Abstract
Samples of Grand Canyon formations of Hakatai Shale, Hermit Shale and Supai Formation were collected using special care to avoid field contamination by atmospheric pollen grains. These samples were subjected to pollen extraction both with and without the use of hydrofluoric acid. The pollen extracts were examined and objects therein photographed under light and scanning electron microscopes. Pollen grains of Pinus, other gymnosperms, and angiosperms were recovered from certain Hakatai Shale samples, together with what appear to be fungal and algal spores. Slides covered with open drops of water or oil were exposed to the atmosphere at various laboratories for a total of 400 days. Objects present on those slides were photographed. Not one of the objects found on these exposed slides was positively identified as a pollen grain. It is concluded that pollen-bearing plants existed while the lithification of Precambrian Hakatai strata occurred - a conclusion which fits with the young earth catastrophist view of origins but conflicts with uniformitarian macroevolutionism.