Proposal
The geology of the Colorado Plateau has been of interest to both conventional and creationist scientists alike because of the Grand Canyon and its implications for earth history. Irrespective of one’s philosophical views, the carving of Grand Canyon must be near the end of geological events in the area because its canyons and river systems dissect most other geological formations including purported lake deposits. There is no agreement upon a mechanism, in either camp, for the carving of Grand Canyon. In recent literature, both camps have contemplated whether Lake Bidahochi (also called Hopi Lake) may have played a role in the origin of the Canyon. The purpose of this effort is to survey some of the purported lakes of the Colorado Plateau area, especially those older than Bidahochi. Lakes can have a significant role in geomorphology as established by well-recognized dam failures of Lake Bonneville (Snake River Canyon) and Missoula (Channeled Scabland), which are just outside of the region of interest. Austin et al. (2020) summarized how Lake Bidahochi may have breached to form the Grand Canyon and Floyd (2025) theorized this lake may have been much bigger than previously thought.
The identification of lakes and their timing in the geological record has been previously considered (Whitmore 2006). As continents and mountains rose after the Flood, basins would have formed in the low spots between mountains. If these basins had no outlet, a lake would have been formed depositing its sediments near the top of the stratigraphic column. Basin-fill deposits caused by tectonics are well-documented throughout the western North American Cordillera (Dickinson et al., 1988). A lake can breach a dam in a variety of ways, including being overfilled with water, tectonic forces, and mass movements—all potential factors in an early post-Flood mountainous region. Generally, lake basins are surrounded by fluvial deposits and then filled with fine grained sediments, having a bullseye pattern of coarse to fine from the edge of the basin toward the center. Lake margins contain features like stromatolites, bird tracks, desiccation features, abundant plants, burrows, terrestrial fossils, and more poorly preserved fish fossils. Deeper waters tend to lack these features and have better preserved fish. Lake deposits generally have all the features of complete ecosystems (biology and geology) as you would expect from an in-situ deposit, which is an unexpected feature of current-transported biology and sediments during the Flood over long distances. Additionally, post-Flood lake basins would typically have unconformities below them (because of tectonic uplift), and be regional deposits compared to the more widespread marine-deposited Flood deposits below them (pre-tectonic uplift).
Using these criteria, potential candidates for post-Flood lake or lake/fluvial systems on or near the Colorado Plateau include (using basin names) San Juan Basin (Paleocene-Eocene: northwest New Mexico); Fossil Basin (Eocene: southwest Wyoming); Greater Green River Basin (Eocene: southwest Wyoming); Uinta Basin (Late Cretaceous to Eocene: northeast Utah); Piceance Creek Basin (Paleocene to Eocene: western Colorado); Claron Basin (Paleocene to middle Oligocene: southwestern Utah); Flagstaff Basin (Paleocene to early Eocene: central Utah); and Bidahochi Basin (Pliocene to Late Neogene: northeastern Arizona, western New Mexico). These basins are of various ages with multiple formations within each but note that the majority of basin-fill is Eocene in age, except for Bidahochi which may overlie some of the eroded remnants of the earlier basins.
It appears that Lakes Missoula, Bonneville, and perhaps Bidahochi had catastrophic failures cutting downstream canyons. Are the sediments of Bidahochi superimposed on previous lake failure topography, post-Flood runoff, or both? If previous lakes on the Colorado Plateau failed (cutting canyons), would there still be a basin to contain Hopi Lake?
Keywords
Colorado Plateau, fossil lakes, geomorphology, Grand Canyon, Green River Formation, Hopi Lake, Lake Bidahochi, lake deposit criteria, lake overspill, post-Flood boundary
Submission Type
Oral Presentation
Copyright
© 2025 John H. Whitmore. All rights reserved.
Did Lakes Have an Important Role in the Post-Flood Geomorphology of the Colorado Plateau?
The geology of the Colorado Plateau has been of interest to both conventional and creationist scientists alike because of the Grand Canyon and its implications for earth history. Irrespective of one’s philosophical views, the carving of Grand Canyon must be near the end of geological events in the area because its canyons and river systems dissect most other geological formations including purported lake deposits. There is no agreement upon a mechanism, in either camp, for the carving of Grand Canyon. In recent literature, both camps have contemplated whether Lake Bidahochi (also called Hopi Lake) may have played a role in the origin of the Canyon. The purpose of this effort is to survey some of the purported lakes of the Colorado Plateau area, especially those older than Bidahochi. Lakes can have a significant role in geomorphology as established by well-recognized dam failures of Lake Bonneville (Snake River Canyon) and Missoula (Channeled Scabland), which are just outside of the region of interest. Austin et al. (2020) summarized how Lake Bidahochi may have breached to form the Grand Canyon and Floyd (2025) theorized this lake may have been much bigger than previously thought.
The identification of lakes and their timing in the geological record has been previously considered (Whitmore 2006). As continents and mountains rose after the Flood, basins would have formed in the low spots between mountains. If these basins had no outlet, a lake would have been formed depositing its sediments near the top of the stratigraphic column. Basin-fill deposits caused by tectonics are well-documented throughout the western North American Cordillera (Dickinson et al., 1988). A lake can breach a dam in a variety of ways, including being overfilled with water, tectonic forces, and mass movements—all potential factors in an early post-Flood mountainous region. Generally, lake basins are surrounded by fluvial deposits and then filled with fine grained sediments, having a bullseye pattern of coarse to fine from the edge of the basin toward the center. Lake margins contain features like stromatolites, bird tracks, desiccation features, abundant plants, burrows, terrestrial fossils, and more poorly preserved fish fossils. Deeper waters tend to lack these features and have better preserved fish. Lake deposits generally have all the features of complete ecosystems (biology and geology) as you would expect from an in-situ deposit, which is an unexpected feature of current-transported biology and sediments during the Flood over long distances. Additionally, post-Flood lake basins would typically have unconformities below them (because of tectonic uplift), and be regional deposits compared to the more widespread marine-deposited Flood deposits below them (pre-tectonic uplift).
Using these criteria, potential candidates for post-Flood lake or lake/fluvial systems on or near the Colorado Plateau include (using basin names) San Juan Basin (Paleocene-Eocene: northwest New Mexico); Fossil Basin (Eocene: southwest Wyoming); Greater Green River Basin (Eocene: southwest Wyoming); Uinta Basin (Late Cretaceous to Eocene: northeast Utah); Piceance Creek Basin (Paleocene to Eocene: western Colorado); Claron Basin (Paleocene to middle Oligocene: southwestern Utah); Flagstaff Basin (Paleocene to early Eocene: central Utah); and Bidahochi Basin (Pliocene to Late Neogene: northeastern Arizona, western New Mexico). These basins are of various ages with multiple formations within each but note that the majority of basin-fill is Eocene in age, except for Bidahochi which may overlie some of the eroded remnants of the earlier basins.
It appears that Lakes Missoula, Bonneville, and perhaps Bidahochi had catastrophic failures cutting downstream canyons. Are the sediments of Bidahochi superimposed on previous lake failure topography, post-Flood runoff, or both? If previous lakes on the Colorado Plateau failed (cutting canyons), would there still be a basin to contain Hopi Lake?