Named [informally] for nearby Little Elephant Mountain. Type locality 0.5 mi south of mountain and 1 mi west of Cave Creek, Cave Creek quad, northern Maricopa Co., central AZ. Poorly preserved, oldest and highest of Cave Creek terrace gravels; lie approx 300 feet above modern stream bed level; present only in northwestern part of Carefree basin. Deposits consist of tan to brown, unconsolidated, moderately to poorly sorted sand and gravel (rounded to subrounded clasts in brown sandy-silt matrix), very strongly developed plugged caliche with laminar horizons within 25- to 33-ft-thick zone (Gorey, 1990). Well-formed clay-rich soil at surface; capped by impermeable layers of pure calcium carbonate. Total thickness up to 65 feet. Cut on late Miocene and early Pliocene Galloway and Naked Girl Canyon Members of Carefree Formation (all new). Approx correlate with late Cenozoic Sawik Terrace of Salt River (Pewe, 1978). Caliche presence reflects great age of terrace deposits, which is Pliocene and Pleistocene. Report includes geologic map and cross section, and stratigraphic nomenclature table.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Denver GNULEX).