Stratigraphic Relations of the 

Navaio %j Sandstone to

Middle Jurassic Formations, 

Southern Utah and 

Northern Arizona

G E O L O G I C A1 SURVEY PRO FES S;i ONAt PAPER 1035-B

Stratigraphic Relations of the 

Navajo Sandstone to 

Middle Jurassic Formations, 

Southern Utah and 

Northern Arizona

By FRED PETERSON and G. N. PIPIRINGOS

UNCONFORMITIES, CORRELATION, AND NOMENCLATURE OF SOME

TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER1035-B

A reexamination of the stratigraphy 

of formations that lie on the 

Navajo Sandstone

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1979
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

H. WUliam Menard, Director

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Peterson, Fred.

Stratigraphic relations of the Navajo Sandstone to Middle Jurassic formations, southern Utah and

northern Arizona.

(Geological Survey Professional Paper 103 5-B) 

(Unconformities, correlation, and nomenclature of some Triassic and Jurassic rocks, western interior

United States) 

Bibliography: p. 42 

Supt. of Docs, no.: 119.16 1035-B

1. Geology, Stratigraphic Jurassic. 2. Geology Utah. 3. Geology Arizona. 

I. Pipiringos, George Nicholas, 1918- joint author. II. Title III. Series. IV. Series ; United States Geological

Survey Professional Paper 1035-B. 

QE681.P42 551.7'6 77-608321

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 

Stock Number 024-001-03198-1
CONTENTS

Abstract.........................

Introduction and acknowledgments 

Glen Canyon Group...............

Navajo Sandstone ............

San Rafael Group..................

Temple Cap Sandstone........

Sinawava Member........

White Throne Member....

Carmel Formation ............

Limestone member .......

Judd Hollow Tongue......

Banded member ..........

Gypsiferous member......

Winsor Member ..........

Bl 

2 

4 

4 

6 

6

8

9

10

11

11

13

14

14

Page

San Rafael Group Continued

Carmel Formation Continued

Upper member .................................. B17

.............. 20

.............. 27

.............. 29

.............. 30

.............. 31

.............. 31

.............. 35

.............. 36

Page Sandstone ...................

Harris Wash Tongue...........

Thousand Pockets Tongue 

Entrada Sandstone ................

Age and correlation....................

Glen Canyon Group................

San Rafael Group..................

Name and location of measured sections 

Measured sections....................

References cited

38

42

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

FIGURE 1. Index map of southern Utah and northern Arizona ............................................................ B2

2. Restored section from Zion Canyon, Utah, to Red Rock, Arizona................................................ 3

3. Photograph of typical exposures of Navajo Sandstone and Temple Cap Sandstone in Zion Canyon, Utah........... 5

4. Photograph showing typical exposures of Navajo Sandstone in Glen Canyon near Page, Arizona.................. 6

5. Photograph of authigenic chert nodules in limestone bed of Navajo Sandstone ................................... 7

6. Photograph of authigenic chert in sandstone bed of Navajo Sandstone .......................................... 8

7. Photograph showing principal reference section of Temple Cap Sandstone and type section of Sinawava and White

Throne Members ....................................................................................... 9

8. Stratigraphic section from Gunlock to Johnson Canyon, Utah.................................................. 10

9. Photograph showing thin Temple Cap Sandstone at Johnson Canyon, Utah ..................................... 11

10. Restored section from Gunlock, Utah, to Cummings Mesa, Arizona ............................................. 12

11. Restored section from Kodachrome Flat, Utah, to Cow Springs, Arizona ........................................ 13

12. Photograph showing good exposures of banded member of Carmel Formation near Mount Carmel Junction, Utah ..... 14

13. Photograph showing interfingering of banded member of Carmel Formation and lower part of Thousand Pockets

Tongue of the Page Sandstone ........................................................................... 15

14. Photograph of the Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone and gypsiferous member of the Carmel

Formation ............................................................................................. 16

15. Photograph of reference section of Carmel Formation and Page Sandstone at Pine Creek near Escalante, Utah ..... 18

16. Photograph showing typical exposure of upper member of Carmel Formation at Warm Creek ..................... 20

17. Photograph of good exposures of lower part of upper member of Carmel Formation southeast of Escalante, Utah ... 21

18. Photograph showing type section of Page Sandstone near Page, Arizona ........................................ 22

19. Photograph showing evenly distributed small angular chert pebbles at base of Page Sandstone.................... 23

20. Photograph of Glen Canyon at Crossing of the Fathers showing conspicuous notch or bench at contact of Page

Sandstone and Navajo Sandstone ........................................................................ 24

21. Photograph showing angular chert pebbles embedded in basal stratum of Page Sandstone........................ 25

22. Photograph of fossil joint crevice at top of Navajo Sandstone .................................................. 26

23. Photograph showing plan view of fossil joint crevices at top of Navajo Sandstone ................................ 27

24. Photograph showing conspicuous difference in colors of Navajo and Page Sandstones at Thousand Pockets ........ 27

25. Photograph of Glen Canyon near Last Chance Creek showing color difference and topographic expression of Page

Sandstone and Navajo Sandstone ........................................................................ 28

26. Photograph of small nodules in uppermost part of Navajo Sandstone near Page, Arizona ......................... 29

27. Photograph showing buried hill of Navajo Sandstone on northeast side of Kaiparowits Plateau.................... 30

28. Photograph of small buried ledge of Navajo Sandstone preserved beneath Page Sandstone on northeast side of

Kaiparowits Plateau .................................................................................... 31

29. Photograph showing type section of Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone .................................... 32

30. Diagram showing correlation of formations in Glen Canyon Group with European time-stratigraphic units ......... 33

31. Chart showing correlation of rocks at selected sections in southwestern Utah and north-central Arizona with a

section in southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and north-central Utah ................................... 35

in

UNCONFORMITIES, CORRELATION, AND NOMENCLATURE OF SOME 

TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS OF THE

NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, 

SOUTHERN UTAH AND NORTHERN ARIZONA

By FRED PETERSON and G. N. PIPIRINGOS

ABSTRACT

Stratigraphic studies in southern Utah and northern Arizona indicate that the Navajo Sandstone does not intertongue with the 

overlying Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation. Two crossbedded 

sandstone bodies previously thought to be tongues of the Navajo in 

the Carmel are, instead, entirely separate from the Navajo. In addition, a regional unconformity is present at the base of the Carmel 

and equivalent formations. Thus, the Navajo is a predominantly 

crossbedded sandstone formation at the top of the Glen Canyon 

Group that does not intertongue with the Carmel Formation.

Early Jurassic palynomorphs were discovered in the Moenave 

Formation, which is at the base of the Glen Canyon Group in 

southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona. These fossils indicate that the Moenave as well as the overlying Kayenta and Navajo Formations most likely are Early Jurassic in age and that considerably more of the Glen Canyon Group is Early Jurassic than 

had been thought before. However, the U.S. Geological Survey still 

considers the Navajo Triassic(?) and Jurassic in age pending further 

study of these plant fossils.

The Temple Cap Sandstone of southwestern Utah was formerly 

considered a member at the top of the Navajo Sandstone, but it is 

here given formation rank and included as the oldest formation in 

the San Rafael Group where it lies beneath the Carmel Formation. 

The Temple Cap is here divided into two newly named members: the 

Sinawava Member and the White Throne Member. The Sinawava, 

at the base of the formation, is flat bedded and consists of sandstone, silty sandstone, and mudstone, whereas the overlying White 

Throne Member consists of crossbedded sandstone. The White 

Throne grades westward into the Sinawava in the vicinity of the 

Hurricane Cliffs and west of the Hurricane Cliffs the Sinawava is 

the only member present. Contrary to previous reports, the White 

Throne is not a tongue of the Navajo; instead, the White Throne 

Member is separated from the Navajo by the Sinawava Member 

and neither member merges with the Navajo. In addition, the lower 

contact of the Sinawava, termed the J-l surface, may be an unconformity, because it is a laterally continuous surface marked by 

broad irregularities that may have been caused by erosional processes. This surface is correlative with a similar surface in 

northeastern Utah and adjacent parts of Idaho and Wyoming that 

is considered an unconformity. The Temple Cap is unfossiliferous, 

but it is assigned an early Middle Jurassic age on the basis of correlation with the fossiliferous Gypsum Spring Member of the Twin 

Creek Limestone in north-central Utah.

A regional erosion surface termed the J-2 unconformity bevels out 

the Temple Cap Sandstone in southwestern Utah and the Navajo 

Sandstone in southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona. This 

surface is marked by a thin layer of small chert pebbles that are lag 

concentrates of chert nodules or pebbles derived from the underlying formations. Although it is widespread and occurs throughout 

most of the Western Interior, the J-2 unconformity probably was 

formed during a brief erosion interval in early Middle Jurassic time.

The Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation of the San Rafael Group 

lies on the J-2 unconformity in southwestern Utah. In this area, the 

Carmel contains, in ascending order, the limestone member, banded 

member, gypsiferous member, and Winsor Member. East of Cannonville, Utah, the equivalent of the limestone member is termed 

the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel and southwest of Cannonville the banded member grades eastward into the Thousand 

Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone. Owing to fades changes 

east of the Paunsaugunt fault, strata that are equivalent to the gypsiferous member and Winsor Member farther west are termed the 

upper member of the Carmel Formation.

Some of the crossbedded sandstone beds in south-central Utah 

and north-central Arizona that were included in the upper part of 

the Navajo Sandstone were found to be separated from the underlying Navajo by the J-2 unconformity. These beds comprise a discrete 

mappable unit and, accordingly, they are here removed from the 

Navajo, assigned formation rank, and named the Page Sandstone. 

The western part of the Page is divided into two westward-thinning 

tongues by the eastward-thinning Judd Hollow Tongue of the 

Carmel Formation. The lower tongue is here named the Harris 

Wash Tongue of the Page Sandstone; the upper tongue of the Page 

is the Thousand Pockets Tongue which was formerly considered a 

tongue of the Navajo Sandstone. The Page is laterally equivalent to 

the limestone and banded members of the Carmel Formation of 

southwestern Utah. Based on these relationships, the Page is here 

assigned a Middle Jurassic age and is placed in the San Rafael 

Group.

The upper member of the Carmel Formation lies conformably on 

the Page Sandstone in south-central Utah, but, progressing 

southeastward from this area, strata included in the lower part of 

the upper member interfinger with and gradually replace the Page. 

Farther southeast in north-central and northeastern Arizona, the 

lower beds of the upper member completely replace the Page so that 

the upper member rests directly on the Navajo Sandstone and is

Bl
B2 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

separated from the Navajo by the J-2 unconformity. Where it rests 

on the Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone, the upper 

member is equivalent to the gypsiferous member and Winsor 

Member of the Carmel of southwestern Utah; where it rests directly 

on the Navajo, the upper member probably is equivalent in age to 

most of the Carmel of southwestern Utah. These correlations indicate that the upper member of the Carmel Formation is Middle 

Jurassic in age.

INTRODUCTION AND 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Stratigraphic studies on the Colorado Plateau over 

the past several decades yielded an anomalous 

Stratigraphic relationship between the Navajo Sandstone and the overlying Carmel Formation. In 

southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona, an unconformity separates the Navajo and Carmel, yet in 

southwestern Utah the upper Navajo and lower 

Carmel were thought to intertongue. Although this 

was explained as westward dying-out of the unconformity, recent fieldwork between the Hurricane Cliffs

and the Kaiparowits Plateau (fig. 1) led to the 

discovery that the Navajo and Carmel do not intertongue and that the unconformity in southeastern 

Utah and northeastern Arizona does continue 

westward into southwestern Utah (fig. 2). Because of 

these findings, the Stratigraphic relations of the Navajo Sandstone to the Carmel Formation must be reinterpreted. Because the Stratigraphic relations determined 

by this study are so different from those published by 

Thompson and Stokes (1970), and because of ambiguities in their report, we do not use the names that 

they proposed for members of the Carmel Formation 

and Entrada Sandstone. Instead, we feel that the informal names suggested by Cashion (1967) are adequate. 

Considerable emphasis in this study was placed on 

Stratigraphic markers including marker surfaces and 

key beds or marker zones with distinctive lithologies 

or bedding characteristics. We used these markers to 

trace formation boundaries as well as member boundaries through areas where similar rock types are jux114° 113° 112° 110° 109°

36°-

FIGURE 1. Index map of southern Utah and northern Arizona showing location of measured sections and localities mentioned in the text. 

The names of the sections are listed below, and the locations are given in detail at the end of the report.

1. Pine Creek

2. Page

3. Harris Wash

4. Zion Canyon (Observation Point)

5. G unlock

6. Diamond Valley

7. Cottonwood Canyon

8. Danish Ranch

9. Potato Hollow

10. Meadow Creek

11. Mount Carmel Junction

12. Kanab Creek

13. Brown Canyon

14. Johnson Canyon

15. Carly Knoll

16. Lick Wash

17. Little Bull Valley

18. Averett Canyon

19. Sheep Creek

20. Kodachrome Flat

21. The Gut

22. Goodwater Seep

23. Hackberry Canyon

24. West Cove

25. East Cove

26. Judd Hollow

27. Sand Valley

28. Gunsight Butte

29. Kane Wash

30. Cummings Mesa NW

31. West Canyon

32. Cummings Mesa Trail

33. Upper Valley

34. Seep Flat

35. Twentyfive Mile Wash

36. Early Weed Bench

37. Cat Pasture

38. Big Hollow Wash

39. Hurricane Wash

40. Cave Point

41. Fiftymile Point

42. Navajo Point

43. Little Arch Canyon

44. Tsai Skizzi

45. Square Butte

46. Cow Springs

47. Dinnehotso

48. Little Rock
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B3

West East

Red Rock 

48

Entrada Sandstone and 

younger Jurassic formations

FIGURE 2. Restored section of the Glen Canyon Group and lower part of the San Rafael Group showing continuity of J-0 and J-2 unconformities from northeastern Arizona to southwestern Utah. Stratigraphic relations in Glen Canyon Group after Harshbarger, Repenning, 

and Irwin (1957), Wilson (1965), and R. B. O'Sullivan (oral commun., 1970). Unconformity or probable unconformity shown by wavy line; 

J-0, J-l, J-2, and K-l designate unconformities in Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978).

taposed and where the contacts had not been recognized before. The result is a clearer picture than had been 

obtained before of the relationship between the Navajo 

Sandstone and younger formations. Furthermore, our 

findings are consistent with the stratigraphic 

framework of Lower and Middle Jurassic strata as currently understood in other parts of the Western Interior of the United States.

Owing to stratigraphic complexities, some of the 

units cannot be discussed in a simple oldest-toyoungest fashion. On the following pages we describe 

the Navajo Sandstone as it occurs throughout the 

region, followed by descriptions of the Temple Cap and 

Carmel Formations in southwestern Utah, where the 

type localities of these two formations are located. We 

then discuss the Carmel and Page Formations in 

south-central and southeastern Utah and adjoining 

parts of Arizona, where these rocks are equivalent or 

nearly equivalent in age to the type Carmel of 

southwestern Utah. Following this is a brief description of the Entrada Sandstone, which lies on the 

Carmel throughout most of the region. Finally, we 

discuss the age of these formations in light of correlations to well-dated units in other regions and in light of 

recent paleontological discoveries.

The basic framework of this study consists of a network of 21 measured sections of the Temple Cap Sandstone, about 100 complete or partial measured sections 

of the Carmel Formation, about 110 measured sections 

of the Page Sandstone, and 45 measured sections of 

the Entrada Sandstone. In addition, the logs from 13 

drill holes were also used. This was supplemented by 

tracing the units laterally wherever possible, aided by 

the stratigraphic markers noted earlier, and by mapping in the Kaiparowits Plateau by W. E. Bowers, E. 

V. Stephens, H. A. Waldrop, H. D. Zeller, and Fred 

Peterson.

The writers acknowledge with gratitude the helpful 

comments and constructive criticism offered by W. E. 

Bowers, P. E. Soister, E. V. Stephens, H. A. Waldrop, 

and H. D. Zeller during the course of the Kaiparowits 

mapping project, which has been in progress since 

1963. Other members of the U.S. Geological Survey 

who have given freely from their knowledge of the 

stratigraphy of the Triassic and Jurassic Systems of 

the United States include W. B. Cashion, L. C. Craig, 

M. W. Green, R. W. Imlay, R. B. O'Sullivan, C. E. 

Turner-Peterson, and D. G. Wyant. The palynomorphs 

were identified by Bruce Cornet of Gulf Research and 

Development Company, Houston, Texas, who has 

made extensive studies of the palynology of Upper 

Triassic and Lower Jurassic rocks of the eastern 

United States. Capable assistance in the field was 

given by B. E. Barnum, P. C. Birkhahn, J. D. Craig, C.
B4 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

J. Flynn, G. W. Horton, B. E. Law, R. A. Lehtola, O. L. 

Ligon, Jr., and R. L. Sutton.

Mapping was done in the Kaiparowits Plateau at the 

scale of 1:24,000 by plane table and alidade aided by 

aerial photos flown in 1951,1958, and 1966. In the part 

of Glen Canyon now covered by Lake Powell, the study 

was augmented by photos in the files of the U.S. 

Geological Survey that were taken by T. H. O'Sullivan 

with the Wheeler Survey in the 1870's and by N. W. 

Bass, E. C. LaRue, H. D. Miser, and R. C. Moore with 

various U.S. Geological Survey parties in the 1920's. 

The sections were measured using a Brunton compass 

and steel tape or using an Abney level and 5-foot Jacob 

staff. Measurements were made in the English system 

and later converted to metric. Colors in the lithologic 

descriptions follow those in a rock color chart of Goddard and others (1963), but the number and letter code 

in that chart is not given because it implies a greater 

accuracy than is possible to achieve in the field. Bedding classification and terminology generally follow 

that of McKee and Weir (1953), and grain size is expressed in terms of the Modified Wentworth Grade 

Scale suggested by Dunbar and Rodgers (1957, p. 161). 

Sorting and mean grain size were estimated in the field 

with a hand lens, aided by comparison with 16 sieve 

analyses made by R. F. Gantnier on samples from the 

Page, Carmel, and Entrada Formations. In addition, 

63 thin sections were prepared by M. E. Johnson from 

samples of each of the formations.

The term silty sandstone is used for moderately to 

poorly sorted very fine grained sandstone or coarse 

siltstone that is poorly to moderately cemented and 

generally weathers to form a slope. The term mudstone 

is used for a nonfissile or poorly fissile rock composed 

mainly of clay-size particles but also containing a 

significant fraction of silt and sand-size grains. Shale, 

while present, is for the most part included with the 

mudstone because it is minor, inconspicuous, and 

generally difficult to distinguish from the mudstone 

except at perfect exposures.

This report is a byproduct of a comprehensive program of the U.S. Geological Survey to evaluate and 

classify mineral lands in the public domain.

