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The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Grand Canyon Information:
The Grand Canyon, when compared by its sheer size, is the largest canyon in North America and the second largest in the world. Also, when compared by depth alone, it is the second deepest in North America (second to Hell′s Canyon in Oregon at 7,900 feet deep) and is the the ninth deepest in the World.
Description:
The Grand Canyon is a steep sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and in some places, has a depth of over a mile, reaching the about 6,093 feet deep.
Over the course of almost two billion years the geological processes that have taken place on Earth, the Colorado River and its tributaries have cut deeply through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau at the same time was uplifted.
While many aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by modern day geologists, it is believed that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago, sometime close after the creation of the Earth itself. Since that time, the Colorado River has been the main factor in the down cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the ever increasing cliff faces, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.
Canyon Type:
Step-sided river-carved Canyon
Location:
The Grand Canyon is entirely within the state of Arizona, and is along the Colorado River in the northwest corner of the state. A large part of the Grand Canyon is within the Grand Canyon National Park, which park is managed by the National Park Service.
Mather Point:
Coordinates:
36.0617138, -112.1077206
Elevation:
6789 feet
Bright Angel Rim Trailhead:
Coordinates:
36.0573257, -112.1435661
Elevation:
6909 feet
Bright Angel River Bridge:
Coordinates:
36.0969450, -112.0956759
Elevation:
2500 feet
Geographical Region:
Basin and Range
Human Inhabitation of the Canyon
The area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, people who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The modern Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540
The Hopi name for the Grand Canyon is Ongtupqa, which translates to English at Salt Canyon. The Hopi people consider the Grand Canyon to be a sacred place, and the canyon′s bottom, which they call Sipapuni, is where the Hopi believe they emerged from.
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