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Grand Canyon

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The Grand Staircase is an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Staircase is an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is a massive geological feature in the American state of Arizona. Due to efforts of conservationists, the region became a Forest Preserve in 1893 and was protected from unrestricted hunting and logging. Later, because of its popularity, the region was made into Grand Canyon National Park. The park covers over 1.2 million acres of land[1], and hosts nearly 5 million visitors annually.[2]

Contents

Formation

Erosion

The Grand Canyon provides a tremendous example of the results of large-scale erosion, which is important in developing an understanding of the mechanisms likely to have been active in the Biblical global flood. For many years creation scientists have taught that the Grand Canyon was formed rapidly when a large lake on the northern border of the Colorado Plateau broke through its natural dam. In contrast, secular science has taught that the Colorado river eroded the canyon gradually over millions of years based on the uniformitarian assumptions. However, researchers have recently determined that the Grand Canyon is a geologic infant in comparison to previous estimates, and it has been concluded that indeed much of the canyon was eroded rapidly as a result of dam failure.

Research on the Initiation and Frequency of Debris Flows in Grand Canyon, Arizona have revealed that "Geomorphic change in Grand Canyon is largely catastrophic in nature, especially on a decadal time scale, and changes to debris fans resulting from debris flows are usually obvious." — quote from Methods

Replicate photographs of the debris fan at South Canyon (river mile 32.5-R). A. Photograph taken on July 17, 1889 by Franklin A. Nims. Replicate view taken on January 2, 1992 by Jim Hasbargen. Several debris flows have aggraded the debris fan, including a large one that deposited the prominent levee at right between 1940 and 1965.

Strata Deposition

Main Article: Strata

Some of the most outstanding features of the Grand Canyon are the layers of sedimentary rock called strata that have been exposed by the erosion event that carved this immense canyon system. Layers of sedimentary rocks hundreds of feet thick blanket the world, and can be traced across entire continents and even correlated with layers on other continents. By comparing the sequence of layers from various areas, the cross section of strata known as the geological column was developed.

The strata seen in the photo at right were formed during the flood of Noah via hydrologic sorting. Due to continuous recent erosion, we are now able to see the layers formed during the flood.

The diagram at left illustrates plateau formation. The preflood topology is marked in green. The horizontal strata were formed via sedimentation during the flood. After the flood, the waters may have taken a few months or years to completely recede. If the region was completely surrounded by mountains in all directions, the water may not have had an opportunity to recede.

Notable Features

The Kaibab Limestone

The highest stratum at the Grand Canyon is the Kaibab limestone. Among the marine fossils found here are sea lilies, which are restricted to fairly deep waters, about 60m to 300m deep. This implies that at one time the Kaibab Plateau was beneath at least 60m of water.

Kanab Canyon

Kanab Canyon is one of the larger side canyons of the Grand Canyon, running north in the direction of Fredonia, Arizona. Its mouth (36.393o N, 112.630o W) intersects the Grand Canyon about 144 miles below Lees Ferry, Arizona and 60 miles below Grand Canyon Village. Its importance for creationary studies is the evidence it provides for high discharge rates in its formation that correlates well with postulated late Flood conditions. It is felt that there were likely Post-Flood lakes on the Colorado plateau which breached to cause episodes of high discharge water. Some have suggested the hypothetical "Lake Flagstaff" in Utah which may have deposited the "Pink Cliffs" Formation (Wasatch Formation), as an example of lake formation. Others critique the presence of a lake on the Colorado Plateau in the past.

Shiva Temple

Shiva Temple is a butte or mesa about one mile long (1.6 kilometers) with an area of about 300 acres in the canyon near the North Rim (36.166o N, 112.160o W. Its top is about the same altitude as the North Rim, but is separated by a saddle that descends more than a thousand feet to the level of desert plants. Shiva Temple is of interest to creationists because in 1937, Harold Anthony of the American Museum of Natural History led an expedition to Shiva Temple to show that it had been separated from the rim of the canyon so long that its animals had developed new evolutionary distinctions. He concluded that there was not enough evidence to support the hypothesis, and decided the top of Shiva Temple was not as isolated as he had thought.

