Scorpion Ridge is a prominence, and a ridgeline-landform shaped like a

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always endi ...

, composed of the colorful red-orange

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 Supai ...

rocks, a linear ridge with two south-projecting arms of ridgeline that trend south to 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 watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

. Scorpion Ridge is approximately northwest of

Grand Canyon Village Grand Canyon Village is a census-designated place (CDP) located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Its population was 2,004 at the 2010 Census. Located in Grand Canyon National Park, it is wholl ...

near the beginning of West

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 ...

. The Scorpion Ridge-Sagittarius Ridge north–south ridges are adjacent west to the North Rim ridgeline that extends south to Imperial Point, overlooking the beginning of West Grand Canyon. The position of Scorpion Ridge causes the Colorado River to flow west, then northwest, then north. Surrounding the two ridgelines to the Colorado, the river has the Serpentine Rapids west, the Sapphire Rapids (the drainage between the two scorpion-arms), and the Willie Necktie Rapids, just downstream from Tuna Creek confluence, and Canyon, the major drainage at the east of the Imperial Point ridge. The Scorpion Ridge (body and arms) trend north-northeast for ; both arms are roughly long, with the trendline, and curved inward like enclosing arms. The high point of Scorpion Ridge (5,832 ft) is near the center of the north trend (composed of a remainder cliff-spire of Esplanade Sandstone on Wescogame Formation on platform-ridgeline of

Manakacha Formation The (Upper) Late Pennsylvanian Manakacha Formation is a cliff-forming, sandstone, red-orange geologic unit, formed from an addition of eolian sand, added to marine transgression deposits, (siltstones, etc.), and found throughout sections of th ...

); the east arm height ends at ; the west arm ends at . On the Colorado, Scorpion Ridge is opposite

Geikie Peak Geikie Peak is a -elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It is situated northwest of Grand Canyon Village, immediately north of Diana Temple, and south of Scorpion Ridge which lies ...

, Pollux Temple, Serpentine Canyon outfall, west, and Sapphire Canyon outfall, east.

Geology

Scorpion Ridge has the common sequence of rock layers of the Grand Canyon. Because of the landform's shape and position, broad colorful dull-greenish slope-forming slopes of

Bright Angel Shale The Cambrian Bright Angel Shale is the middle layer of the three member Tonto Group geologic feature. The 3-rock Tonto section famously sits upon the Great Unconformity because of the highly resistant cliffs of the base layer, vertical Tapeats S ...

surround the landform, ending at short platform cliffs of

Tapeats Sandstone Except where underlain by the Sixtymile Formation, Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone is typically the lowest geologic unit, about thick, at its maximum, of the 5-member Tonto Group. It is famous for being the highly-resistant mostly-horizontal unit abo ...

, upon Granite Gorge and the

Vishnu Basement Rocks The Vishnu Basement Rocks is the name recommended for all Early Proterozoic crystalline rocks (metamorphic and igneous) exposed in the Grand Canyon region. They form the crystalline basement rocks that underlie the Bass Limestone of the Unkar ...

Scorpion Ridge prominence

The extended ridgelines of Scorpion Ridge are mostly unit 2 of the Supai Group, protecting the slopes underneath of the unit 1, the

Watahomigi Formation The Watahomigi Formation is a geologic formation in the Grand Canyon region of Arizona. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years ...

. Unit 2, the

is a

cliff-former A cliff-former is a geological unit of bedrock that is more resistant to erosion than overlying or underlying strata and consequently produces outcrops with high slope angles. It is more or less equivalent to ''ridge-former'', and may be contrast ...

, but also an erosion-resistant platform-former. The most common, and famous platform-former in the Grand Canyon, is the top of the

Redwall Limestone The Redwall Limestone is a resistant cliff-forming unit of Mississippian age that forms prominent, red-stained cliffs in the Grand Canyon, ranging in height from to . Lithology Redwall Limestone consists predominantly of light-olive-gray to ...

cliffs, which supports many prominences in the Grand Canyon. The prominence on Scorpion Ridge is a

caprock Caprock or cap rock is a more resistant rock type overlying a less resistant rock type,Kearey, Philip (2001). ''Dictionary of Geology'', 2nd ed., Penguin Reference, London, New York, etc., p. 41.. . analogous to an upper crust on a cake that is ha ...

of the Supai unit 4,

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Pale ...

, Esplanade Sandstone, protecting the unit 3, erosive slope-former below.

The Esplanade (Grand Canyon) Esplanade most commonly refers to a raised walkway. Esplanade or The Esplanade may also refer to: Walks, parks, and streets * Esplanade (Bronx), a street in New York City * Esplanade (Hamburg), an avenue in Hamburg * Esplanade, Kolkata, a ...

is found on the South Rim side of Western Grand Canyon, because the Esplanade Sandstone thickens westward, from Central and East Grand Canyon.

References

{{reflist Grand Canyon Grand Canyon National Park Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona North American 1000 m summits Grand Canyon, North Rim Grand Canyon, North Rim (west)