UNM Newsroom / News / UNM study finds link between Grand Canyon landslide and Meteor Crater impact

Conceptualization of Nankoweap

Conceptualization of Nankoweap

landslide that brought down large boulders of Kaibab Limestone from the cliffs at left and created a geologically short-lived paleolake in Grand Canyon.

Jason Ballensky explores

Jason Ballensky explores

lake sediment deposited in Marble Canyon caves, the alternating sand-silt deposits resemble those of the delta forming in Lake Mead today. Photo by Karl Karlstrom.

Nankoweap paleolake

Nankoweap paleolake

was created when the eastern cliff collapsed and blocked the Colorado River. Remnants of the dam, with huge blocks of Kaibab Limestone, are preserved at the four numbered localities; the rest of the dam has been eroded away.

Flyover image derived

Flyover image derived

from high-resolution elevation model (Kring 2017).

Distinguished Professors Emeritus Karl Karlstrom and Laurie Crossey

Distinguished Professors Emeritus Karl Karlstrom and Laurie Crossey

UNM study finds link between Grand Canyon landslide and Meteor Crater impact

The “striking coincidence” of a Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact 56,000 years ago

July 15, 2025

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