Supai Group
| Supai Group | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: late Bashkirian–Sakmarian | |
Paleozoic Supai Group, underlying Surprise Canyon Formation, and top of Redwall
Limestone in the eastern Grand Canyon at Twentythree Mile rapid. | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Sub-units | youngest to oldest: Esplanade Sandstone, Wescogame Formation, Manakacha Formation, and Watahomigi Formation |
| Underlies | Hermit Formation and Schnebly Hill Formation |
| Overlies | either Redwall Limestone, Surprise Canyon Formation, or Naco Formation |
| Thickness | 1,400 feet (430 m), at maximum |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | sandstone and mudstone |
| Other | siltstone, limestone, and conglomerate |
| Location | |
| Region | North and central Arizona, southeast California, southern Utah |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | Virgin River valley, Grand Canyon, Sycamore Canyon, and Verde Valley |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Supai, Arizona |
| Named by | Dalton 1910 |
| Year defined | 1910 |
The Supai Group is a slope-forming sequence of mixed red beds and limestones that outcrop 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 Group is quite well exposed throughout the Grand Canyon in northwest Arizona, as well as local regions of southwest Utah, such as the Virgin River valley region. Known as the Supai Formation, it occurs in Arizona at Chino Point, Sycamore Canyon, and famously at Sedona as parts of Oak Creek Canyon. In the Sedona region, it is overlain by the Hermit Formation, and the colorful Schnebly Hill Formation. The Supai Group has been traced westward into the Great Basin in Nevada and California. and recognized in Paleozoic metamorphic strata exposed in the Big Maria Mountains, northeastern Riverside County, southeastern California.