THE GRAND CANYON

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Par ! the "#alapai Tribal Nation! and the "avas#pai Tribe. President Theodore $oosvelet was a ma%or proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area! and visited it on n#mero#s occasions to h#nt and en%oy the scenery. It is considered one of the &even Nat#ral 'onders of the 'orld.

The Grand Canyon is ()) miles *++, m- long! #p to ./ miles *(0 m- wide and attains a depth of over a mile *,!111 feet or .!/11 meters-.Nearly two billion years of the 2arth3s geological history has been e4posed as the Colorado $iver and its trib#taries c#t their channels thro#gh layer after layer of roc while the Colorado Plateau was #plifted.

'hile the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the s#b%ect of debate by geologists! recent evidence s#ggests the Colorado $iver established its co#rse thro#gh the canyon at least .) million years ago. &ince that time! the Colorado $iver contin#ed to erode and form the canyon to its presentday config#ration. 5or tho#sands of years! the area has been contin#o#sly inhabited by Native Americans who b#ilt settlements within the canyon and its many caves.

The Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado $iver basin which has developed over the past +1 million years. A recent st#dy places the origins of the canyon beginning abo#t .)6 years ago.

'eather conditions d#ring the ice ages also increased the amo#nt of water in the Colorado $iver drainage system. The ancestral Colorado $iver responded by c#tting its channel faster and deeper.

'eather in the Grand Canyon varies according to elevation. The forested rims are high eno#gh to receive winter snowfall! b#t along the Colorado $iver in the Inner Gorge! temperat#res are similar to those fo#nd in T#cson and other low elevation desert locations in Arizona.