt, 1995. Dinosaur tracks and other fossil footprints of the western United States. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 338 pp. ISBN 0-231-07927-3