GLEN CANYON GROUP

The name Glen Canyon Group was first used by 

Baker and others (1927) for typical exposures in Glen 

Canyon, where it included, in ascending order, the 

Wingate Sandstone, rocks now known as the Kayenta 

Formation but at that time thought to be the Todilto 

Formation, and the Navajo Sandstone. Later, 

Williams (1954) named the Moenave Formation and 

assigned it to the group, where, in general, it is considered an equivalent to parts of the Wingate Sandstone and Kayenta Formation (fig. 2). Previous 

workers considered the Glen Canyon Group Triassic 

and Jurassic in age and thought that the systemic 

boundary was near the top of the group, in the Navajo 

Sandstone. However, recent paleontological and 

stratigraphic discoveries, strongly suggest that the 

group is largely Early Jurassic in age and that the 

systemic boundary is at or near the base of the group, 

either at the base of the Lukachukai Member of the 

Wingate Sandstone or at the base of the Moenave Formation where the Lukachukai is absent. The Navajo 

Sandstone is the only formation in the group that is 

considered in detail here although a discussion of the 

age of the entire group is given in later paragraphs.

NAVAJO SANDSTONE

The Navajo Sandstone (Gregory, 1917) is a thick, 

cliff-forming, crossbedded sandstone formation that 

underlies a large part of southern Utah and 

northeastern Arizona. The colorful and spectacular 

sheer cliffs, deep canyons, and impressive spires, promontories, and monoliths that have been eroded in this 

formation are responsible for much of the scenic beauty of Zion National Park, Glen Canyon, and the Navajo 

Indian Reservation (figs. 3, 4). For the most part, the 

Navajo has two contrasting colors various shades of 

red in the lower part and various shades of light gray 

in the upper part but considerable variation occurs 

within these colors. The boundary between the red and 

white parts may be sharp or gradational, but in most 

places the color change bears little if any relation to 

bedding features and cuts directly across the 

stratification. In addition, one or the other of these colored zones may be missing, so that in places (for example, west of Zion Canyon) the formation is almost entirely moderate reddish orange or, as in parts of the 

Circle Cliffs area, it is entirely very light gray to very 

pale orange.

Most of the Navajo consists of quartzose sandstone 

that is well sorted and fine to medium grained, 

although at several places along the base of some of 

the crossbedding sets there are scattered well-rounded 

coarse and very coarse grains of quartz and black or 

gray chert. The principal bedding types are high-angle, 

large-scale crossbedding in tabular-planar, wedgeplanar, or trough-shaped sets generally 6-15 m thick, 

although one set 34 m thick was measured in Glen Canyon near the mouth of the San Juan River.

Minor but conspicuous lenses of interbedded sandstone, mudstone, and cherty limestone or dolomite 

(Pipiringos and O'Sullivan, 1975), comprise about 2-3 

percent of the Navajo in south-central Utah and northcentral Arizona, but they are rare in southwestern 

Utah. The lenses contain fine-grained, moderately
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B5

FIGURE 3. View of typical exposures of the Navajo Sandstone (J"6n) and Temple Cap Sandstone in Zion Canyon, Utah. The narrow slotlike inner gorge of Zion Canyon is in the red lower part of the Navajo and the wider upper part of the canyon is in the white part of the 

Navajo. The red Sinawava Member of the Temple Cap (Jtcs) weathers to form a narrow, tree-covered shelf above the white cliffs of the 

Navajo and below the white crossbedded sandstone cliff of the White Throne Member of the Temple Cap (Jtcw). The limestone member of 

the Carmel Formation (Jcls) forms another tree-covered slope above the Temple Cap. The Temple Cap is about 52 m thick. View is northnorthwest from Observation Point in Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah.

sorted, laminated to very thin bedded, moderatereddish-brown to grayish-red-purple sandstone and silty sandstone interbedded with laminated dark-reddishbrown mudstone and light-gray cherty limestone or 

dolomite (fig. 5). Most of the lenses are less than 3 m 

thick and 300 m wide, although Davidson (1967, p. 37) 

found several in the Circle Cliffs area that could be 

traced for 16-24 km.

Although chert nodules are a minor constituent of 

the Navajo, they are especially significant because 

they were the most likely source of the chert pebbles 

that were incorporated in the basal part of some of the 

formations that lie on the Navajo. Two types of chert 

are present and both are of authigenic origin. 

Authigenic chert nodules in the limestone beds of the 

interbedded sandstone, mudstone, and limestone 

lenses are microcrystalline and range in color from 

medium gray to grayish red or pale brown. Most of 

these nodules are white or very light gray on the 

periphery (fig. 5). The other type of authigenic chert occurs as highly irregular masses as much as 0.3 m long 

that are present in the crossbedded sandstone, generally along the base of crossbedding sets or in some of the 

areas where slumping of the crossbedded sandstone occurred, as well as in the flat-bedded sandstone lenses 

that also contain thin limestone beds (fig. 6). For the 

most part, these irregular masses are color zoned from 

grayish red on the interior to white or very light gray 

on the outside, and the texture is either colloform or, 

less commonly, microcrystalline.

The greatest thickness of the Navajo known to the 

writers is 677 m, measured in Zion National Park by 

Wilson (1965, p. 42). The formation thins eastward and 

is beveled out near the Arizona-New Mexico and UtahColorado State lines by the J-2 unconformity at the 

base of the overlying Middle Jurassic formations (fig. 

2). The lower contact is sharp or gradational, and interfingering of the lower part with the Kayenta Formation has been recorded by Wilson (1965) in 

southwestern Utah and by Harshbarger, Repenning,
B6 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 4. View of typical exposures of red crossbedded Navajo Sandstone in Glen Canyon about 10 km northeast of Page, Ariz. In general, 

a bench is stripped back on top of the Navajo (J"fc n); this stripped bench is apparent on either side of the canyon at the foot of the smooth 

rounded bluffs of Page Sandstone (Jp). Some Holocene polygonal joint crevices (j) similar to fossil joint crevices preserved beneath the 

Page Sandstone (figs. 22, 23) are well exposed in the light-colored area to the right above the canyon walls. For scale, the Page Sandstone 

is about 38 and 46 m thick, respectively, on the right and left sides of the canyon, which is about 134 m deep in the middle of the photo. 

Warm Creek Canyon in foreground, Navajo Mountain forms the broad asymmetrical dome on the skyline. Jcau, upper member of Carmel 

Formation;-Je, Entrada Sandstone; Jr, sandstone at Romana Mesa; Jms, Salt Wash Member of Morrison Formation. View is toward 

east in the NEVi sec. 12, T. 44 S., R. 4 E., Kane County, Utah. Photo by T. H. O'Sullivan (Wheeler Survey). 1873.

and Irwin (1957) in southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona.

SAN RAFAEL GROUP

The San Rafael Group was named by Gilluly and 

Reeside (1928, p. 73) for strata in the San Rafael Swell 

of Central Utah that include, in ascending order, the 

Carmel, Entrada, Curtis, and Summerville Formations. Later workers added the Todilto Limestone and 

Bluff Sandstone to the group (Harshbarger and others, 

1957, p. 32). The Todilto and Bluff are present near the 

Four Corners and farther south, but they are not 

described in this report. Two additional formations, 

the Temple Cap Sandstone (formerly a member of the 

Navajo Sandstone) and the Page Sandstone (formerly

an unnamed part of the Navajo), are also assigned to 

the San Rafael Group in this report. Along with the 

Carmel Formation, these are the only formations in the 

group that are considered in detail here. Paleontological evidence and regional stratigraphic relations 

indicate that the group is Middle Jurassic in age (R. W. 

Imlay, oral commun., 1976).

TEMPLE CAP SANDSTONE

The Temple Cap Sandstone is presently known to occur only in southwestern Utah, where it forms a 

distinct stratigraphic unit between the Navajo Sandstone and the Carmel Formation (fig. 3). The formation 

was considered an informal member of the Carmel by 

Baker, Dane, and Reeside (1936, p. 22). It was con-
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B7

FIGURE 5. Authigenic chert nodules in limestone bed of Navajo Sandstone. Several of the nodules are color zoned from medium gray or 

grayish red in the middle to very light gray or white on the periphery. Weathering of beds such as this probably produced many of the 

detrital chert pebbles that were incorporated in the basal stratum of the Page Sandstone. East side of Dangling Rope Canyon about 6.4 km 

southwest of Navajo Point, Kane County, Utah.

sidered a formal member of the Navajo Sandstone by 

Grater (1948) and later a more detailed description was 

published by Gregory (1950a, p. 89). Workers since 

1961 (Lewis and others, 1961) thought that the Temple 

Cap graded into the Navajo east of Mount Carmel 

Junction, Utah, but recent field examination of that 

area indicates that these formations do not intergrade. 

Because the Temple Cap is a separate mappable unit 

that can be distinguished from the Navajo and Carmel 

Formations, and because the Temple Cap is more closely related temporally, and to some extent lithologically, to other formations in the San Rafael Group, the 

Temple Cap is here raised to formation rank, removed

from the Glen Canyon Group, and included in the San 

Rafael Group.

The type locality of the Temple Cap (Gregory, 1950a, 

p. 89) is at the top of East and West Temples in Zion 

National Park, where the formation is only accessible 

by means of mountaineering techniques or with a 

helicopter. For this reason, a more accessible section 

measured about 500 m northeast of Observation Point, 

at the top of Zion Canyon (fig. 7), is here proposed as a 

principal reference section. This section also serves as 

the type section of two new members that are here 

named the Sinawava Member and the White Throne 

Member. The principal reference section is typical of
B8 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 6. Authigenic chert in sandstone bed of Navajo Sandstone. Although these nodules and small blebs are in a flat-bedded 

sandstone lens, similar but larger nodules also occur in the 

crossbedded sandstone of the Navajo. Note the extreme angularity and the tiny fingers that extend from the nodules out into the 

sandstone. West side of West Canyon tributary to Glen Canyon 

about 4 km southeast of Gregory Butte in the SWVi sec. 23, T. 43 

S., R. 6l/2 E., San Juan County, Utah.

the formation in the Zion Canyon section of Zion National Park and farther east. West of Zion Canyon the 

White Throne Member grades into a predominantly 

flat bedded redbed fades that is included in the 

Sinawava Member.

The Temple Cap thins irregularly eastward along the 

principal line of outcrops from a maximum of 113.4 m 

near Gunlock, Utah, to its wedgeout near Johnson Canyon (fig. 8).

SINAWAVA MEMBER

The Sinawava (pronounced Si-na'-wa-va, meaning 

Wolf-god in the Paiute language according to Woodbury, 1950, p. 112) Member of the Temple Cap Sandstone takes its name from the Temple of Sinawava in 

Zion Canyon (Gregory, 1950a, fig. 98) about 1 km 

northwest of the type section, which is 500 m 

northeast of Observation Point (fig. 7). At the type section and throughout the area east of the Hurricane 

Cliffs, the member is a slope-forming unit composed of 

interbedded sandstone, silty sandstone, and 

mudstone. West of the Hurricane Cliffs, the 

topographic character and lithologic composition remain the same but several beds of gypsum are also present. West of Mount Carmel Junction the Sinawava is 

moderate reddish brown to dark reddish brown and it 

forms a conspicuous dark-red slope between the lighter 

colored cliffs of the underlying Navajo Sandstone and 

the overlying White Throne Member of the Temple 

Cap. East of Mount Carmel Junction the Sinawava 

grades to very light gray or very pale orange and the

color difference between the overlying and underlying 

rocks is not as conspicuous. Here, the member must be 

recognized and traced solely on the basis of its slopeforming character and lithologic composition.

The Sinawava Member thins irregularly eastward 

from 6.1 m at the type section near Observation Point 

to 2.4 m at Johnson Canyon about 27 km east of 

Mount Carmel Junction, where it is overlain by the 

thin wedge edge of the White Throne Member (fig. 9). 

East of Johnson Canyon the Sinawava apparently is 

truncated by the J-2 unconformity at the base of the 

overlying Carmel Formation (fig. 8), but this area is 

heavily covered by soil, windblown sand, and vegetation; and the relationships at the wedgeout of the 

Sinawava could not be examined. West of the type section, near Observation Point, the Sinawava thickens irregularly to as much as 113.4 m, owing primarily to interfingering and westward replacement of beds in the 

White Throne Member, as shown in figure 8. As a 

result of this facies change, the White Throne is missing west of the Hurricane Cliffs, and the Sinawava is 

the only member of the Temple Cap that is present.

The Sinawava Member consists of interbedded 

slope-forming sandstone, silty sandstone, mudstone, 

and scarce gypsum. The sandstone and silty sandstone 

beds are very fine to fine grained, poorly to moderately 

sorted, and are predominantly moderate reddish 

brown, although several beds are light gray to very 

light gray. Scattered throughout several of these beds 

are well-rounded coarse and very coarse grains or very 

fine pebbles of black, gray, light-brown, green, orange, 

or red chert. The scattered coarse grains and small pebbles are fairly common in the western part of the 

Sinawava; they were found as far east as section 9 at 

Potato Hollow, which is about 7.2 km northwest of the 

type section above Zion Canyon. At Cottonwood 

Canyon (sec. 7, fig. 8), scattered angular light-gray 

chert pebbles up to 13 mm long are locally present in a 

thin sandstone bed at the base of the member. The 

chert is similar to the authigenic chert that occurs in 

nodules in the underlying Navajo Sandstone. 

Mudstone in the member is laminated to very thin bedded and dark reddish brown or yellowish gray. Very 

light gray gypsum is also present west of the Hurricane Cliffs, where it occurs in several beds as much as 

2 m thick that are laminated to very thin bedded or 

composed of nodular gypsum aggregates. As many as 

eight thin beds of very dusky purple or yellowish-gray 

bentonite as much as 0.6 m thick occur in the middle of 

the member west of the Hurricane Cliffs.

The basal contact of the Sinawava, named the J-l 

surface by Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978), is a clearly 

defined and continuous surface that is easy to 

recognize because it separates markedly different
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B9

FIGURE 7. Principal reference section of Temple Cap Sandstone and type section of the Sinawavaand White Throne Members above Zion 

Canyon, Utah. 4, principal reference section, Temple Cap Sandstone is 55.8 m thick; (J"fcn), Navajo Sandstone; Jtcs, Sinawava Member 

of Temple Cap Sandstone; Jtcw, White Throne Member of Temple Cap; Jcls, limestone member of Carmel Formation. View is toward 

the northeast from Observation Point in Zion National Park.

lithologies. The abrupt change in rock types at this 

contact, the lateral continuity of this surface, the 

broad irregular form of this surface with respect to the 

upper contact of the Temple Cap (fig. 8), the local 

presence of small angular chert pebbles on it that probably were derived from the underlying Navajo Sandstone, and the extensive bleaching at the top of the 

underlying Navajo Sandstone east of Zion Canyon, 

suggest that the J-l surface at the base of the 

Sinawava is an unconformity. However, none of these 

features can be considered as conclusive evidence that 

the J-l surface is indeed an unconformity, and it could 

also be that this surface merely marks an abrupt and 

widespread change in depositional environments.

WHITE THRONE MEMBER

The White Throne Member takes its name from the 

Great White Throne in Zion Canyon, which is about 2 

km south of the type section about 500 m northeast of 

Observation Point (fig. 7). The member is a conspicuous cliff-forming unit (fig. 3) composed of finegrained well-sorted crossbedded sandstone. The 

crossbedding is the high-angle tabular-planar or 

wedge-planar type in sets as much as 6 m in thickness. 

Locally, the sandstone contains small irregular blebs 

less than 1 cm wide of very light gray authigenic chert 

along the base of some of the crossbedding sets. At the 

type section in Zion Canyon and farther east, the 

member is very light gray to very pale orange, but
BIO

West

TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

East

Zion 

Canyon

Mount 

Carmel 

Junction

Johnson 

Canyon

Limestone member 

of Carmel Formation 

(lower part)

EXPLANATION

| Various shades of red H Various shades of gray Q Mixed red and gray

[ -.; Crossbedded sandstone f

": \ Hat-bedded sandstone r

E~3 Mudstonc Covered

Limestone

Gypsum

M Partly covered

« Angular chert pebbles

o Rounded very coarse grains 

and very fine pebbles

 < Bentonite

FIGURE 8. Stratigraphic section from Gunlock to Johnson Canyon, Utah, showing relations of Temple Cap Sandstone to Navajo Sandstone and Carmel Formation. Unconformity shown by wavy line. J-l, J-2, unconformities of Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978).

west of Zion Canyon the color grades to moderate reddish orange. The White Throne is 49.7 m thick at the 

type section, and it thins eastward to Johnson Canyon 

(figs. 8, 9), where it is beveled out by the J-2 unconformity at the base of the overlying Carmel Formation. 

West of Zion Canyon the White Throne grades into the 

Sinawava Member (fig. 8).

East of Mount Carmel Junction the lower contact 

generally is well exposed and it is a fairly sharp and 

planar surface (fig. 9). West of Mount Carmel Junction 

the contact generally is poorly exposed, but in the few 

places where it is visible it is vertically gradational 

through a thin transition zone about 1 m thick that 

consists of laminated to very thin bedded and small- to 

medium-scale crossbedded sandstone.

Probably because of similar lithologic 

characteristics, many workers thought that the 

crossbedded sandstone of the White Throne Member 

was a tongue of the Navajo Sandstone that merged

with that formation just east of Mount Carmel Junction (Lewis and others, 1961, p. 1439; Wright and 

Dickey, 1963a, p. E65, and 1963b; Wilson, 1965, p. 42; 

Thompson and Stokes, 1970, p. 6). However, the flatbedded Sinawava Member does not pinch out and the 

crossbedded White Throne Member does not merge 

with the crossbedded Navajo anywhere east of Mount 

Carmel Junction. Instead, the Sinawava continues on 

east to Johnson Canyon where the stratigraphic relations indicate that the entire Temple Cap Sandstone is 

beveled out (figs. 8, 10). Thus, the White Throne 

Member is an eastward-thinning wedge, separated 

from the Navajo Sandstone by the Sinawava Member, 

and does not merge with the Navajo Sandstone.

CARMEL FORMATION

The Carmel Formation (Gregory and Moore, 1931; 

Cashion, 1967) is a generally eastward thinning 

limestone, gypsum, and redbed unit that is present
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA Bll

FIGURE 9. Thin Temple Cap Sandstone at Johnson Canyon about 

27 km east of Mount Carmel Junction, Utah. The flat-bedded 

Sinawava Member (Jtcs) forms a notch beneath the crossbedded 

White Throne Member (Jtcw), which forms a conspicuous ledge 

beneath the rubble-covered slopes of the limestone member of the 

Carmel Formation (Jcls). The Temple Cap is 3.7 m thick here. 

J ~fc n, Navajo Sandstone. West side of Johnson Canyon in the 

NWM sec. 26, T. 41 S., R. 5 W., Kane County, Utah.

throughout southern Utah and northeastern Arizona. 

