Awatubi Crest

Awatubi Crest is a 5,276-foot summit in the eastern Grand Canyon of northern Arizona, between Kwagunt Butte and Chuar Butte. Unlike the neighboring buttes, which are built from the canyon’s familiar stacked sedimentary layers, it was formed by uplift along the Butte Fault. That uplift exposed rock from the Kwagunt Formation, giving the crest a distinct geologic origin and appearance. The fault is visible here as a low white ridgeline running north to south along the western flanks of nearby buttes toward Nankoweap Mesa. Near Chuar Butte, the crest consists of strongly angled dark brown Kwagunt Formation thrusts, including two high-angle thrust sections.

Grand Canyon, Arizona · United States