Toroweap Fault

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View southwest - view of fault from Toroweap Overlook, below Toroweap Point, west Grand Canyon, overlooking Colorado River.
(with small (dk black)-volcano on South Rim, adjacent rim edge) Grand Canyon Toroweap (2).jpg
View southwest – view of fault from Toroweap Overlook, below Toroweap Point, west Grand Canyon, overlooking Colorado River.
(with small (dk black)-volcano on South Rim, adjacent rim edge)
Toroweap Fault
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75km
50miles
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CaneBeds
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Robbers Roost
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Chino Point
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Seligman
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Prospect Point
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Audley
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Tower of Babylon (5472 ft)
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Toroweap Point/Tuweep (6293 ft)
Strike of Toroweap Fault
(city or landform locations in red, other nearby locations in blue)
Toroweap Fault
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150km
100miles
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Parawan, UT
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Twin Butte, AZ
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Black Rock Canyon, AZ
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Hurricane UT
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Toquerville, UT
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Kanarraville, UT
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Cedar City, UT
Foothills of Hurricane Cliffs, (city or landform locations)

The Toroweap Fault of northwest Arizona and southwest Utah is part of a fault system of the west Grand Canyon region, Arizona, US; also the west perimeter regions of the Coconino and Colorado Plateaus. The Hurricane Fault originates at the Toroweap Fault, in the region of the Colorado River, and strikes as the westerly depression of the Toroweap Fault. The Toroweap strikes northerly from the Colorado at the east of Toroweap Valley, and enters south Utah; from the Colorado River, the Hurricane Fault strikes north-northwest along the west flank of the small, regional Uinkaret Mountains, the west border of Toroweap Valley. The Hurricane Fault, and the Hurricane Cliffs strike into southwest Utah as part of the west, and southwest perimeter of the Colorado Plateau. The Hurricane Cliffs are made of Kaibab Limestone, an erosion resistant, cliff-forming rock unit.

Contents

The Uinkaret volcanic field is a resultant of the two-fault system, at the intersection region. Two example landforms, Vulcan's Throne, and Lava Falls both occur west of Toroweap Point, North Rim Grand Canyon, along the faults. A small volcano even occurs above the fault on the South Rim.

The 2-fault system is part of the west perimeter regions of the west, and southwest Colorado Plateau, called the High Plateaus Section .

Grand Canyon, start of The Esplanade, & Aubrey Cliffs

In the Grand Canyon, the Toroweap-Hurricane Fault causes a change of surface rock expression in the canyon's west, on the South Rim. The Esplanade Sandstone an erosion resistant member of the Supai Group creates a platform called The Esplanade. The landform is upstream on the Colorado River, South Rim, across from Toroweap Point, and the Toroweap Fault and Aubrey Cliffs are The Esplanade's west perimeter.

The Aubrey Cliffs are the west edge of the Coconino Plateau. They extend from the Colorado River south to Prospect Valley, its east perimeter, jump through a mountainous stretch to the north of Aubrey Valley, the cliffs forming its east and southeast border, with the south terminus, Chino Point, just west of Seligman, Arizona, at Interstate 40. The south terminus of Aubrey Cliffs is also near the beginnings of Chino Valley (Arizona), part of the beginnings of the Verde River watershed. The Big Chino Wash of Chino Valley starts a south trend, but immediately turns southeast towards central Arizona.

The Aubrey Cliffs are composed of the Permian rocks on top, [1] Kaibab Limestone, Toroweap Formation and Coconino Sandstone; also the Hermit Formation and Supai Group; at lower elevations (the Esplanade Sandstone member of The Esplanade, Grand Canyon). In the south at Aubrey Valley, the Coconino Sandstone is reduced to a thin member, compared to the up to 300 ft cliff maxima at Grand Canyon locales. [2]

In Aubrey Valley at the southern region of the Aubrey Cliffs, the Cliffs are also eroded back along the Coconino Plateau; the Toroweap Fault is buried under gravels, towards the valley center, west of the north-trending cliffs. [3]

Toroweap Fault – Aubrey Valley, a corner of Colorado Plateau

Aubrey Valley is endorheic. [4] The valley is attached to the Seventyfour Plains, southwest, a water divide between the Verde River watershed (Big Chino Wash), east, southeast, and west, tributaries to the Bill Williams River into the Colorado River. Four small surrounding mountain ranges border Seventyfour Plains–Aubrey Valley. The northwest mountains to Aubrey Valley (Blue Mountain) connect to the mountains surrounding Prospect Valley, with Prospect Valley's east border, the Aubrey Cliffs. Prospect Valley is very narrow; the south half is endorheic; the north drains directly into the Colorado River, just west of the Toroweap Overlook.

