Christian Sedona - the Permian Tour!

Geology:
Sedona!

THE PERMIAN TOUR! As you look in most directions around Sedona, you're in the late Permian, all the way to the Kaibab cap. It was just after this that there was a major die-off, killing 99% of the species. For each location below, CLIK to see an explanation further down.

CH Chimney Rock. Shaped like the 40's 3-topper chimneys, it has a nice view at sundown from the Uptown area. High above it on Grayback is Lizard Rock (careful!).
GB Grayback Mountain. These days it's Disney's 'Thunder Mountain', but during its formation, it was Sahara-like sand dunes with little life to be found.
CP Coffeepot Rock. Shaped like the older perculator, and 'coffee' streets nearby. What a sense of humor!

BM Brins Mesa. Back behind Uptown Sedona, and scene of the 2006 fire. In the old days, a trail for cattle in the Dry Creek area.
PO Post Office. Road cut west of the main post office. Most of Sedona is built on ERODED hermit shale. Here un-eroded.
SR Ship/Steamboat Rock. A good general locator in Sedona. Also known as 'the fins'.
WM Wilson Mountain. Viewable from miles around. Portion toward hwy 89A dropped in earthquake.

89A As you drop in elevation leaving Sedona, on the right side you'll see road cuts of the old Supai formation.
SM Scheurman Mountain. It's almost even with Airport Mesa, and the same Oak Creek aluvium.
GF Grasshopper Flats. That's its old name. Today, it's West Sedona and almost totally erode hermit shale.
AM Airport Mesa. At one time, the top of the mesa was Oak Creek, prior to its cutting down on the SH179 side.

SP Snoopy Rock. He's the fun rock to look at from Uptown. I always wonder about his nose!
SH Schnebly Hill Road. The first 2 miles are 'car-able', and a beautiful series of sandstone sculptures.
TB Twin Buttes. They almost look like mirror images. The famous Chapel is on the south-side.
CT Cathedral Rock. This is Sedona's signature rock, most often viewed from the south on post cards.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

SEDONA is totally from the permian geological period. Far to the east and north, the ancient rockies in Colorado were very slowly eroding downward, eventually to completely disappear. The rockies had a high iron and silica content, and thus the redness in the Sedona area is the rusted remains! If you use a microscope, you'll actually just see just hints of the rust. It's the reflectivity of the silica sand and the consistency of the rust that creates Sedona's famous red rocks!

HERMIT SHALE. The town mainly sits on eroded Hermit shale, but you can see the original shale just west of the post office on 89A in the roadcut. You're about 280m year ago, and in a broad drainage area that empties into the Earp sea, whose shore is SOUTHWEST of Prescott! Jerome and Mingus mountain are deep below.

SCHNEBLY HILL FORMATION. There is an eroded unconformity between the Hermit and the Schnebly. The Schnebly is a series of sandstone layers from the rockies. We're about 10m years later and now the Pedregosa Sea is southeast of us! We're in the dune area near the shoreline, and we're just north of the equator! The earliest layers are called Rancho Rojo, named for the housing area on the west side of the Village of Oak Creek. Both the Rancho and the next one up, the Bell Rock member, are from near-shore wind-blown sand similar to Namibia today. If you look on top of Bell Rock (north of the Village), you'll see a thin-white layer (almost looks like a little house!). This is the Ft Apache member. The sea overlapped this area a 'short' period and thus the thickness is only abou 5-10 feet here. If you go southeast over to the White Mountains near Ft Apache (gee), the layer is almost 100 feet thick, and thus from deeper in the ocean. If you hike the Bell Rock area, you can find fallen pieces of it ... it's quite interesting. The upper member of the Schnebly is the Sycamore Pass member. It starts out 'red' but increasingly has layers of white Coconino sandstone. The Pedregosa Sea has left us, and we're in a sahara-like dry time. More and more and more sand is blown in from the north. Goodness it's hot!

