>Hermit is generally accepted to be terrestrial in origin. It has lots of
>plant fossils and lots of mud cracks in lots of units. But none of them
>penetrate more than part of a single unit. The presence of the giant
>sinaresis cracks that penetrate many layers of the shale indicates that the
>Hermit was still fully hydrated when the cracking occurred, which would
>require a lot of water. I should mention for your edification that there
>are some marine limestone units interbedded with the Coconino in the
>northern part of the basin.
I would mention, in response to you correct notation about marine deposits
being interbedded with the Coconino in the northern part of the basin, that
one could probably find similar interbedding today along the shore of the
Sahara, the Persian Gulf and Australia where terrestrial deposits
interfinger with marine deposits. I would not find what you say surprising.
And to cut down on responses, concerning the gobi, I still have my chinese
geology books. I will see what I can find out about the cobbles in the Gobi
sandstone deposits.
glenn
Adam, Apes, and Anthropology: Finding the Soul of Fossil Man
and
Foundation, Fall and Flood
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm