Thursday, April 28, 2011
Science Riddle for My Grandsons
Look at these pictures from Snow Canyon. See the dark, round pebbles in the crevices of the red sandstone? How do you think they got there?
Here are the observations I made at the time:
1. I took these pictures when we were standing at the TOP of the first series of sandstone outcrops that we climbed on. The sandy riverbed was way below, at the base of the outcrops. Photos of that area are also shown. There are bushes along the reverbed.
2. There were higher cliffs and bluffs in the canyon, but none seemed close enough for these pebbbles to have fallen from that source.
3. The pebbles had the appearance of round river rocks deposited along a dry river bed, but they did not have the smoothness of river rocks.
4. There were also some larger dark jagged rocks near the top of the sandstone. They may not part of the original riddle, but then again, they may be!
5. There was no evidence that the stones had been manipulated by humans. In fact, I was pleased to assume that visitors had left them alone, according to park rules. Of course, I could be wrong...but if YOU guys left them unmolested, perhaps others did, too.
6. You may make your own additional observatons from the photos. I'll be happy to answer questions and give more observations, if asked.
Here are the observations I made at the time:
1. I took these pictures when we were standing at the TOP of the first series of sandstone outcrops that we climbed on. The sandy riverbed was way below, at the base of the outcrops. Photos of that area are also shown. There are bushes along the reverbed.
2. There were higher cliffs and bluffs in the canyon, but none seemed close enough for these pebbbles to have fallen from that source.
3. The pebbles had the appearance of round river rocks deposited along a dry river bed, but they did not have the smoothness of river rocks.
4. There were also some larger dark jagged rocks near the top of the sandstone. They may not part of the original riddle, but then again, they may be!
5. There was no evidence that the stones had been manipulated by humans. In fact, I was pleased to assume that visitors had left them alone, according to park rules. Of course, I could be wrong...but if YOU guys left them unmolested, perhaps others did, too.
6. You may make your own additional observatons from the photos. I'll be happy to answer questions and give more observations, if asked.
# posted by Bradley L. Hill @ 9:13 PM 
