The Colorado River: The Destruction Of The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon has been a natural marvel for thousands of years. Many have wondered how this natural phenomenon occurred and when it started to become the wonder it is today. There are several theories on how this incredible rock structure was formed, the soundest theory relies on the environment that surrounds these rocks.
The most powerful force on the Grand Canyon is erosion, primarily by water, according to The Seven Natural Wonders, a data base for the natural wonders of the world. The Colorado River is the culprit of this water erosion. Water has had the most impact on the Canyon because the Colorado River is always flowing. Water can have such a weighty impact because the Canyon is located in a desert, the soil in the Grand Canyon
When it rains it is often a torrential down pore. The desert plants in the Canyon commonly have shallow root systems so that when it does rain they can absorb as much of the rainwater as possible. Unfortunately, the shallow roots do not prevent erosion because they cannot hold the soil. When these down pores occur there is nowhere for all the water to go but down into the Colorado River, taking along plenty of eroded soil and rocks along with it. This results in frequent flash floods that go gushing down smaller side canyons and can move boulders the size of automobiles and even the size of a small house. Imagine a small house crashing against the canyon walls, now that would cause some erosion! The extent of the Colorado’s erosion has been largely inhibited because of the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, which prohibits the annual spring floods. According to Matt Kaplan, a renowned science journalist, the Glen Canyon Dam that was constructed in 1963 has slowed the Grand Canyon's yearly floods. Up until 2002 the dam had been closed but in efforts to restore the damaged ecosystem the dam was opened for a week to simulate the type of flood the Colorado River would get during spring rains. The controlled
According to Sid Perkins, an earth science writer, the canyons deepest parts are 1.7 billion years old and the Canyon its self only40 million years old. The canyon shows off many layers of limestone that each have a unique story, “Thick bands of limestone speak of lengthy eras spent beneath broad, shallow seas or still, clear lakes. Beds of lava and ash recount episodes of widespread volcanic activity.Other layers of rock show that this grand swath of real estate has also been home to coastal mudflats and windblown sands (Perkins, “Making”)”. These layers can be measured and told apart by mammillaris, which are lumps of carbonate minerals. These lumps mark the level of the local water table (Perkins, “Parts”). Another piece of data that may help us determine when the canyon began to form is locked in a layer of limestone filled with algae and sediments that thrive in only fresh water lakes. This ‘Muddy Creek Formation’ has been aged with radioactive dating, which puts it between 6 and 11 million years old. This theory that the river could not have been carving the canyon while a lake was present was presented by Richard Young a geologist at the State University of New York (Perkins,