The Dripping Springs Quartzite is one of the more resistant formations that make up the Apache Group.  Here, it forms massive cliffs that tower above the Coon Creek and Cherry Creek drainages of the Sierra Ancha.
   A "group" is a related set of rock formations.  In this case, the formations of the Apache Group all represent a time when what is now Arizona was bounded on the west by an ocean -- these rocks resulted from deposition during advances and retreats of the sea -- during what we call  time, around 1.5 - 0.8 billion years ago.
   There were no plants or animals on the land of the Earth then.  This was once probably a set of beaches on that shoreline.
 
   Next View >>
 
   See the GeoHistory page if you want to know more about why the landscape looks the way it does, or return to the map of "The Superstition Mountains" for more view locations.
   You can also send this as an E-Postcard to your friends!