The geology of the Grand Canyon area includes one of the most complete and studied sequences of rock on Earth. The nearly 40 major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon and in the Grand Canyon National Park area range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. Most were deposited in warm, shallow seas and near ancient, long-gone sea shores in western North America. Both marine and terrestrial sediments are represented, including lithified sand dunes from an extinct desert. There are at least 14 known unconformities in the geologic record found in the Grand Canyon.
The Tonto Group is a name for an assemblage of related sedimentary strata, collectively known by geologists as a Group, that comprises the basal sequence Paleozoic strata exposed in the sides of the Grand Canyon. As currently defined, the Tonto groups consists of the Sixtymile Formation, Tapeats Sandstone, Bright Angel Shale, Muav Limestone, and Frenchman Mountain Dolostone. Historically, it included only the Tapeats Sandstone, Bright Angel Shale, and Muav Limestone. Because these units are defined by lithology and three of them interfinger and intergrade laterally, they lack the simple layer cake geology as they are typically portrayed as having and geological mapping of them is complicated.
The Cardenas Basalt, also known as either the Cardenas Lava or Cardenas Lavas, is a rock formation that outcrops over an area of about 310 km2 (120 mi2) in the eastern Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. The lower part of the Cardenas Basalt forms granular talus slopes. Its upper part forms nearly continuous low cliffs that are parallel to the general course of the Colorado River. The most complete, readily accessible, and easily studied exposure of the Cardenas Basalt lies in Basalt Canyon. This is also its type locality.
The Unkar Group is a sequence of strata of Proterozoic age that are subdivided into five geologic formations and exposed within the Grand Canyon, Arizona, Southwestern United States. The Unkar Group is the basal formation of the Grand Canyon Supergroup. The Unkar is about 1,600 to 2,200 m thick and composed, in ascending order, of the Bass Formation, Hakatai Shale, Shinumo Quartzite, Dox Formation, and Cardenas Basalt. The Cardenas Basalt and Dox Formation are found mostly in the eastern region of Grand Canyon. The Shinumo Quartzite, Hakatai Shale, and Bass Formation are found in central Grand Canyon. The Unkar Group accumulated approximately between 1250 and 1104 Ma. In ascending order, the Unkar Group is overlain by the Nankoweap Formation, about 113 to 150 m thick; the Chuar Group, about 1,900 m (6,200 ft) thick; and the Sixtymile Formation, about 60 m (200 ft) thick. These are all of the units of the Grand Canyon Supergroup. The Unkar Group makes up approximately half of the thickness of the Grand Canyon Supergroup.
Temple Butte, in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, US is a prominence below the East Rim. The butte lies on the west bank of the south-flowing Colorado River. The outfall from the Little Colorado River, draining from the Painted Desert to the east and southeast, is about two miles upstream.
The Middle Permian Toroweap Formation is a thin, darker geologic unit, between the brighter colored units of the Kaibab Limestone above, and Coconino Sandstone below. It is a prominent unit in Grand Canyon, Arizona, Southwestern United States, found through sections of the South Rim, Grand Canyon, and the North Rim, of the Kaibab Plateau; also the Kaibab's southeast extension to Cape Royal, the Walhalla Plateau. The Colorado River of the Grand Canyon makes its excursion from due-south to due-west around the Walhalla Plateau, as it enters the east end of the Grand Canyon's interior, Granite Gorge. The formation is also found in southeast Utah.
The Grand Canyon Supergroup is a Mesoproterozoic to a Neoproterozoic sequence of sedimentary strata, partially exposed in the eastern Grand Canyon of Arizona. This group comprises the Unkar Group, Nankoweap Formation, Chuar Group and the Sixtymile Formation, which overlie Vishnu Basement Rocks. Several notable landmarks of the Grand Canyon, such as the Isis Temple and Cheops Pyramid, and the Apollo Temple, are surface manifestations of the Grand Canyon Supergroup.