COCONINO SANDSTONE FORMATION. This is the great Coconino desert (I made that up!). But imagine these sand dunes stretching from the Lake Meade area all the way to New Mexico, and from Ft Apache in the south to southern Utah. It must have been awful! The ancestral rockies are almost gone, and the last of the Pedregosa Sea is southeast of Phoenix. Boy, it's hot, with winds coming in from the northwest. It's hard to imagine just how much sand got blown in, looking at Grayback Mountain in West Sedona. We're talking about 270m years ago.

TOROWEAP LIMESTONE. If you look carefully above the white-yellow Coconino sandstone in Oak Creek Canyon, you'll see a thin green line of vegetation ... that's the Toroweap limestone near the top, from about 265m years ago. By now, the ocean is on the WEST and the Toroweap ends in our area (much thicker to the west). Sedona is right on the edge of the Torweap Sea, which is why the layer is thin (from sponges in the sea). So, now you have to imagine you're undersea AND underneath hundreds of layers of sand!

KAIBAB LIMESTONE. This is the top white layer (further north, volcanic basalt is on top of that). We're now very much UNDER-WATER! The shoreline is up towards the Hopi reservation. And all that limestone is mainly from sponges and their little needles. That is a BUNCH of needles! We're about 260m years ago and at the END of the Permian age. The earth will reach its hottest temperature ever, creating a major die-off and killing 99% of the species. So, when you are up on the Kaibab, carry a hanky with you ... everything is about to die!

89A SH89A WEST SEDONA. This is after you leave the city limits going down the hill. The road cut on the north side is the only place in Sedona where you can see some of the Redwall Limestone from about 320m years ago. The limestone below Midgley Bridge is from the Supai formation.

AM AIRPORT MESA. This is the residual Oak Creek drainage, before it cut down to the east. It's nice to eat at the little restaurant at the airport and imagine the world about 2m years long ago. Assuming the date, Oak Creek cuts down about 12" every 3000 year or so. As you walk around you'll notice the cobbles likely from the ancient creek. Sunset is quite nice from the western edge. Combine that and a nice meal and a geological discussion!

BM This is the mesa that you can see in the distance from SH89A, just after you leave the Y, looking north. It allows you to better imagine the Schnebly Hill sandstone in its more natural state ... flat and boring. It was here that a fire started in 2006 and burned across Wilson Mountain into Oak Creek. Please be careful with fire. In the early 1900s, cattlemen moved small herds from the Sedona area into the Dry Creek basin, going across Brins Mesa (named, reportedly, for Brin the cow!).

CH CHIMNEY ROCK. Located in far-west Sedona, this is more viewable from the Uptown area, especially just before sunset. It's a layer of the Schnebly Hill sandstone overtop hilly Hermit shale. There's a trail just north of Thunder Mountain Rd which encircles the rock formation for a close up view.

CP COFFEEPOT ROCK. This is one of those signature rocks in West Sedona, looking like the old coffee percolators. A developer named all the streets nearby after coffee names. Such humor and nice memories. The 'coffeepot' is Schnebly Hill sandstone, demonstrating its tremendous ability to withstand erosion. The Hermit shale below is much more erosive.

CT CATHEDRAL ROCK. This formation is the most well known around Sedona. Most of it is Schnebly Hill sandstone. In the middle-height, is the Ft Apache limestone from being under the Pedregosa Sea. Below that is the Bell Rock sandstone member (beach) while above the Ft Apache is the Sycamore Pass member (away from the beach). The shape occurs from a subsequent uplift with erosion in the cracks.

GB GRAYBACK MOUNTAIN. Also known as Thunder Mountain and Capitol Butte. The old-timers here don't appreciate all the more recent names! It's a nice mountain just to gaze at from a restaurant in West Sedona. On the far western edge is Lizard Rock, and indeed it looks like a lizard! The mountain is mainly permian Coconino sandstone overtop the Schnebly Hill red sandstone. On top are hints of the Kaibab limestone. There's a trail all along its base. If you cash a check at the Wells Fargo drive-thru, and use the RIGHT drive-thru, you'll see a red rock arch in the making straight ahead (can't see from the left drive-thru!). There are quite a few arches in this area, which start out as erosion BEHIND a rock facing, with the center-part eventually dropping out.

