Grand Canyon Geology, Rock Formations

The geology of Grand Canyon National Park demonstrates how Mother Nature can take a plateau and cut from it a breathtaking canyon, an immense creation of color and beauty.

IMMENSE SIZE

As you walk up to the rim after parking, Grand Canyon astounds you with its magnitude of size and color. The Grand Canyon is over 250 miles long and reaches at places over a mile in depth. At some points, it is four miles across, in others 18 miles wide.

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY

The first thing that enters your mind is "how did this canyon come to be?" Grand Canyon National Park contains wonders carved by nature's forces and the Colorado River, bringing visitors from all over the world to see its thrilling panoramic vistas.

It took over 6 million years for this canyon in Arizona to form, most of the erosion taking place in the last 2 million years. However, it was not just the wind and the river cutting through and across layers of rock that formed this wonder. Earlier, actually millions of years previously, the upheaval of plates within the earth and other geologic occurrences worked to bring this incredible sight to us.

It is even possible to see imbedded in the intricate and colorful landscape, fossils of sea creatures that prove that this land at one time was at the bottom of an ocean or a shallow sea.

GEOLOGICAL VARIATIONS

The incredible rock formations, the layered and colored steep rock walls form a miracle of nature, one that attracts people now and will lure them to visit this place of beauty far into the future. Enthralling in its beauty, in size and scope, and variety of landscape, Grand Canyon National Park rates as one of the best vacation destinations.