Located directly downstream of the Little Colorado River confluence with the Colorado River, the Tanner Graben, in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, US is a prominence and cliffside rock formation below the East Rim. Tanner Graben is located riverside, on the Colorado River, on a north-northwest bank at Mile 68.5, and lies opposite Tanner Canyon. The Tanner Rapid, created by Tanner Creek lies at the riverside foot of the graben. The graben is a pronounced feature because of the black Cardenas Basalt that forms the middle section of the graben, presumably free of debris accumulation by its cliff face steepness, and winds, and airflow drainage that course through the Colorado River's canyons; unprotected side canyons of Cardenas Basalt show accumulations as a slope-forming geologic unit, with little showing of black basalt.
The Hakatai Shale is a Mesoproterozoic rock formation with important exposures in the Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. It consists of colorful strata that exhibit colors varying from purple to red to brilliant orange. These colors are the result of the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals in the Hakatai Shale. It consists of lower and middle members that consist of bright-red, slope-forming, highly fractured, argillaceous mudstones and shale and an upper member composed of purple and red, cliff-forming, medium-grained sandstone. Its thickness, which apparently increases eastwards, varies from 137 to 300 m. In general, the Hakatai Shale and associated strata of the Unkar Group rocks dip northeast (10–30°) toward normal faults that dip 60° or more toward the southwest. This can be seen at the Palisades fault in the eastern part of the main Unkar Group outcrop area. In addition, thick, prominent, and dark-colored basaltic sills and dikes cut across the purple to red to brilliant orange strata of the Hakatai Shale.
The Lower Permian Esplanade Sandstone is a cliff-forming, resistant sandstone, dark red, geologic unit found in the Grand Canyon. The rock unit forms a resistant shelf in the west Grand Canyon, south side of the Colorado River, at the east of the Toroweap Fault, down-dropped to west, southeast of Toroweap Overlook, and west of Havasupai. The red, sandstone shelf, The Esplanade is about 20-mi long. At Toroweap Overlook region, Toroweap Valley with Vulcan's Throne, Uinkaret volcanic field, the resistant Esplanade Sandstone is described in access routes exploring the Toroweap Lake area.
The Bass Formation, also known as the Bass Limestone, is a Mesoproterozoic rock formation that outcrops in the eastern Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. The Bass Formation erodes as either cliffs or stair-stepped cliffs. In the case of the stair-stepped topography, resistant dolomite layers form risers and argillite layers form steep treads. In general, the Bass Formation in the Grand Canyon region and associated strata of the Unkar Group-rocks dip northeast (10°–30°) toward normal faults that dip 60+° toward the southwest. This can be seen at the Palisades fault in the eastern part of the main Unkar Group outcrop area. In addition, thick, prominent, and dark-colored basaltic sills intrude across the Bass Formation.
The Shinumo Quartzite also known as the Shinumo Sandstone, is a Mesoproterozoic rock formation, which outcrops in the eastern Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona,. It is the 3rd member of the 5-unit Unkar Group. The Shinumo Quartzite consists of a series of massive, cliff-forming sandstones and sedimentary quartzites. Its cliffs contrast sharply with the stair-stepped topography of typically brightly-colored strata of the underlying slope-forming Hakatai Shale. Overlying the Shinumo, dark green to black, fissile, slope-forming shales of the Dox Formation create a well-defined notch. It and other formations of the Unkar Group occur as isolated fault-bound remnants along the main stem of the Colorado River and its tributaries in Grand Canyon.
Typically, the Shinumo Quartzite and associated strata of the Unkar Group dip northeast (10°–30°) toward normal faults that dip 60+° toward the southwest. This can be seen at the Palisades fault in the eastern part of the main Unkar Group outcrop area.
The Dox Formation, also known as the Dox Sandstone, is a Mesoproterozoic rock formation that outcrops in the eastern Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. The Dox Formation comprises the bulk of the Unkar Group, the older subdivision of the Grand Canyon Supergroup. The Unkar Group is about 1,600 to 2,200 m thick and composed of, in ascending order, the Bass Formation, Hakatai Shale, Shinumo Quartzite, Dox Formation, and Cardenas Basalt. The Unkar Group is overlain in ascending order by the Nankoweap Formation, about 113 to 150 m thick; the Chuar Group, about 1,900 m (6,200 ft) thick; and the Sixtymile Formation, about 60 m (200 ft) thick. The entire Grand Canyon Supergroup overlies deeply eroded granites, gneisses, pegmatites, and schists that comprise Vishnu Basement Rocks.
