Earth And Space Science

Butte Fault, Grand Canyon, Arizona Grand Canyon's Butte Fault as seen from the muddy Colorado River. The fault was first active about 1 billion years ago, with displacement on the order of 5,000 feet. It was reactivated during the Laramide Orogeny, 75 to 55 million years ago. The sense of the motion changed and the displacement was on the order of 3,000 feet. Photo and annotation by Brian Gootee.