Confluence of the Little Colorado River and Colorado River in Grand Canyon where the turquoise-colored water of the Little Colorado River spills into the cold, blue-green water of the Colorado River. The Little Colorado drains northern Arizona's Painted Desert. Average annual discharge of the Little Colorado River near the confluence is ~ 370 cubic feet per second (cfs). During summer cloudbursts, peak discharges on the order of 100,000 cfs occur.
The bright blue color of the Little Colorado is attributed to dissolved travertine and limestone encountered upstream from the confluence.