Blasphemy, blasphemy!

I am a regular follower of another geological blog called 'Geotripper' by a guy called Garry Hayes, a teacher of geology at Modesto Junior College in the USA and enjoy dipping into his prolific, enlightening and entertaining 'geoblogs'.

But a recent blog rather took me by surprise. Entitled "Ten Overrated Places to See Before You Die...Part Two" , imagine my shock on finding that the subject of this award, was Grand Canyon South Rim!!!

What? Are you mad? Before I comment further, take a look at his post here.

Grand Canyon at dawn from Bright Angel Lodges.

Overrated? I really don't think so!

(Photo by Alyn)

What Garry is referring to is 'the South Rim experience' and to a degree he is right. With around 277 miles of canyon to play with, tourist access is limited to only a few select places. As a visitor myself in 2008, I was surprised and I must say relieved to find that there is little in the way of development of Grand Canyon. As I understand it there are the lodges and apartments at Grand Canyon Village, a smaller development on the North Rim and also Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon. Other than a few camp sites, that is about it and thank heavens for that say I. Can you imagine the horror of a multitude of 'Grand Canyon Skywalks' or similar crass developments littering this beautiful place?

So, Grand Canyon National Park saw fit to channel the tourist invasion into this one place. But is the whole South Rim experience spoiled as a result? Well, I can only relate my own experience. As a citizen of the UK, the trip over to Arizona constituted the 'trip of a lifetime' and yes, was on my list of those essential "places to visit before you die". What I wanted was a way for my family and my mother-in-law to stay as close to the Canyon as possible and at the very least get a feel for this wonderous place.

From L-R: Diane, Amy, Me, Ruth and Anna-Ruth outside our Bright Angel Lodge

(Photo by Alyn)

Well, we stayed in the magnificent Bright Angel Lodges, literally only yards from the Canyon edge.  And just a short walk away is the Bright Angel Restaurant where the most magnificent breakfast in the world awaits! One simply cannot 'overrate' their breakfast potatoes, sourdough toast and endless coffee, no Sir!

But I do understand where Garry is coming from. Sure, hoards of camcorder wielding folks hop off the bus in their droves, gaze over the canyon edge, pose for the obligatory photo with canyon backdrop, say "Gee, isn't it lovely" and then hop back on the bus and head for Vegas. For many, that is it. An afternoon's hop along the South Rim viewpoints,  a photo at each and prescious little else.

Evening bus tour of the South Rim viewpoints

(Photo by Alyn)

But for so many more, a visit to the South Rim of Grand Canyon is just the start of a whole lot more. As Gary points out, it is impossible to grasp the sheer magnitude of Grand Canyon just by standing at the edge and looking over. When you look at just the Kaibab Limestone layer for example and realise that this layer alone is about 300 feet thick, you may then get an appreciation of the scale a little. So I am left with a longing to revisit and take a hike through at least a part of it. One day my friends, one day . . . 

For countless others, they do just that. Hikes, canyon raft trips, camping etc, etc. So in my view, the Grand Canyon South Rim experience can serve as an introduction to the Grand Canyon. For some it is nothing but a single day out. But for many others though it can be a life changing experience and prove to be the start of something special, be it an appreciation of geology or even the feeling of being a little closer to God.

Overrated? Never!

Cheers for now!

Alyn.

Time to read some books!

Greetings!

What a strange feeling it is! With the Open University course now all wrapped up, I'm left with a slightly empty feeling! No assignment to aim for? No deadline to meet? Weird!?!

Having got over that realisation now, I find I am able to go ahead and read a book without having to necessarily write a 500 word appraisal of it, (mind you, the type of books I read, I tend to do that in my head anyway!) So at least now I am able to get stuck into my two 'birthday books'. My mum and dad gave me some money for my birthday, so I purchased 2 geology books would you believe?

Firstly, I got a book called "The Earth After Us", by Jan Zalasiewicz. In this book, the author imagines what a population of alien visitors to Earth would make of our planet when they arrive 100 million years from now, long after the human being has gone the same way as the Dodo. What have we humans left behind in the fossil record? What will these aliens make of the 'human stratum' and how will they judge us? I've just started this one and it's a fascinating read as I've often wondered myself, what evidence of our lives will be left millons of years from now? What will the remains of say, a landfill site look like millions of years from now? Bottles, both glass and plastic, mountains of diposable nappies, all compressed and changed into another form presumably, but what? I'll read on and see what unfolds!