GF GRASSHOPPER FLATS. This is West Sedona. Not too long ago, it was a dusty road from Cottonwood up to the Sedona uptown areaq. But eventually an aquafer was located in the early 50s, and soon it was a thousand people's dreams. It's eroded Hermit shale and the water company still drills into two aquafers below to support Sedona's needs. What about Oak Creek? In the early 1900s when they built Roosevelt Dam near Phoenix, who ever used Oak Creek water then has water rights now. But not today's Sedona. Is the aquafer replenishing? Don't know.

PO POST OFFICE ROAD CUT. Park your car at the main post office at the 'Y'. Then walk up SH89A and look at the road cut there. It's what Hermit shale looks like when it's NOT eroded! Notice the downsloping. Earlier developers built on top of the eroded hermit. Today's builders have their frontloaders out there digging these big rocks out ... land is getting less favorable and flat.

SH SCHNEBLY HILL ROAD. Named for early settlers Carl and Sedona Schnebly, who had a small homestead where Los Abrigados is. The road goes all the way to I-17 but you need a high-clearance vehicle after the first 2 miles. It's both a nice drive and hike, displaying most of the permian layers ... Hermit shale, Schnebly Hill sandstone, Coconino sandstone, kaibab limestone and basalt on top. It's the old Munds wagon trail and you can see a whole series of carvings: Camel Rock, Merry-Go-Round and the Cowpies. A good overlook allows you to see the Wilson Mountain bench and faultline.

SM SCHEURMAN MOUNTAIN. This is the 'mountain' on the left behind the high school, as you're leaving Sedona on SH89A. It's almost even with Airport Mesa, and is the residual of the old Oak Creek flood plain. On its western flank, you can see its geological layers at Lower Red Rock Loop Road. The Scheurmans were early homesteaders, with a ranch down towards the creek. Now days, it's a major argument about water rights!

SN SNOOPY ROCK. This is a recent name, of course! Like most of the formations around Sedona, it's Schnebly Hill sandstone from the permian. Below it supporting many peoples' dream homes is the Hermit shale. If you're uptown having a cup of coffee, the cliffs down near the creek are from the Esplanade member of the Supai group. They're very 'cliffy'. High above is the permian Coconino sandstone topped with the kaibab limestone. I still haven't figured out how Snoopy got his nose, though!

SR SHIP or STEAMBOAT ROCK. Again, like most of the formations around Sedona, it's Schnebly Hill sandstone from the permian. Below it, and broadening out is the Hermit shale. The old wagon road into Oak Creek came down the face of the hermit shale in front of Ship Rock. Best view is at Midgley Bridge, a mile or so north of Sedona. Below the bridge you'll find mainly the Supai formation (cliffy).

TB TWIN BUTTES. This is on your left as you go south on SH179 from Sedona. The chapel sits on its south flank. It's mainly Schnebly Hill sandstone over top the hermit shale, all permian. The top has just hints of the Coconino sandstone. As the name suggests, the two buttes are almost mirror images of each other. The one nearest SH179 is called 'Elephant Rock', but it's animal shape is most obvious from uptown.

WM WILSON MOUNTAIN. Wilson was one of the early mountain men that lived up canyon in the late 1800s. He was an expert with bears, but apparently took on one too many, using a light gun. The bear got mad, and Wilson is now a mountain! It's another one that is fun to gaze at, sitting in a restaurant in Sedona. The top is volcanic, and the last eruption in the canyon area. A faultline dropped its eastern flank creating 'Wilson Bench'. Its western exposure shows the huge permian Coconino sandstone, with the Schnebly Hill sandstone below. A fire there in 2006 was really sad but amazing, as the burning pieces would fall straight down the cliffs. On the far back is 'Lost Wilson Mountain' and across Sterling Canyon, Vultee Arch. Both are nice hikes.