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| This large blocks of sandstone is along the South Kaibab Trail where the trail descends through the Supai Group. This view looking back up the trail toward Cedar Ridge shows the upper part of the Grand Canyon sequence. In ascending order from the lower left include the cliff-forming Redwall Limestone. Differential weathering characteristics of the shale, mudstone, and sandstone layers in the Supai Group are responsible for the alternating ledge-and-slope profile above the Redwall escarpment. The Esplanade Sandstone forms a more resistant series of ledges at the top of the Supai Group, whereas the overlying Hermit Shale is completely masked by vegetation (and snow in this image). The Coconino Sandstone forms the massive white cliff, which is in turn capped by the slope-forming Toroweap Formation and caprock ledge-forming Kaibab Limestone (Beus, 1987). |
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