NORTH AMERICA

28

USA: The Southwest

C

UTAH
N E V A D A
24
L. Powell
The Colorado River has
cut down some 6242 ft
Pa
(2000 m) into the
nd Cany o
in
ra
n
Colorado Plateau
te
to form the Grand
L. Mead
Colorado
Canyon, exposing
rock strata over
Plateau
2 billion years old.
Flagstaff

Farmington

Rio

Los Alamos
Gallup
SANTA FE

es

lor a

do

ert

27

Co

S o n o ra n
Yuma
D esert

Pec

A R I Z O N A
PHOENIX

N E W
M E X I C O

Scottsdale
Mesa

Roswell
Alamogordo

Casa Grande

Artesia

Tucson

Las Cruces

Ri

o
and
e

de

The first atomic bomb was

tested at Trinity Site near
Alamogordo on July 16, 1945,
yielding an explosive force
equivalent to 20,000 tons
(tonnes) of TNT from around
2.2 lbs (1 kg) of plutonium-239.

Gr

o
lf
Go

135

Carlsbad

El Paso

Douglas

Meteor Crater was formed when a

meteor about 150 ft (46 m) across
struck the desert at about 40,000 mph
(64,372 km/h) creating a bowl-shaped
depression 4,150 ft (1,265 m) wide and
570 ft (174 m) deep.

os

Albuquerque

Prescott

Glendale

CALIFORNIA

n de

COLORADO

Gra

n
or
if
al

0 km

ia

PACIFIC
OCEAN
200

0 miles

200

32
B