The Grand Canyon National Park
The Grand Canyon National Park
The Grand Canyon National Park, in it’s exceptional beauty, is special for many reasons. Located in Arizona, it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The canyon itself descends a mile into the Colorado Plateu. This area was home to many Native American tribes including the the Anasazi, dating as far back as 500 B.C.. In 600-700 A.D. the Coconino people showed up. The climate and various other factors forced both tribes out of the area and the Cerbat people, which are actually the ancestors to the Havasupai Indians, and the Paiutes moved in. A couple of interesting phenomena of the Grand Canyon are how we are able to trace history back through the type of rock that is there. We are also able to see the type of life that resided here through the fossils found in various layers of the rock. If you go to the bottom, you will find traces dating back billions of years. When there were volcanic collisions, intense heat and pressure from the collision formed rocks called Vishnu Schist. From deep in the earth molten rock flowed up through the cracks and formed a pinkish rock called Zoroaster Granite. As you move up the canyon you see that 515 million years ago Bright Angel Shale was beginning to form. This happened because the area was covered by muddy, warm, shallow water. Worm like creatures thrived off the waters rich with nutrients. This area of the Grand Canyon is called “the Tonto Platform”. Next we move up to about 280 million years ago, at this time there were many slow meandering streams in the area, this was the perfect environment for the fern and conifers as well as reptiles, insects and Dragonflies (With wings that had a 12” span) to thrive. siltstones, mudstones, and fine grained sandstones is what creates the beautiful reddish layer we see at The Grand Canyon. This is called the Hermit Shale. Moving up, the next layer we see is the Coconino Sandstone. About 275 million
The Grand Canyon National Park, in it’s exceptional beauty, is special for many reasons. Located in Arizona, it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The canyon itself descends a mile into the Colorado Plateu. This area was home to many Native American tribes including the the Anasazi, dating as far back as 500 B.C.. In 600-700 A.D. the Coconino people showed up. The climate and various other factors forced both tribes out of the area and the Cerbat people, which are actually the ancestors to the Havasupai Indians, and the Paiutes moved in. A couple of interesting phenomena of the Grand Canyon are how we are able to trace history back through the type of rock that is there. We are also able to see the type of life that resided here through the fossils found in various layers of the rock. If you go to the bottom, you will find traces dating back billions of years. When there were volcanic collisions, intense heat and pressure from the collision formed rocks called Vishnu Schist. From deep in the earth molten rock flowed up through the cracks and formed a pinkish rock called Zoroaster Granite. As you move up the canyon you see that 515 million years ago Bright Angel Shale was beginning to form. This happened because the area was covered by muddy, warm, shallow water. Worm like creatures thrived off the waters rich with nutrients. This area of the Grand Canyon is called “the Tonto Platform”. Next we move up to about 280 million years ago, at this time there were many slow meandering streams in the area, this was the perfect environment for the fern and conifers as well as reptiles, insects and Dragonflies (With wings that had a 12” span) to thrive. siltstones, mudstones, and fine grained sandstones is what creates the beautiful reddish layer we see at The Grand Canyon. This is called the Hermit Shale. Moving up, the next layer we see is the Coconino Sandstone. About 275 million
Cited: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0884500.html (June, 14, 2014) http://ncse.com/rncse/27/3-4/renewed-concern-creationism-at-grand-canyon-national-park (July 1, 2014) http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/cuyahoga-valley-national-park/ (June 14, 2014) http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/12/rare-weather-phenomenon-creates-river.html (July 4, 2014)