"The Wave, " A Sight To see in Arizona

"The Wave, " A Sight To see in Arizona

For rock hounds and meteorite collectors going to Tucson, Arizona, a very
popular and beautiful rock formation to visit in northeast
Arizona is the "The Wave" (rock formation). This rock
formation consists of an outcrop of deeply eroded,
large-scale, eolian cross-beds in the Navajo Sandstone
in the Paria Canyon- Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, in
Coconino County, Arizona. It is so popular that there is
a daily online and onsite lottery that held to determine,
who can visit it on any specific day. A popular article
about it is:

Arizona's Wave rock formation a stone-cold stunner
by Hugo Martín, Times, November 20, 2007,
http://www.venturacountytrails.org/News/0182-TheWaveVermilionCliffs/NewsPage.htm
1. More Photographs of "The Wave" ... and 3.
http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/album2/index4.htm

2. Seiler, W. M., 2008, Jurassic Navajo sandstone of Coyote
Buttes, Utah/Arizona : coloration and diagenetic history,
preservation of a dinosaur trample surface, and terrestrial
analogs to Mars. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Dept. of
Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City, Utah.

The 11.5 MB PDF file is available from
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/us-etd2&CISOPTR=109657&CISOMODE=print
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/us-etd2&CISOPTR=109657

and 3. Loope, D. B., W. M. Seiler, J. A. Mason, and M. A.
Chan, 2008, Wind scour of Navajo Sandstone at the Wave
(central Colorado Plateau, U.S.A.) Journal of Geology.
vol. 116, pp. 173-183.

Link to PDF file at;
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub/215/

The 1.4 MB PDF file is available from;
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1216&context=geosciencefacpub

By the way, it's a long hike to this rock formation. In addition
a person should bring a GPS too since the trail is very poorly
marked.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

OT- Rethinking Moqui Marbles??

Paul bristolia at yahoo.com
Thu Jun 7 08:31:25 EDT 2007

Mike Groetz wrote:

“Check out the last photo in this article- it (and
somewhat the others) resembles the Moqui marbles I
have. Except these are in pounds- not grams or ounces.

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-6-5/56130.html ”

Some references,, which discuss the origins of the Moqui
Marbles are:

1. Chan, M.A. and W.T. Parry. 2002. Mysteries of Sandstone
Colors and Concretions in Colorado Plateau Canyon Country.
Utah Geological Survey Public Information Series. no. 77, 19 pp.

468 KB PDF version can be found at:

http://geology.utah.gov/online/pdf/pi-77.pdf

2. Chan, M.A., B.B. Beitler, W.T. Parry, J. Ormo, and G.
Komatsu. 2005. Red Rock and Red Planet Diagenesis:
Comparison of Earth and Mars Concretions. GSA Today.
vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 4-10.

PDF version can be found at:

http://www.gsajournals.org/archive/1052-5173/15/8/pdf/i1052-5173-15-8-4.pdf

3. Beitler, Brenda; Parry W.T. Chan Marjorie A. 2006.
Fingerprints of Fluid Flow: Chemical Diagenetic History of
the Navajo Sandstone, Southern, Utah, U.S.A. Journal of
Sedimentary Research. vol. 75, no. 4, pp. 547-561.

http://jsedres.sepmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/75/4/547

4. Chan, M.A., Parry W.T., Bowman J.R. 2000. Diagenetic
Hematite and Manganese Oxides and Fault-Related Fluid
Flow in Jurassic Sandstones, Southeastern Utah. American
Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. vol. 84,
no. 9, pp. 1281-1310.

http://aapgbull.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/9/1281

5. Chan, M.A., B. Beitler, W.T. Parry, J. Ormo, and G. Komatsu,
2004, Utah Marbles and Mars Blueberries: Terrestrial Analogs
for Hematite Concretions of Mars. Second Conference on Early
Mars. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/earlymars2004/pdf/8012.pdf

6. University of Utah, 2004, Earth Has 'Blueberries' Like Mars -
'Moqui Marbles' Formed in Groundwater in Utah's National
Parks

http://www.marstoday.com/viewpr.html?pid=14410

http://web.utah.edu/unews/news_images_2004/jun/press2.jpg

http://web.utah.edu/unews/news_images_2004/jun/SF1.jpg

http://web.utah.edu/unews/news_images_2004/jun/SF2.jpg

Best Regards,

Paul