Colorful mudstone, such as in the Painted Desert, and less abundant lenses of sandstone and conglomerate, deposited by a large river system. This unit typically is eroded into badlands topography and contains clays that are prone to shrinking and swelling. (210-230 Ma)
Moderately to strongly consolidated conglomerate and sandstone deposited in basins during and after late Tertiary faulting. Includes lesser amounts of mudstone, siltstone, limestone, and gypsum. These deposits are generally light gray or tan. They commonly form high rounded hills and ridges in modern basins, and locally form prominent bluffs. Deposits of this unit are widely exposed in the dissected basins of southeastern and central Arizona. (2-16 Ma)
Conspicuous red, cross-bedded Wingate Sandstone and the conspicuously cross-bedded, eolian, red to buff Navajo Sandstone form prominent cliffs in northern Arizona. These two sandstone units are separated by variably colored siltstone, silty sandstone, and sandstone of the Kayenta and Moenave Formations. (180-210 Ma)
Mostly dark-colored basaltic lava and cinders young enough that some original volcanic landforms are still apparent. Includes a small amount of andesite, dacite, and rhyolite. Rocks of this map unit are largely restricted to six areas widely distributed in Arizona: San Francisco and Uinkaret volcanic fields in northern Arizona (0-4 Ma); Springerville (0-4 Ma) and San Carlos (0-2 Ma) volcanic fields in east-central Arizona; and San Bernardino (0-1 Ma) and Sentinel (1-4 Ma) volcanic fields in southern Arizona. Rocks of this unit are also present in the extreme southwestern part of Arizona where they were erupted at the edge of the Pinacate volcanic field (0-2 Ma) in northwestern Sonora. (0-4 Ma)
Lava, tuff, fine-grained intrusive rock, and diverse pyroclastic rocks. These compositionally variable volcanic rocks include basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite. Thick felsic volcanic sequences form prominent cliffs and range fronts in the Black (Mohave County), Superstition, Kofa, Eagletail, Galiuro, and Chiricahua Mountains. This unit includes regionally extensive ash-flow tuffs, such as the Peach Springs tuff of northwestern Arizona and the Apache Leap tuff east of Phoenix. Most volcanic rocks are 20-30 Ma in southeastern Arizona and 15 to 25 Ma in central and western Arizona, but this unit includes some late Eocene rocks near the New Mexico border in east-central Arizona. (11-38 Ma)
Basal conglomerate and pebbly sandstone of the Chinle Formation is relatively resistant to erosion and forms extensive benches in some parts of the Colorado Plateau. (210-230 Ma)
Coarse relict alluvial fan deposits that form rounded ridges or flat, isolated surfaces that are moderately to deeply incised by streams. These deposits are generally topographically high and have undergone substantial erosion. Deposits are moderately to strongly consolidated, and commonly contain coarser grained sediment than younger deposits in the same area. (0.75-3 Ma)
Commonly cross-bedded, ledge-forming sandstone and slope-forming siltstone. Rock typically has a striped red and white aspect. The Carmel Formation and Entrada Sandstone are prominent members of this group. (Late to Middle Jurassic, about 160-180 Ma)
Light colored, weakly to moderately consolidated conglomerate and sandstone deposited largely or entirely before mid-Tertiary volcanism and extensional faulting. Most sediment was deposited by early Cenozoic streams that flowed northeastward onto the Colorado Plateau from areas to the southwest that are now lower in elevation than the Plateau. Sediments of this map unit, other than the Chuska Sandstone in northeasternmost Arizona, are commonly referred to as "rim gravels" because they now rest on or near the Mogollon Rim, which is the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau. (30-65 Ma)
Commonly cliff-forming, cross-bedded sandstone lenses alternating with slope-forming siltstone, mudstone and shale. Colors are highly variable, and include greenish gray, reddish brown, pink, white, and purple. Sands were deposited by braided streams with finer sediment representing overbank or lacustrine deposits. (145-160 Ma)