Incidentally, by pure coincidence, Jan Zalasiewicz just happens to be a lecturer in Geology at Leicester University and I met him and had a brief chat while at an open day at the Uni last July! When I spotted the book in Waterstones a while ago, I recognised the name from somewhere, but couldn't place it. A quick look at the sleeve notes and the penny dropped!

The second book is one I've been itching to buy ever since I heard about it's imminent publication. Following my family's trip to Arizona last year, I've been fascinated not only by the Canyon, but the whole of the Colorado Plateau area. While there, I bought a book by Wayne Ranney (I may have mentioned it before within this blog? Maybe a million times?) called 'Carving Grand Canyon', which is a superb book, detailing the theories and mysteries surrounding the possible formation of Grand Canyon. Well, the multitude of staggering geological wonders to be found in the American southwest are inextricably linked to the ever changing Colorado Plateau and this is the subject of Wayne Ranney's latest book "Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau".

Written in collaboration with his onetime Northern Arizona University lecturer Ron Blakey, this publication is a truly stunning book! I only picked it up from the postal depot this morning, but a brief flick through it's pages reveal Ron's palaeogeographical maps in all their glory. Let's not beat around the bush - Ron's ground breaking maps are a work of utter genius (see the slideshow of his world maps at the lower right column of this blog!) and their publication is long overdue! Together with loads of explanatory diagrams and Wayne's text, it looks an absolute gem of a book! I'll let you know more and maybe do my own little reviews of these books at a later date.

Cheers for now!
Alyn.

Palaeogeographical maps of the world

The Earth as it is today.
Taken From Dr Ron Blakey's web site

A while ago I included a link on the blog to Ron Blakey's web site. This includes amongst other great stuff, a series of fascinating maps of the world as it looked at significant points in time. These illustrate superbly the concept of plate tectonics and the drift of continents over huge spans of time.

Today I've added a small slideshow of this series of maps towards the bottom of the right hand column. While being a bit small, it does show how the continents moved around the planet, going back in time from the present back to 600 million years ago and the Late Cambrian period. Clicking on any individual slide will take you to a full size image with a brief caption illustrating its place in geological time.

It's always worth keeping in mind whenever one looks at a particular bed of rock that the environment in which it was laid down was very much different to its current situation. These superb representations certainly help me to grasp how environments change over time. It's amazing to think when looking at a certain geological feature that where you are standing was once ocean or was once subjected to a great out pouring of lava from a nearby volcano!

Incidentally, a series Dr Blakey's images will feature in a soon to be published book written in collaboration with Wayne Ranney, author of 'Carving Grand Canyon' which I've mentioned several times. The new book is entitled 'Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau' and will shed some more light upon the complex story of how the Colorado plateau evolved over time and contributed to the formation of Grand Canyon.

Geology eh? Don't ya just love it?

Enjoy!

Cheers for now!

Grumpychops.

The Earth some 600 million years ago! So which bit became Britain?

Image from Dr Ron Blakey's excellent web site

More of the delights of the American Southwest

Forgive me for indulging myself somewhat. After my family's wonderful holiday to Arizona and Grand Canyon I have I'm afraid, become slightly obsessed by everything Arizona and southwest USA. The wet, miserable, dull and drab 'summer' weather here in north-west England only serves to increase my yearnings for more of the magnificent Grand Canyon and southwest USA!

During our March trip I bought a few books as I tend to do. Wayne Ranney's 'Carving Grand Canyon' is superb and well worth reading if like me, you are intrigued by the mysterys surrounding the formation of Grand Canyon. Another excellent book that I picked up over there is 'Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona' by Lon Abbott and Terri Cook, which takes a look at the geology of the Northern half of the state and encourages the reader to get out there in your car and see the various features for yourself. This book also emphasises to me just how many magnificent geological features there are in Arizona that I didn't have time to visit last March and only increases my desire to return. While we saw and were mesmerised by Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and Salt River Canyon, we barely scratched the surface of what Arizona has to offer.

There is an excellent web site called 'The American Southwest' run by a guy called John Crossley, who surprisingly resides in Bristol, England. His site covers the National Parks of this region of USA and includes a huge library of photographs. As well as the beautiful photographs and brilliant text guides to each area, he includes maps, hotel guides and some superb panoramas!

I'm delighted to say John has given me permission to use a few photographs from his site on this humble blog of mine. Such as this one....

East and West mitten Buttes, Monument Valley, Utah.

© copyright 1994 - 2008 John Crossley.

This area was I believe used as the backdrop to many classic Western films in the 1960's and 70's.

Merrick Butte, Monument Valley, Utah

© copyright 1994-2008 John Crossley

And then there is this extraordinary place, The Arches National park, also in Utah:-

The far side of Double 'O' Arch, Arches National Park, Utah.

© copyright 1994 - 2008 John Crossley.

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

© copyright 1994-2008 John Crossley

There are over 1000 arches of Entrada sandstone in this national park, ranging in size from the 89 metre span of Landscape Arch to small cavities of a mere 3 feet, which is the smallest size for an opening to be actually classified as an arch! John's web site will tell you all you need to know about where to find this place, so I won't repeat it here, but when I make that return trip back over the herring pond, I will definitely check out these breathtaking national parks.

I could attempt to explain how these awesome features formed, but on reflection perhaps I should wait until I do that geology degree and have a more thorough understanding of it all before I do that. Other blogs do all that way better than I could at the moment, such as 'MJC Rocks at 'Geotripper'. He's been running a brilliant series of blogs on the whole Colorado Plateau which has been superb. But then, he is a lecturer at Modesto Junior College! I only hope my future geology lecturers are as good as this guy!

Many thanks again to John Crossley at 'The American Southwest' for permission to use these photographs!

Cheers for now!

Grumpychops.

Holiday in Paradise!

In my 'debut' blog last week, I did promise not to make every blog of mine a collection of moans and grumbles at life's injustices. As therapeutic as that may be for me, it will almost certainly make for a very dull read for anyone else. That is assuming of course, that anyone else does indeed read this stuff! Doubtless I will need to get things off my chest - I'm long overdue a rant about the abominable treatment of 'Nellie' (my 1964 Morris Minor!) and I by other road users! Arrrrrrgghh!

Don't get me started! I'll save that for another time.


So, to try and enlighten you all as to what sort of things, other than my dear wife, make me squeal with joy, or at least say "Wow!", take a look at this......

The magnificent Grand Canyon - awesome or what?
(Photo by Splodge during tour by Papillon Helicopters)

Firstly, here's a few facts about Grand Canyon, taken from one of the best books covering the geology of the region: 'Carving Grand Canyon' by Wayne Ranney:- Grand Canyon is...

• 277 miles long


• on average 10 miles wide and 18 miles wide at its widest


• on average 5,280 feet deep and 6,000 feet deep at its deepest


• 7, 000 feet above sea level at the South Rim & 8,200 feet at the North Rim


• and finally about 4.5 million people visit Grand Canyon each year!

Nothing, but nothing could ever prepare you for the emotional impact when you first set eyes on Grand Canyon. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, its awesome beauty is well documented, but it is the sheer scale that staggers the mind. 277 long miles long is about the same as the distance between Kendal and London roughly. So look at the above photo and try to envisage 277 miles of similar geological features!

If you are visiting Grand Canyon and want to get a handle on the sheer scale of this phenomenal natural wonder, a helicopter tour is I think essential. My family and I went with Papillon Helicopters who were quite excellent. There are many such tour operators offering tours of varying lengths and costs, but whatever your budget, just do it. You will not regret it!


It is said by many that to appreciate Grand Canyon at it's finest one needs to get up good and early and wait for sunrise. We did this twice and it was well worth the effort. Dawn temperatures in March are a little chilly, but a small price to pay given the spendour that unfolds before your eyes. As the sun slowly creeps over the rim, small patches of canyon wall begin to catch the light and the whole canyon magically comes alive.....

Grand Canyon South Rim at dawn, from outside Bright Angel Lodge.

(Photo by Grumpychops)

Now here's a staggering thought - 1.8 billion years of earth history is represented by the rocks exposed in Grand Canyon, the oldest being the vishnu schist at the bottom of the Canyon while the youngest rocks present are the Kaibab limestone at the top at a mere 255 million years old. The layers inbetween tell one of the most complete geological history stories on earth.

Even so, if you were to ask the simple question, 'How was Grand Canyon formed?' the only response to which all geologists will agree upon is that the Colorado River carved the canyon. Exactly how, when and under what circumstances has been the subject of fierce debate for decades and is likely to be so for the foreseeable future. Sadly, much of the evidence that could answer the questions has been long since eroded and washed away leaving huge gaps in the story. Research that is attempting to solve the puzzle continues apace. However, I suspect a complete answer will forever be tantalisingly beyond our reach!

I will delve deeper into the differing theories surrounding the formation of Grand Canyon in a future blog. Stay tuned and in the meantime, I'll leave you with another breathtaking photograph.

Cheers,

Grumpychops.

Grand Canyon South Rim from the South Rim Trail

(Photo by Grumpychops)