Escalante Butte is a prominence adjacent the far eastern South Rim of the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
, of Northern Arizona. Adjacent east is a lower elevation butte,
Cardenas Butte. Both buttes, (and the South Rim), are part of the western drainage of north-trending
Tanner Canyon into the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
.
Geology – Escalante & Cardenas Buttes
Escalante Butte and
Cardenas Butte lie upon the same
Supai Group
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 Su ...
ridgeline. At the west, Escalante is separated by a ridge saddle (the drainage southeast into Upper Tanner Canyon). Escalante Butte prominence is a small, heavily eroded
cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...
and debris remainder of
Coconino Sandstone
Coconino Sandstone is a geologic formation named after its exposure in Coconino County, Arizona. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.
...
, (on debris of
Hermit Shale
The Permian Hermit Formation, also known as the Hermit Shale, is a nonresistant unit that is composed of slope-forming reddish brown siltstone, mudstone, and very fine-grained sandstone. Within the Grand Canyon region, the upper part of the H ...
), on eroded ridges of the Supai Group. Cardenas Butte, is about lower, east, on an eroded ridgeline of Supai Group. Its small spire is a surviving cliff-former unit of the Supai Group.
See also
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Geology of the Grand Canyon area
The geology of the Grand Canyon area includes one of the most complete and studied sequences of rock (geology), rock on Earth. The nearly 40 major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon and in the Grand Canyon National Park area rang ...
*
Escalante Route
The Escalante Route is a hiking trail on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It starts near the Tanner Rapids ( Tanner Graben) on the Colorado River and follows the river. It also passes by Esca ...
*
Tanner Trail
The Tanner Trail is a hiking trail located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, located in the U.S. state of Arizona. The trailhead is located at Lipan Point, a prominent lookout located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village, ...
Citations
External links
{{commonscat, Escalante Butte
Coconino Sandstone of summit, Mountainzone.comView of Escalante Butte, etc, Summitpost. (Choose Escalante Butte; also shows ridgeline with Cardenas Butte.)
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon, South Rim
Grand Canyon National Park
Colorado Plateau
Buttes of Arizona
Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona
Mountains of Arizona
Mountains of Coconino County, Arizona
North American 1000 m summits