Tan sandstone (Dakota Sandstone) overlain by gray shale (Mancos Shale); deposited in beach, river delta, and shallow sea settings. The Mancos Shale is overlain by the Mesaverde Group (map unit Kmv). This unit includes related sandstone and shale exposed near Show Low, Morenci (Pinkard Formation), and around Deer Creek south of Globe. (about 88-97 Ma)
Unconsolidated to strongly consolidated alluvial and eolian deposits. This unit includes: coarse, poorly sorted alluvial fan and terrace deposits on middle and upper piedmonts and along large drainages; sand, silt and clay on alluvial plains and playas; and wind-blown sand deposits. (0-2 Ma)
Gray to tan, cherty limestone of Kaibab and Toroweap Formations, and underlying white to tan, fine-grained Coconino Sandstone. Limestone was deposited in a shallow sea, and sandstone was deposited in near-shore dunes and beach settings. (270-280 Ma)
Interbedded sandstone, shale, and limestone usually characterized by ledgy outcrops. Orange to reddish sandstone forms cliffs near Sedona. This unit includes Supai Group and Hermit Shale in northern Arizona and Naco Group in southern Arizona. It was deposited in coastal-plain to shallow-marine settings during time of variable and changing sea level. Rocks of this map unit in southern Arizona may be in part equivalent to Permian rocks of map unit P in central and northern Arizona. (280-310 Ma)
Unconsolidated deposits associated with modern fluvial systems. This unit consists primarily of fine-grained, well-sorted sediment on alluvial plains, but also includes gravelly channel, terrace, and alluvial fan deposits on middle and upper piedmonts. (0-10 ka)
Gray to buff sandstone with interbedded shale and coal. These rocks, which are similar to slightly younger rocks that form Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, were deposited on the margin of a shallow sea. Rocks of this map unit host the only large coal deposits in Arizona. (84-88 Ma)
Rhyolite to andesite deposited as lava flows and related rocks associated with basaltic rocks of map units Tby and Tb. (2-12 Ma)
Dark red sandstone and mudstone; includes gypsum beds in northwestern Arizona; deposited on a low-relief coastal plain. (230-245 Ma)
Porphyritic to equigranular granite to diorite emplaced during the Laramide orogeny. Larger plutons are characteristically medium-grained, biotite +/- hornblende granodiorite to granite. Smaller, shallow-level intrusions are typically porphyritic. Most of the large copper deposits in Arizona are associated with porphyritic granitic rocks of this unit, and are thus named 'porphyry copper deposits'. (50-82 Ma)
Generally very fine-grained, porphyritic rhyolite to dacite in small, irregular-shaped bodies formed as subvolcanic intrusions in volcanic fields of southern and western Arizona, or in concentrated zones of dikes in the Mohave and Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona. The unit consists of mafic tuff, breccia and shallow intrusions at Buell Park in northeastern Arizona. (14-35 Ma)
Mostly dark, inconspicuously flat, low-lying or mesa-forming basalt deposited as lava flows. Rocks included in this unit are located almost entirely in the large volcanic fields south and west of Flagstaff, in smaller fields in northwesternmost Arizona, and in the Hopi Buttes volcanic field on the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations north of Holbrook. Original volcanic landforms have been obscured by erosion. (4-8 Ma)
Continental red beds.
Upper Jurassic nonmarine rocks.
Includes the Whitewater Arroyo Tongue of Mancos Shale and the Twowells Tongue of the Dakota.
Map unit includes Moenkopi Formation (Middle Triassic) at base in many areas; in eastern part of state the following five formations are mapped: TRr, TRb, TRt, TRg, and TRs.
Coal-bearing units are Dilco and Gibson Coal Members; other members are Bartlett Barren, Dalton Sandstone, and Borrego Pass Sandstone (or Lentil).
Restricted to Chuska Mountains.