The next regions southeast that form the southwest border of the Colorado Plateau, are Sycamore Canyon-(Sycamore Canyon Wilderness), and adjacent east, Oak Creek Canyon. The diagonally expressed, northwest-by-southeast regional Arizona transition zone mountain ranges (about 30 across Arizona's 350 miles) are adjacent southwest to Sycamore and Oak Creek Canyons. The three mountain ranges that are at the northwest terminus of the transition zone, and the south perimeter region of the Sevetyfour Plains–Aubrey Valley, are the Aquarius Mountains-(with Aquarius Cliffs), Mohon Mountains, and (due-south of Seligman), the Juniper Mountains. The faults at the Aquarius Cliffs are "high angle normal faults", [5] explaining the Aquarius Cliffs—Big Sandy River & Valley—Hualapai Mountains region as: "Colorado Plateau, east; Hualapai Mountains, classic Basin and Range; and south, 'Highly Extended Terranes', [6] (also Basin and Range, southeast Mojave Desert meeting northwest Sonoran Desert).

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaibab Limestone</span> Geologic formation in the southwestern United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aubrey Valley</span> Valley in Arizona

Aubrey Valley is a 35-mile (56 km) long valley located in southwest Coconino County, Arizona with the northwest border of Yavapai County. The valley is located at the southwest border of the Aubrey Cliffs; to the west and southwest, the Yampai Divide and the Seventyfour Plains form flatlands between four bordering mountain ranges at the northwest terminus of the Arizona transition zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Butte</span> Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toroweap Formation</span> Middle Permian geologic unit in the Grand Canyon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isis Temple</span> Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Isis Temple is a prominence in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, Southwestern United States. It is located below the North Rim and adjacent to the Granite Gorge along the Colorado River. The Trinity Creek and canyon flow due south at its west border; its north, and northeast border/flank is formed by Phantom Creek and canyon, a west tributary of Bright Angel Creek; the creeks intersect about 3 mi (4.8 km) southeast, and 1.0 mi (1.6 km) north of Granite Gorge. The Isis Temple prominence, is only about 202 ft (62 m) lower than Grand Canyon Village, the main public center on Grand Canyon’s South Rim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanner Graben</span> Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esplanade Sandstone</span> Geologic unit found in the Grand Canyon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wescogame Formation</span> Geological formation in the Grand Canyon

The (Upper) Late Pennsylvanian Wescogame Formation is a slope-forming, sandstone, red-orange geologic unit, formed from an addition of eolian sand, added to marine transgression deposits, and found throughout sections of the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, Southwest United States. It is one of the upper members of the Supai Group 'redbeds', with the Supai Group found in other sections of Arizona, especially in the Verde Valley region, or as a basement unit below the Mogollon Rim, just eastwards or part of the basement Supai Group of the southwest & south Colorado Plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supai Group</span> Section of red bed deposits at the Colorado Plateau

The Supai Group is a slope-forming section of red bed deposits found in the Colorado Plateau. The group was laid down during the Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian. Cliff-forming interbeds of sandstone are noticeable throughout the group. The Supai Group is especially exposed throughout the Grand Canyon in northwest Arizona, as well as local regions of southwest Utah, such as the Virgin River valley region. It occurs in Arizona at Chino Point, Sycamore Canyon, and famously at Sedona as parts of Oak Creek Canyon. In the Sedona region, it is overlain by the Hermit Formation, and the colorful Schnebly Hill Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Rim Sandstone</span> Geologic formation in Utah, United States

The White Rim Sandstone is a sandstone geologic formation located in southeastern Utah. It is the last member of the Permian Cutler Group, and overlies the major Organ Rock Formation and Cedar Mesa Sandstone; and again overlies thinner units of the Elephant Canyon and Halgaito Formations.

The Peacock Mountains are a small, 26 mi (42 km) long mountain range in northwest Arizona, US. The range is a narrow sub-range, and an extension north, at the northeast of the Hualapai Mountains massif, which lies to the southwest. The range is defined by the Hualapai Valley to the northwest, and north and south-flowing washes on its east border, associated with faults and cliffs; the Cottonwood Cliffs are due east, and are connected to the Aquarius Cliffs southward at the west perimeter of the Aquarius Mountains; the cliffs are a result of the Aquarius Fault, which is an extension southward from the Grand Wash Cliffs and Grand Wash Fault which crosses the Colorado River at Lake Mead, and the west perimeter of the Grand Canyon/Colorado Plateau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Wash Cliffs</span> Landform in Mohave County, Arizona

The Grand Wash Cliffs extend south-southeast from the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in northwest Arizona west of the Shivwits Plateau south through the Grand Cliffs Wilderness and into the Lake Mead Recreation Area. The Grand Wash Cliffs cross the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River enters Lake Mead. To the south of the Grand Canyon the Grand Wash Cliffs continue past the east side of Grapevine Mesa and then southeast above and east of the Hualapai Valley forming the southwest margin of the Music Mountains.

References

  1. Chronic, Roadside Geology of Arizona, Chapter: Interstate 40 – Siligman, pp. 194–197 [197].
  2. Chronic, Roadside Geology of Arizona, p. 197.
  3. Chronic, Roadside Geology of Arizona, p. 197.
  4. Benchmark Maps. Arizona Road & Recreation Atlas, Benchmark Maps, pp. 32–33.
  5. Lucchitta, 2001. Hiking Arizona's Geology, Hike 29: Aubrey Peak Road, (Hualapai Mountains, west of Big Sandy Valley, Big Sandy River, at Aquarius Cliffs), pp. 182–196 [195].
  6. Lucchitta, 2001. Hiking Arizona's Geology, p. 195.