WeallknowandlovetheGrandCanyon,andtherearemanyreasonswhyitisloved.

Forsomeitmaybethebeautifulviewthatitprovides,andforageologist,itisthebeautiful
geologictimerecordthatitholds.TheGrandCanyoniscomposedoflayersandlayersof
informationthatgeologistscaninterpretaboutthegeologictimescale,inwhatorderevents
happened,andthedifferenttypesoftectonicsthatwerehappeningtoformsuchaunique
structure.
TheGrandCanyonispartoftheGrandStaircase.TheGrandStaircaseisanimmense
sequenceofsedimentary
rocklayersthatstretch
southfromBryceCanyon
NationalParkthrough
ZionNationalParkand
intotheGrandCanyon.
Duetothecanyon
featuresthroughthe
GrandStaircasenearly
everyperiodofthe
Phanerozoiceonis
exposedaswellasthe
Precambrian(Figure1).Inthe
GrandCanyonthereisexposedstratafromthePrecambrian,Cambrian,Devonian,
Mississippian,Pennsylvanian,Permian,TriassicandJurassicperiodsaswellasprecambrian.
ThenextstepupthestaircaseisZionCanyon.InZionCanyonrockfromtheCretaceousperiod
canbeenseen.AtthetopofthestaircaseTertiaryandQuaternaryagerocksareexposedat

BryceCanyon.Aswecansee,nearlyeveryperiodisexposedmakingthisagreatbenefittothe
geologyworldbyprovidingextensiveinformationofthegeologictimescale.
Duetothelayersthatareexposed(asshowninFigure2)intheGrandCanyon,
informationsuchastheorderofeventsanddepositionalenvironmentscanbeinferredaboutthe
area.Itallstartedwithsomethingcalledaterranewreckfromthesubductingzonesinthearea
about1.7billionyearsago.Theterranewreck
wasaresultofamountainbuildingevent
whichcausedplatestoconvergeandsubduct.
Aterranewreckiswhenaplateisbeing
subductingthetheislandarcsthatarepresent
onthesubductedplatewerepushedontothe
oppositeplateandwereaccreted.Asplates
weresubductedmaterialaccretedandbegan
toformthebaseoftheGrandCanyon.The
VishnuSchistwasaresultoftheterranewreck
becauseoftheextremeheatatpressure
presentatsubductionzones.Thesesubduction
zoneswouldhavealsoproducedhighlandsbutwereeroded.Aftertheterranewreckthe
GrenvilleOrogenyoccurred.Asplatescollidethereisanexcessiveamountpressurefromthe
collisionandsomeofthatpressureneedstobereleasedandisreleasedinareasbyextension.
ThisiswhathappenedwiththeGrenvilleOrogenyasitcollided,highlandswerecreatedandit
causedeastwestextensionwhichformedanintracratonicbasin.Thisbasincreatedtheproper
depositionalenvironmenttodeposittheUnkarGroup(Figure2).Afterthedepositionofthe

UnkargroupRodinabegantoriftapart.Thisriftingformedbasinswhichcreatedanenvironment
fortheChuarGrouptodeposit.
AswemoveuptheGrandCanyonweseeanangularunconformitybetweenthe
PrecambrianandCambriansections.Thiswascausedbythebreakupofthesupercontinent
Rodinia.Asthecontinentsplitapartmajornormalfaultswereformedandtiltedthelayers
makingtheangularunconformitypresentnow.AfterthebreakupofRodiniatheChuarGroup
wasdeposited.AsthefaultslippedtherightsidewasupliftedandtheUnkarcannotbeseen,
whichmeansthatitwaseroded.Thisisduetothe
GreatUnconformitywhichwasaerosionaleventthat
erasedmillionsofyearsintherockrecord.
AftertheGreatUnconformitytheprocessof
depositionbeganonceagain.Therestofthe
depositionoftheGrandCanyonisasthepattern
(sandstone,shale,limestone)seenintheUnkargroup
andtheChuargroup.Thispatterncanbeexplained
bysequencestratigraphy.Sequencestratigraphy
statesthatassealevelrisesandfallsthedepositional
environmentswillbealteredandthuschangethematerial
deposited.AsseeninFigure5therearethreedifferenttypes
ofdepositionalenvironmentspresent.Theforeshoreisa
highenergyenvironmentwhichmeansheaviermaterialwill
bedepositedsuchassandstonematerial.Inthenearshore
thereislessenergywhichallowsforlightermaterialto
deposit,producingshale.Offshoreisaverylow

energyenvironmentwhichisanenvironmentinwhichlimestonecanbeformed.
Asthesealevelrisesandfallstherelativepositionoftheseenvironmentswillchange.
Assealevelrisesthesandstone,shale,andlimestonewillmoveinlandandwhenthesealevel
lowerstheywillmovebasinwardasshowninFigureFour.AccordingtoWalthersLawthesame
changesinfaciesasseenhorizontallywillbeseenverticallyasshowninpartDinFigure5.This
sameverticalpatterncanbeseenintheGrandCanyon.Nearthebottomyoucanseethe
TapeatsSandstonethentheBrightAngelShaleandtheMuavLimestone.Thisshowsthatthe
sealevelwasrisingwhichmadeitpossibletodepositallthreetypesofrockinonearea.After
theMuavLimestonethesealevelremainedthesamelevelanddepositedtheRedwall
LimestoneafterwhichitrecededdepositedtheWatahomigie,Manikacha,andWescogame
shales.ThesealevelcontinuedtoresideanddepositedtheEsplanadeSandstoneandthen
roseagainanddepositedtheHermitShale.AftertheHermitShaleweseethesamepatternof
sandstone(Coconino)shale(Toroweap)andlimestone(Kaibab)provingthatthesealevelrose
yetagain.
FromthesequencestratigraphypreservedintheGrandCanyonitisevidentthatitwas
oncecoveredbyaseaandtherewasconstantregressionandtransgressionofthesea.These
changescanbeexplainedbyseveraldifferentgeologiceventsthatoccurred.
DuringtheTertiarytheLaramideOrogenyoccurredwhichcausedthepassivemarginto
changeintoasubductionzone.ThiscausedthenormalfaultsbeneaththePaleozoic
sedimentaryrockstobereactivatedbutthistimeasthrustfaults.Thedisplacementofthefault
causedanasymmetricanticlinetoformonthesurface.Theplatebeingsubductedinthe
LaramideOrogenywastheFarallonplate.Onetheoryisthataftersubductionstoppedthe
Farallonplateswingbackcausinghotbuoyantasthenospheretotakeitsplace.Thishot
asthenospherecausedthecrusttoriseandcreatetheBasinandRangeextensionzonethatis

presentnow.Thisextensioncausedthosesamefaultstobereactivatedasnormalfaultsonce
again.
ItisevidentthattheGrandCanyongivesgeologistanuniquelookintothepast.Itis
possibletointerpretthedifferentlayersandstructurestodescribethegeologicalprocessesthat
occurredpreviously.Thedepositionalenvironmentscanbeinterpretedaswellasdifferent
globaltectonicevents.Thisallowspeopletobetterunderstandhistoricgeologyaswella
presentgeology.