06/29/2026
Sinkholes cropping out on the western edge of Arizona’s San Francisco volcanic field likely represent collapse into the underlying karst of the Kaibab Limestone. Johnson Crater is slightly larger than Parrish Crater, which is situated 3.25 miles N10W of Johnson Crater. Karst features are common on the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona (Harris, 2007).
JOHNSON Crater PARRISH Crater dimensions
~ 425 ft wide ~ 350 ft wide
~ 100 ft deep ~ 100 ft deep
Circular geometry Circular geometry
The sinkholes are hosted in Pliocene-Miocene age basalt lava flows (Tb) of the eastern San Francisco volcanic field that mantle Permian Kaibab limestone (Pk). The Parrish Crater is adjacent to drainages. Two smaller, nameless sinkholes(?), each about 160 ft wide and 10s of feet deep, lie 3,000 and 3,900 ft east of Parrish Crater.
From Harris’s (2002) 44-page Review of prominent karst features of the Colorado Plateau, Arizona: ‘Karst features are common on the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona. The Colorado Plateau, with extensive areas underlain by limestone, gypsum, and salt, has
potential for property damage and severe water quality problems related to dissolution of these soluble rocks. Karst features are particularly abundant south of Interstate 40 from the Snowflake-Taylor area northwest to Winslow, and in the Grand Canyon region north of Flagstaff to the Utah border.
Citation: Harris, R.C., 2002, A review and bibliography of karst features of the Colorado Plateau, Arizona. Arizona Geological Survey Open-File Report (OFR-02-07), 44 p. https://library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/AOFR-1552427421088-565
