The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

and P. benjamini ( Mesichnium benjamini of Gilmore; see Kozur et al. 1994) and Octopodichnus comprising O. didactylus and O. minor. P. tridactyla consists of two parallel rows of imprints in groups of three (or occasionally two), usually with a medial impression interpreted as a tail drag. P. benjamini is similar to P. tridactyla but with a regularly spaced ovoid medial impression interpreted as a trace left by part of the track-maker’s abdomen. O. didactylus consists of alternating sets of impressions in groups of four, in which the individual prints are sometimes bifurcated. There is no medial impression. O. minor is similar to O. didactylus but distinctively smaller. Finally, Kramer et al. (1995) described a new Coconino ichnospecies which they assigned to an existing ichnogenus, Permichnium coconinensis . This trace consists of two parallel rows of evenly spaced V-shaped prints and lacks a medial impression. OTHER SIMILAR SANDSTONES AROUND THE WORLD Whitmore and Strom (2018) have published a table summarizing the literature on many of these sandstones (see their Appendix I). 1. North American examples Sandstones attributed to eolian processes occur throughout the stratigraphic record (from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic) and are widely distributed geographically (in North and SouthAmerica, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia) (McKee and Bigarella 1979a, p. 190). They are particularly well developed in the upper Paleozoic to middle Mesozoic of the western and southwestern United States. The Permian and Jurassic systems of the Colorado Plateau include at least ten formations interpreted as erg deposits and many smaller units also considered to be eolian in origin (Blakey 1988, p. 129). Permian sandstones of the western and southwestern USAattributed wholly or in part to eolian deposition, besides the Coconino, include the Cedar Mesa (Utah), De Chelly (Arizona), Glorieta (New Mexico), Lyons (Colorado), Tensleep (Wyoming), Weber (Utah) and White Rim (Utah). Eolianites are also said to occur in the Upper Minnelusa Formation (Wyoming). Some of these units have become classic textbook examples of ancient eolian deposition (e.g., Selley 1985, pp. 82-101). 2. European examples Similar sandstones also occur in Europe. The Lower Permian in the gas and oil fields of the southern North Sea, in Germany and in the Fore- SudeticMonocline of Poland is characterized by an extensive red sandstone facies (the Rotliegendes) overlain by sandstones that are typically white or grey in color (the Wiessliegendes) (Börmann et al. 2006; Glennie 1972, 1983; Glennie et al. 1978; Stemmerik et al. 2000; Strömback and Howell 2002). Four distinctive facies have been recognized in the Upper Rotliegend, including sandstones with cross-bedded sets around 1-7 m thick and occasionally up to 20 m thick (Glennie 1972, 1983). This facies is usually interpreted as eolian in origin. Permian sandstones in England attributed to eolian deposition include the Bridgnorth Sandstone (Shropshire), the Dawlish Sandstone (Devon), the Penrith Sandstone (Cumbria) and the Yellow Sands (County Durham). Similar units in Scotland include the Hopeman Sandstone (Morayshire), the Corncockle and Locharbriggs Sandstones (Dumfries and Galloway) and the Corrie Sandstone (Isle of Arran). These sandstones and associated sediments are conventionally interpreted as the product of eolian sedimentation in a series of fault-bounded, intermontane basins that developed in the Early Permian (Brookfield 1978, 1980, 2000; Steel 1977). Whitmore and Garner ◀ The Coconino Sandstone ▶ 2018 ICC 590 Figure 10. Map showing grain rounding within the Coconino Sandstone (from Whitmore et al. 2014).