Jeannie Meekins - 14 Fun Facts About the Grand Canyon: Educational Version

14 FUNFACTS ABOUT

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We have used many sources to research thesefacts and they are accurate at time of publishing. The more weexplore the wonders of our world, the more information we arediscovering.

Editor: Jennifer Robinson

Pictures by the National Park Service (NPS)unless otherwise noted

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14 Fun Facts About the Grand Canyon /Jeannie Meekins

Summary: A brief look at some fun factsabout the Grand Canyon.

1. Grand Canyon. Juvenile Literature. 2.United States. Juvenile Literature.

Words: 1923

Reading Level: 6.9

Ages 9 and up.

Billions ofyears ago the world was a very different place. The continents aswe know them did not exist. Islands, such as Hawaii, did not exist.Rainforests thrived where deserts now stand. Many mountain rangeswere flat plains. Even life did not exist.

The Earths crust is a thin shell. A jigsawpuzzle of pieces that sit on a bed of molten rock. They move,pushing, pulling, smashing and grinding against each other. Moltenrock finds weak spots or holes and spews itself forth into theatmosphere. This happens not only on dry land but under ourseas.

Most of our planets crust is covered bywater. It has always been so. But the forces beneath the crustlifts land to appear in areas where it did not, and sinks otherlands beneath the sea.

How do we know all this with such accuratedetail? There were no people around billions of years ago to seeit, or to record it.

The answer is simple. All we have to do islook. The evidence is all around us.

One of the best places to look is the GrandCanyon in Arizona, USA.

Fact 1: The Grand Canyon is one of thenatural wonders of the world

The Grand Canyon is located in Arizona inthe United States of America. It is a huge group of canyons thathave been cut into the landscape by the Colorado River.

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt setaside part of the land as a national monument. Roosevelt believedthat the canyon should be left as it is and looked after for othergenerations to enjoy. He felt it was something that every Americanshould see.

In 1929, an act of Congress established thatland as a National Park.

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover set asidemore land for the park, as another national monument.

In 1975, the park was expanded again. TheNational Park is now so large that the entire canyon is inside theboundaries of the National Park.

Fact 2: The Grand Canyon is 17 million yearsold

The Grand Canyon began its life as a flatplain. The Colorado River was no more than a small slow movingstream that flowed across it at about sea level.

As the land began to rise, the stream beganto flow downhill. It began to flow faster. Picking up sand andsilt, it began to cut its way into the soft surface.

Geologists first believed that this begansix million years ago. As geologists better understand theprocesses that created the canyon, they are able to more accuratelydate its creation.

While it is still not completely confirmed,recent evidence suggests that the Grand Canyon is 17 million yearsold.

Fact 3: The Grand Canyon was originally aflat plain that rose above and fell below the sea

We can tell a lot about a place by the typeof rocks that are around. Most times, we have to dig through theearth to find out what is below. The Grand Canyon is a slice cutthrough the Earth.

Different types of rock sit layered on topof each other.

There are limestone layers that were laiddown when the land was under the sea. There are sandstone layersthat occur only in dry areas. There are mud and gravel layers thatare typical of floodplains. There are also ash and lava layers fromvolcanic activity.

Throughout the walls of the canyon, cuttingthrough the layers are faults that tell us of earthquakeactivity.

All of the layering and faults tells us thatthe Grand Canyon was originally a flat plain that rose above andfell below the sea.

Fact 4: The Grand Canyon could have beentwice as deep

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446kilometers) long. It has an average depth of about one mile (1.6kilometers). The North Rim is about 5,700 feet (1.7 kilometers)above the river, while the South Rim is about 4, 700 feet (1.4kilometers) above the river.

It is 6,000 feet (1.8 kilometers) at itsdeepest and 15 miles (24 kilometers) at its widest.

As the river began to cut its way throughthe land, wind, rain, ice and snow began to erode the sides of thecanyon. Sands from the deserts blew across it. Drastic weatherconditions were created in the last Ice Age.

About 5.3 million years ago the Gulf ofCalifornia opened and the river lost a great deal of its water.This exposed more of the canyon to erosion.

In the mountains to the east and areas inthe south are layers of rock that are no longer present in thecanyon. These layers are much softer and younger and have almostbeen eroded away.

Over the 17 million years of the canyonsformation, it is believed a mile of the Earths crust has erodedaway. If it were still there, the canyon could have been twice asdeep.

Fact 5: The walls of the canyon containearthquake faults.

The Earths crust is made up of many pieces.It sits on a bed of molten lava. It moves and bumps around like abathtub full of rubber ducks.

A fault is a gap in the Earths crust. In anearthquake, the Earth moves along a fault. Movements measured onthese faults range from 15 16, 000 feet.

Some faults dont reach the surface. TheEarth moves, the rock begins to crack, but not enough to crack allthe way to the surface. The rock bends and folds over itself.

Some of the rock layers in the Grand Canyonshow this folding. We can date the rock to find out how long agothe folding occurred. This tells us that the Grand Canyon wassubjected to earthquakes many times during its history.