POTR #78 - Big Holes

PEACE ON THE ROAD

Big Holes

June 2, 2013

When I was a young boy, preteen to late teen I doubt that there was a hole within miles of our farm which did not at some point find me in it. Dad had a trench silo dug and I spent a lot of time in it until ti was filled with ensilage. If I visited a friend who had an upright silo I would get in it if possible. Of course there were swimming holes around and I swam in them all. I don't remember getting into the hog wallows but I bet I did at some point. It is likely that I was just a typical Kansas farm boy. At one of the neighbors there was a tunnel/cave that went into the limestone formation that I crawled into. I was almost too big to get into it but it was supposed to have Indian artifacts in it and I had to see if I could. As it turned out it was a long ways back in and I would bet that the only things that went in was coons. There was sign of that along the way. I never tried again because I grew too large for the hole.

Erma and I lived in the Denver area for more than forty years and never went to visit one very large hole. I guess that our reason was “The Grand Canyon is close and we can go see it whenever we want.” While that was true I would say that thirty or forty years ago I would have spent more time and enjoyed the experience more than I did at the age that I am now. But better now than never.

VIEW OF THE GRAND CANYON FROM THE SOUTH RIM

Just about every description you have ever heard about the Grand Canyon is without a doubt correct. The first view brings to mind “This cannot exist, it is impossible.” A few minutes later the mind is saying this view is unbelievable and it is awesome. In my opinion there is no way that any person could really comprehend the magnitude the “hole” that is laid out to view. Over its entire two hundred and seventy seven mile length it averages four thousand feet in depth. The deepest section is six thousand foot deep and the widest point is eighteen miles. The elevation difference of the canyon from the top at the northeast to the bottom at the west is eight thousand foot. Grand Canyon in total is considered to be semi-arid desert, however there are five of the seven life zones and three of the four desert types that are represented within the canyon. There are many springs, seeps, and ephemeral pools that provide oases to a large variety of plants and animals, some of which are not found any other place. About two billion years ago sediments and lava flows were deposited over the landscape. Prior to the late Precambrian era, about 1,750 million years ago these deposits were metamorphosed, and magma dikes filled the cracks and cooled into granite. During the late Proterozoic era, about 1,200 million ears ago, 13,000 foot of sediment and lava was deposited in a shallow ocean. Then 750 million years ago the area was lifted and tilted to form mountains. It is believed that during the “Age Of Dinosaurs” there was between 4,000 and 8,000 foot of sediment that covered the Grand Canyon. These mountains were eroded by weather, and water, to form the current canyon. In the Grand Canyon the down cutting erosion was powered by water from snow covered mountains, while the limited widening of the canyon was a result of the low annual rainfall in the area. The canyon represents one of the most complete geologic records in the world. It has been studied by geologist since 1855. A new geological rock layer was discovered in the mid-1970's. The arid conditions have preserved many artifacts of human activity in the canyon within some of its caves. Fossil footprints have been found but not a single fossilized bone. The canyon is a barrier to the intermixing of species in evolution. The South rim and the North rim have Kaibab squirrels that have evolved to look very different from each other. There are only a couple man created crossings of the Colorado River at the bottom and these are designed to prevent animals from crossing and disturbing natural evolution. I don't regret waiting all the years to go to Grand Canyon and I am really glad that I was finally able to go.

