A Journey Through Time (Red State Rabble)

Two years ago, a book titled “The Grand Canyon: A Different View” by Colorado River guide Tom Vail went on sale in National Park bookstores. The book asserts that the same Old Testament flood that carried Noah’s Ark to Mt. Ararat formed the canyon.

According to this view, the canyon is less than 10,000 years old.

In August 2003, Joe Alston, the Grand Canyon National Park superintendent, ordered the book removed from the bookshelves there. But, superiors at National Park Service headquarters quickly overruled him. NPS promised a review of the book, but this was never carried out. Despite protests, by the presidents of seven scientific societies, the book remains on sale.

It happens that Red State Rabble, though ignorant of many things has a little first-hand knowledge about the canyon. In 2000, we backpacked and studied the geology of the inner canyon for six days with a group from the Grand Canyon Field Institute. Beginning on the South Rim, we descended the Hermit Trail to the Colorado River. We camped along Hermit Creek, Monument Creek, and Indian Gardens before ascending to the rim on the Bright Angel Trail.

Ken Walters, a former exploration geologist, who has logged over 9,000 miles and summited 141 buttes in the canyon, led our merry little band. Along with exercises in map and compass reading, Walters insisted that each of us learn the little mnemonic: “Know The Canyon’s History, Study Rocks Made By Time” as an aid to orienting ourselves in the canyon’s backcountry.

Yesterday, we posted an excerpt from a commentary in the Cincinnati Enquirer by a creationist, John Turney. Today, let’s just examine Turney’s first assertion, “all evolutionists, must make assumptions. For example, they assume the Grand Canyon’s rock always had its current concrete-like consistency.”

Evolutionists are concerned with biological evolution. It is geologists who undertake the scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth, and it’s specific structural features, such as the Grand Canyon.

Do geologists “assume the Grand Canyon’s rock always had its current concrete-like consistency”? Don’t be silly. Geologists understand that a formation such as the Grand Canyon is the product of dynamic forces. Forces that are still at work today.

Erosion by ice, water, and wind are just some of the dynamic forces that helped carve the canyon. Volcanism, plate tectonics, and the sediments left behind by advancing and retreating ocean coast lines have all played a role in making the canyon one of the most remarkable geological features on earth.

 By the way, creationists like Mr. Turney often focus on how rapidly the waters of Noah’s Flood might have carved out the canyon, but they rarely consider how long it took to form the strata there in the first place.

Here’s something else Mr. Turney might not have considered when he wrote his commentary. Many kinds of rock make up the canyon. On our ramble through the canyon, we examined sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock strata. Some of these rocks are much, much harder than concrete. Others are softer. The varying hardness of those rocks, and their resistance to erosion give the canyon its unique profile.

Let’s wander down through the strata now from the South Rim to the river …