Phantom Ranch Tour - view east from the South Kaibab Trail

View looking east from the South Kaibab Trail toward the Inner Gorge. The flat-lying sedimentary rocks of the Cambrian-age Tonto Group overlie the crystalline basement rocks of the Inner Gorge. In ascending order, the Tonto Group is subdivided into the Tapeats Sandstone, Bright Angel Shale, and Muav Limestone. The Tapeats Sandstone forms a flat-lying ledge above the Great Unconformity exposed along the top of the Inner Gorge. The overlying Bright Angel Shale forms the broad terrace-like platform and slope above the Inner Gorge. The Muav Limestone weathers to form a series of rocky ledges at the top of the slope formed by the upper Bright Angel Shale. Higher up the canyon wall, the cliffs of the Redwall escarpment consist of the Devonian-age Temple Butte Formation and the overlying Mississippian-age Redwall Limestone. The Surprise Canyon Formation found elsewhere on top of the Redwall Limestone in the Grand Canyon is not exposed along the South Kaibab Trail (Beus, 1987). Plants in the foreground include Juniper (lower center) and Pinyon Pines (lower left and right).