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Artifacts from the Clovis Culture People

Clovis Culture Artifacts

Artifacts from the Basketmaker Period

Basketmaker Period Artifacts

Pithouse of the Basketmaker Period

Pithouse of Basketmakers

Sinagua Pueblo Indian Ruins at Tuzigoot

Sinagua Pueblo Ruins at Tuzigoot

Sedona Geology

The red rocks of Sedona attract people from all over the world. Like cactus to the desert, the geology of Sedona is a major part of what gives this area its distinct character. As you look out at the rocks you will notice a layer cake of colors and textures each with their own story to tell. Due to the fact that many people's eyes begin to glaze over when I start spewing lots of numbers and dates I will share with you this one geologic nugget: the rocks in Sedona area really old!!!

Sedona sits nestled in the Verde Valley between the Mingus Mountains to the southwest (where you find Jerome) and the Colorado Plateau to the northeast. Both of these formations are technically mountains as they were both caused by the uplifting of plates under the Earth.

Colorado Plateau

The Colorado Plateau is responsible for much of the geology of the southwest as it is the second largest plateau in the world after the Tibetan Plateau. It covers roughly 165,000 sq. miles and contains the Grand Canyon as well as Bryce and Zion canyons in southern Utah. Sedona sits at the southern edge of the plateau, referred to as the Mogollon Rim. Being right under the edge of the plateau has left Sedona vulnerable to the forces of erosion, exposing the spectacular scenery enjoyed by millions every year.

Rock Formations

Sedona's rocks are technically rock formations( if you're splitting hairs) laid down as sediment brought by different geologic processes. Basically, if you take a jar full of salt, fill it with water, shake it up and wait - where will you find the salt? Right on the bottom!! Sedona has been covered by ocean and seas many times and, each time, a sediment was deposited. California wasn’t always attached to this continent so it would have been easy for the Sedona to have been ocean front property at one point. You can see this in all of the white/ gray colored rock or the white/gray bands that run through the rock. It is not uncommon to find fossils, like seashells, deposited in these layers.

In addition to being underwater, some sediments were brought here either by high winds or carried by rivers to the Sedona area. This is where the red rock formations originate. Sands were blown into this area as dunes, which solidified. Rivers, carrying iron rich water then flooded over the sandstone depositing iron in the rock. When iron is exposed to oxygen it will oxidize and turn red. In a geology nutshell, people are coming to Sedona to look at rusty rocks.

By the way, people ask all the time if the Sedona rock is good for rock climbing. I know some people do it, but generally, it is not recommended as the sandstone is typically a soft rock.

Erosion

So why do the Sedona rock formations look as they do now? The process of erosion. First of all, the Colorado Plateau still gets uplifted about two inches/100 years. This will create cracks in all of the rocks. Secondly, wind and water find their way to the cracks eventually working the rock to what we see in Sedona today.

Some of the rock was exposed to such harsh conditions that it completely eroded away before another sediment could be laid on top. One such layer, the Moenkoepi, exists mostly north of Sedona on the Navajo Reservation but not in Sedona. I bring this up because this layer contains the fossils of the dinosaurs. There are places on the Navajo Reservation where you can place your hands in dinosaur tracks. So the dinosaurs were here but there is no geologic record of them.

The geologic life cycle of a rock formation goes from mesas to buttes to spires. Mesas are wider then they are tall. Mesa is the Spanish word for table and that's what they look like. Doe Mesa and Airport Mesa are great examples. Buttes are two round cheeks...oops! my bad! Buttes are taller then they are wide and the best example is Thunder Mountain in the heart of Sedona. Finally, we have spires which are all the little red rock fingers sticking up at the ends of some of the rock formations. Spires break down to sands and the geology process cycles all over again

Faults

The Sedona area also contains a number of known fault lines that also do their part in the geology process. The best known fault line would run north from the Airport Mesa to Flagstaff along Highway 89a. This is better known as the Oak Creek Canyon. This particular fault runs for about 20 miles and provides us with some of the amazing scenery seen at Slide Rock and Westfork.

As the faults weaken the rocks, water can come in and carve out something as large as a canyon. So the faults serve to accelerate erosion. You can also see smaller faults in Sedona when two rocks, side by side, are at slightly different elevations. That lets us know that the Earth has moved.

Volcanoes

On top of some of the rock formations around uptown Sedona and south of The village of Oak Creek you will notice a brownish gray layer of rock which sits flat and caps off the rock. This rock is basalt or cooled lava.

The geology of Sedona contains several volcanoes called shield volcanoes. These type of volcanos are flat on top and are more like slow, steady flowers which can push lava farther away. Wilson Mountain above uptown Sedona and House Mountain south of Sedona are two of the best examples. Geologists say that these were fairly active about 8 to 10 million years ago.

Although they say the volcanoes are extinct, I prefer to think of them as sleeping. Science once said Mt. St. Helen's would never erupt and... Nature is bigger than science.

North of Sedona, in Flagstaff, you will find a number of stratovolcanoes, which are tall and more conical on top. The most recent eruption was as recent as 1064 at the place we call Sunset Crater.

As you can read, the Sedona area contains a number of different geology processes which contribute to the overall landscape of Sedona and make this area more than just a desert environment but a heaven for geologists.