Grand Canyon

The largest gorge in the world

Executive summary by darmansjah

Storm Warming

A storm pours rain into the Grand Canyon, feeding the Colorado River, Flash floods from rainstorms greatly increase the erosive power of the river, which runs a mile below the canyon’s rim.

Sacred Waters

Richly hued sanstone and greenery frame Havsu Falls in the Grand Canyon’s Havasupai Reservation. The bluegreen waters are sacred to the Havasupai Indian tribe.

ARIZONA The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is the largest gorge in the world-a gash that runs 290 miles (467 Km) across the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. The Colorado River drops over nearly 200 rapids as it roars through the canyon toward the Gulf of California. A mile below the rim, the river slices through Granite Gorge, exposing some of the oldest rocks visible on Earth. Nearly two billion years old, the Vishnu schist is the gleaming remnant of a once-towering mountain range. Atop the schist, ten distinct layers of sandstone, limestone, and shale chronicle the advance and retreat of ancient seas, the building up and eroding of mountains, and the meandering of rivers over the years.