At the type locality near Mount Carmel Junction, 

Utah, the formation consists of four members, which 

are (from oldest to youngest) the limestone member, 

banded member, gypsiferous member, and Winsor 

Member. A somewhat different nomenclature is used 

farther east in south-central Utah, where several 

significant facies or nomenclatural changes occur: the 

limestone member is termed the Judd Hollow Tongue 

of the Carmel east of Cannonville, Utah, and the Judd 

Hollow grades farther east into the Page Sandstone; 

the banded member grades eastward into the Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone; the gypsiferous member grades into the lowest part of the upper member of the Carmel; and the Winsor Member 

grades into the middle and upper parts of the upper 

member of the Carmel.

LIMESTONE MEMBER

The limestone member of the Carmel Formation 

(Cashion, 1967) is composed of two units: a lower, thin, 

slope-forming mudstone and sandstone unit and an upper, thick, cHff-and-slope-forming limestone and shale 

unit (fig. 13). At the type locality of the Carmel near 

Mount Carmel Junction, the lower unit is about 5.5 m 

thick and consists of moderate-reddish-brown, very 

light gray, or very pale orange, very fine to finegrained, poorly to moderately sorted sandstone and silty sandstone interbedded with laminated to very thin 

bedded mudstone or shale. Locally scattered along the 

base are coarse and very coarse grains or very fine pebbles of chert and green mudstone pellets or chips. The 

upper unit is 66.1 m thick and contains very light gray 

to very pale orange, laminated to thin-bedded, 

microcrystalline to fine-grained, fossiliferous 

limestone interbedded in the middle with yellowishgray calcareous shale and scarce moderate-reddishbrown mudstone. Several beds of light-olive-gray 

oolitic limestone commonly occur in about the lower 

third of the upper unit. About 11 km southwest of Cannonville, Utah, the middle part of the upper unit contains as many as four beds of light-gray gypsum as 

much as 0.3 m thick.

The limestone member is 71.6 m thick at the type 

locality of the Carmel near Mount Carmel Junction 

and it thickens westward to 191.1 m near Danish 

Ranch in southwestern Utah (sec. 8, fig. 10). It thins 

eastward to 34.4 m at the Paria River near Cannonville, where rocks equivalent to this member are termed the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel Formation.

The lower contact is described with the lower contact 

of the Judd Hollow Tongue.

JUDD HOLLOW TONGUE

East of the Paria River near Cannonville, Utah, strata 

equivalent to the limestone member have been named 

the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel Formation 

(Phoenix, 1963, p. 33). The Judd Hollow is 34.4 m thick 

near Cannonville (sec. 20, fig. 10), where it consists of 

essentially the same lithologies as the limestone 

member farther west; but east of the Paria River the 

limestone beds thin and pinch out into laminated to 

thin-bedded, moderate-reddish-brown sandstone, silty 

sandstone, and mudstone (Wright and Dickey, 1963a, 

p. E66). Although the upper 0.3 m of the Judd Hollow 

at the Paria River near Cannonville consists of red 

mudstone that correlates with the lowermost part of 

the banded member farther west, by far the greater 

part of the Judd Hollow correlates with the limestone 

member. For all practical purposes, one may consider 

the Judd Hollow the eastern equivalent of the 

limestone member.

The Judd Hollow Tongue is about 9.9 m thick at the 

type locality in Judd Hollow on the south side of the 

Kaiparowits Plateau about 27 km northwest of Page, 

Ariz. (fig. 10, sec. 26). Here, it consists mainly of sandstone and siltstone, although it also contains one thin 

bed of silty limestone about 0.3 m thick (Phoenix, 

1963, p. 69, sec. 3, unit 3). Several kilometers southeast 

of this locality these beds grade into crossbedded sandstone strata that are included in the Page Sandstone 

(fig. 10). A similar facies change occurs on the north 

side of the Kaiparowits Plateau about 34 km southeast 

of Escalante, Utah (fig. 11).

The lower contact of the limestone member is a 

sharply defined, continuous and planar surface that
B12

West 

Gunlock

TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES 

Johnson

16

Mount 

Carmel 

Junction

_ Paunsaugunt 

CanV°n fault West Cove

Page

East

Cummings 

Mesa 

trail

UTAH n

| <N>pP <t

——/ 0 50 KM

'^

 yy - _, ..... 

j<^r / ^>T I I I T-^T^ST-n— I Line of III 

- section

ARIZONA

	Carmel Fonnation 

Jcau Upper member 

Jcjh Judd Hollow Tongue 

Jew Winsor Member 

Jcg Gypsifcrous member 

Jcb Banded member 

Jcls Limestone member

Temple Cap Sandstone 

Jtcw White Throne Member 

Jtcs Sinawava Member 

Jp Page Sandstone 

Jptp Thousand Pockets Tongue 

Jphw Hams Wash Tongue

EXPLANATION

Sandstone, medium to large-scale crossbedded

Sandstone, flat-bedded to medium-scale crossbedded; includes mudstone and scarce gypsum

Sandstone, mudstone, and gypsum

Limestone, includes some mudstone

Gypsum, includes some mudstone and limestone

FIGURE 10. Restored section from Gunlock, Utah, to Cummings Mesa, Ariz., showing correlations and dominant lithologies in the Temple 

Cap, Carmel, and Page Formations. Unconformity shown by wavy line. J-l, J-2, K-l, unconformities of Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978). 

Dashed lines indicate correlation of beds or minor units below member rank.

bevels out the Temple Cap Sandstone in southwestern 

Utah (figs. 8, 10). This surface is named the J-2 unconformity by Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978). The contact is marked by local concentrations of whatever 

hard and resistant coarser grains and small pebbles or 

authigenic chert blebs and nodules are present in the 

underlying rocks. Where the limestone member lies on 

the White Throne Member of the Temple Cap Sandstone, or where the limestone member and Judd 

Hollow Tongue lie on the Navajo Sandstone, the 

lowest bed of the limestone member or Judd Hollow 

Tongue contains scattered or locally concentrated 

coarse and very coarse grains and very fine pebbles of 

subangular to angular, very pale orange, grayish-pink, 

or very light gray chert that probably were derived 

from authigenic chert blebs or nodules in the underlying rocks. Where underlain by the Sinawava Member

of the Temple Cap Sandstone in southwestern Utah, 

the lowest bed of the limestone member contains scattered or locally concentrated coarse and very coarse 

grains and very fine pebbles of well-rounded, red, 

black, light-gray, light-brown, green, or orange chert. 

Evidently the coarser grains and small pebbles were 

derived from the eroded parts of the underlying formations and locally concentrated in lag deposits during 

the earliest stage of deposition of the limestone 

member or Judd Hollow Tongue. Where the Judd 

Hollow rests on the Harris Wash Tongue of the Page 

Sandstone, the contact is conformable and either sharp 

and planar or vertically gradational through a transition zone about 1 m thick of laminated to very thin 

bedded or small- to medium-scale crossbedded sandstone. Angular chert pebbles were not found at the 

contact with the Harris Wash Tongue, although local-
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B13 

Northwest Southeast

Early Weed 

Bench

Navajo

Point Cummings

I Mesa

1 trail

METERS 

-150

h-100

Cow 

Springs

Navajo Sandstone J-2

^

<£

4

\|

3 3 

-EntradaJ

4 

2

4 4 

Sandstone

Jcau

5 46

Carmel

Formation

Page Sandstone J—f.

50 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

	Carmel Formation 

Jcau Upper member 

Jcg Gypsiferous member 

Jcjh Judd Hollow Tongue

Jp Page Sandstone

Jptp Thousand Pockets Tongue

Jphw Harris Wash Tongue

Sandstone, medium to large-scale crossbedded

Sandstone, flat-bedded to medium-scale crossbedded; includes mudstone and scarce gypsum 

Sandstone, mudstone, and gypsum

Ltnestone, includes some mudstone

Gypsum, includes some mudstone and limestone r

FIGURE 11. Restored section from Kodachrome Flat near Cannonville, Utah, to Cow Springs, Ariz., showing correlations and dominant 

lithologies in the Page Sandstone and Carmel Formation. Unconformity shown by wavy line. J-2, unconformity named by Pipiringos 

and O'Sullivan (1978). Dashed lines indicate correlation of beds or minor units below member rank.

ly, as at measured section 27 in Sand Valley, coarse 

and very coarse sand grains are scattered in the basal 

stratum of the Judd Hollow just above the Harris 

Wash Tongue.

BANDED MEMBER

The banded member of the Carmel Formation 

(Cashion, 1967) is a slope-forming sandstone unit that 

was mistaken for the Entrada Sandstone by early 

workers (Baker and others, 1936; Gregory, 1948, 

1950a, b) and later shown to be part of the Carmel Formation by Wright and Dickey (1963a, b). At the type 

locality of the Carmel, near Mount Carmel Junction, it 

is composed of very fine to fine-grained, poorly to 

moderately sorted, moderate-reddish-brown, light-red, 

and very light gray sandstone (fig. 12).

The stratification is very thin to thin bedded and 

small to medium scale, low and high angle, tabular 

planar crossbedded in sets less than a meter thick. 

Scattered well-rounded pebbles of chert, quartzite, tuffaceous sandstone, and microcrystalline or porphyritic 

igneous rocks as much as 1.5 cm long locally occur in

the member. West of Mount Carmel Junction, Gregory 

(1950b, p. 89) noted that the member contains two 

beds of white gypsum 0.3 m thick and a bed of conglomerate 3 m thick composed of chert and quartzite 

pebbles as much as 2.5 cm in diameter. About 11 km 

southwest of Cannonville, Utah, a bed of light-gray 

gypsum, 7.3 m thick, is present at the base of the 

member.

In general, the banded member thins southeastward 

across southwestern Utah. It is as much as 68.3 m 

thick about 30 km northwest of Mount Carmel Junction (Gregory, 1950b, p. 89) and is 51.2 m thick at 

Mount Carmel Junction (Gregory, 1950a, p. 127; 

Cashion, 1967, p. J3). In the outcrop belt between 

Johnson Canyon and Cannonville, Utah, the member 

grades laterally into the Thousand Pockets Tongue of 

the Page Sandstone. Contrary to Thompson and 

Stokes (1970, p. 6), we could not find evidence of a 

regional unconformity between the banded member 

(their Crystal Creek Member) and the Thousand 

Pockets Tongue. The best place where interfingering of 

these units can be examined is in the canyon of Willis
B14 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 12. Good exposures of banded member of Carmel Formation near Mount Carmel Junction, Utah. The member consists of 

interbedded red to white, flat-bedded and crossbedded sandstone 

and silty sandstone and red mudstone that locally contains 

sandstone-filled mudcracks. Uppermost rounded gray ledge is 

basal part of gypsiferous member of Carmel Formation. View is 

northeast about 0.5 km northwest of Mount Carmel Junction, 

Kane County, Utah.

Creek about 10 km southwest of Cannonville, Utah 

(fig. 13).

The lower contact of the banded member is a sharp 

and planar surface at the top of the highest limestone 

bed of the limestone member. Some interfingering of 

the lowest beds of the banded member and the highest 

beds of the limestone member may occur in the area 

west of the Paria River near Cannonville, but the exposures are too poor to determine this accurately.

GYPSIFEROUS MEMBER

The gypsiferous member of the Carmel Formation 

(Cashion, 1967) tends to form cliffs where exposed to 

rapid erosional processes (fig. 14), but for the most part 

it forms a slope that is covered by soil and vegetation.

At the type locality of the Carmel and at many other 

places, the lower half or two-thirds of the member consists of white to very light gray gypsum that is 

laminated to thin bedded or is composed of nodular 

gypsum aggregates. One or two thin beds of light-gray 

limestone or yellowish-gray mudstone also occur locally in this part of the member, although they are not 

common. In places, the basal 0.3-1.0 m* consists of 

light-olive-gray to yellowish-gray mudstone that locally contains mudchip conglomerate composed of 

fragments 2-5 cm long of mudstone similar to that in 

the underlying banded member. The upper half or third 

of the gypsiferous member contains light-gray, 

yellowish-gray, or moderate-reddish-brown, laminated 

to thin-bedded, gypsiferous sandstone, silty sandstone, or mudstone, and pale-olive to light-gray, 

laminated, locally fossiliferous limestone. It was once 

thought that the member correlated with the Curtis 

Formation of central Utah (Gregory, 1950a, b, 1951) 

but later, Wright and Dickey (1963a) demonstrated 

that it is older than the Curtis.

The gypsiferous member is 15.2 m thick at Mount 

Carmel Junction and it thickens irregularly westward 

to as much as 41.8 m near Kanarraville, Utah, about 50 

km northwest of Mount Carmel Junction (Gregory, 

1950b, p. 85). It has not been found or reported west of 

the Hurricane Cliffs, where, presumably, it was removed by erosion prior to deposition of Cretaceous rocks. 

The member thins eastward, largely by interfingering 

with the lower beds of the upper member of the 

Carmel, and pinches out about 11 km southeast of Cannonville, Utah, and near Escalante, Utah (figs. 10, 11).

The lower contact is sharp and generally planar, 

although several centimeters of relief occur on the surface in places. The contact was chosen at the base of 

the lowest gypsum, limestone, or mudchip conglomerate bed in the gypsiferous member. Although 

the local mudchip conglomerate at the base suggests 

an unconformity, we could find no evidence that any 

appreciable regional erosion or nondeposition occurred 

prior to deposition of the member. About 15 km 

northeast of Page, Ariz., interfingering occurs along 

the lateral continuation of this surface between the 

Page Sandstone and the overlying upper member of 

the Carmel Formation (fig. 10). Elsewhere in the 

Western Interior, Imlay (1967, p. 20, 45) found 

evidence of erosion at about the same stratigraphic 

position at the base of the Watton Canyon Member of 

the Twin Creek Limestone.

WINSOR MEMBER

The Winsor originally was considered a separate formation at the top of the Jurassic System in 

southwestern Utah by Gregory (1950a, b). Later, 

Wright and Dickey (1963a, b), who did not use the term
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B15

Winsor, included these rocks in the Carmel and correlated them with strata farther east and northeast in 

south-central Utah that long had been considered part 

of the Carmel Formation. Based on the correlations 

established by Wright and Dickey, Cashion (1967)

reviewed the nomenclature of the Carmel Formation, 

reduced the Winsor to member rank, and included it as 

the youngest member in the Carmel Formation west of 

the Paunsaugunt fault, which is about 50 km northeast 

of Mount Carmel Junction (fig. 10). Cashion's

FIGURE 13. Intertingering of banded member of Carmel Formation (Jcb) ana lower part ol Thousand FocKets longue of Page Sandstone (Jptp) about 10 km southwest of Cannonville, Utah. Progressing from left to right (northwest to southeast) the upper contact of 

the banded member is lowered as indicated owing to pinching out of thin red mudstone marker beds (a and b on photo) at the top of the 

member. To the right, the top of a local buildup of very thickly crossbedded sandstone in the lower part of the Thousand Pockets 

Tongue is outlined by dots; near the center of the view, this sandstone unit grades northwestward (left) into flat-bedded sandstone 

that is included in the banded member (Jcb). Truncation of the crossbedding in the sandstone buildup by the onlapping strata above it 

is interpreted as a local diastem rather than as part of a regional unconformity such as suggested by Thompson and Stokes (1970, 

p. 6). For scale, the Thousand Pockets Tongue and banded member together are about 30 m thick in the middle of the photo. J ft n, 

Navajo Sandstone; Jcls, limestone member of the Carmel Formation; dotted line and c (in Jcls), approximate contact between basal 

and limestone units; Qg, Quaternary gravels; dashed lines indicate formation or member contacts, dotted lines indicate correlation of 

units within the member; J-2, unconformity named by Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978). Looking north-northeast across Willis Creek 

Canyon in the NE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 23, T. 38 S., R. 3 W., Kane County, Utah.
B16 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

nomenclature and recommendations are followed in 

this report, although it is recognized that the upper 

part of the Winsor is slightly younger farther 

northeast near the Paunsaugunt fault than it is at the 

type locality in Winsor Cove near Mount Carmel Junction.

The type locality of the member is in Winsor Cove 

(Gregory, 1950b, p. 42) about 3 km north of Mount 

Carmel Junction, Utah, where it is a poorly indurated 

sandstone unit that weathers to form broad slopes

largely covered with soil and vegetation. The color of 

the member varies considerably, from moderate or 

dark reddish brown and grayish pink to very pale 

orange and very light gray. The upper 15 m or more is 

very light gray to pale orange near Mount Carmel 

Junction as well as farther northeast, where it is 

overlain by the Dakota Sandstone of Cretaceous age. 

The thick light-colored zone is consistently present at 

the top of the member and is thought to result from 

bleaching by solutions that percolated into the

FIGURE 14. The Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone (Jptp) and gypsiferous member of the Carmel Formation (Jcg) in Averett Canyon about 9 km southwest of Cannonville, Utah. The Thousand Pockets is grayish orange and forms the light-colored slope above 

the red slopes of the banded member of the Carmel (Jcb). The gypsiferous member consists of a cliff-forming white gypsum bed about 

10 m thick overlain by a platy slope-forming grayish-yellow-green unit of interbedded mudstone and gypsum about 3.7 m thick. A thin 

limestone marker bed (Is) capping the ridge is included in the upper member member of the Carmel (Jcau), rather than with the gypsiferous member as had been done by previous workers. The locality is about 1.1 km northwest of the locality shown in figure 13 where 

the banded member grades southeastward into the lower part of the Thousand Pockets Tongue. Thus, the part of the banded member 

visible here is a facies of the lower part of the Thousand Pockets farther southeast. Looking northeast in the NWVi sec. 23, T. 38 S., R. 

3 W., Kane County, Utah.
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA BIT

member during the erosion interval that preceded 

depositon of the Dakota.

The Winsor consists mostly of very fine to mediumgrained, poorly to moderately sorted, friable sandstone, pebbly sandstone, and silty sandstone. The 

stratification is predominantly very thin to thick bedded, although a significant fraction consists of smallto medium-scale, low- and high-angle, tabular-planar or 

wedge-planar cross-strata. Sets of large-scale, highangle crossbedding are present but not common. The 

Winsor also contains several thin beds of laminated to 

very thin bedded, dark-reddish-brown or yellowishgray mudstone, but because of poor exposures these 

beds usually are not noticed. Averitt (1962, p. 22-23) 

measured a section near Cedar City, Utah, that includes approximately 10-15 percent mudstone, suggesting that more mudstone is present than is generally apparent or that the amount of mudstone varies 

significantly from place to place. Gregory (1950b, p. 