Cutler Group (White Rim Ss, De Chelly Ss, Organ Rock Shale, Cedar Mesa Ss, Halgaito Fm, and Elephant Canyon Fm). Includes Natural Bridges National Monument.
May locally include Wingate Sandstone.
Includes Bidahochi Formation (Pliocene to upper Miocene), Picuris Formation (Miocene to Oligocene), Las Feveras Formation (Pliocene), lower Gila Group units in the southwest, and unnamed Pliocene unit in northwestern Socorro County.
Zuni and Entrada Sandstones, undivided
Glen Canyon Group (Navajo Ss, Kayenta Fm, and Wingate Ss). Includes Rainbow Bridge.
Consists of Entrada Sandstone, Todilto and Summerville Formations, Bluff Sandstone, and locally Zuni Sandstone (or only Acoma Tongue of Zuni).
Undivided Early and Middle Proterozoic granitic rocks (units Xg and Yg). (1400-1800 Ma)
Alluvium
Generally regressive marine sandstone.
Overlies Twowells Tongue of Dakota Sandstone; mapped only where Tres Hermanos Formation or the Atarque Sandstone is present; mapped as Kdr in parts of Socorro County.
Alluvium and colluvium
Includes Bearwallow Mountain Andesite and basaltic andesite of Mangas Mountain; also near vent basaltic lavas and shallow intrusions in the Chuska Mountains.
Bluff Ss, Summerville Fm, Curtis Fm, Entrada Ss, and Carmel Formation. Includes Arches National Park.
Includes minor vent deposits.
Eolian deposits
Includes Oak Canyon, Cubero, and Paguate Tongues; includes Clay Mesa Tongue of Mancos Shale.
Includes Rubio Peak Formation, Orejon Andesite, andesite of Dry Leggett Canyon, andesite of Telephone Canyon, and other units in southwestern, central, and northern New Mexico. Locally includes minor mafic lavas. Ancient landslide blocks of Mader Limestone, as much as one mile long, occur within Rubio Peak lavas in the central Black Range, west of Winston.
Mostly syneruptive volcaniclastic sedimentary aprons. Lower units dominantly derived from volcanic highlands of andesitic to dacitic composition. Locally includes minor lavas and tuffs. Younger units (above and intertongued with Mogollon Group tuffs, Turp) include upper Bell Top Formation, South Crosby Peak Formation, and upper Spears Group units near Quemado. Older units (below and intertongued with Datil Group tuffs, Tlrp) include Palm Park, lower Bell Top, Espinaso and Pueblo Creek Formatios and lower Spears Group formations such as Rincon Windmill, Chavez Canyon, and Dog Springs.
Includes vent deposits.
Mancos Shale, lower part
Includes minor vent deposits. Flows are commonly interbedded in the Santa Fe and Gila Groups.
Divided into Upper and Lower parts by Gallup Sandstone.
Chinle Shale and Shinarump Conglomerate Member.
Conglomerate and conglomeratic sandstone, coarse fluvial volcaniclastic sediments, minor eolian facies, and pedogenic carbonates of the southern Colorado Plateau region.
Includes monzonitic to granitic plutons, stocks, laccoliths, and porphyritic dikes in deeply eroded magmatic centers; and andesitic, dacitic, or rhyolitic plugs and dikes near cauldrons or stratovolcanoes. In the Latir field, fine-grained rhyolitic dikes commonly cut coarse-grained granitic plutons. Includes alkaline laccoliths, plugs, and dikes in Colfax County. North-trending dikes near Capitan include some mafic diabase dikes.
Includes minor vent deposits. Flows are commonly interbedded in the Santa Fe and Gila Groups.
Includes Baca, Galisteo, El Rito, Blanco Basin, Hart Mine, Love Ranch, Lobo, Sanders Canyon, Skunk Ranch, Timberlake, and Cub Mountain Formations.
Landslide deposits on western flanks of Socorro Mountains not shown for clarity.