Physiographic Rim of The Grand Canyon, Arizona: A Digital Database

This Open-File report is a digital physiographic map database.
This physiographic map of the Grand Canyon is modified from
previous versions by Billingsley and Hendricks (1989), and
Billingsley and others (1997). The boundary is drawn approximately
along the topographic rim of the Grand Canyon and its tributary
canyons between Lees Ferry and Lake Mead (shown in red). Several
isolated small mesas, buttes, and plateaus are within this area,
which overall encompasses about 2,600 square miles.
The Grand Canyon lies within the southwestern part of the Colorado Plateaus of northern Arizona between Lees Ferry, Colorado River Mile 0, and Lake Mead, Colorado River Mile 277. Limestone rocks of the Kaibab Formation form most of the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon, and a few volcanic rocks form the north rim of parts of the Uinkaret and Shivwits Plateaus. Limestones of the Redwall Limestone and lower Supai Group form the rim of the Hualapai Plateau area, and Limestones of Devonian and Cambrian age form the boundary rim near the mouth of Grand Canyon at the Lake Mead. The natural physiographic boundary of the Grand Canyon is roughly the area a visitor would first view any part of the Grand Canyon and its tributaries.