41) noted that the member contains several thin lenses 

of limestone and gypsiferous shale northwest of Winsor Cove in southeastern Iron County, Utah. Scattered 

throughout the sandstone beds of the Winsor or locally 

concentrated in lenses up to about 0.6 m thick are 

rounded and subrounded pebbles of gray, green, or 

black chert, red to light-purple tuffaceous sandstone, 

gray or green quartzite, gray sandstone, dark-gray 

silicified tuff, and aphanitic or porphyritic igneous 

rocks as much as 5 cm in diameter. In addition, 

Gregory (1950a, p. 98) found sharply angular pebbles 

of limestone and rhyolite in the member.

The Winsor ranges in thickness from 54.9 to 97.2 m 

west of Mount Carmel Junction according to Gregory 

(1950a) and Averitt (1962). It has not been found west 

of the Hurricane Cliffs, where it was apparently beveled out by the unconformity at the base of the 

Cretaceous System. The Winsor thickens northeast of 

Mount Carmel Junction and reaches its maximum 

thickness of 204.2 m near Carly Knoll, about 15 km 

west of the Paunsaugunt fault (fig. 10). In this area the 

Winsor is composed of rocks similar to those at the 

type locality, but facies changes occur east of the 

Paunsaugunt fault and equivalent beds are included in 

the upper member of the Carmel Formation.

The lower contact of the Winsor is conformable and 

either sharp or gradational; it is placed at the top of the 

highest gypsum or limestone bed in the gypsiferous 

member of the Carmel.

UPPER MEMBER

East of the Paunsaugunt fault, strata at the top of 

the Carmel are informally named the upper member of 

the Carmel Formation. Two different facies of this 

member are recognized in south-central Utah, and easily reached reference sections for each of these facies 

are given at the end of this report. The Pine Creek 

reference section is 5 km north of Escalante, Utah, 

where the member consists primarily of limestone in 

the lower part and interbedded sandstone, mudstone, 

and gypsum in the upper part (fig. 15). The Page, Ariz., 

reference section is 5 km north of Glen Canyon Dam, 

where the member consists primarily of sandstone and 

less abundant mudstone.

An important limestone marker bed is in the lower 

part of the upper member east of the Paunsaugunt 

fault. Just east of the fault it is about 4.9 m thick and 

consists of light-gray, laminated to very thin bedded 

limestone that lies about 47.2 m above the base of the 

upper member. In this area, Thompson and Stokes 

(1970, fig. 3) included the marker bed in the gypsiferous member (their Paria River Member of the 

Carmel Formation), but they miscorrelated the bed 

with thin limestone beds at the top of the gypsiferous 

member near Mount Carmel Junction. We do not include the marker bed in the gypsiferous member 

because the bed pinches out southwestward near the 

Paunsaugunt fault and is not present at the type locality of the Carmel Formation, and because the marker 

bed is stratigraphically higher than any part of the 

gypsiferous member at the type locality of the Carmel.

The limestone marker bed extends east of the Paunsaugunt fault into parts of the Kaiparowits Plateau. 

Between Cannonville and Escalante, Utah, in the subsurface, well logs show that several other limestone 

beds occur beneath the marker bed. In the exposures 

near Escalante, the marker bed is at the top of a sequence of beds 31.4 m thick at the base of the upper 

member of the Carmel Formation. This sequence consists of light-gray to yellowish-gray, very thin to thinbedded limestone interbedded with about 35 percent of 

dark-reddish-brown or scarce grayish-yellow-green, 

laminated to very thin bedded mudstone (fig. 11). 

About 20 km southeast of Escalante the limestone 

beds beneath the marker bed grade into red sandstone, 

silty sandstone, and mudstone; and the marker bed can 

be traced farther southeast along the foot of the 

Straight Cliffs to about 72 km southeast of Escalante, 

where it also grades into red sandstone, silty sandstone, and mudstone (fig. 11).

The marker bed can be traced underground by means 

of well logs to the part of Glen Canyon that lies just 

north of Page, Ariz. (fig. 10). In this area it is as much 

as 4.3 m thick and lies about 5.5-12.5 m above the base 

of the upper member of the Carmel Formation (Peterson and Waldrop, 1965, p. 52; Peterson, 1973, columnar section; Section 2a, unit 7, at end of this report). At 

its southeasternmost extent along the Straight Cliffs 

and in Glen Canyon north and northeast of Page, Ariz.,
B18 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

the marker bed is moderate orange pink to light gray, 

laminated to very thin bedded limestone. Locally, it 

has peculiar straight lines on the bedding surfaces 

that intersect at right angles. These lines resemble 

linear markings on some maps and prompted Young 

(1964) to name it "maprock."

Gypsum is another rock type in the upper member 

that serves to distinguish it from the Winsor Member.

Near Cannonville, Utah, as many as five beds of gypsum occur in a marker zone as much as 17.1 m thick at 

the top of the upper member. This zone is composed of 

interbedded sandstone, silty sandstone, mudstone, 

and gypsum; and it is a valuable unit to use in tracing 

out the upper contact of the member. The sandstone 

and silty sandstone is red or, less commonly, white, 

very fine to fine grained, moderately to poorly sorted,

FIGURE 15. Reference section of Carmel Formation and Page Sandstone at Pine Creek near Escalante, Utah. View is toward northwest 

across valley of Pine Creek. 1, reference section; J"fcn, Navajo Sandstone; Jphw, Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone; Jcjh, Judd 

Hollow Tongue of Carmel Formation; Jptp, Thousand Pockets Tongue of Page Sandstone including red marker bed shown by m; Jcau, 

upper member of Carmel Formation including limestone-bearing part shown by Is and gypsum-bearing part shown by gyp; Je, Entrada 

Sandstone; Jm, Morrison Formation. For scale, section from top of Navajo Sandstone to base of Entrada Sandstone is 162.5 m thick.
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B19

and very thin to thin bedded. The mudstone is red or, 

less commonly, grayish yellow green and laminated to 

very thin bedded. The gypsum is white, light gray, and 

grayish yellow green and laminated to very thin bedded in strata as much as 1.2 m thick. The marker zone 

commonly weathers to slabby cliffs or to slopes littered with gypsum fragments. Southwest of Cannonville, Utah, the gypsum beds pinch out but the zone 

can be recognized in this area because it consists of the 

red lithologies noted above, interbedded with several 

thin beds of hard, white, fine-grained calcareous sandstone about 0.3 m thick. This zone persists 

southwestward past the Paunsaugunt fault, where it is 

at the top of the Winsor Member of the Carmel; and it 

was traced as far southwest as Carly Knoll about 35 

km northeast of Mount Carmel Junction, where it is 

beveled out by the unconformity at the base of the 

Dakota Sandstone (fig. 10).

Northeast of Cannonville, gypsum occurs in the part 

of the upper member that lies above the limestone 

marker bed. Near Escalante, this part of the member 

contains approximately 12 beds of gypsum as much as 

3.0 m thick. The gypsum beds thin and pinch out 

southeast of Escalante and Cannonville, and they are 

not present in Glen Canyon or farther southeast.

The upper member consists of a predominantly redbed facies in Glen Canyon and the region farther 

southeast, where it has been informally called the 

reservation "facies" of the Carmel (O'Sullivan and 

Craig, 1973, p. 79). The Page, Ariz., reference section 

given at the end of this report is reasonably representative of this facies, although it contains less 

mudstone than is usually found in this facies, and the 

limestone marker bed is not present in this facies 

southeast of Glen Canyon. A typical view of the redbed 

facies of the upper member is shown in figure 16.

Other than the limestone marker bed that is locally 

present near Page, the upper member consists of interbedded moderate-reddish-brown or scarce white 

sandstone, silty sandstone, and dark-reddish-brown 

mudstone in the eastern part of the Kaiparowits 

Plateau, Glen Canyon, and the region farther 

southeast (fig. 17). The sandstone and silty sandstone 

consist of coarse silt to fine-grained sand and they are 

poorly to moderately sorted. Scattered small pebbles 

like those described in the Winsor Member also occur 

in the upper member as far east as Kane Wash in Glen 

Canyon (sec. 29, fig. 10). The stratification includes 

laminated to thick bedding or crossbedding in sets 

that generally are small to medium scale low angle and 

tabular planar or wedge planar. Locally the sandstone 

contains one or several sets of large-scale high-angle 

tabular-planar crossbedding. At the excellent exposures along U.S. Highway 89 near West Cove (sec.

24, fig. 10), large-scale crossbedding occurs in the middle of the member in a conspicuous very light gray 

cliff-forming sandstone unit 40.2 m thick that can be 

mistaken from the Entrada Sandstone. Intraformational slumps, faults, and breccia pipes are locally present in the upper member just east of the Paria River 

near Cannonville, Utah.

The greatest known thickness of the upper member 

is 205.1 m at Bull Valley about 13 km southwest of 

Cannonville, Utah (sec. 17, fig. 10). It thins to about 

113.4 m at the reference section of the Carmel at Pine 

Creek, near Escalante, Utah, and to about 77.7 m at 

the other reference section near Page, Ariz. The thinnest section that was measured is 38.1 m near Navajo 

Point about 48 km northeast of Page.

The contact of the upper member with the underlying gypsiferous member of the Carmel is sharp or 

gradational, and it is placed at the top of the highest 

gypsum or limestone bed of the gypsiferous member. 

Where the gypsiferous member pinches out, the contact with the underlying Page Sandstone generally is 

sharp, and it is placed at the top of the highest 

crossbedded sandstone of the Page and at the base of 

the lowest flat-bedded sandstone, silty sandstone, or 

mudstone of the upper member. Southeast of Glen 

Canyon where the upper member rests directly on the 

Navajo Sandstone, the contact is sharp, and it is placed at the top of the highest crossbedded Navajo Sandstone and at the base of the lowest flat-bedded sandstone or silty sandstone that contains scattered small, 

angular chert pebbles. The contact with the Navajo is 

the same J-2 unconformity that separates the 

limestone member of the Carmel from the Temple Cap 

Sandstone farther west in southwestern Utah (figs. 10, 

11), but the contact of the upper member with the Page 

Sandstone is not an unconformity.

Interfingering of the lower approximately 3 m of the 

upper member with the upper part of the Page Sandstone was found at one locality in Glen Canyon about 

14 km northeast of Page, Ariz., demonstrating that 

this contact is not an unconformity (fig. 10). Correlations 45 km southeast of Escalante, Utah, in the Early 

Weed Bench area (fig. 11), suggest that the lowermost 

beds of the upper member are time-equivalent to the 

Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel Formation and the 

Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone. In 

this area the Judd Hollow Tongue grades 

southeastward into sandstone that is included in the 

Page Sandstone because it is crossbedded, but it can 

be distinguished and traced because it is considerably 

darker (very dark red to very dusky red) than the rest 

of the crossbedded sandstone in the Page. This darker 

bed was traced southeast along the north side of Early 

Weed Bench to section 36 (fig. 11), where the overlying
B20 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 16. Typical exposures of ledges and broad slopes in the upper member of the Carmel Formation (Jcau) at canyon of Warm Creek 

^ in southern part of Kaiparowits Plateau. The small cliffs in the member are sandstone whereas the slopes are underlain by interbedded 

sandstone, silty sandstone, and mudstone similar to the strata described in the reference section of the Carmel at Page approximately 

1 km southwest of here (measured section 2a). The upper member is predominantly red, and it contrasts markedly in color and topographic expression with the Entrada Sandstone (Je), sandstone at Romana Mesa (Jr), and Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation 

(Jms) on walls of Romana Mesa in the distance. The buildings and associated structures are an abandoned depot that was built about 

1910-1911 and used as part of an ambitious project to haul coal out of the Kaiparowits Plateau and down the Colorado River to Lees 

Ferry, Ariz., for use in gold-mining endeavors by C. H. Spencer (Gregory and Moore, 1931, p. 148; Crampton, 1964, p. 142). The buildings 

and most of the Carmel Formation here are now covered by the waters of Lake Powell. Photo by R. C. Moore, 1921, in the NWVi sec. 35, 

T. 43 S., R. 4 E., Kane County, Utah.

crossbedded sandstone, equivalent to the Thousand 

Pockets Tongue, thins and pinches out and the hard, 

dark-colored, crossbedded sandstone, equivalent to the 

Judd Hollow, is overlain directly by the upper member 

of the Carmel. Farther southeast, a transition zone approximately 6.6 m thick at the base of the upper 

member consists of very thin to thin-bedded and smallto medium-scale crossbedded sandstone that probably 

correlates with the Judd Hollow and possibly with the 

Thousand Pockets Tongue farther northwest. A hard, 

dark-colored, crossbedded sandstone facies of the Judd 

Hollow Tongue also is present on the south side of the 

Kaiparowits Plateau (fig. 24), but this unit grades 

eastward into crossbedded strata that are indistinguishable from the enclosing Page Sandstone.

PAGE SANDSTONE

The Page Sandstone is here named for a cliff-forming 

crossbedded, red or light-gray sandstone formation in 

south-central Utah and north-central Arizona. Rocks 

now assigned to the Page were considered part of the 

Navajo Sandstone by previous workers, but recent 

work indicates that the Page is younger than the Navajo; and they are separated by a regional erosion surface 

termed the J-2 unconformity by Pipiringos and 

O'Sullivan (1978). The Page is included in the San Rafael Group because: (1) it is separated from the Glen 

Canyon Group by the J-2 unconformity, (2) it is 

younger than the Temple Cap Sandstone, which is also 

included in the San Rafael Group, (3) it is the same age 

as the lower part of the Carmel Formation of the San
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B21

FIGURE 17. Good exposures of interbedded lithologies in lower 

part of upper member of Carmel Formation (Jcau) about 50 km 

southeast of Escalante, Utah. The cliff is about 15 m high and 

contains, in ascending order, a thin basal stratum of light-red 

sandstone overlain by laminated red mudstone and gray gypsum; 

irregularly thin bedded to thick bedded red sandstone, silty sandsandstone, and mudstone in the middle; and a capping bed of 

white sandstone. The irregular, lenticular, and somewhat contorted bedding in the middle is fairly common in the member. 

The pack in the lower right rests on the uppermost part of the 

Page Sandstone (Jp). Looking southeast across a small tributary 

of Big Hollow Wash in the SE 1/* sec. 8, T. 39 S., R. 7 E., Kane 

County, Utah.

Rafael Group, and (4) for simplicity of stratigraphic 

classification.

The Page Sandstone is 55.8 m thick at the type section near Page, Ariz. (section 2b at end of this report), 

and it attains its greatest known thickness of 88.7 m 

about 18 km farther south. It pinches out about 40 km 

southeast of Page and on the northwest flank of Navajo Mountain about 50 km east of Page. Progressing 

northwestward from the type locality, the Page is split 

into two tongues by the southeastward-thinning Judd 

Hollow Tongue of the Carmel Formation. The lower of 

these tongues is here named the Harris Wash Tongue 

of the Page Sandstone and the upper tongue is the 

Thousand Pockets Tongue. The Thousand Pockets was

named by Phoenix (1963), who assigned it to the Navajo Sandstone, but it is reassigned here to the Page 

Sandstone.

The type section of the Page Sandstone is on the 

northwest side of Manson Mesa on which the town of 

Page, Ariz., is situated, and it is about 1 km northeast 

of Glen Canyon Dam (fig. 18). At this locality the formation consists largely of moderate-reddish-brown, 

moderate-reddish-orange, and locally very light gray 

or grayish-pink sandstone that is fine grained and well 

sorted. The crossbedding is predominantly large scale 

and of low- or high-angle, tabular-planar, and wedgeplanar types. The crossbedding sets range in thickness 

from 1 m to about 6 m, although locally near 

Escalante, Utah, sets as much as 18.3 m thick occur. 

In places the sandstone includes several thin beds as 

much as 0.3 m thick of laminated to Very thin bedded, 

very fine to fine-grained, moderately sorted, moderatereddish-brown sandstone.

A small but important constituent of the Page Sandstone is small angular pebbles of chert. These have 

microcrystalline or colloform texture and are white to 

very pale orange, although less commonly they are 

moderate red to moderate reddish orange. At the type 

locality the pebbles are less than 5 mm long (fig. 19), 

but throughout most of the region the maximum size is 

about 1.3 cm. Locally, the pebbles are as much as 6.4 

cm long, and at one locality about 24 km east of 

Escalante, Utah, a cobble 25 cm long and about 3.8 cm 

in diameter was found. The pebbles generally occur 

scattered along the basal contact or in the basal 15 cm 

of the formation. They have also been found higher in 

the formation at several localities, where they occur 

scattered along some of the bedding surfaces; but they 

are consistently larger and more abundant at the base 

of the formation.

The basal contact of the Page Sandstone is a sharply 

defined and continuous surface that is characterized in 

most places by a thin layer of scattered angular chert 

pebbles. It is generally expressed topographically as a 

bench about a meter to a kilometer wide stripped back 

on the top of the Navajo (figs. 4 and 18) or as a prominent incised notch in the cliffs of Glen Canyon (fig. 20). 

This surface is considered an unconformity because it 

has features associated with it that indicate extensive 

weathering or erosion, and because it truncates 

underlying formations. The unconformity occurs 

throughout much of the Western Interior of the United 

States where it was described by Pipiringos (1967, 

1968) and Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1975). The surface was formerly known as the chert pebble unconformity, but more recently it was named the J-2 unconformity by Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978). Discovery of 

this unconformity in southwestern Utah is especially
B22 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 18. Type section of Page Sandstone near Page, Ariz. The stripped surface in the foreground at the base of the Page (Jp) is a typical 

topographic feature marking the top of the Navajo Sandstone (J~fi n). 2b, type measured section; the Page is 55.8 m thick. Jcau, upper 

member of Carmel Formation. View is southeast toward northwest side of Manson Mesa.

significant because it serves to demonstrate that the 

Navajo Sandstone and Carmel Formation do not interfinger as had been thought by previous workers.

The scattered angular chert pebbles such as shown 

in figures 19 and 21 generally are the most reliable 

feature to use in locating the basal contact of the Page 

Sandstone. These pebbles have the same color and texture as the authigenic chert that occurs as irregular 

nodules in the underlying Navajo Sandstone, suggesting that the pebbles originally came from that formation. Also, the angularity of the pebbles indicates a 

nearby source that could only be the Navajo. Considering the widespread distribution of the Navajo 

throughout most of southern Utah and northern 

Arizona in Early Jurassic time (Baker and others, 

1936, p. 47), it would take an extraordinary set of

sedimentary processes to bring a similar suite of pebbles into the region from localities outside the limits of 

the Navajo Sandstone without rounding the pebbles 

considerably and without incorporating other rock 

types into the pebble suite. The evenly distributed 

angular pebbles in a thin layer on the unconformity are 

similar to deflation-lag gravels in modern deserts 

where the angularity of the pebbles is caused by splitting from insolation (Glennie, 1970, p. 16-21; Walker 

and Harms, 1972, p. 284-287). Similar but smaller 

detrital chert pebbles locally occur at higher 

stratigraphic levels in the Page but they have not been 

found in the Navajo. Thus, the lowest level of detrital 

chert pebbles usually is the best criterion to use in 

locating the basal contact of the Page Sandstone. 

