Fossil Mountain (Grand Canyon)
| Fossil Mountain (Grand Canyon) | |
|---|---|
(Havasupai Point, adjacent to Fossil Mountain) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 6,729 ft (2,051 m) |
| Prominence | 309 ft (94 m) |
| Isolation | 0.61 mi (0.98 km) |
| Coordinates | 36°11′26″N 112°21′39″W / 36.1904265°N 112.3608256°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Grand Canyon National Park Coconino County, Arizona, US |
| Parent range | Coconino Plateau Colorado Plateau |
| Topo map | USGS Explorers Monument |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type(s) | sedimentary rock: limestone, sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, shale |
| Rock type(s) | the most common top 4 rock units in Grand Canyon-(relatively large thicknesses as in most of West Grand Canyon) and Kaibab Limestone-(prominence cliff), Toroweap Formation, Coconino Sandstone-(massive basement-cliff), Hermit Formation-(shale) |
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Fossil Mountain is a prominence that is located on a spur in the Western Grand Canyon, in Coconino County, Arizona. The summit of this prominence has an elevation of 6,729 ft (2,051 m) and lies about 1 mi (1.6 km) southeast of the Grand Scenic Divide, and 1 mi (1.6 km) west of Havasupai Point. This summit lies almost level with the surface of the adjacent tableland of the South Rim, the forested Kaibab Plateau.
As seen in the above photograph, Fossil Mountain exhibits a large cliff of Kaibab Limestone. The southwest slope of Fossil Mountain is a highly vegetated (trees), and high angle slope to the prominence. Below the 350 ft (110 m) cliff of Kaibab Limestone is about ~250 ft (76 m) of vegetated slope-forming Toroweap Formation. The Toroweap Formation sits upon a ~500 ft (150 m) cliff-forming, Coconino Sandstone, very vertical, and uneroded, (northeast face of Fossil Mountain, overlooking the canyon). The Coconino Sandstone sits on large slopes of vegetated Hermit Formation.