THE McCAULEY SINKS

While flying around on Google Earth I came across these holes in the grasslands twenty miles south by southeast of Winslow, Arizona. At first I thought they were bomb craters but they were different sizes and laid out in arcs which didn't seem right. Then I thought they might be a cluster of meteor impact craters; after all the Canyon Diablo Meteorite struck just 30 miles west of here. After an internet search I found out they are the McCauley Sinkholes and a unique geologic site in Arizona. 

Over 272 million years ago the northern edge of the Pedregosa Sea repeatedly flooded the area. As the sea retreated a layer of evaporates (calcium, gypsum, or halite) was left behind. The layer later covered by the eolian Coconino Sandstone and then by the Kaibab Limestone. Ground water is slowly dissolving the evaporate layer salt bed leaving cavities for the overlying rock to collapse into. 

There are about fifty sinkholes in a one square mile area. Some are just faint depressions that may deepen in time and others are a few hundred feet across and eighty feet deep. The largest one is the size of a professional football stadium. There are two more smaller clusters of sinkholes eight miles and twenty-six miles to the southeast of the McCauley Sinks.

 Chevelon Canyon and creek run nearby.

  A sinkhole 600 feet long, 350 feet wide and 80 feet deep.

The McCauley sinks are on private land and I have never visited them so I only have Google Earth images.  Access is permitted by contacting Brantley Baird at the Rock Art Ranch, (928) 386-5047.  Also on the property is an old west memorabilia museum, numerous Indian ruins, artifacts and petroglyphs.  They welcome visitors for a fee and a guide accompanies all visitors.  Additional information and directions can be found online.

Location of the sinks is on neighboring property at 34˚ 47' 55'' N 110˚ 35' 13'' W