The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

A Canyon So Grand In the high desert of northern Arizona is a canyon so big that we can see it from space. This dazzling place is called the Grand Canyon, and for good reason.

A canyon is a deep valley with steep sides, usually formed by a river. The Grand Canyon National Park stretches across about 1, 900 square miles (4, 921 sq km). In some places, the canyon is more than a mile(1. 6 km) deep. It can take two weeks to pass through on a river raft. The canyon walls are rusty red and yellow, and are made from rocks that are millions of years old.

The Grand Canyon became a nationalpark in 1919. National parks are special places. The land and the animals that live there are protected. MMore than four million people visit Grand Canyon National Park every year.

Formation Time and erosion helped shape the Grand Canyon into what it is today. Erosion happens when bits of the ground are worn away by wind or water. For millions of years, the Colorado River ran over the land and wore away the earth. At first the river water made only a shallow channel in the ground. Over time, it formed an amazing canyon.

The Grand Canyon's walls have stripes of different colors. The stripes are layers of sediment that stacked on top of each other over millions of years. Each layer shows a different time in Earth's history, The layers are much like the layers of a cake. The river is like a knife that cuts into the cake and shows the layers inside.