Bright Angel Point Arizona SSO Diagrams
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Animated SSO diagrams for two points in the Bright Angel Point, Arizona, quadrangle. The animations show the effect of increasing the region size from 300 m to 4200 m. Point A, located on a cliff on a SW facing slope, appears in the diagram on the left or on top, depending on your browser configuration. For a small region size Point A shows a single concentration near the edge of the diagram, reflecting the extreme slopes in the Grand Canyon. Point B, located on a ridge crest, shows two concentrations with small region sizes. Intermediate region sized show the two regions merging, primarily due to the addition of points with a SE aspect (note that on the lower hemisphere projection they appear on the NW side of the diagram).
Compared to the SSO diagram for the Aughwick, PA quadrangle, both of these diagrams show lower concentrations (the maximum color scale represent 20% per 1% area, compared to 30%), much steeper slopes (points plot near the edge of the diagram), and a lack of flat areas (very few points near the center of the diagram).
Graphs showing the effects of increasing the region size on the flatness and organization parameters, and the fabric orientation direction. Point A is on the left (or top), and Point B on the right (or bottom). For Point A note the dramatic change in the fabric at about an 800 m size. Below this region size the dominant fabric trends about 50° (NE), while for larger regions the fabric trends about 150° (SE), the same as the fabric at Point B. Compared to the graphs for the Aughwick, PA quadrangle, the Grand Canyon shows a significantly weaker fabric.
Location map for the points used for the SSO and graphs. The map has 50 m contours, color coded by elevation, and a 1 km UTM grid. Point B is located on a cliff on a SW facing slope, and Point B lies on a ridge crest that slopes downhill to the SE.