Kayenta Formation in the context of "Relative ages"

The Glen Canyon Group is a geologic group of formations that is spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, north west New Mexico and western Colorado. It is called the Glen Canyon Sandstone in the Green River Basin of Colorado and Utah.

There are four formations within the group. From oldest to youngest, these are the Wingate Sandstone, Moenave Formation, Kayenta Formation, and Navajo Sandstone. Part of the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range, this group of formations was laid down during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, with the Triassic-Jurassic boundary within the Wingate Sandstone. The top of the Glen Canyon Group is thought to date to the Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic.

Lithostratigraphy is a sub-discipline of stratigraphy, the geological science associated with the study of strata or rock layers. Major focuses include geochronology, comparative geology, and petrology.

In general, strata are primarily igneous or sedimentary relating to how the rock was formed. Sedimentary layers are laid down by deposition of sediment associated with weathering processes, decaying organic matter (biogenic) or through chemical precipitation. These layers are often distinguishable as having many fossils and are important for the study of biostratigraphy. Igneous layers occur as stacks of lava flows, layers of lava fragments (called tephra) both erupted onto the Earth's surface by volcanoes, and in layered intrusions formed deep underground. Igneous layers are generally devoid of fossils and represent magmatic or volcanic activity that occurred during the geologic history of an area.

The principle of original horizontality states that layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gravity. It is a relative dating technique. The principle is important to the analysis of folded and tilted strata. It was first proposed by the Danish geological pioneer Nicholas Steno (1638–1686).

From these observations is derived the conclusion that the Earth has not been static and that great forces have been at work over long periods of time, further leading to the conclusions of the science of plate tectonics; that movement and collisions of large plates of the Earth's crust is the cause of folded strata.

In geology, a group is a lithostratigraphic unit consisting of a series of related formations that have been classified together to form a group. Formations are the fundamental unit of stratigraphy. Groups may sometimes be combined into supergroups.

Groups are useful for showing relationships between formations, and they are also useful for small-scale mapping or for studying the stratigraphy of large regions. Geologists exploring a new area have sometimes defined groups when they believe the strata within the groups can be divided into formations during subsequent investigations of the area. It is possible for only some of the strata making up a group to be divided into formations.

The exposed geology of the Capitol Reef area presents a record of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation in an area of North America in and around Capitol Reef National Park, on the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah.

Nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of sedimentary strata are found in the Capitol Reef area, representing nearly 200 million years of geologic history of the south-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. These rocks range in age from Permian (as old as 270 million years old) to Cretaceous (as young as 80 million years old.) Rock layers in the area reveal ancient climates as varied as rivers and swamps (Chinle Formation), Sahara-like deserts (Navajo Sandstone), and shallow ocean (Mancos Shale).