Grand Canyon Formation

A short animation of the erosion and weathering in the geologic cycle of the formation of the Grand Canyon.

Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago in the Laramide orogeny mountain-building period that is mostly responsible for creating the Rocky Mountains. The Colorado Plateau was uplifted an estimated 2 miles and the Basin and Range area to the west started to form about 18 million years ago as the result of the earth's crust stretching.

A drainage system that flowed through what is today the eastern Grand Canyon emptied into the now lower Basin and Range province. Ice ages during the Pleistocene era made for a cooler and wetter climate in the region starting about 2 - 3 million years ago. The greater precipitation increased runoff and the erosion ability of streams,especially in the spring runoff from the rockies.

With this increased flow the Colorado River cut faster than before and started to excavate the Grand Canyon, almost reaching the modern depth by 1.2 million years ago.

This animation was created with a ray tracing program called "Bryce".

Contact: Mark4Lewis@Comcast.net

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Grand
• Canyon
• Laramide
• Orogeny
• Basin
• Range
• Pleistocene
• soil
• sand
• erosion
• deposition
• wind
• rain
• water
• ocean
• sea
• shells
• deposit
• mud
• shale
• sandstone
• silt
• siltstone
• Schist
• limestone
• granite
• Calcium
• Carbonate
• weathering
• drainage
• runoff
• sediment
• sedimentation
• rill
• gully
• slate
• aquifer
• saturation
• permeable
• coastal
• impermeable
• river
• precipitation
• porosity
• porose
• wave
• bioerosion
• sandbank
• shoreline
• carbonates
• Colorado
• Bryce
• animation
• ray
• trace
• tracing
• illustration
• graphic
• Mark
• Lewis
• PeakPixels

[raponte1955]

Duh, did not showed formation. WAWOT!

[NorthForkFisherman]

@34craigjan Let's see, prideful ignorance of subject matter, Pascal's Wager....why not go for the Trifecta and quote Romans, eh? The whole point of an educational channel is to be educated. Perhaps you would be happier if science just chucked everything and we went back to the Dark Ages? Is that what you would prefer?

[34craigjan]

@NorthForkFisherman I was only shrugging you off. It wa a sarcastic ok. Your knowledge of chemistry won't help you when you stand before God my friend. What you did with the life He gave you and if you trusted in His Son will. Good luck chemistry wizard

[NorthForkFisherman]

@34craigjan So you want to learn some basic chemistry? Well that's a start. Shall we start with the Opeche Shale? That's always a good place to start. Really basic and easy to understand reasons why the flood is a myth.

[34craigjan]

@NorthForkFisherman Ok. Lol

[NorthForkFisherman]

@34craigjan And there we go.....Pascal's Wager! Wanna follow up with a bible quote for the Trifecta? Go with Romans, it's tradition by now. However the iron of a creationist talking about ignorance is beyond funny. You might want to try some basic chemistry first and we can go from there.

[34craigjan]

@NorthForkFisherman are they engaging in real science or is it a perversion of the truth driven by a presuppositional bias? Judgment Day will sort out all these uncertainties.

[NorthForkFisherman]

@34craigjan Er, the only willing ignorant persons around here are you creationists. I mean, basic geology, chemistry, physics, and math fail. And in this day and age, no real excuse for being so. And yet, you seem proud of it? Now that's just sad.

[34craigjan]

@ideasman7420 very true,and the bible says that people are willingly ignorant of the flood and God's judgment."Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth,and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.So God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt;for all flesh had corrupted their way on earth."And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth,to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life,everything on earth shall die."

[snatchUfromfire]

Check my videos to see how it actually formed- What About the Grand Canyon? 2