Another feature commonly found at the lower con-
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B23

tact of the Page Sandstone is downward-tapering 

sandstone-filled crevices that probably mark fossil 

joints. In many places where the strata can be viewed 

in a vertical section, the contact is indented about 

every 3-15 m with crevices up to 15 cm wide at the top, 

which extend down as much as 1.8 m into the Navajo 

Sandstone (fig. 22). The sandstone that fills the 

crevices is vertically continuous with the sandstone in 

the overlying strata of the Page Sandstone. Angular 

chert pebbles, so commonly found elsewhere along this 

surface, also occur in some of these crevices. On 

horizontal surfaces where the Page is stripped off and 

the crevices can be examined in plan view, the linear or 

sinuous trend of isolated crevices can be traced for 15 

m or more, and abundant swarms of crevices are interconnected to form polygons 1.5-3.0 m in diameter (fig. 

23). The crevices are similar to presentday linear, 

sinuous, and polygonal joints that weather out of the 

Navajo Sandstone. For this reason it is thought that 

the crevices formed by weathering along ancient joints 

in the Navajo prior to deposition of the Page Sandstone and were filled with sand during the earliest 

stages of deposition of the Page.

Small sandstone-filled crevices locally occur at the 

base of some of the thin flat-bedded sandstone units 

higher in the Page Sandstone. They are generally 

smaller than those at the top of the Navajo, being 

several centimeters wide at the top and pinching out 

about 0.3-0.6 m into the underlying sandstone. These 

probably are ancient joint crevices or shrinkage cracks 

that formed during brief periods when sand deposition 

ceased and the surface became sufficiently lithified to 

allow them to form. Because these fossil joint crevices 

or shrinkage cracks occur within the Page but have not 

been found below the upper surface of the Navajo, the 

lowest level of these crevices is another important 

feature that marks the basal contact of the Page Sandstone.

The uppermost part of the Navajo has an irregular 

light-colored or bleached zone at many localities that is 

also helpful in locating the basal contact of the Page 

Sandstone (figs. 24 and 25). In general, the bleached 

zone is very light gray to grayish pink, but locally it is 

only a slightly grayer shade of red than the unaltered 

strata. The top of the zone coincides with the upper 

contact of the Navajo, whereas the lower boundary of 

the zone may be gradational or sharp, and in many 

places it cuts across the cross-laminae in the formation. The thickness of the bleached zone varies considerably, from less than a meter to about 300 m, and 

in the Waterpocket Fold and Circle Cliffs areas the 

zone extends throughout the Navajo (Smith and 

others, 1963; Davidson, 1967). The light-colored zone 

probably was caused by fluids that seeped down into

the Navajo and bleached the upper part of it during the 

erosion interval that produced the J-2 unconformity. 

Similar bleached zones occur beneath many of the 

other Jurassic as well as Cretaceous unconformities in 

the region, especially where the underlying beds are 

porous and permeable and where the erosion surface 

had been exposed to subaerial weathering processes.

Locally, the basal stratum of the Page Sandstone 

contains light-colored reworked or residual deposits 

derived from the underlying Navajo Sandstone. These 

beds generally are less than 0.3 m thick and consist of 

very thin but irregularly bedded sandstone that is 

similar in color and texture to the sandstone in the 

bleached zone at the top of the Navajo. This similarity 

of color and texture as well as the lack of currentproduced bedding structures suggests that the sand in 

these beds came from the bleached zone at the top of

FIGURE 19. Evenly distributed small angular chert pebbles at base 

of Page Sandstone at the type section near Page, Ariz. The pebbles 

are as much as 5 mm long, and most are white to very pale 

orange, although some are moderate red or moderate reddish 

orange. Scarce pebbles locally occur higher in the Page, but they 

have not been found below it in the Navajo Sandstone. Thus, 

the lowest level of detrital chert pebbles marks the lower contact 

of the Page Sandstone. The pick head (scaled in inches) rests on 

the uppermost part of the Navajo Sandstone and the surface was 

brushed clean of all loose detritus before the photo was taken.
ato

FIGURE 20. View across Glen Canyon at Crossing of the Fathers showing conspicuous notch or bench at contact of Page Sandstone (Jp) and 

Navajo Sandstone (J~fc n). The upper member of the Carmel Formation (Jcau), somewhat inconspicuous owing to the perspective, forms a 

characteristic broad bench between the cliffs of the Page and the Entrada Sandstone (Je). Colorado River flows to left, Gunsight Butte to left where formations are labeled, mouth of Padre Creek at a, Kane Wash area to right where formations are labeled. The surface of Lake Powell currently is at level of the Carmel Formation. For scale, the Page Sandstone is about 36.6 m thick. Jr, sandstone at Romana Mesa; Jms, 

Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation. Looking northwest in the NWV4 sec. 19, T. 43 S., R. 6 E., San Juan County, Utah. Photo by 

E. C. La Rue, 1921.

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RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B25

the Navajo, mainly through weathering in place with 

little lateral transportation or admixture of new sediment from other sources.

Small sandstone nodules cemented mainly with 

silica commonly occur in the upper part of the bleached 

zone of the Navajo where it is overlain by the Page 

Sandstone (fig. 26). The nodules are about 1.3-2.5 cm 

in diameter and they are the same light-gray or lightred color as the enclosing sandstone in the bleached 

zone. The cementing material is mainly silica although 

weak effervescence with dilute hydrochloric acid suggests that a small quantity of calcite cement also is 

present. Bedding laminae pass directly through the 

nodules, indicating that they formed by precipitation 

of the cementing material in the intergranular pore 

spaces after deposition of the Navajo, and similarity of 

the color of the sandstone in them to that of the enclosing bleached zone suggests that they formed at the 

same time as that zone or slightly later. Both the 

bleached zone and the small nodules in the upper part 

of the Navajo are readily identified on many outcrops, 

and they are additional guides to locating the basal 

contact of the Page Sandstone.

A moderate amount of local erosional relief on the 

top of the Navajo is indicated by buried hills of Navajo

FIGURE 21. Angular chert pebbles embedded in basal stratum of 

Page Sandstone. The angularity of the pebbles, indicating a nearby source, and position high on the flank of the buried hill of 

Navajo Sandstone shown in figure 27, indicate that they could 

only have come from the top of that hill. Presumably the hill 

was originally capped with a cherty limestone bed similar to the 

one in the Navajo Sandstone shown in figure 5» and the pebbles 

were derived from it by weathering processes early in the depositional history of the Page Sandstone. Scale on pick head is in 

inches; the surface to the right of the pick was brushed clean of all 

loose detritus before the photo was taken. Cave Point area in the 

NWJ/4 sec. 35, T. 40 S., R. 8 E., Kane County, Utah.

Sandstone preserved beneath the Page Sandstone or 

upper member of the Carmel Formation (fig. 27). Thus 

far, four of these hills have been found in the eastern 

part of the Kaiparowits Plateau about 40-50 km 

northeast of Page, Ariz., and about 70-80 km 

southeast of Escalante, Utah. The hills are as much as 

11.3 m high, and they extend up to or slightly above 

the top of the surrounding Page Sandstone, so that 

they are directly overlain by the upper member of the 

Carmel Formation. In cross section they are about 

150-460 m wide. Chert pebbles along the unconformity 

are larger (as much as 6.4 cm long) and more abundant 

on the crest or flanks of these hills (fig. 21), suggesting 

that they were originally capped with a protective bed 

of cherty limestone in the Navajo that was the source 

of the pebbles. The cherty limestone bed shown in 

figure 5 is the capping stratum of one of these buried 

hills in Dangling Rope Canyon about 50 km northeast 

of Page, Ariz. No alinement of the hills could be determined; instead, they seem to be randomly distributed 

erosional remnants whose preservation was determined solely by the presence of a resistant cherty 

limestone bed in the Navajo Sandstone.

Smaller erosional irregularities occur at the top of 

the Navajo, where they are preserved beneath the Page 

Sandstone. These include small knolls, cliffs, and 

overhanging ledges 0.3-1.0 m high, such as are shown 

in figure 28. Small shallow depressions as much as 1 m 

deep and 3-6 m wide were also found on this surface, 

but they are not considered fluvial channels because 

they do not contain deposits typical of fluvial deposition. Indeed, no strata containing bedding or textural 

features typical of fluvial deposits were found in either 

the Navajo or Page Sandstone. The buried hills and 

small-scale erosional irregularities at the top of the 

Navajo indicate that it was fairly well lithified when 

the Page sediments were being deposited, and the 

relatively greater degree of lithification of the Navajo 

apparently has been maintained throughout geologic 

time in most places.

Eastward or southeastward regional beveling of 

older rocks by the J-2 unconformity at the base of the 

Carmel or Page Formation is indicated by eastward 

truncation of the Temple Cap Sandstone in 

southwestern Utah (figs. 8,10), southeastward truncation of the Navajo Sandstone in northeastern Arizona 

and southwestern Colorado (fig. 2; Harshbarger and 

others, 1957, p. 21, 33; Shawe and others, 1968, 

p. A38-A41), and eastward truncation of older formations in west-central Colorado (Craig and Dickey, 1956, 

p. 97). Similar southeastward regional beveling of older 

formations by the J-2 unconformity has been well 

documented in south-central Wyoming (Pipiringos, 

1968, p. D3), where this unconformity is at the base of 

the Sundance Formation.
B26 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 22. Fossil joint crevice at top of Navajo Sandstone. The Page Sandstone (Jp) fills the crevice down about 1.2 m to the level of the 

base of the pick and the fracture extends down 0.6 m more to about the level of the middle of the pack where a narrow vertical bleached 

zone is present in the Navajo Sandstone (J~fc n). Although not apparent, several small angular chert pebbles are present in the part of 

the Page Sandstone that fills the crevice. Looking east and up on the east side of Dangling Rope Canyon about 6.4 km southwest of 

Navajo Point in the SE 1A sec. 30, T. 32 S., R. 8 E., Kane County, Utah.
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B27

FIGURE 23. Plan view of fossil joint crevices at top of Navajo Sandstone (J~S n). The polygonal distribution of the ancient crevices filled 

with Page Sandstone (Jp) is similar to the polygonal distribution of modern joint crevices in the Navajo and suggests a similar origin. 

Northwest side of Manson Mesa at type section of Page Sandstone near town of Page, Ariz.

HARRIS WASH TONGUE ^ut more commonly it is set back slightly (0.3-30 m)

from the Navajo cliff.

The Harris Wash Tongue thins irregularly westward 

in the western part of the Kaiparowits Plateau and 

along the Waterpocket monocline about 50-80 km farther north. It reaches a maximum thickness of about 

36.6 m on the northeast side of the Kaiparowits 

Plateau about 45 km southeast of Escalante, Utah. 

Near Escalante, the tongue is only 4.6 m thick, and, 

judging from the rate of westward regional thinning, it

The Harris Wash Tongue of the Page Sandstone is 

here proposed for a westward-thinning unit of 

crossbedded sandstone at the base of the Page Sandstone. The tongue takes its name from the type section 

in a small tributary to Harris Wash about 20 km 

southeast of Escalante, Utah (fig. 29). It weathers to 

form a cliff that in places may be vertically continuous 

with the sheer cliff at the top of the Navajo Sandstone,

FIGURE 24. Conspicuous difference in colors of Navajo and Page 

Sandstones at Thousand Pockets about 8 km west of Page, Ariz. 

The J-2 unconformity marked by small angular chert pebbles is 

at the base of the darker Page Sandstone (Jp; actually moderate 

reddish brown), which lies on the nearly white discolored zone at 

the top of the Navajo Sandstone (J~fcn). The discoloration is 

attributed to bleaching prior to deposition of the Page, probably 

by fluids that seeped into the Navajo during the erosion interval 

that produced the unconformity. The cuesta is capped by a thin, 

hard, very dark red crossbedded sandstone unit in the Page that 

correlates with the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel Formation 

about 8 km farther northwest. For scale, the part of the Page 

Sandstone visible in the cuesta is about 21.3 m thick. View is 

northwest in the SW1/* sec. 24, T. 41 N., R. 7 E., Coconino County, 

Ariz.
w

NO

oo

FIGURE 25. View across Glen Canyon near Last Chance Creek showing color difference and topographic expression of Page Sandstone (Jp) 

and Navajo Sandstone (J"fc n). The Page is a slightly darker shade of red and in the canyon walls it has a notch or slight bench at the base. The upper member of the Carmel Formation (Jcau) contains rock types similar to those at the reference section of the Page, and it weathers 

to form a characteristic broad bench beneath the sheer cliffs of the Entrada Sandstone (Je). Colorado River flows to left, tributary canyon of 

Last Chance Creek is in center. The surface of Lake Powell currently is at the top of the Carmel Formation. For scale, Page Sandstone is about 

16.7 m thick. Jr, sandstone at Romana Mesa; Jms, Salt Wash Member of Morrison Formation. For more complete description of units above 

the Entrada Sandstone see Peterson and Barnum (1973). Looking north-northwest in the NEV4 sec. 22, T. 43 S., R. 6 E., San Juan County, Utah. Photo by E. C. La Rue, 1921.

da
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B29

FIGURE 26. Small nodules in uppermost part of Navajo Sandstone 

near Page, Ariz. The nodules are about 1.3-2.5 cm in diameter and 

are cemented mainly with silica in the form of a spherical shell. 

They commonly occur in the bleached or discolored zone at the 

top of the Navajo. Type section of Page Sandstone on northwest 

side of Manson Mesa near Glen Canyon Dam, Coconino County, 

Ariz.

pinches out underground about 5-10 km west of there. 

The Harris Wash is as much as 26.8 m thick on the 

south side of the Kaiparowits Plateau about 21 km 

northwest of Page, Ariz. It thins irregularly westward 

from there and pinches out near the East Kaibab 

monocline about 45 km northwest of Page. Because 

the younger Thousand Pockets Tongue thins and pinches out northward in the Carmel Formation along the 

Waterpocket Fold, the Harris Wash probably is the 

only part of the Page Sandstone that is present in the 

San Rafael Swell 110-190 km north of the Kaiparowits 

Plateau (Pipiringos and O'Sullivan, 1975). Subsurface 

configuration of the tongue cannot be determined accurately owing to the similar response of it and the 

Navajo Sandstone on the various geophysical welllogging devices.

The Harris Wash Tongue consists predominantly of 

crossbedded sandstone like most of the other parts of 

the Page Sandstone. The sandstone is very fine to fine 

grained and moderately well sorted to well sorted, and

the color ranges from very light gray to moderate reddish brown or grayish red. Bedding generally consists 

of tabular-planar to wedge-planar sets of small- to 

large-scale cross-stratification as much as 10.7 m 

thick. Some interfingering with the Judd Hollow 

Tongue of the Carmel Formation occurs in the westernmost extent of the Harris Wash. In this area the 

crossbedding tends to occur in thinner sets less than 

about a meter thick, and several very thin to thinbedded and ripple cross-laminated strata are also present. Scattered along the base of the Harris Wash are 

the same angular chert pebbles, generally less than 13 

mm long, that occur so commonly along the base of the 

main body of the Page. The basal contact is the J-2 unconformity that was described more thoroughly in the 

preceding discussion of the Page Sandstone.

THOUSAND POCKETS TONGUE

The Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page Sandstone is a cliff-forming sandstone unit that is only present in south-central Utah and a small part of northcentral Arizona about 24 km west of Page, Ariz. (figs. 

13, 14, 15). It lies beneath the gypsiferous member or 

upper member of the Carmel Formation and it is 

underlain by the Judd Hollow Tongue, limestone 

member, or banded member of the Carmel. The Thousand Pockets was formerly considered a tongue of the 

Navajo Sandstone by Phoenix (1963), Wright and 

Dickey (1963a), and Thompson and Stokes (1970), but 

it is here designated as a tongue of the Page Sandstone.

The greatest known thickness of the Thousand 

Pockets is 76.8 m, measured by J. C. Wright and D. D. 

Dickey (Phoenix, 1963, p. 65-66) in southern Utah 

about 42 km northwest of Page, Ariz. The tongue pinches out farther northwest along a northeast-trending 

line that passes 2 km southeast of Cannonville, Utah. 

The tongue also pinches out northward along the 

Waterpocket Fold and in the subsurface just northeast 

of that flexure.

The Thousand Pockets Tongue is composed chiefly 

of crossbedded sandstone that is identical in most 

aspects to that of the main body of the Page Sandstone. However, the color of the tongue is somewhat 

more varied than the main body of the Page, ranging 

from moderate reddish brown, moderate pink, and 

very light gray throughout most of the region to 

grayish orange in the area south and southwest of Cannonville, Utah. For the most part, the tongue consists 

of fine-grained, well-sorted, crossbedded sandstone like 

that described at the type section of the Page. In its 

northwesternmost parts where it interfingers with the 

banded member of the Carmel Formation, the Thousand Pockets grades into very thin to thick-bedded,
B30 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

FIGURE 27. Buried hill of Navajo Sandstone on northeast side of Kaiparowits Plateau. Page Sandstone (Jp) is 11.3 and 7.0 m thick, respectively, on left and right sides of the buried hill of Navajo Sandstone (J~fcn), and the upper member of the Carmel Formation 

(Jcau) rests directly on the crest of the hill in the center of the view. Abundant and relatively large angular chert pebbles occur on the 

crest and flanks of this hill (fig. 21), suggesting that it was originally capped with a cherty limestone bed of the Navajo. This hill and 

three other buried hills that have been found in the region indicate that a moderate amount of erosional relief was present on top of 

the Navajo before and during deposition of the Page.-Note the distinctly lighter color of the Navajo compared to the Page. Cave Point 

area, looking northwest in the NWVi sec. 35, T. 40 S., R. 8 E., Kane County, Utah.

grayish-orange sandstone, and only one or two sets of 

medium- to large-scale tabular-planar or wedge-planar 

crossbedding are present (figs. 13, 14).

Throughout most of the region east of Cannonville, 

Utah, a conspicuous notch-forming red sandstone or 

silty sandstone marker bed is present in the middle of 

the Thousand Pockets Tongue (fig. 15). This bed is as 

much as 3.7 m thick and is composed of very fine to 

fine-grained, moderately sorted, very thin to thinbedded sandstone and silty sandstone. Although the 

marker bed has a lensoid shape in the outcrop belts 

around the Kaiparowits Plateau (figs. 10, 11), its 

lithologic similarity to the banded and upper members 

of the Carmel Formation suggests that it may be a thin 

tongue of either or both of these members.

The basal contact of the Thousand Pockets Tongue 

generally is sharp and planar, although in the 

northwesternmost parts of the tongue the lower contact locally is gradational. Contrary to Thompson and 

Stokes (1970), no evidence was found that this surface 

is an unconformity.