I have wanted to visit Barringer Meteor Crater for a long time. It too was not very far from where we were staying in Flagstaff. It was about 50,000 years ago that a nickel-iron meteorite about 160 foot in diameter, weighing 330,000 tons struck the earth traveling between 28,600 to 45,000 miles an hour. It created a crater about three quarters of a mile across and five hundred and seventy foot deep. Much of the meteor was vaporized before or at impact leaving several thousand tons of sand sized nickel-iron droplets in and around the crater. The impact was about the power of a hundred and fifty Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomic bombs. About 175 million tons of rock was blasted from the crater onto the rim and beyond. Some individual rocks were as large as thirty tons each. The rim shows rocks that are in reverse order to the normal stratification indicating that the floor of the crater was lifted up, turned up side down and dropped. All this happened in seconds. The instantaneous heat and pressure converted some carbon mineral into lonsdaleite, a form of diamond. In the 1960's the astronauts that went to the moon were trained in the crater to recognize the signs of meteor impact. In 1903 Daniel Barringer determined that a large iron meteorite had formed the crater. He filled twelve mining claims in the crater in hopes of mining the iron and nickel. Although he tried for many years at great expense he never received any income from his attempts. The crater was the first meteor impact crater to ever be identified in the world. Since then, based on information obtained here, there have been nearly a hundred of various sizes identified around the world. Since many of them are in the ocean or in areas with much greater rainfall they are not as well preserved as Barringer Meteor Crater due to the erosion that has occurred. The largest whole meteor specimen that has been found in the area is on display in the visitors center, weighing in at 1,410 pounds. It is known as the Hollinger Meteor and is part of the group of many iron/nickel fragments that are called Canyon Diablo meteorites for a canyon just a few miles away. There have been around thirty tons of fragments found outside the crater. This crater was originally designated as a volcanic steam vent based on the volcanoes which exist about forty miles to the west. In 1903 Daniel Barringer proposed that it was a meteorite that had caused the crater but was ridiculed by the scientific community. His beliefs were not officially accepted until 1960. It is rather humorous that on the road out to the crater there is a sign that indicates a speed limit of 55 MPH for motor vehicles and a speed limit of 26,000 MPH for meteorites.

BARRINGER METEOR IMPACT CRATER NEAR HOLBROOK ARIZONA

There are so many things to see in Arizona that it is truly amazing. However I believe that if a person were to look in any state it is likely that conclusion would also be correct. It does seem that certain towns have more than their share of destinations within a few hours drive. This POTR focuses on three that are fairly close to Flagstaff, AZ. A few miles north is the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. About 930 years ago a volcano erupted creating a cinder cone that is 1,120 foot high. It also created a lava flow over a mile and a half wide and six miles long. The ash and lapilli that was ejected covers more than 810 square miles. Ash is less than one sixteenth of an inch and the Lapilli, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption is between one sixteenth of an inch and two and a half inches. Lapilli in Latin means little stones. Larger particles are known as volcanic bomb until they cool and then are known as a volcanic block. The eruption of Sunset Volcano forced the abandonment of settlements of Native Americans known as Sinaqua. The Spanish word sin means without and aqua means water. Thus the Sinaqua were people who lived in an area of very little water. (I will tell you more about the Sinaqua in the next POTR.) There was a time that hiking to the top of the crater was allowed, but unfortunately the hikers did a lot of damage to the crater walls just by walking and hiking to the summit is no longer allowed. While the roads through the monument provide a tremendous overviews of the lava flows and hills covered with a blanket of ash and lapilli there is no place to really view the total volcano. I took numerous pictures of the lava flows which are very black and appears to be as new as when it was hot. To have a good picture for you to see what the crater really looks like I had to go to the Internet and find a picture that was taken from an airplane. This is the only picture that I have ever used that I did not take myself. (And hopefully the last!)

SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT NEAR FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

There has been a lot more volcanic activity in the Southwest states than I ever realized. While driving on Interstate 40 in the vicinity of Grants, NM there were large lava flow fields on both sides and in the middle of the highway median. In northern New Mexico there is another National Monument dedicated to a volcano. Mt. Capulin National Monument erupted about 60,000 years ago. It has slopes that are a lot more stable today than Sunset. It has a road that goes around to the top to a parking lot that can be taken with a standard vehicle. Large motor homes are not allowed on the road but can be left at the bottom. At the parking lot there is a trail around the rim with a spur trail that goes down to the bottom of the crater. Erma and I were there and hiked the trail back in 1993. Because of our hike around Mt Capulin, Sunset Crater was more meaningful. Go visit both places if you can.

In Gallup, NM we went to Earl's Cafe to eat. It was an interesting looking place and it had good food. I was very surprised when there were many Native Americans, I think most were Hopi, who came through selling jewelry. The jewelry ranged from very low quality with low prices to very good quality at a higher price. Much of the jewelry was very pretty. They were very polite. During our meal there must have been at least a dozen vendors that came by. It was simply funny to me

We are in Santa Fe, NM for the weekend. As we drove in we saw smoke from a big fire towards the east. Just about the time we were parking another forest fire to the northwest was started by a power line falling into a tree. So here we are where we can see smoke fifty miles away in two directions. There is no smoke in the camp. We sure hope the wind does not shift. But the sunsets are nice.

Till later this is Doug of

Peace On The Road