The Grand Canyon Essays - Colorado Plateau, Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon We decided, for our Science Project, that we would learn about the Grand Canyon and its layers. It is located in Arizona and is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world that is around eighteen miles wide and nearly 280 miles long. The width and depth of the Canyon vary from place to place. At the South Rim, near Grand Canyon Village, it's a vertical mile, which is about 5000 feet from rim to river. The width of the Canyon at Grand Canyon Village is 10 miles from rim to rim; though in places it is as much as 18 miles wide. Another way to look at the enormous size is by the time a trip takes. From the bottom of the Canyon and back on foot is a two-day journey. Rim-to-rim hikers generally take three days one-way to get from the North Rim to the South Rim. A trip through Grand Canyon by raft can take two weeks or longer and experienced backpackers have spent weeks in the more remote areas of the Canyon. In 1975 the park was nearly doubled in size by the inclusion of Grand Canyon National Monument and Marble Canyon National Monument and portions of Glen Canyon and Lake Mead national recreation areas. The effects of tourism and federal water management policies led the government to take steps to protect the canyon's environment during the 1990s. In March 1996 a controlled flood through Glen Canyon Dam was generated as a way to re-create natural spring flooding through the canyon. The results of this led to a new water-management plan. This plan incorporates flooding to restore the canyon's natural ecosystems, which had been changed by the construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. In 1997 the government restricted small planes and helicopters from flying over the canyon and was considering other ways to limit the effects of tourism on the park. The sites of the park are incredible with its beauty and mystery. One of the main attractions is the Colorado River, which is about 242,000 square miles of land ranging from the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. From here, at an altitude of 9,010 feet, the Colorado begins it's flow southwestward toward the Gulf o f California and the Pacific Ocean. By the time the river enters the Grand Canyon, at Lee's ferry, its altitude has fallen to 3,110 feet, dropping over one mile since its beginning. The river will drop another 2,200 feet before it reaches the other end of the Grand Canyon, the Grand Wash Cliffs 277 miles away. The park itself includes over a million acres of land 1,218,375.54 acres. The Grand Canyon has been sculpted in general by the downward cutting of the Colorado River, which flows through the canyon's lowest portions. Other factors have also played a part. The Kaibab Plateau, which forms the northern rim of the canyon, is about 1200 ft higher than the Coconino Plateau, which forms the southern rim. Water from the northern side has flowed into the canyon, forming tributary valleys, while the streams of the southern plateau flow away in a southerly direction without carving valleys in the canyon walls. The underlying rock beds also have a southwestern slant, with the result that groundwater from the north finds its way into the canyon, but water from the south does not. In the entire canyon region, jointing and faulting has broken the rocks, and fractures in the rocks resulting from these processes have contributed to the rapid erosion of the gorge. Being named a national monument in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt first protected this park. A famous quote by Roosevelt was he proclaimed it to be ?the most impressive piece of scenery I have ever looked at?. Congress named it a National Park in 1919. Back in 1869, when Major John Wesley Powell led the first expedition through Grand Canyon, he used wooden boats. Although they were not a very good design, they worked, and for seventy years, those who followed Powell's route experimented with different designs and techniques, refining to a science the art of rowing wooden boats in whitewater. The extreme variations in elevation from the depths of