Photos from left to right: Paul Garner (a) studying Coconino Sandstone outcrops at Picacho Butte, Arizona, (b) examining the contact between the Coconino Sandstone and the underlying Hermit Formation along the Tanner Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona, (c) bagging and labelling rock specimens in Burro Canyon, Arizona, and (d) walking across an exhumed bounding surface in the gypsum dunes of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Photos courtesy of Dr John H. Whitmore.

In July Paul Garner and his colleagues, Dr John Whitmore (Cedarville University) and Ray Strom (Calgary Rock and Materials), undertook ten days of geological field research in Arizona and New Mexico. The team is studying the origin of the Coconino Sandstone as part of the Flood-Activated Sedimentation and Tectonics (FAST) project sponsored by the National Creation Science Foundation.

Critics of creationism have often appealed to the Coconino Sandstone because it is typically thought to have been laid down by the slow accumulation of sand dunes in an ancient desert. They use this argument to challenge the biblical idea of a global Flood. How could a sandstone like the Coconino have been laid down in a desert while the continents were underwater?

This summer John, Ray and Paul travelled thousands of miles and hiked to many remote places to study the Coconino Sandstone in northern Arizona, including Grand Canyon. They were also able to trace the Coconino eastwards into New Mexico, where it becomes the Glorieta Sandstone. They collected about 100 rock samples which will be studied using thin section microscopy and other laboratory techniques. This brings the total number of samples collected so far during the project to almost 700. John and Paul also visited White Sands National Monument in New Mexico to observe how sand accumulates today in windblown dunes.

The team are excited about what they are finding. Their new field and laboratory investigations suggest that much of what has previously been written about the Coconino Sandstone is incorrect. They have made many surprising discoveries that challenge the idea that this rock unit was laid down in a desert, including the suite of minerals found within the sandstone, the type of bedding that it displays, and its relationship to other rock layers around it. They believe that a strong case can be made for the catastrophic underwater deposition of the Coconino Sandstone.

The team presented some of its findings at this year’s creation geology conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and more publications are in preparation.