ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Kenite hypothesis

Ok kiddo, imagine you have a cake and you want to know how it was made. One way to do this is to look at the ingredients. Scientists do the same thing with rocks – they look at what they're made of to figure out how they were formed.

The Kenite hypothesis is a specific idea about how some types of rocks called arkosic sandstones were made. These rocks are common in places like the American Southwest.

To understand the Kenite hypothesis, we need to talk about two types of rocks: igneous and sedimentary. Igneous rocks are formed when hot magma (molten rock beneath the earth's surface) cools and solidifies. Sedimentary rocks, on the other hand, are formed from sediment (bits of other rocks, minerals, and organic material) that have been moved and deposited in a certain place.

The Kenite hypothesis suggests that arkosic sandstones were formed from sediment that was eroded from an igneous rock called a granite. This granite rock is special because it contains tiny crystals called feldspars.

When water carries sediment (bits of rock, sand, and dirt) downhill, it will eventually slow down and drop the sediment in a certain place. This is called deposition. The Kenite hypothesis suggests that in the case of arkosic sandstones, the feldspar crystals from the eroded granite dissolved in the water, and then re-formed as new crystals within the sediment as it was deposited.

So, to summarize: the Kenite hypothesis is a specific idea about how certain rocks called arkosic sandstones were formed. It suggests that they were made from sediment eroded from a granite rock that contained feldspar crystals. These crystals dissolved in water and then re-formed within the sediment as it was deposited, creating the arkosic sandstone.