Scientists are warming up to sandstone discoveries
A University of Utah graduate student and her colleagues have discovered that so much hydrocarbon leaked from the Navajo sandstone formation in that area that it may have caused a greenhouse effect.
The familiar sandstone often is in the form of hills, flat stretches, domes and dunes of rock. It is exposed throughout the southern part of the state, usually tawny, light gray or reddish.
The top of the layer looks like dunes because that's what it once was, a field of sand dunes. Minerals in the sand cemented the grains together and turned the deep formation to stone. Sometimes the direction of winds that blew millions of years ago can be detected by studying the layering and grain sizes of the petrified dunes.
"It extends from up in Idaho and Wyoming, down to Arizona," Said Brenda Beitler, lead author of the study. "It covers a huge area. . . . It's comparable to the Sahara Desert, but even bigger."
According to a paper by Beitler, Marjorie A. Chan and William T. Parry, Navajo sandstone represents the largest dune field ever, either in modern times or in the geologic record. The sand was heaped up during lower Jurassic times, about 190 million to 200 million years ago.
Their paper is titled "Bleaching of Navajo Sandstone on Colorado Plateau Laramide Highs: Evidence of Exhumed Hydrocarbon Supergiants?" It was published in the December edition of Geology, the journal of the Geological Society of America.
Beitler is working on her Ph.D. in geology. Chan, professor and chairman of the U.'s department of geology and geophysics, is her adviser, while Parry is a geochemist and professor emeritus in the department.
Their inspiration was simply curiosity about the Navajo sandstone. "We got to thinking, why it is so many different colors?" Beitler said during a telephone interview.
Originally the sandstone was red. Each sand grain is covered by a thin coating of hematite, or iron oxide, she said. Studying the rock with a microscope, "you can see the coating in the parts that are red. . . .
"In the white rocks, that coating is removed."
After it was formed, the sandstone was buried by later sediments. It lay underground for more than 100 million years. Hydrocarbons migrated through the porous sandstone.
Where did the hydrocarbons originate? "That's something else we're working on," she said.
The hydrocarbons resulted from decomposition of organic material, like ancient swamps and forests. Other known petroleum systems in the region have hydrocarbons that may have originated in the Paradox Basin.
In the late Miocene era 6 million years ago, our region underwent uplifting, and the Colorado River drainage system was cut through miles of strata, exposing the Navajo sandstone.
Comments
- Raptors confirm Turkoglu 1:10 p.m.
- Trial begins in Hilton contract 12:57 p.m.
- Clippers sign No. 1 pick Griffin 12:50 p.m.
- MLB fans feel priced out at ballpark 12:48 p.m.
- GM sale cleared 12:47 p.m.
- House passes food stamps bill 12:33 p.m.
- Utah man to serve 4 years for fraud 12:26 p.m.
- U.S. to launch $15B food initiative 12:06 p.m.
- Violence hits Iraq 12:04 p.m.
- What's it worth? 11:53 a.m.
- Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
- Utah's top 10: Wealth of recreation
- MWC, WAC rushed into BCS
- O'Connor unhappy Fes not with team
- Teen injured in fall from waterfall
- River flow marks birth of sanctuary
- Keeping golf light on the wallet
- Fatigued Jazz no match for Pacers
- Murder charge filed in shooting
- Jazz payroll is $3.1 million over tax
- Letters: Palin mistreated
134 - Teachers struggle with district cuts
133 - Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
132 - 'Tea party' protesters unhappy
107 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Stadium of Fire lights up the 4th
78 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
76 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
72 - Millsap not franchise player
70 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
As more and more dads are put out of work in this economy, I've been...
The night was balmy though buggy at SPOC, the Stansbury Park Observatory...
My husband only decided to run for Mayor after numerous individuals who know...
From the DesNews: Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor, reached late...
A question for all who blame the CRA for our current diffuculties. The law...
Seems to me that the economy, health care, etc have gotten plenty of notice....
WOW!! Seeing the lack of diplomacy and maturity in these blogs, as well as...
Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I should have been more specific. I was not talking...
Oh my. Government destroys our health care system and now people want them to...
As a Democrat, I hope that Chaffetz challenges Bennett so that all of Utah...
The Taliban are very bad and clearly training terrorists. That's why we...
It was Woodland when my grandfather was born there, and that was a long time...



You can be the first to comment on this story.