Grand Canyon National Park Field Trip
The chosen field trip was Grand Canyon, National Park. It was interesting visiting the place due to its incredible geologic history. The national park is considered one of the best examples of arid-land erosion in the globe. Being incised by the River Colorado, the park is immense, with an average of 4000 feet in depth for the whole 277 miles. Its deepest point ranges 6000 feet, while the widest part is 18 miles (Kaplinskiet al., 2017). River Colorado evolution, as well as early history, is the most complicated aspect of the park. Geology found within this park attracts the attention of the entire world for a couple of reasons. However, its most significant importance is perceived as the park geologic record exposed and preserved in historical books.
Grand Canyon owes its existence due to erosional forces of river Colorado, which and continues and has shaped the current looks of the place. They include snowmelt, running water from rain, as well as tributaries entering the canyon entire length. The uniqueness of the site is the variety of rocks and the complicated geologic story of their formation. The rocks found here are distinct in shape with different layers, as seen in the canyon walls. They respond to erosion differently: some of them form slopes, others cliffs, and some are believed to erode faster as compared to others. The rocks’ vivid colors are mainly because of different traces of various minerals amounts. Most of them contain iron, which leads to subtle hues of green, red, and yellow canyon walls.
The climatic condition, which is semi-arid, of the place, pays significant roles to the canyon appearance. Historically, the erosion which shaped the place canyon took place in the past five-six million years, which in geological terms was a blink of an eye. It was insignificant to relatively two billion years old rocks found at the bottom of the canyon. Research reveals that with consistent rain and fall of snow in northern Arizona, erosion forces will continually shape Grand Canyon, continuing to grow and change.
References
Kaplinski, M., Hazel Jr, J. E., Grams, P. E., Kohl, K., Buscombe, D. D., & Tusso, R. B.
(2017). Channel Mapping River Miles 29–62 of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, May 2009 (No. 2017-1030). US Geological Survey.
Mueller, E. R., Grams, P. E., Hazel Jr, J. E., & Schmidt, J. C. (2018). Variability in eddy sandbar
dynamics during two decades of controlled flooding of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Sedimentary Geology, 363, 181-199.