John Meyer and George Howe studied the mammals on Shiva Temple in 1979 [3], and noted that there are some mammals who live in the ponderosa pine forests both on the North Rim and on Shiva Temple, who don't live on the saddle between the two. This would seem to be evidence of the isolation of Shiva Temple at least for some species of small animals. The Kaibab squirrel (Sciurus aberti kaibabensis) is found on the North Rim, but not on Shiva. The Brush Mouse (Peromyscus boylii), the Bushytailed Wood Rat (Neotoma cinerea), and the Canyon Mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) are found both on Shiva and on the North Rim but not on the saddle between the two which has a desert type of plant life. Meyer and Howe point out that for at least some small mammals, there is evidence of isolation, but no evidence of evolutionary differences showing up. They point out that short term isolation of the animals points to a recent formation of the canyon, where long term isolation points to a failure in evolutionary processes that should occur in an isolated population.

Radiometric Dating

  • Radiohalos found in coalified wood at the Colorado Plateau have a high 238U/206Pb ratio, ranging from 2000 to 27000. This suggests that the Colorado Plateau was formed several thousand years ago, and not hundreds of million of years ago.
  • Debris Flow Terraces have yielded radiocarbon dates of several thousand years. This is due to continuous erosion after the flood, forming the Canyon.

Controversies

Bible Verse Plaques

In the 1960's, a convent known as the Cannan in the Desert, part of the Germany-based Protestant group Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, donated three plaques, made of fiberglass and bronze, containing Bible verses to the Grand Canyon National Park.[4] The plaques contained the following verses:

"All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Psalms 66:4 (NIV)
"Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD — and rejoice before him." Psalms 68:4 (NIV)
"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalms 104:24 (KJV)

The plaques were displayed at three sites around the canyon's south rim: Hermit's Rest, Lookout Studio and Desert View.

In July 2003, the ACLU submitted a letter expressing their concern over plaques containing passages of Scripture. Following the complaints, the signs were removed by the Grand Canyon Park Superintendent Joe Alston to avoid controversy.[5] Many letters of protest were sent in, in an effort begun by a Los Angeles talk show host.[6]

Interior spokesman David Barna pointed out that various other religious icons were displayed throughout national parks, such as a Russian Orthodox chapel in the Sitka National Historical Park, a Spanish mission in San Antonio, an Indian site in Wyoming, and a chapel in Yosemite National Park.[7]

On July 23, just a few weeks after being removed, Deupty Director Donald Murphy ordered that the plaques be returned until the policy was reviewed. The Deputy Director also wrote a letter to the Sisterhood, apologizing.[8] No further action has been taken towards removal.

Creationist Book

Other complaints were brought to light over a photo essay book Grand Canyon: A Different View by creationist Tom Vail featured in a bookstore of the Grand Canyon National Park. Several creation scientists contributed information to the book, which suggests the creationist perspective that the Grand Canyon is not millions of years old. On December 16, 2003, scientists from different organizations composed a letter urging the park service to remove the book, stating that it was not a work of science, but of religious belief, and that its presence in the shop could be interpreted as endorsement. If not removed, the letter suggested, it should at least be separated from other scientific books.[9] (The book was already sold in the "Inspirational" section of the store.)

According to Vail's attorney, Gary McCaleb, public record requests revealed that the letter was actually edited by employees within the park service itself.[10]

In January of 2004, National Park Service Chief of Public Affairs David Barna said that they would review whether or not the book should remain. A group known as Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility or PEER challenged the claim, suggesting no such review had taken place.[11]

The letter sparked a controversy, fueled by Answers in Genesis urging its supporters to express their opinions on keeping the book in the Park store. Thousands of e-mails poured into the Park service.[12]

Although the National Park Service denied teaching or endorsing a creationist view, they maintained that the book would remain in the Park's store.[13]

In 2006, PEER issued another release entitled How Old is the Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say in which it was asserted that "Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees." The press release was published and highlighted by eSkeptic, an online publication of skeptics and agnostics.[14] The next week, eSkeptic issued a follow-up entitled Fact Checking 101: How Skeptic magazine was Duped by an Environmental Activist Group, pointing out that dozens of eSkeptic readers phoned the National Park Service and the Grand Canyon National Park, and were informed that the claims of PEER were utterly false. The article quoted various Grand Canyon park employees stating the claims of being pressured to remain neutral on the age of the canyon were untrue.

After pursuing leads and questioning the head of PEER and finding no evidence to their claims, eSkeptic publisher Michael Shermer concluded that "PEER is an anti-Bush, anti-religion liberal activist watchdog group in search of demons to exorcise and dragons to slay."

Creation Tours

There are several creation science organizations that offer regular tours to and rafting trips through the Grand Canyon with instructors who can illustrate the relevance of the monument for creation geologists.

Related References

Creationist

Grand Canyon Creation Set
Grand Canyon Creation Set

Secular


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