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| View looking east from the South Kaibab Trail toward the Inner Gorge. Overlying the crystalline basement rocks of the Inner gorge is the flat-lying sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian-age Tonto Group. In ascending order the Tonto Group is subdivided into the Tapeats Sandstone, Bright Angel Shale, and Muav Limestone. The Tapeats Sandstone forms a flat-lying ledge above the Great Unconformity exposed along the top of the Inner Gorge. Erosional characteristics of the overlying Bright Angel Shale are responsible for the development of the broad terrace-like platform above the Inner Gorge. The Muav Limestone weathers to form a series of rocky ledges at the top of the slope formed by the upper Bright Angel Shale at the base of the massive cliffs of the Redwall escarpment. The Redwall escarpment is a massive cliff that occurs about midway down, throughout the Grand Canyon and consist of the Devonian-age Temple Butte Formation and the overlying Mississippian-age Redwall Limestone. The Surprise Canyon Formation found elsewhere on top of the Redwall Limestone in the Grand Canyon is not exposed along the South Kaibab Trail (Beus, 1987). Plants in the foreground include Juniper (lower center) and Pinyon Pines (lower left and right). |
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