ENTRADA SANDSTONE

The Entrada Sandstone was named by Gilluly and 

Reeside (1928) for exposures at Entrada Point in the 

northeastern part of the San Rafael Swell of central 

Utah. Subsequent workers, notably Wright and 

Dickey (1963b), correlated the formation southward into the Kaiparowits Plateau of south-central Utah. In

the Kaiparowits Plateau the Entrada is divided into 

three members (Peterson, 1973; Zeller, 1973), of which 

only the lower member is considered here.

The lower member of the Entrada is approximately 

107-152 m thick and consists of two facies. Southeast 

of a line that passes roughly through Cannonville and 

Escalante, Utah, it consists predominantly of a 

crossbedded sandstone facies; northwest of that line it 

consists of a generally flat bedded silty sandstone 

facies. The crossbedded southeastern facies is composed of very fine to fine-grained, moderately to wellsorted, moderate-reddish-orange, cliff-forming sandstone (figs. 16, 25, 29). The bedding consists of tabularplanar and wedge-planar sets of medium- to largescale, low- and high-angle cross-strata. The flat-bedded 

northwestern facies is moderate reddish orange and 

composed of coarse siltstone and fine-grained, 

moderately to poorly sorted, slope-forming silty sandstone (fig. 15). The bedding in this facies ranges from 

very thin bedded to very thick bedded.

The lower contact of the southeastern facies is sharp 

and is placed at the top of the highest thin-bedded silty 

sandstone or mudstone of the underlying upper 

member of the Carmel Formation. Interfingering of 

the lower 1.8 m of the Entrada with the upper part of 

the Carmel was found in the Kane Wash area about 

23 km northeast of Page, Ariz. The lower contact of the 

northwestern facies is somewhat more difficult to pick 

owing to lithologic similarity of the Entrada and
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B31

FIGURE 28. Small buried ledge of Navajo Sandstone (J~& n) preserved beneath Page Sandstone (Jp) on northeast side of Kaiparowits Plateau. Small angular white chert pebbles are scattered 

along the J-2 unconformity just left of the pick. This ledge, and 

similar features occurring elsewhere in the region, indicate that 

the top of the Navajo was not beveled to a planar surface prior 

to deposition of the Page. Pick is scaled in inches. West side of 

Hurricane Wash at measured section 39, Kane County, Utah.

underlying Carmel. Southwest of Cannonville, the contact is placed at the top of the highest gypsum or 

mudstone bed of the Carmel or at the top of the highest 

thin, white, hard, calcareous sandstone bed in the 

marker zone at the top of the upper member or Winsor 

Member of the Carmel. Some interfingering of the Entrada and the Carmel probably occurs in this area, but 

it could not be documented owing to the large amount 

of soil and vegetation cover. Near Escalante, the contact is placed at the top of a thin purple mudstone or 

bentonite marker bed. Where this bed cannot be 

recognized, owing to soil cover, the contact is at the 

top of the highest gypsum bed in the Carmel.

AGE AND CORRELATION

GLEN CANYON GROUP

Although the Glen Canyon Group lies between welldated Upper Triassic and Middle Jurassic strata, the 

paleontological evidence previously obtained from it 

was not sufficiently diagnostic to determine where the

Triassic-Jurassic boundary is within the group. New 

findings strongly suggest that most of the group is 

Early Jurassic in age and that the systemic boundary 

is considerably lower than had been thought by 

previous workers (Lewis and others, 1963; Galton, 

1971). Because the newly discovered fossils are still being studied, previous age assignments of formations 

and members in the group are retained by the U.S. 

Geological Survey until a more thorough evaluation of 

the fossils can be published. The new paleontological 

evidence that the group is entirely Early Jurassic in 

age in southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona 

comes from the recent discovery of Early Jurassic 

palynomorphs in the Whitmore Point Member of the 

Moenave Formation. The fossils came from samples 

collected by C. E. Turner-Peterson and Fred Peterson 

from the lower part of the Whitmore Point Member at 

Whitmore Point, Ariz., about 32 km southwest of 

Kanab, Utah (fig. 1).

The palynomorphs were identified by Bruce Cornet 

of Gulf Research and Development Company. He 

stated (written commun., 1976):

The samples are strongly dominated by species of Corollina, 

which make up about 95 to 99 percent of the assemblage. The dominant species is Corollina torosus (Reissinger) Klaus; C. murphyi Cornet and Traverse, and C. meyeriana (Klaus) Venkatachala and Goczan are also present, but are rare. Other rare species include: 

Granulatisporites infirmus (Balme) Cornet and Traverse, 

Todisporites rotundiformis (Malyavkina) Pocock, Cycadopites spp., 

and possibly Podocarpidites sp.

Preservation is good. Tetrads of Corollina are common and indicate little abrasion during transport. In addition, one of the 

samples contains "ghosts" of possible reworked Triassic bisaccates, 

such as Pityosporites and Abiespollenites, which are normally 

characteristic of the Chinle Formation. The difference in preservation between these "ghosts" and the indigenous palynoflora is considerable.

The strong dominance of the palynoflorules by species of Corollina is characteristic of the Liassic (Lower Jurassic) Series. In addition, comparison with palynoflorules obtained from the Portland 

Formation at the top of the Newark Group in the Hartford basin of 

the Connecticut Valley in the eastern United States (Cornet, 

Traverse, and McDonald, 1973; Cornet and Traverse, 1975) suggests a further refinement in the age. Within the Portland Formation there is a trend from almost entirely non-striate to 28 percent 

pseudostriate forms of Corollina torosus in the lower part of the formation to 17-43 percent striate and pseudostriate forms in the 

upper-lower to lower-middle part and to about 35-76 percent striate 

and pseudostriate forms in the middle part of the Portland. If such a 

trend reflects major regional climatic changes and evolution in 

North America, then the composition of the Whitmore Point 

palynoflorules, with 35-42 percent striate and pseudostriate forms 

of C. torosus, suggests correlation with the upper-lower to lowermiddle part of the Portland Formation, which is late Sinemurian to 

early Pliensbachian in age.

Recently, Bruce Cornet (oral commun., 1977) tentatively identified three other palynomorphs from the 

Whitmore Point Member that support these age determinations; they are Corollina cf. C. itunensis (Pocock), 

Chasmatosporites cf. C apertus (Rogalska) Nilsson,
B32 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

and cf. Callialasporites. As presently understood, the 

oldest known occurrence of these fossils is from the 

Liassic (Lower Jurassic) Series. C itunensis ranges 

down into middle Liassic strata whereas C apertus 

ranges further down into basal Liassic rocks. In most 

areas, Callialasporites is found in middle Liassic and 

younger strata although it has been found in lower 

Liassic beds in Spain; it has been reported from uppermost Triassic (Rhaetian) beds in North Africa but the 

identification from this area is questioned. Thus, the 

oldest presently known age of these fossils suggests a 

middle Liassic (middle Early Jurassic) age for the

Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation. 

Because the underlying Dinosaur Canyon Sandstone 

Member and the overlying Springdale Sandstone 

Member of the Moenave are closely related and not 

separated from the Whitmore Point by unconformities, all three members and the entire Moenave Formation probably fall in the Lower Jurassic Series (fig. 

30).

It should be noted that subsequent to his most recent publication dealing with the Early Jurassic age of 

the Portland Formation (Cornet and Traverse, 1975), 

Bruce Cornet is now able to place the Triassic-Jurassic

FIGURE 29. Type section of Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone. View is toward the west in Halfway Hollow near its junction with 

Harris Wash, about 20 km southeast of Escalante, Utah. 3, type measured section; the tongue is 18.3 m thick. Although not apparent 

from this distance, fossil joint crevices and small angular chert pebbles are well exposed to left of where the man (arrow) is standing. 

(J~fc n), Navajo Sandstone; Jphw, Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone; Jcjh, Judd Hollow Tongue of Carmel Formation.
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B33

Stage Southwestern Utah and 

northwestern Arizona

Northeastern Arizona and 

northwestern New Mexico

Toarcian

Pliensbachian

Kayenta Formation

Springdale Sandstone Member

Whitmore Point Member Moenave

Formation

Dinosaur Canyon Ss Mbr

Sinemurian Lukachukai Member of 

Wingate Sandstone

Hettangian

Chinle Formation

Rock Point Member or 

Wingate Sandstone

FIGURE 30. Diagram showing correlation of formations in the Glen Canyon Group (Wingate Sandstone, Moenave Formation, Kayenta 

Formation, and Navajo Sandstone) with European time-stratigraphic units, based on new fossils found in the Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation. These age assignments are considered tentative and have not been formally adopted by the U.S. 

Geological Survey. Unconformity indicated by shaded area.

boundary more accurately in the Newark and 

Hartford-Deerfield basins of Pennsylvania-New 

Jersey and Connecticut-Massachusetts respectively. 

According to Bruce Cornet (written commun., 1976):

The new palynological discoveries, as yet unpublished, indicate 

that the systemic boundary lies about 20-25 meters (64-80 ft) below 

the oldest basalt flow in the Newark basin. The basalt flows and interbedded sedimentary rocks of the Newark basin correlate approximately with the basalt flows and interbedded sedimentary rocks of 

the Talcott Formation in the Hartford basin and with the Deerfield 

Basalt and overlying lower Turners Falls Sandstone of the Deerfield 

basin. This is based on palynoflorules, as well as on fish faunas (P. 

E. Olsen, oral commun., 1976), although the oldest flow in the 

Newark basin is probably slightly older than the oldest flow in the 

Talcott Formation of the Hartford basin and the Deerfield Basalt of 

the Deerfield basin. Thus, the Talcott Formation is early Liassic in 

age and the younger Portland Formation is middle and late Liassic 

in age.

These findings indicate that the Portland Formation 

clearly is of Liassic age, and that a Liassic age is certainly indicated for the Glen Canyon Group (above the 

Rock Point Member of the Wingate Sandstone) which 

correlates with the Portland.

In addition to the palynomorphs, reevaluation of the 

vertebrates also supports correlation ot the Glen 

Canyon Group above the Rock Point Member of the

Wingate with the Portland Formation of the eastern 

United States (Walker, 1968; Galton, 1971, Olsen and 

Galton, 1977). Based on the fossils and correlations, we 

consider the Kayenta Formation and Navajo Sandstone Early Jurassic in age. Since the palynoflorules 

from the Moenave Formation indicate a late 

Sinemurian to early Pliensbachian age, and the oldest 

beds of the San Rafael Group are early Bajocian in age 

(earliest Middle Jurassic), the Kayenta and Navajo 

probably were deposited during the Pliensbachian and 

Toarcian Ages of the Early Jurassic Epoch (fig. 30).

Throughout much of the Colorado Plateau east of 

southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, beds 

older than the Moenave Formation are present at the 

base of the Glen Canyon Group. In this area, the 

Wingate Sandstone lies beneath the Moenave or 

Kayenta Formation (fig. 2). The Wingate is divided into two members: the Lukachukai Member at the top is 

widespread and occurs throughout much of the Colorado Plateau, whereas the underlying Rock Point 

Member is more restricted in distribution and occurs 

primarily in northeastern Arizona and northwestern 

New Mexico (Harshbarger and others, 1957). Where 

the Lukachukai is the basal member of the Wingate,
B34 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

most workers agree that it is separated from the 

underlying Chinle Formation by an unconformity 

(Wilson, 1974), termed the J-0 unconformity by Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978). Thaden, Trites, and Finnell (1964, p. 69-70) reported intertonguing of the 

Lukachukai and Chinle at two places in the White 

Canyon area of southeastern Utah, but the beds were 

walked out at these localities and it was found that the 

intertonguing does not exist. Because the Lower 

Jurassic Moenave Formation interfingers with the uppermost beds of the Lukachukai Member (Harshbarger and others, 1957), we place the systemic 

boundary at the J-0 unconformity at the base of the 

Lukachukai, and this suggests an Early Jurassic age 

for the Lukachukai Member of the Wingate Sandstone. 

Interfingering with the basal beds of the Moenave Formation indicates that the Lukachukai Member of the 

Wingate is only slightly older than the Moenave, and 

that the Lukachukai Member probably is early 

Sinemurian in age (fig. 30).

Interfingering of the Lukachukai and Rock Point 

Members of the Wingate Sandstone has been reported 

in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico (Harshbarger and others, 1957; Wilson, 1974), but 

it could not be confirmed by field investigations. This 

contact was examined by M. W. Green, R. B. 

O'Sullivan, Fred Peterson, and G. N. Pipiringos and it 

was found that interfingering of these members cannot 

be demonstrated. Instead of interfingering, we suggest 

that the same J-0 unconformity that separates the 

Lukachukai Member of the Wingate from the Upper 

Triassic Chinle Formation in other areas separates the 

Lukachukai and Rock Point Members of the Wingate 

in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Because the Rock Point Member contains 

phytosaur teeth which indicate a Late Triassic age 

(Harshbarger and others, 1957, p. 10), we place the 

Triassic-Jurassic boundary at the top of the Rock 

Point Member (fig. 30) and we suggest a Late Triassic 

and Early Jurassic age for the Wingate Sandstone 

wherever it contains the Rock Point Member. In 

southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado, where 

the Rock Point Member is not present, the Wingate 

Sandstone consists solely of the Lukachukai Member. 

In these areas, the Wingate, like the Lukachukai 

Member, is considered Early Jurassic in age.

These suggestions of new age assignments for units 

in the Glen Canyon Group also affect other unfossiliferous units that correlate with the group and 

cannot be dated by other means. The Aztec Sandstone 

of southern Nevada and southeastern California is a 

correlative of the Navajo Sandstone (McKee and 

others, 1956; Wilson and Stewart, 1967), which we now 

consider Early Jurassic in age. For this reason, the

Aztec Sandstone probably is Early Jurassic in age. 

The Glen Canyon Sandstone and Nugget Sandstone of 

southwestern Wyoming, northern Utah, and 

northwestern Colorado also correlate with the Glen 

Canyon Group (excluding the Rock Point Member of 

the Wingate Sandstone; Poole and Stewart, 1964). For 

this reason we consider the Glen Canyon Sandstone 

and Nugget Sandstone Early Jurassic in age. As noted 

earlier, these age designations are considered tentative 

by the U.S. Geological Survey and have not been formally adopted by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Correlation with western Nevada formations can be 

inferred from the age of the formations, but it is not 

known if the correlative strata were physically connected across eastern Nevada at the time of deposition. The Boyer Ranch Formation of western Nevada 

(Speed and Jones, 1969) has been correlated with the 

Navajo Sandstone, primarily because both formations 

consist largely of highly mature quartz sandstone, but 

this correlation is contradicted by the different ages of 

these formations. Speed (1976) indicated that the 

Boyer Ranch probably is late Toarcian and (or) Bajocian, which is younger than the probable 

Pliensbachian-early Toarcian age of the Navajo (fig. 

30). We suggest that the Boyer Ranch probably correlates with the Temple Cap Sandstone and (or) the 

limestone member of the Carmel Formation, and that 

the Middle Jurassic extrusive rocks that lie on the 

Boyer Ranch may be closely related in time to the pebbles and cobbles of volcanic material in the Middle 

Jurassic banded member and Winsor Member of the 

Carmel Formation. The age designations adopted in 

this report suggest that the Glen Canyon Group (excluding the Rock Point Member of the Wingate Sandstone) correlates with the Sinemurian, Pliensbachian, 

and Toarcian parts of the Sunrise and Dunlap Formations of western Nevada.

Although the new paleontological evidence indicates 

changes in age assignments of units in the Glen 

Canyon Group and correlative strata, we do not believe 

it is appropriate to make definitive age changes until 

the new fossils can be described more thoroughly in a 

separate publication. For this reason, we are not 

changing the age assignments adopted earlier by the 

U.S. Geological Survey (Lewis and others, 1961) for 

units in the Glen Canyon Group and correlative strata. 

Thus, the ages presently assigned to the formations 

discussed previously remain as follows:

Formation Age

Aztec Sandstone .......... Triassic(?) and Jurassic

Glen Canyon Sandstone.... Late Triassic and Early Jurassic

Wingate Sandstone ........ Late Triassic

Kayenta Formation........ Late Triassic(?)

Navajo Sandstone ......... Triassic(?) and Jurassic

Moenave Formation ....... Late Triassic(?)
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B35

SAN RAFAEL GROUP

Although the San Rafael Group is largely unfossiliferous, a Middle Jurassic age can be assigned to 

it on the basis of fossils in parts of the Carmel Formation and by regional correlations to more fossiliferous 

strata in the northern part of the Western Interior of 

the United States. This report only deals with the age 

of stratigraphic units in the lower part of the group; 

younger beds are covered in reports by Imlay (1952, 

1957, 1979).

The Temple Cap Sandstone is unfossiliferous and, 

therefore, must be dated by correlation with formations whose ages are known. No other rock units on the 

Colorado Plateau are known to be equivalent in age to 

the Temple Cap Sandstone, and the nearest unit with 

which it can be correlated is the Gypsum Spring 

Member of the Twin Creek Limestone farther north in 

northern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and western 

Wyoming (called the Gypsum Spring Formation in

south-central Wyoming). The Temple Cap and Gypsum Spring are thought to correlate because: (1) the 

upper contact of both is the J-2 unconformity and both 

units are beveled out in a similar manner by this unconformity, (2) the lower contact of the Gypsum 

Spring is the J-l surface that occurs at the base of the 

Temple Cap, and (3) both contain similar lithologies, 

although the Temple Cap does not contain the 

fossiliferous limestone that occurs in the Gypsum 

Spring. Inasmuch as paleontological evidence indicates the Gypsum Spring is early and early middle 

Bajocian in age, according to R. W. Imlay (written 

commun., 1974), the Temple Cap is also assigned an 

early and early middle Bajocian age here (fig. 31).

The limestone member of the Carmel Formation is 

fairly fossiliferous in southwestern Utah: the faunule 

obtained from it consists mostly of pelecypods, but 

also includes gastropods, echinoids, worm tubes, and 

colonial corals (Imlay, 1964). According to Imlay (oral

0> *CO

(part) Jurassic 

g 'fc

CO

(part) Jurassic Middle 

Jurassic Lower 

(part)

Stage

Callovian 

(part)

Bathonian

Bajocian

Substage

o~. =o t

14

fe

_i

<D

&

3

O> 

TJ 

TJ

2

<D

_l

1

a

3

a>

TJ 

TJ

5

<5

_j

Southeastern Idaho, 

western Wyoming, and 

north-central Utah

Preuss Sandstone

Creek Limestone Twin 

Giraffe Creek Member//

Leeds Creek Member

Watton Canyon Member

Boundary Ridge Member

Rich Member

Sliderock Member

Gypsum Spring Member

Section 1 1 

Mount Carmel Junction, 

Utah

Carmel Formation

Winsor Member

Gypsiferous member

Banded member

Limestone member

Section 1 

Pine Creek, 

Utah

Entrada Sandstone

Upper 

member 

of 

Carmel 

Formation

Gypsu m-bearing 

part

Limestone-bearing 

part

Thousand Pockets Tongue 

of Page Sandstone

Judd Hollow Tongue 

of Carmel Formation

Harris Wash Tongue

Section 2 

Page, 

Arizona

Entrada 

Sandstone

Upper 

member 

of 

Carmel 

Formation

Page 

Sandstone

Section 46 

Cow Springs, 

Arizona

Entrada 

Sandstone

Upper 

member 

of 

Carmel 

Formation

Temple white Tnrone ! Ogp Member ;

Sandstone Sinawava Memb

Navajo Sandstone (part) Navajo Sandstone (part) Navajo Sandstone 

(part)

Navajo Sandstone 

(part)

FIGURE 31. Correlation of rocks at selected sections in southwestern Utah and north-central Arizona with a section in southeastern Idaho, 

western Wyoming, and north-central Utah (Imlay, 1967, and written commun., 1975). Unconformities indicated by shaded areas.
B36 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

commun., 1974), the fossils indicate that the limestone 

member is late-middle and late Bajocian in age (fig. 31) 

and that it correlates with the Sliderock and Rich 

Members of the Twin Creek Limestone in the 

Wyoming-Idaho-Utah area.

