I have been thinking about old things, like sand. Most sands are made of quartz and feldspar. Since quartz has a Mohs Scale hardness of seven and feldspar is six, sand is very durable. http://science.jrank.org/pages/4394/Mohs-Scale Its fortunate that geologic forces weld sand into rock and melt sand into metamorphic rocks, or the whole world might end up being just sand and water. Most people outside of Arizona, think that the whole state is nothing but sand and cactus (except for one large canyon that will not be named). Surprisingly, they are right. It is all sand. Just kidding. Ironically, the most popular sand dune site in Arizona is in California, just across the state line from Yuma. The most extensive sand deposits are in the northeast corner of the state, high up on the Colorado Plateau. The sand there is multicolored. http://geology.utah.gov/online/pdf/pi-77.pdf The color comes from the different levels of iron oxides. One of the strangest sand formations are sometimes called Moki Marbles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concretion They are concretions formed from sand and hematite (crystalized iron oxide). It is not unusual to find rounded pieces of sandstone in small pockets in the rock where they are rolled around by the wind. The larger and darker hematite concretions are formed in the sandstone rocks and weather out as the sandstone erodes away. I guess the challenge is to find something as unique as a hematite concretion and leave it where it was found. I am used to seeing them sold by the bucket full at mineral shows. They run about $5 a pound. They are probably happier sitting out in the rain and wind, than gathering dust in someone’s garage or at the bottom of a drawer. Hematite is the state mineral of Alabama and has been since 1967.
If you have to have a favorite, my favorite sand in oolitic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolite It is found outside of Arizona, along the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Northern Utah. The most accessible deposit is along the beach, just west of the causeway to Antelope Island and on Stansbury Island. http://geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/rockmineral/collecting/oolitic.htm
Usually, even if I am tempted to pick up a rock now and then, like at the bottom of the unnamed canyon, I am seldom tempted to pick up sand. Unfortunately, I end up with a certain collection of sand at the end of any trip out into northern Arizona.
If understatement is a virtue, then the Grand Canyon is the most virtuous of canyons. Some of the Arizona place names come from Spanish. It sounds much more romantic or something to English speakers to have a name in Spanish rather than the same mundane name in English. El cañon grande del rio colorado, sounds a lot more exotic than the big canyon of the red river. Even the attraction of having the name in Spanish is lost when it is Anglecised. But, like I was saying, “grand” hardly says it. Laying in the bottom of the canyon, in August, of all months, when it is 98 degrees at 6:00 in the morning, looking up through the layers and layers rock to the brilliant night sky and counting the meteors from the Perseids. The music of the Tapeats Creek and the oppressively calm hot air fade in the distraction of the sky. It is not surprising that a significant number of place names in Arizona come from Spanish, since most of the whole area was part of Mexico until 1848 and the rest was purchased in 1853. What is surprising is the all of the Spanish street names in Phoenix and the surrounding area, especially Scottsdale. It seems like almost every street is a “calle” this or a “calle” that. Some of the names should have been translated first, but come to think about it, maybe they were. It is strange that some of the names don’t even mean anything in Spanish, they just use Spanish sounding words.
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