Desert Messenger

August 10, 2016 www.DesertMessenger.com 5 www.QuartzsiteVideos.com Watch Quartzsite Videos @ Dave's DIESEL DIAGNOSTIC SERVICE David Atherton 605-999-0720 • Pat Atherton 816-797-5460 Located at Quartzsite Marketplace 50 E. Kuehn WELDING & FABRICATING SERVICES Mobile Shop - Machine Shop Services - Hydraulic Hose Repair - THRIFT STORE Benefitting the La Paz County Animal Shelter in Parker Supported by your generous donations! 455 E. Main St. Quartzsite Open Tues. thru Sat. 9-3 928-927-4223 Rocks, sea creatures, and a big ditch ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS ™ Adventures With Rocks is on sabbatical this week and will return for the June edition. Hope you're having a great summer so far and happy prospecting!" Looking down into the big ditch we fondly call the Grand Canyon, the first thought to come to mind probably would not be of the ocean. You may think about the Colorado River winding its way between the walls of the big ditch, and maybe about waterfalls tum- bling over the edge into turquoise pools below. You may even think about the rushing water of the wild ancient Colorado River carv- ing through the canyon walls and carrying sediments down into the quiet waters of the Gulf of Cali- fornia. But standing there, in the high desert, gazing down into that gaping jagged hole in the planet, more than likely you wouldn't think about corals, sponges, and other such creatures. Our State's namesake, and indeed our most famous chunk of geology, is beautiful to behold and contains an amazing diversity of rocks, plants, and animals. It also holds many secrets hidden in its colorful layers. The layers of sedimentary rocks exposed throughout the canyon are rich in marine fossils from one billion years worth of life on earth. Fossils from Pre-Cam- brian time all the way through the Paleozoic Era, representing 32% of Earth's geologic history, are found in the rocks of the Grand Canyon. The sedimentary rock strata of the Canyon were deposited layer upon layer, trapping and preserv- ing animals, plants, footprints, burrows, and other traces of an- cient life in what is now northern Arizona. Among the fossils found in the rocks of the Grand Canyon are such marine fossils as crinoids, sponges, corals, brachiopods, and algae mats. There are also terres- trial fossils like leaves, dragonflies, reptiles, scorpions, and centipedes. Some layers also contain trace fossils. Trace fossils are fossil- ized indicators of ancient life, like footprints, impressions, burrows, and nests. The oldest fossils found in Grand Canyon Rock layers are Stromato- lites, slimy bacteria-like organisms with a hard shell that are 1.2 Billion to 740 million years old. Stro- matolites are found in the geologic section known as the Grand Can- yon Supergroup, and dominated the ancient seas until predators like Trilobites came along to eat them. Trilobites arrived about 500 mil- lion years ago, and are found in the Tonto Group of rock layers, which includes the Tapeats Sandstone, Bright Angel Shale, and Muav Limestone. Trilobites are arthro- pods, with amazingly complex eyes and segmented bodies made up of hinged plates and shields. 350 to 325 million years ago, Redwall Limestone was laid down during the early and middle Missis- sippian, when the land was covered by a retreating shallow tropical sea and the Grand Canyon region was being slowly uplifted. Crinoids, Nautiloids, Brachiopods, Bryozo- ans, Corals, and Sponges are abun- dant in these layers. In the late Mississippian and earliest part of the Pennsylvanian, fossil logs and other plant material has also been found, along with marine fossils. Fossils of plant material, amphibian footprints, and reptiles, as well as marine fossils, are found in the Su- pai Group of Grand Canyon rocks. The Supai Group layers contain sediments indicating a warm shal- low sea and a muddy river delta, from the early Permian Period, about 300 to 280 million years ago. The Hermit Formation, including Coconino Sandstone and Kaibab Limestone layers, dates from 280 million years ago to middle and late Permian, about 250 million years ago. The Hermit Formation contains fossils of large winged insects, cone-bearing plants, and ferns, while the younger Coconino and Kaibab layers also contain fos- silized tracks of lizards, scorpions, millipedes, and early vertebrate animals. Contained within Kaibab limestone also are corals, mollusks, sea lillies, worms, and shark teeth. It is the Coconino and Kaibab layers that Grand Canyon Visitors are standing on when viewing the Canyon from the rim. So the next time you visit the Big Ditch, while standing on the rim admiring the colorful layers and beautiful desert plants, let your mind wander to a time of deep ancient oceans, warm shallow seas, and fabulous prehis- toric sea creatures. Look down at the grayish Kaibab limestone or reddish Coconino sandstone and think about the secrets they hold. You may even see a shark tooth, or coral... or two. We have a fabulous selection of fos- sils from Arizona and around the world, plus books, maps, tools, and supplies for rockhounding, fossil hunting and prospecting. We will be open at A37 in Rice Ranch in Quartzsite, AZ, again in November, but meanwhile, you can visit us on- line at www.RocksInMyHead.com, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can order online or by phone at 605-376-8754, or email at Jenn@RocksInMyHead. com. Hope you're having a great summer! Happy Prospecting and we'll see you in the fall!

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