Carmel strata above the limestone member are unfossiliferous or, in the case of the gypsiferous member, 

contain a depauperate and nondiagnostic fauna. Based 

on a regional synthesis and similar stratigraphic position, the present writers agree with Imlay's (1967) correlation of the banded and gypsiferous members of the 

Carmel with the Boundary Ridge and Watton Canyon 

Members, respectively, of the Twin Creek Limestone 

as well as correlation of the Winsor Member of the 

Carmel with the Leeds Creek and Giraffe Creek 

Members of the Twin Creek. Inasmuch as Imlay (written commun., 1974) has placed the BathonianCallovian boundary at the base of the Giraffe Creek 

Member of the Twin Creek or equivalent strata, these 

correlations indicate that the banded and gypsiferous 

members and the lower part of the Winsor Member are 

Bathonian in age and the uppermost part of the Winsor Member is early Callovian in age (fig. 31).

The stratigraphic relations in south-central Utah indicate that the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel correlates with the limestone member farther west, thus 

indicating a late-middle and late Bajocian age for the 

Judd Hollow. Because the Page Sandstone is laterally 

equivalent to the Judd Hollow Tongue and banded 

member of the Carmel Formation, the Page also is latemiddle Bajocian to early-middle Bathonian (Middle 

Jurassic) in age. Accordingly, the Harris Wash Tongue 

of the Page is late-middle and late Bajocian in age 

because it lies beneath but in normal depositional contact with the Judd Hollow Tongue of the Carmel, and 

the Thousand Pockets Tongue of the Page is early to 

early-middle Bathonian in age because it is laterally 

equivalent to the banded member of the Carmel as 

shown diagrammatically on figure 31.

Although the upper member of the Carmel is middle 

Bathonian to early Callovian in age near Cannonville 

and Escalante, Utah, where it correlates with the gypsiferous member and Winsor Member of the Carmel, 

the lowermost part of the upper member is older farther southeast, where it interfingers with the uppermost beds of the Page Sandstone northeast of Page, 

Ariz. (fig. 10). In Glen Canyon, roughly 50 km 

northeast of Page, Ariz., and farther southeast, 

wherever it lies directly on the Navajo Sandstone, the 

upper member is late Bajocian, Bathonian, and early 

Callovian in age (fig. 31).

According to Imlay (1967, p. 20), the entire Entrada 

Sandstone is late-early and middle Callovian in age.

NAME AND LOCATION OF 

MEASURED SECTIONS

Accurate locations of measured sections are given 

wherever possible, but, in general, the locations of 

measured sections of formations in the Glen Canyon 

Group are only approximately known. Sections of formations in the Glen Canyon Group are included with 

the nearest section of formations in the San Rafael 

Group to avoid repetition. References are given where 

measured by persons other than the writers.

No. Name Location and reference

1. Pine Creek SWVi sec. 29, SEM sec. 30, T. 34 S., R. 

3 E., Garfield County, Utah.

2. Page Sec. 2a: SWVi sec. 1, SE1A sec. 2, T. 41 

N., R. 8 E.; Sec. 2b: NWVi sec. 19, T. 

41 N., R. 9 E., Coconino County, Ariz.

3. Harris Wash NW% sec. 35, T. 35 S., R. 4 E.; SB1/* sec. 

22, NEVi sec. 26, T. 36 S., R. 4 E., Garfield County, Utah.

4. Zion Canyon NW% sec. 2, T. 41 S., R. 10 W., Washington County, Utah. Glen Canyon 

Group measured nearby in Zion Canyon by Wilson (1965, p. 32, 38, sec. 2).

5. Gunlock NW% sec. 32, T. 40 S., R. 17 W., Washington County, Utah.

6. Diamond Valley About sec. 2, T. 41 S., R. 16 W., Washington County, Utah (Reeside and 

Bassler, 1922, p. 77, sec. 21).

7. Cottonwood Canyon NEVi sec. 11, T. 41 S., R. 15 W., Washington County, Utah (J. C. Wright, 

unpub. data).

8. Danish Ranch NEW sec. 34, T. 40 S., R. 14 W., Washington County, Utah.

9. Potato Hollow NWW sec. 20, T. 40 S., R. 10 W., Washington County, Utah.

10. Meadow Creek Sec. 7, T. 41 S., R. 8 W.; EV4 sec. 13, 

SWVi sec. 16, T. 41 S., R. 9 W., Kane 

County, Utah.

11. Mount Carmel Sees. 12, 13, 24, 25, T. 41 S., R. 8 W., 

Junction Kane County, Utah; Carmel Formation from Gregory and Moore (1931, 

p.73-74) modified by Gregory (1950a, 

p. 126-127, sec. 13) and Cashion 

(1967). Temple Cap Sandstone 

measured in NEV4 sec. 36, T. 41 S., R. 

8 W. by Fred Peterson in 1970. Glen 

Canyon Group measured about 8 km 

west of Kanab by Wilson (1965, p. 32, 

38, sec. 3).

12. Kanab Creek NW% sec. 16, T. 41 S., R. 6 W., Kane 

County, Utah.

13. Brown Canyon NWVi sec. 32, T. 40 S., R. 5 W.; SEW 

sec. 7, NV4 sec. 19, NEW sec. 21, T. 41 

S., R. 5 W., Kane County, Utah.

14. Johnson Canyon NWW sec. 26, T. 41 S., R. 5 W., Kane 

County, Utah.
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B37

No. Name

15. Carly Knoll

16. Lick Wash

17. Little Bull Valley

18. Averett Canyon

19. Sheep Creek

20. Kodachrome Flat

21. The Gut

22. Goodwater Seep

23. Hackberry Canyon

24. West Cove

25. East Cove

26. Judd Hollow

27. Sand Valley

28. Gunsight Butte

Location and reference

W1/* sec. 30, center of sec. 31, T. 40 S.,

R. 4 W.; SEW sec. 21, T. 40 S., R. 4V4

W.; SWW sec. 3, SEW sec. 4, T. 41 S.,

R. 4 V2 W., Kane County, Utah. 

SWW sec. 30, T. 39 S., R. 3 W.; NEW

sec. 1, T. 40 S., R. 4 W., Kane County,

Utah. 

SEW, NWW sec. 19, SEW sec. 20, NEW

sec. 28, T. 38 S., R. 3 W., Kane County,

Utah. 

NEW sec. 23, T. 38 S., R. 3 W., Kane

County, Utah. 

Center of sec. 24, T. 38 S., R. 3 W., Kane

County, Utah. 

El/2 sec. 3, WJ/2 sec. 14, SEW sec. 15,

SWW sec. 20, SWW sec. 21, EH sec.

22, T. 38 S., R. 2 W., Kane County,

Utah. 

SEW sec. 12, T. 39 S., R. 1 W., Kane

County, Utah. 

SEW sec. 11, T. 40 S., R. 1 W., Kane

County, Utah (J. C. Wright, unpub.

data). 

SEW sec. 9, T. 41 S., R. 1 W., Kane

County, Utah (J. C. Wright, unpub.

data). 

SWW sec. 19, T. 42 S., R. 1 W.; SEW sec.

25, T. 42 S., R. 2 W., Kane County,

Utah. 

NEW sec. 15, T. 43 S., R. 1 W., Kane

County, Utah.

Phoenix, 1963, sec. 2, p. 64-66, modified.

Center of WV4 sec. 36, T. 43 S., R. 1 E., 

Kane County, Utah. 

Note: According to Phoenix (1963, 

p. 67), the type section of the Judd 

Hollow Tongue and Thousand Pockets 

Tongue is about 1 km northeast of this 

locality. However, judging from the 

distribution of outcrops in the area, 

and a photo of the locality in the original report (Phoenix, 1963, p. 32, fig. 

12), the type sections probably were 

measured here. Remeasured by Fred 

Petersoninl970.

SEW sec. 33, SWW sec. 34, T. 42 N., R. 

7 E., Coconino County, Ariz.

Navajo Sandstone measured about 29.9 

km northwest of Lees Ferry by Phoenix (1963, p. 30).

Kayenta and Moenave Formations 

measured in the NEW sec. 19, T. 40 N., 

R. 8 E., Coconino County, Ariz. by 

Phoenix (1963, p. 79-80, sec. 7).

Wingate Sandstone probably measured 

in same area as Kayenta Formation 

by Wilson (1965, p. 38).

SWW sec. 23, T. 43 S., R. 5 E., Kane 

County; WV4 sec. 12, T. 44 S., R. 5 E., 

San Juan County, Utah.

No. Name Location and reference

29. Kane Wash NEW sec. 13, T. 43 S., R. 5 E.; NWW 

sec. 18, T. 43 S., R. 6 E., Kane County, 

Utah. D. D. Dickey and others (unpub. 

data).

30. Cummings Mesa NW Measured at north end of west finger of 

Cummings Mesa, about 5.5 km N. 55° 

E. and 6.9 km N. 62° E. of Gregory 

Butte, San Juan County, Utah.

31. West Canyon

32. Cummings Mesa 

trail

33. Upper Valley

34. Seep Flat

35. Twentyfive Mile 

Wash

36. Early Weed Bench

37. Cat Pasture

38. Big Hollow Wash

39. Hurricane Wash

40. Cave Point

41. Fiftymile Point

42. Navajo Point

43. Little Arch Canyon

44. Tsai Skizzi

45. Square Butte

46. Cow Springs

47. Dinnehotso

48. Red Rock

Measured 9.2 km S. 55° E. of Gregory 

Butte, San Juan County, Utah, and 

10.9 km S. 55° E. of Gregory Butte, 

Coconino County, Ariz.

Measured on southeast side of Cummings Mesa about 10.5 km N. 6° E. 

of High Point Rock, Coconino County, 

Ariz.

Well: California Company, No. 1 unit, 

SWWNWW sec. 12, T. 36 S., R. 1 E., 

Garfield County, Utah.

SWW sec. 33, T. 36 S., R. 5 E.; NV4 sec.

4, T. 37 S., R. 5 E., Garfield County,

Utah. 

WV4 sec. 30, T. 37 S., R. 6 E., Garfield

County, Utah. 

NWWSEW sec. 1, T. 38 S., R. 6 E., Kane

County, Utah. 

NEW sec. 26, NEW sec. 27, T. 38 S., R.

6 E., Kane County, Utah. 

Center of NV4 sec. 7, SWW sec. 10, T. 39

S., R. 7 E., Kane County, Utah.

NEW sec. 26, T. 39 S., R. 7 E., Kane

County, Utah. 

SWW sec. 26, T. 40 S., R. 8 E.; NEW sec.

2, T. 41 S., R. 8 E., Kane County, Utah. 

NWW sec. 14, T. 41 S., R. 8V4 E., Kane

County, Utah. 

SEW sec. 12, T. 42 S., R. 8 E., Kane

County, Utah. 

Measured at north end of east finger of

Cummings Mesa, about 8 km S. 5° W.,

of Navajo Point, San Juan County,

Utah. 

Measured on northwest side of Tsai

Skizzi Rock, a prominent isolated

butte about 33.8 km S. 68° E. of Page,

Coconino County, Ariz.

Measured in small tributary canyon to 

Potato Canyon about 1 km east and 

southeast of Square Butte and about 

22.5 km N. 22° W. of Cow Springs 

Trading Post, Coconino County, Ariz.

Measured about 2.1 km east of Cow 

Springs Trading Post, Coconino County, Ariz.

Near Dinnehotso, Apache County, Ariz. 

Harshbarger and others (1957, p. 65, 

sec. 6; plates 2 and 3).

Near Red Rock, Apache County, Ariz. 

Harshbarger and others (1957, pi. 2).
B38 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

MEASURED SECTIONS

Section 1.—Reference section of Carmel Formation and Page 

Sandstone at Pine Creek

[Measured on west side of valley of Pine Creek about 4.8 km north of Escalante in the 

NV4SW/4SWW sec. 29, E'/zSEWSE 1/* sec. 30, T. 34 S., R. 3 E. (projected), Garfield 

County, Utah]

Entrada Sandstone (part): Thickness 

Lower member (part): meters

42. Sandstone, silty, moderate-reddish-orange, 

coarse silt size to very fine grained, moderately 

to poorly sorted, very thin to thick bedded; 

lower contact sharp and nearly planar; forms 

slopes ..................................... 39.0

Carmel Formation: 

Upper member:

41. Marker bed: mudstone, grayish-purple, 

laminated to very thin bedded, probably a bentonite bed; forms slope...................... 0.3

40. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, very fine 

grained, moderately sorted; some ripple crosslamination apparent; forms slight ledge ...... 1.8

39. Mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, laminated to

very thin bedded; forms slope ............... 0.5

38. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, very fine 

grained, moderately sorted, irregularly very 

thin bedded and ripple cross-laminated; forms 

ledge...................................... 0.3

37. Sandstone, silty, moderate-reddish-brown, 

coarse silt to very fine grained, moderately to 

poorly sorted; bedding not apparent; forms 

slope ...................................... 0.6

36. Gypsum, mainly light gray but includes some 

moderate-reddish-brown and grayish-yellowgreen, laminated to very thin bedded, locally 

contorted; forms ledge ...................... 0.3

35. Sandstone, like unit 37 ....................... 0.5

34. Mudstone, grayish-purple, some grayish-yellowgreen; forms slope.......................... 0.3

33. Sandstone, light-gray at top to moderatereddish-brown at base, mottled in middle, very 

fine grained, moderately sorted, very thin bedded; forms slope............................ 4.0

32. Gypsum, like unit 36; 1.8 m above base is 0.9-m 

bed of moderate-reddish-brown, slope-forming, 

silty sandstone ............................ 3.4

31. Sandstone, like unit 37 ....................... 1.5

30. Gypsum, like unit 36 ......................... 1.2

29. Mudstone, grayish-brown, dark-reddish-brown, 

and grayish-yellow-green; 1.5 m above base is 

0.6-m bed of gypsum like unit 36; forms slope . 4.6

28. Gypsum, like unit 36; includes about 20 percent 

dark-reddish-brown mudstone; badly contorted; forms cliff .......................... 3.0

27. Gypsum, like unit 36 but badly contorted; about 

0.9 m above base is 0.9-m bed of dark-reddishbrown mudstone; poorly exposed; forms slope 3.0

26. Mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, irregularly laminated to very thin bedded; includes about 30 

percent moderate-reddish-brown silty sandstone; 6.7 m above base is 0.6 m of gypsum like 

unit 36; overlain by 1.2 m of laminated gray 

limestone and 0.9 m of grayish-yellow-green 

mudstone. The gypsum and limestone form a 

slight ledge; the remainder forms a slope ..... 14.6

Section 1.—Reference section of Carmel Formation and Page Sandstone at Pine Creek—Continued

Carmel Formation Continued 

Upper member Continued

Thickness 

meters

25. Partly covered slope; some light-gray gypsum 

and very light gray limestone weathering out 

on the slope................................ 1.5

24. Gypsum, like unit 36; includes about 30 percent 

dark-reddish-brown mudstone; generally 

forms slope although several gypsum beds 

form ledges................................ 8.5

23. Sandstone, very light gray, very fine grained, 

moderately sorted, very thin bedded; forms 

slope...................................... 5.8

22. Partly covered slope, mainly dark reddish brown 

mudstone and some moderate-reddish-brown 

silty sandstone ............................ 17.2

21. Gypsum, like unit 36; exposed as a series of 

small hills and knobs that extend along the 

partly covered floor of a small gully.......... 1.5

20. Partly covered slope, mainly dark reddish brown

mudstone ................................. 7.6

19. Marker bed: limestone, yellowish-gray, microcrystalline to very fine grained, very thin to 

thin-bedded, locally very low angle, small-scale 

crossbedded; top 15 cm contains several poorly 

preserved pelecypods identified as Pronoella 

uintahensis Imlay by R. W. Imlay (written 

commun., 1969); weathers to slabby cliffs and 

forms a small hogback ...................... 15.2

18. Partly covered slope, mainly dark reddish brown 

mudstone grading to grayish-yellow-green in 

upper 0.9 m above base, suggesting a thin 

limestone bed at top ........................ 5.2

17. Limestone, light-gray, microcrystalline, very

thin bedded; forms flaggy cliffs.............. 6.7

16. Partly covered slope, mainly dark reddish brown

mudstone ................................. 3.4

15. Partly covered slope, mainly yellowish gray, 

very thin bedded limestone includes some 

grayish-yellow mudstone; lower contact apparently planar ............................ 0.9

Total upper member of Carmel Formation . 113.4

Page Sandstone

Thousand Pockets Tongue:

14. Sandstone, very light gray to pale-yellowjshorange at top, fine-grained, well-sorted; consists 

of tabular-planar and wedge-planar sets of 

large-scale low- and high-angle cross-strata; 

basal 0.6 m locally slumped; forms smooth cliff 5.5

13. Marker bed: sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, 

very fine grained, moderately sorted, irregularly 

very thin to thin-bedded; forms slope ......... 3.0

12. Sandstone, light-gray, very fine grained, moderately sorted, very thin to thin-bedded; forms 

cliff ....................................... 2.0
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B39

Section 1.—Reference section of Carmel Formation and Page Sandstone at Pine Creek—Continued

Thickness 

meters

Page Sandstone Continued

Thousand Pockets Tongue Continued

11. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown; grades to 

light-gray and pale-yellowish-orange at top; 

very fine grained, well-sorted. Consists of 

tabular-planar and wedge-planar sets of largescale, low-and high-angle, cross-strata; lower 9.6 

m is irregularly very thin bedded; basal contact 

placed at sharp change in lithology; forms 

smooth cliff................................ 11.3

Total Thousand Pockets Tongue of Page 

Sandstone ........................... 21.9

Carmel Formation:

Judd Hollow Tongue:

10. Partly covered slope, mainly dark reddish brown 

mudstone; includes some moderate-reddishbrown silty sandstone; top 15 cm is grayishpurple bentonite; bedding not apparent....... 5.2

9. Limestone, yellowish-gray, very fine grained, silty and sandy, ripple cross-laminated; forms 

flaggy cliff................................. 3.0

8. Interbedded unit: sandstone (about 50 percent), 

moderate-reddish-brown, fine-grained, 

moderately sorted; mudstone (about 40 

percent), dark-reddish-brown; and limestone, 

moderate-reddish-brown; very thin to thinbedded; about 3 m above base is 0.3-m bed of 

grayish-purple mudstone; forms slope ........ 8.4

7. Limestone, very pale orange, very fine grained, 

sandy and silty, irregularly very thin bedded; 

forms flaggy ledge .......................... 1.4

6. Sandstone, light-gray to grayish-orange, finegrained, irregularly laminated to very thin bedded; forms slope............................ 1.4

5. Sandstone, light-gray, fine-grained, moderately to 

well-sorted, laminated to small-scale very low 

angle crossbedded; forms ledge .............. 0.5

4. Sandstone, light-gray to grayish-orange, finegrained, moderately sorted, irregularly 

laminated to very thin bedded; forms notch or 

slope ...................................... 0.6

3. Sandstone, light-gray, stained moderateyellowish-brown, very fine grained, moderately 

sorted, irregularly very thin bedded; contains 

several slumped beds; lower contact sharp and 

planar; forms flaggy cliff .................... 2.0

Total Judd Hollow Tongue of Carmel Formation ................................ 26.6

Page Sandstone:

Harris Wash Tongue:

2. Sandstone, light-gray, some moderate-reddishbrown, fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted; 

bedding consists of tabular-planar and troughshaped sets of large-scale low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; scarce angular very fine to fine 

pebbles of pale-brown to grayish-red chert scattered along base; lower contact sharp and 

planar; regional studies indicate it is an unconformity; forms cliff; base locally forms slight 

overhang .................................. 4.6

Total Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone ................................ 4.6

Section 1.—Reference section of Carmel Formation and Page Sandstone at Pine Creek—Continued

Thickness 

meters

Unconformity.

