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File:Grand Canyon National Park Kaibab Formation 2504 (8045908561).jpg

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Description

The Sinking Ship (left in the distance) Kaibab formation slabs (right foreground) View is from along the canyon rim east of Buggeln Picnic Area on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. NPS photo by Kristen M. Caldon.

Kaibab Formation: Thickness: 200-500 ft.

Deposited 270 million years ago, during the Paleozoic Era - Early Middle Permian Period, the Kaibab Formation is the topmost rock layer at the Grand Canyon.

It is largely made up of light colored limestones and is a cliff forming unit. The Kaibab Formation contains numerous fossils indicative of a warm and shallow water environment, including crinoids, brachiopods, bryozoans, and sponges.

Chert, which forms irregular blobs and nodules, is common in the Kaibab. Chert is composed of silica and, as it is more resistant to weathering, can often be seen protruding from the rock around it.

It often forms where there is an empty space in the rock, such as in a worm burrow. It also forms where an organism made primarily of silica, such as a sponge, has been buried. Most of the sponges in the Kaibab Formation are preserved in chert.

The Kaibab Limestone is also distinct in that it is readily dissolved, resulting in the formation of karst topography on the canyon’s rims.

Numerous caves and sinkholes are present in the Kaibab, particularly on the North Rim. While the Kaibab Limestone now caps Grand Canyon’s rims, many more rock layers once sat above the Kaibab.

Perhaps as much as one mile (1.6 km) of Mesozoic rock layers once covered the Kaibab Formation. Remnants of these rock layers exist near Grand Canyon, including Cedar Mountain and Red Butte.
Date
Source Grand Canyon National Park: Kaibab Formation 2504
Author Grand Canyon National Park

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Grand Canyon NPS at https://flickr.com/photos/50693818@N08/8045908561. It was reviewed on 21 November 2020 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

21 November 2020

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27 September 2012

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