Response to Comments on the "Age and Evolution of the Grand Canyon Revealed by U-Pb Dating of Water Table–Type Speleothems"
Victor Polyak,*
Carol Hill,
Yemane Asmerom
Pederson
et al. and Pearthree
et al. offer critical comments
on our study of the age and evolution of the Grand Canyon. Both
sets of authors question our use of incision rates from two
sample sites located outside the canyon and present alternative
interpretations of our data. As we explain, even without the
sites in question, our data support a "precursor" western Grand
Canyon older than 6 million years.
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: polyak{at}unm.edu