Navajo Sandstone (part):

1. Sandstone, light-gray, fine-grained, well-sorted; 

consists of tabular-planar and wedge-planar 

sets of large-scale low- and high-angle crossstrata; forms blocky cliffs ................... 30.5+

Total measured Navajo Sandstone....... 30.5

Section 2a.—Reference section of Carmel Formation (upper member)

at Page 

[Measured near paved road on west side of valley of Wahweap Creek about 5 km north of

Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam in the SWMSW'/i sec. 1, SE'/iSE'/i sec. 2,

T, 41 N., R. 8 E., Coconino County, Ariz.J

Entrada Sandstone (part):

24. Sandstone, very light gray, fine-grained, moderately to well-sorted; bedding consists of 

trough-shaped sets of medium- to large-scale 

high-angle cross-strata; lower contact sharp, 

planar, and conformable; top eroded; forms 

small irregular cliffs and knobby slopes ...... 6.1

Total measured Entrada Sandstone...... 6.1

Carmel Formation: 

Upper member:

23. Sandstone, silty, grayish-yellow-green, coarse 

silt to very fine grained, moderately to poorly 

sorted, irregularly very thin bedded; forms 

slope ...................................... 0.3

22. Mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, sandy, laminated to very thin bedded; contains several 

sandstone and silty sandstone beds, which are 

moderate reddish brown, coarse silt to very 

fine grained, moderately to poorly sorted, very 

thin to thin bedded; 9.1 m above base is 0.9-m 

bed of very thin bedded white sandstone 

overlain by 15 cm of grayish-purple mudstone; 

8.5 m above base is 0.3 m of very thin bedded 

white sandstone overlain by 15 cm of grayishpurple mudstone; 0.9 m above base is 15 cm of 

grayish-purple bentonite; forms slope ........ 13.5

21. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown; top 0.3 m 

is white, fine-grained, moderately sorted; contains scattered very coarse grains, irregularly 

very thin to thin bedded; 3.7 m above base is 

thin lens of dark-reddish-brown mudstone as 

much as 0.3 m thick; forms slopes with slabby 

cliff in middle .............................. 5.5

20. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, very fine 

grained, moderately sorted, irregularly very 

thin to thin-bedded; includes many laminae or 

very thin beds of silty sandstone or mudstone; 

8.5 m above base is 5 cm of dark-reddish-brown 

mudstone; 7.3 m above base is 0.9 m of white 

crossbedded sandstone; 6.7 m above base is 15 

cm zone with scattered very fine to fine pebbles; forms slabby slopes at base and slabby 

cliffs at top ................................ 9.4

19. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted, contains scattered 

very fine pebbles; laminated to very thin bedded; 1.2 and 1.5 m above base are two 7-mmthick laminae of grayish-purple mudstone; 

forms slope with slabby cliff at top........... 4.9
B40 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

Section 2a.—Reference section ofCarmel Formation (upper member)

at Page—Continued 

Carmel Formation Continued

Upper member Continued Thickness

meters

18. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, very fine 

grained, moderately sorted; several beds contain scattered very fine pebbles; bedding is 

laminated to very thin bedded or consists of 

tabular-planar sets of small- to medium-scale, 

low-angle cross-strata; includes minor darkreddish-brown mudstone; forms a series of 

slabby to blocky ledges ..................... 6.7

17. Interbedded sandstone and mudstone; sandstone, grayish-purple, fine-grained, moderately 

sorted; mudstone, dark-reddish-brown to 

grayish-purple, very thin to thin-bedded; 

forms slope ................................ 1.5

16. Sandstone, very light gray, fine-grained, moderately sorted; bedding is indistinct; forms 

ledge...................................... 0.6

15. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scattered 

very fine pebbles, very thin bedded; forms 

slope ...................................... 0.3

14. Sandstone, pebbly, moderate-reddish-brown, 

fine-grained, poorly sorted; contains scattered 

very fine to fine pebbles and thin conglomerate 

lenses, irregularly very thin bedded; forms 

slope ...................................... 0.3

13. Sandstone, like unit 15 ....................... 0.9

12. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scattered 

very fine pebbles, very thin bedded; slight 

ledge caps cliff ............................. 0.9

11. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, well-sorted; consists of a tabularplanar set of large-scale high-angle crossstrata; forms smooth cliff................... 4.6

10. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scattered 

very fine pebbles laminated to very thin bedded; top 0.9 m includes several very thin beds 

of dark-reddish-brown mudstone, some of 

which have sandstone-filled mudcracks; 5.5 m 

above base is 0.3-m bed of dark-reddish-brown 

shale containing sandstone-filled mudcracks, 

overlain by 2.1-m sandstone bed that is locally 

crossbedded and contains scarce scattered 

mudchips; 4.3 m above base is 0.3-m bed of 

dark-reddish-brown shale; 0.9 m above base is 

2.5-cm bed of dark-reddish-brown shale; 

generally forms slabby to blocky cliffs but includes several slopes ....................... 8.8

9. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, very fine 

grained, moderately sorted, very thin bedded; 

includes several very thin beds of darkreddish-brown mudstone; forms slope ........ 0.5

8. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scattered 

coarse and very coarse grains; bedding is 

laminated to very thin bedded or consists of 

scarce tabular-planar sets of medium-scale 

high-angle cross-strata; includes scarce very 

thin beds of dark-reddish-brown shale and

Section 2a.—Reference section of Carmel Formation (upper member) 

at Page—Continued

Carmel Formation Continued

Upper member Continued Thickness

7.9

0.6

mudstone; forms slabby to blocky ledges and 

slopes .....................................

7. Marker bed: limestone, grayish-pink to moderate-pink, microcrystalline, laminated but includes scarce ripple cross-laminae; locally has 

abundant straight lines that intersect at right 

angles on several bedding surfaces ("maprock" 

of Young, 1964); forms platy ledge ........... 0.6

6. Sandstone, silty, moderate-reddish-brown, 

very dark red in thin irregular zone in middle, 

coarse silt to very fine grained, moderately to 

poorly sorted, very thin bedded; forms slope ..

5. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scarce 

scattered very fine pebbles, irregularly 

laminated to thin-bedded; includes scarce very 

thin beds of dark-reddish-brown mudstone; 

forms flaggy ledges and slopes .............. 5.3

4. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, finegrained, moderately sorted; contains scattered 

very coarse grains; very thin bedded; includes 

some very fine grained silty sandstone; forms 

flaggy slope ............................... 2.6

3. Sandstone, like unit 4, but forms ledge......... 0.8

2. Sandstone, silty, moderate-reddish-brown, 

coarse silt to fine-grained, moderately to poorly sorted, very thin to thin-bedded; includes 

several very thin beds of dark-reddish-brown 

mudstone; lower contact sharp, nearly planar 

with less than 0.3 m of relief locally; forms 

slope ...................................... 1.2

Total upper member of Carmel Formation ................................ 77.7

Page Sandstone (part):

Sandstone, moderate-pink, fine-grained, wellsorted; consists of tabular-planar and wedgeplanar sets of large-scale low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; forms smooth slopes and cliffs .. 30.0+ 

Total measured Page Sandstone ......... 30.0

Section 2b.—Type section of Page Sandstone

[Measured on northwest side of Manson Mesa and the town of Page in the SWWNWW sec. 

19, T. 41 N., R. 9 E., (projected), Coconino County, Ariz. Base of section is about 914 m 

east-northeast from Glen Canyon Dam and line of section trends due east up small 

cleft in cliffs to VABM 4103, Antelope]

Thickness 

meters

Carmel Formation (part): 

Upper member (part):

9. Sandstone, dark-reddish-brown, fine-grained, 

moderately sorted; contains scattered very 

fine pebbles, very thin bedded to thin bedded; 

includes some sandy mudstone; forms ledges 

and slopes ................................. 6.0+

8. Mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, sandy, laminated to very thin bedded; forms slope ........ 2.0
RELATIONS OF THE NAVAJO SANDSTONE TO MIDDLE JURASSIC FORMATIONS, UTAH AND ARIZONA B41

Section 2b.—Type section of Page Sandstone—Continued

Carmel Formation Continued 

Upper member Continued

Thickness 

meters

7. Sandstone, very light gray to grayish-pink, 

fine-grained, moderately sorted, irregularly 

very thin to thin-bedded, lower contact sharp 

and planar; generally covered by soil; forms 

slight ledge where exposed.................. 0.2

Total measured upper member of Carmel 

Formation ........................... 8.2

Page Sandstone:

6. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-orange to moderate-reddish-brown; grades to very light gray or 

grayish pink at top, fine grained, well sorted; 

scarce coarse grains occur at base of several 

cross-bedding sets; bedding consists of 

tabular-planar sets of medium- to large-scale, 

low- and high-angle cross-strata; forms smooth 

slopes or cliff rounded at top ................ 39.1

5. Sandstone, dark-reddish-brown, fine-grained, 

moderately sorted, irregularly very thin bedded; fossil joints at base extend about 0.6 m into underlying beds; forms local small bench or 

slight notch ............................... 0.3

4. Sandstone, same as unit 6; grades to grayish 

red at top where small calcite or silicacemented sandstone nodules occur; forms 

smooth steep slopes or cliff ................. 7.9

3. Sandstone, dark-reddish-brown, fine-grained, 

moderately sorted, irregularly very thin bedded; forms local small bench or slight notch... 0.3

2. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-orange to moderate-reddish-brown, fine-grained, well-sorted; 

scarce coarse grains occur at base of several 

crossbedding sets; bedding consists of tabularplanar sets of medium- to large-scale, low- and 

high-angle cross-strata; scattered along base 

are abundant angular very fine to fine pebbles 

of white to very pale orange chert or scarce red 

chert; fossil joints at base extend down about 1 

m into Navajo Sandstone; lower contact sharp 

and planar except at fossil joints; regional 

studies indicate an unconformity; forms 

smooth rounded cliffs ...................... 8.2

Total Page Sandstone .................. 55.8

Unconformity.

Navajo Sandstone (part):

1. Sandstone, pale-reddish-brown; grades down to 

moderate reddish brown, fine grained, well 

sorted; bedding consists of tabular-planar sets 

of medium- to large-scale, low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; small silica- and calcite-cemented 

sandstone nodules occur in upper 4.6 m; forms 

smooth sheer cliffs in Glen Canyon but above 

the canyon has irregular bench a kilometer or 

more wide, stripped back on top ............. 15.2+

Total measured Navajo Sandstone ....... 15.2

Section 3.—Type section of Harris Wash Tongue of Page Sandstone 

[Measured on west side of Halfway Hollow about 0.8 km from junction with Harris Wash,

about 20 km southeast of Escalante, Utah, in the NEViSE'/iNE 1/* sec. 26, T. 36 S., R. 4

E., Garfield County, Utah]

Carmel Formation (part): Thickness

c meters

Judd Hollow Tongue (part):

5. Mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, laminated to 

very thin bedded; upper part involved in intraformational folds; forms slope ............ 0.6+

4. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown and grayish-red; top meter mottled with grayish pink; 

fine grained, moderately to well sorted, irregularly laminated to very thin bedded; includes some small- to medium-scale, low-angle, 

wedge-planar cross-strata; forms slabby cliff . 6.9 

Total measured Judd Hollow Tongue of 

Carmel Formation.................... 7.5

Page Sandstone (part): 

Harris Wash Tongue:

3. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown and grayish-pink; grading upward to dominantly 

grayish pink, fine grained, well sorted; consists 

of tabular-planar and wedge-planar sets of 

medium- and large-scale, low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; top 15 cm is a set of low-angle, 

wedge-planar cross-strata; beneath that is a 

set of large-scale, high-angle cross-strata 

about 10.7 m thick; forms smooth cliff ....... 18.0

2. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown; includes 

some that is grayish pink and very light gray, 

fine grained, moderately sorted, laminated to 

very thin bedded and ripple cross laminated; 

scattered along base are angular very fine pebbles of white to very pale orange chert; fossil 

joints extend down as much as 1.2 m into the 

Navajo Sandstone; basal contact sharp and 

planar except at fossil joints; regional studies 

indicate it is an unconformity; forms smooth 

cliffs, locally stripped back slightly at base ... 

Total Harris Wash Tongue of Page SandUnconformity.

Navajo Sandstone (part):

1. Sandstone, grayish-pink to moderate-reddishbrown, fine-grained, well-sorted; consists of 

tabular-planar and wedge-planar sets of 

medium- to large-scale, low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; forms smooth cliff ............. 6.1 +

Total measured Navajo Sandstone ....... 6.0

0.3

Section 4.—Principal reference section of Temple Cap Sandstone,

type section of Sinawava and White Throne Members 

[Measured at top of Zion Canyon about 500 m northeast of Observation Point in the

NW'/iNW'/i sec. 2, T. 41 S., R. 10 W. (projected), Zion National Park, Washington

County, Utah]

Thickness 

Meters

Carmel Formation (part): 

Limestone member (part): 

Limestone unit (part):

10. Limestone, very pale orange, microcrystalline to very fine grained, thin- to thickbedded, locally laminated to very thin bedded; forms slabby ledges; top eroded, only 

lower part present...................... 12.2+

Total measured limestone unit....... 12.2
B42 TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC ROCKS, WESTERN INTERIOR UNITED STATES

Section 4.—Principal reference section of Temple Cap Sandstone,

type section of Sinawava and White Throne Members—Continued

Carmel Formation Continued Thickness

Limestone member Continued meters

Basal unit:

9. Interbedded mudstone and sandstone; 

mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, laminated 

to very thin bedded; sandstone and silty 

sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown to 

grayish-pink, coarse silt, to fine-grained, 

moderately sorted, very thin bedded; contains some pink limestone near top; forms 

a slope, generally partly concealed by thin 

veneer of talus of soil................... 6.0

8. Sandstone, moderate-reddish-brown, medium-grained; contains scattered rounded 

coarse grains of black, gray, or brown 

chert and red or clear quartz, and angular 

very coarse grains and very fine pebbles of 

white or pink chert, irregularly very thin 

to thin bedded; lower contact sharp and 

planar; regional studies indicate it is an unconformity; forms flaggy ledge .......... 0.3

Total basal unit .................... 6.4

Total measured limestone member of 

Carmel Formation ................ 18.6

Temple Cap Sandstone: 

White Throne Member:

7. Sandstone, yellowish-gray grading down to very 

light gray and very pale orange, fine-grained, 

well-sorted; consists of trough and tabularplanar sets of large-scale, low- and high-angle 

cross-strata; forms smooth cliff ............. 26.5

6. Sandstone, grayish-yellow to pale-yellowishorange, very fine to fine-grained, scattered 

very coarse grains, moderately sorted; consists of tabular-planar and wedge-planar sets 

of medium-scale, low-angle cross-strata; forms 

irregular cliff; locally has a small shoulder at 

top ....................................... 4.0

5. Sandstone, grayish-yellow to pale-yellowishorange, very fine to medium-grained; scattered 

coarse grains, moderately sorted, very thin 

bedded; includes tabular-planar sets of smallscale, low-angle cross-strata in lower 15 cm; 

forms cliff ................................. 0.6

4. Sandstone, very light gray and some moderatereddish-brown, mottled, fine-grained, 

moderately to well-sorted; consists of troughshaped sets of medium- to large-scale low- and 

high-angle cross-strata; lower contact gradational; unit varies in thickness owing to intraformational folds or slumps at or near the 

base; forms cliff............................ 18.6

Total White Throne Member ............ 49.7

Sinawava Member:

3. Interbedded sandstone, silty sandstone, and 

mudstone; sandstone and silty sandstone, 

moderate-reddish-brown, coarse silt to very 

fine grained, scattered coarse grains, 

moderately to poorly sorted, laminated to very 

thin bedded; mudstone, dark-reddish-brown, 

laminated to very thin bedded, more abundant 

near base of unit; unit varies in thickness owing to intraformational folds or slumps near 

top, largely concealed by talus and soil cover; 

forms slope ................................ 5.8

Section 4.—Principal reference section of Temple Cap Sandstone, type

section of Sinawava and White Throne Members—Continued 

Temple Cap Sandstone Continued Thickness 

Sinawava Member Continued meters 

2. Sandstone, very light gray to moderate-reddish-brown, mottled, very fine to fine-grained, 

scattered coarse and scarce very coarse grains, 

moderately to poorly sorted, irregular very 

thin bedding, basal contact sharp, nearly 

planar, but locally has about 15 cm relief; 

forms slope or slight ledge .................. 0.3

Total Sinawava Member ................ 6.1

Total Temple Cap Sandstone ............ 55.8

Navajo Sandstone (part):

1. Sandstone, white to very light gray, fine-grained, well-sorted; consists of tabular-planar and 

wedge-planar sets of large-scale, low- and highangle cross-strata; forms smooth cliff........ 15.2

Total measured Navajo Sandstone ....... 15.2

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