A FRESH WATER FISH OF DEVONIAN AGE
During that period of geologic time commonly known as the “age of fish,” sands and limes were accumulated on the surface of the Grand Canyon region filling in old river channels and burying the bodies of fish and other animals. The deposits formed at this time were later eroded to a large extent. The surface of the land was worn and washed away until finally only isolated patches or pockets of limestone and sandstone remained. These we find today exposed in the walls of the Grand Canyon occurring just at the base of the great Redwall cliff in about fifteen different localities.
Although fish were rulers of the age during Devonian times, they were of primitive types and apparently depended for defense upon bony skin armour rather than upon speed. The plates and scales of fresh-water fish have been found preserved in the lavender rocks of this age in the Grand Canyon.
SEA LIFE FROM THE NORTH—THE REDWALL LIMESTONE
(MISSISSIPPIAN OR LOWER CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD)
REDWALL FOSSILS (NATURAL SIZE)
One of the most prominent and conspicuous features of the Grand Canyon is the great red cliff of limestone about midway in its walls. This cliff is the highest in the Canyon—averaging about 550 feet in the area of Bright Angel Canyon. In most places it is almost vertical, and in some it even overhangs to such an extent that a visitor once aptly said, “The Washington Monument might be placed beneath it and kept out of the rain.”
To the prospector this formation is known as the Blue Lime; to the geologist it is the Redwall Limestone. Both are correct. Actually the rock is a rather pure limestone of a grey or bluish color, but in most places where seen, its surface has been stained a bright red by iron oxides from above. It appears throughout the Grand Canyon as a wide band or ribbon of red.
