| White Rim Sandstone | |
| Period: | Middle Permian |
| Age: | Middle - Late Permian 265 million--> |
| Age: | Early to Middle Permian |
| Type: | Geological formation |
| Prilithology: | (white)-sandstone |
| Region: | central & east-Colorado Plateau south and southeast Utah |
| Unitof: | Cutler Formation |
| Overlies: | Organ Rock Formation, southeast Utah; Organ Rock and Toroweap Formation, Circle Cliffs |
| Underlies: | Kaibab Formation, Circle Cliffs, Utah |
| Thickness: | 500feet approximate maximum[1] |
| Extent: | Circle Cliffs, west of Waterpocket Fold; Moab Utah region |
The White Rim Sandstone is a sandstone geologic formation located in southeastern Utah. It is the last member of the Permian Cutler Group, and overlies the major Organ Rock Formation and Cedar Mesa Sandstone; and again overlies thinner units of the Elephant Canyon and Halgaito Formations.
The White Rim is eponymous, as the sandstone is named for its prominent white color, and forms the rims of cliffs.
It is the continental geologic formation deposited at the time of marine transgressions during the Early to Middle Permian Period.
The White Rim Sandstone typically occurs above the Organ Rock Formation in southeast Utah, which sits upon the extensive Cedar Mesa Sandstone in southeast Utah.[2]
Moab, Utah, is located in southeast Utah, about 25miles west of the Colorado border.[3] The Circle Cliffs lie about 90miles southwest from Moab,[4] and east of Escalante and Boulder, Utah (Utah State Route 12).[5] The Circle Cliffs are located in the northeast of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. The cliffs also extend north-northwest adjacent the west perimeter of the Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef National Park. The fold is traversed by Burr Trail Road-Straton Road which has views toward the Circle Cliffs, southward, or westward.
The White Rim Road traverses the White Rim Sandstone formation between the base of the Island in the Sky mesa and the Colorado and Green Rivers within Canyonlands National Park.