[dangus]

Here's an experiment: Take home a chunk of rock from the area around the grand canyon. Pour running water over the rock for the next 1 year. See how fast the rock washes away.

Now, the Grand Canyon is what, 5000 feet deep? So if it took 2,000 years to be carved, that means a rock about 2 1/2 feet thick should be completely worn away by the running water.

My guess is that the effect on the rock would be impossible to notice.

[John H K]

Actually, it isn't water that erodes, it's stuff IN water that erodes....sand, pebbles, etc.

And, actually, it IS Floods (the normal, yearly sort of "Flood" not a mythical giant global flood) that do 99% of the erosion of any given valley or canyon.

You get large boulders careening down rivers and knocking stuff off.

Btw, there are significant and fairly obvious geologic differences between the Columbia river scablands (which were formed in a single massive flood from a glacial lake) and the Grand Canyon.

[keithtoo]

Billions of tons of rushing water would make mincemeat of that rock in no time at all. Comparing that with the flow from a sink faucet is a flawed example.

[Hunble]

Cool experiment!

Here's an experiment: Take home a chunk of rock from the area around the grand canyon. Pour running water over the rock for the next 1 year. See how fast the rock washes away.

Has anyone actually conducted this experiment? How much of the water was eroded in one year?

Can someone provide the specifics of how this experiment was conducted and the factual rock erosion measurements?

1) 1 mm per day?

2) 1 mm per year?

3) 1 mm per century?

4) 1 mm per millennium?

5) 1 mm per million years?

Anyone?

Dangus, you have implied that a rock obtained from the Grand Canyon, with water pouring upon it for one year, will have a measurable errosion.

What was the actual errosion amount?

[r9etb]

Here's an experiment: Take home a chunk of rock from the area around the grand canyon. Pour running water over the rock for the next 1 year. See how fast the rock washes away.

Don't forget to add a lot of abrasives and high-energy flow -- the mechanism by which the Grand Canyon was formed.

Look at the formation of canyons on post-eruption Mt. St. Helens to get a good example of how quickly erosion features can form. (I make no claims for the linked site -- I was merely looking for something that gave some examples of rapid erosion processes. Here is a link to the USGS Volcano/Hydrology site. Similar information is probably buried in there someplace.)

As for me -- I'm a "creationist" in the sense that I believe God created the heavens and the Earth. That said, I have no problem with a 5 million year-old canyon or a multi-billion year-old Earth. Nor, truth be told, would I have a problem if it really was 6,000 years old. Whatever way God did/does things is fine with me.

[rdb3]

Here's an experiment: Take home a chunk of rock from the area around the grand canyon. Pour running water over the rock for the next 1 year. See how fast the rock washes away.

That sounds like one heck of a water bill! ;-)

[Clean_Sweep]

Ok back to the canyon. "Take home a chunk of rock from the area around the grand canyon. Pour running water over the rock for the next 1 year. See how fast the rock washes away."

First who is to say the water washed away rock? The whole bottom of every water covered land mass is usually MUD!! And that is exactly what was washed away, 5000 ft of mud and clay.

[bondserv]

Try my profile page.

[ImphClinton]

Take that rock and put it under 2,000 feet of fast running water and it wont last one second. When St. Helens blew it created a 2,000 deep canyon in a few days.

Rocks going along the bottom of a large river at a fast speed do an incredible amount of wearing down in a very small amount of time.

I don't claim to know how old the Grand Canyon is but do know at some time Lake Bonniville emptied into it. This lake was hundreds of Square miles and three thousand feet deep covering much of Utah. It could have carved out the Grand Canyon all by it's self.