Zoroaster Temple is a 7,123-foot-elevation (2,171-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, USA. It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of the Yavapai Point overlook on the canyon's South Rim, from which it can be seen towering over 4,600 feet above the Colorado River and Granite Gorge. Its nearest higher neighbor is Brahma Temple, less than one mile to the north-northeast. Zoroaster Temple is named for Zoroaster, an ancient Iranian prophet. This name was used by George Wharton James and Clarence Dutton. Dutton began the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Buddha Temple is a 7,212-foot-elevation (2,198-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, in the Southwestern United States. It is situated 6.5 miles (10.5 km) due north of the Mather Point overlook on the canyon's South Rim, and four miles southwest of the North Rim's Bright Angel Point. Topographic relief is significant as it rises over 3,800 feet in two miles above Bright Angel Canyon to the east, and 3,000 feet in less than one mile above Haunted Canyon to the immediate west. Its neighbors include Manu Temple 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the northeast, Isis Temple 2.3 miles to the southwest, Zoroaster Temple 3.8 miles to the southeast, and Deva Temple, 3.5 miles to the east. Buddha Temple was named by Henry Gannett, a geographer for Clarence Dutton, in following Dutton's practice of naming features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities, in this case Buddha. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The first ascent of this butte was made in 1973 by Bruce Grubbs, Chauncey Parker, and Mark Brown via the Northwest Arete. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Buddha Temple is located in a Cold semi-arid climate zone.
Dragon Head (Arizona) is a 7,765-foot (2,367 m) elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, US. It is situated in the north of the Hindu Amphitheater, ~2.0 miles west of Shiva Temple, and ~2.5 mi southeast of Grama Point (northeast of Point Sublime). Unlike the extensive Ponderosa Pine forest of Shiva Temple, tableland/plateau prominence, Dragon Head’s flat-topped (minor plateau), is only populated with a marginal non-Ponderosa forest. Shiva Temple is approximately 275 acres (0.43 mi2), where Dragon Head is an ~5 acre prominence platform.
Cheops Pyramid is a 5,401-foot-elevation (1,646-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, US.
Topaz Canyon is a linear, narrow canyon in the western Grand Canyon, below the South Rim. It lies in a region of four canyons, and a fifth smaller canyon, all trending mostly northeasterly towards the west-flowing Colorado River, in western Grand Canyon National Park. The name of Topaz Canyon was named by the Board of Geographical Names for precious stones of the region. Topaz Canyon is the southeast border of the linear, and major, forested-landform, Diana Temple; .
The northeast terminus of Topaz Canyon intersects with the outfall of Boucher Canyon and the tract of the Tonto Trail. The Boucher Trail starting in Hermit Canyon,, ends at the termini of both Topaz and Boucher Canyons.
Fishtail Mesa is a linear, narrow plateau, adjacent the west-flowing Colorado River in western Grand Canyon, in Coconino County, Northern Arizona, about 2.0 miles east of Kanab Point, and the outfall of south-flowing Kanab Creek, a major north tributary of the Colorado River, from southern Utah. Fishtail Mesa is part of the North Rim (west) and also lies 4.0 miles west of the outfall of Deer Creek, and Deer Creek Falls at the Colorado, a common stopover campsite for river rafters. The linear and southwest direction of Fishtail Mesa, lies adjacent as the southwest border of Fishtail Canyon ; at the Colorado, the Fishtail Rapids occur as minor rapids of the Colorado River. Some other nearby prominences to Fishtail Mesa, are Paguekwash Point, about 5.0 miles southwest, and Mount Sinyella, 8.0 miles south-southwest, and on the South Rim region of the Grand Canyon.
Mather Point is a 7,119 foot (2,170 m)-cliff-elevation Point located in the central Grand Canyon, Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It was named in honor of Stephen Tyng Mather, an American industrialist and conservationist.
