Online Encyclopedia

work of the Colorado river, with accompanying weathering, through long ages; and the river is still engaged in deepening it as it rushes along the canyon bottom. The higher parts of the enclosing plateau have sufficient rainfall for forests, whose growth is also made possible in See also:

PART

part by the cool See also:

CLIMATE

climate and consequently retarded evaporation; but the less elevated portions have an arid climate, while the climate in the canyon bottom is that of the true desert. Thus the canyon is really in a desert region, as is shown by the fact that only two living streams enter the river for a distance of 500 M. from the Green river to the See also:

LOWER

lower end of the Grand Canyon; and only one, the Kanab See also:

Creek, enters the Grand Canyon itself. This, moreover, is dry during most of the See also:

YEAR

year.

In spite of this lack of tributaries, a large See also:

VOLUME

volume of See also:

WATER

water flows through the canyon at all seasons of the year, some coming from the scattered tributaries, some from springs, but most from the rains and snows of the distant mountains about the headwaters. Owing to enclosure between steeply rising canyon walls, evaporation is retarded, thus increasing the possibility of the long See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey of the water from the mountains to the sea across a vast stretch of arid land. The river in the canyon varies from a few feet to an unknown depth, and at times of See also:

flood has a greatly increased volume. The river varies in width from 50 ft. in some of the narrow See also:

GRANITE (adapted from the Ital. granite, grained; Lat. granum, grain)

Granite See also:

GORGES, SIR FERDINANDO (c. 1566-1647)

Gorges, where it bathes both See also:

rock walls, to 500 or 600 ft. in more open places. In the 283 M. of the Marble and Grand Canyons, the river falls 2330 ft., and at one point has a fall of 210 ft. in 10 m. The current velocity varies from 3 to 20 or more miles per See also:

HOUR

hour, being increased in places by See also:

low falls and rapids; but there are no high falls below the junction of the Green and Grand. Besides the canyons of the main river, there are a multitude of lateral canyons occupied by streams at intervals of heavy See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain. As See also:

Powell says, the region " is a composite of thousands, and tens of thousands of gorges." There are " thousands of gorges like that below See also:

Niagara Falls, and there are a thousand Yosemites." The largest of all, the Grand Canyon, has an See also:

AVERAGE

average depth of 4000 ft. and a width of 44 to 12 M. For a long distance, where See also:

CROSSING

crossing the See also:

KAIBAB

Kaibab plateau, the depth is 6000 ft. For much of the distance there is an inner narrower See also:

GORGE

gorge sunk in the bottom of a broad See also:

OUTER

outer canyon. The narrow gorge is in some places no more than 3500 ft. wide at the See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top. To illustrate the depth of the Grand Canyon, Powell writes: " See also:

PLUCK

Pluck up See also:

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Mount See also:

Washington (6293 ft. high) by the roots to the level of the sea, and drop it head first into the Grand Canyon, and the See also:

dam will not force its See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters over the See also:

wall." While there are notable See also:

DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences in the Grand Canyon from point to point, the main elements are much alike throughout its length, and are due to the See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of rock strata revealed in the canyon walls.

At the See also:

BASE

base, for some Boo ft., there is a complex of crystalline rocks of See also:

early See also:

GEOLOGICAL

geological See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, consisting of See also:

GNEISS

gneiss, schist, See also:

SLATE (properly CLAY SLATE; in M. Eng. slat or sclat, from O. Fr. esclat, a small piece of wood used as a tile; esclater, to break into pieces, whence modern Fr. eclat, the root being seen also in Ger. schleissen, to split)

slate and other rocks, greatly plicated and traversed by dikes and granite intrusions. This is an See also:

ancient mountain See also:

mass, which has been greatly denuded. On it See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest a series of durable See also:

QUARTZITE

quartzite beds inclined to the horizontal, forming about 800 ft. more of the lower canyon wall. On this come first 500 ft. of greenish sandstones and then 700 ft. of bedded See also:

SANDSTONE

sandstone and See also:

LIMESTONE

limestone strata, some massive and some thin, which on weathering See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a series of alcoves. These beds, like those above, are in nearly horizontal position. Above this comes 1600 ft. of limestone—often a beautiful marble, as in the Marble Canyon, but in the Grand Canyon stained a brilliant red by See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron See also:

OXIDE

oxide washed from overlying beds. Above this " red wall " are 800 ft. of See also:

grey and See also:

bright red sandstone beds looking " like vast See also:

RIBBONS

ribbons of landscape." At the top of the canyon is r000 ft. of limestone with See also:

GYPSUM

gypsum and chert, noted for the pinnacles and towers which denudation has See also:

DEVELOPED

developed. It is these different rock beds, with their various See also:

COLOURS, MILITARY

colours, and the differences in the effect of weathering upon them, that give the See also:

GREAT

great variety and grandeur to the canyon scenery. There are towers and turrets, pinnacles and alcoves, cliffs, ledges, crags and moderate See also:

TALUS (Lat. for the " ankle-bone ")

talus slopes, each with its characteristic See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and form according to the set of strata in which it lies. The main river has cleft the plateau in a huge gash; innumerable See also:

side gorges have cut it to right and See also:

LEFT

left; and weathering has etched out the cliffs and crags and helped to paint it in the See also:

GAUDY

gaudy colour bands that stretch before the See also:

eye. There is grandeur here and weirdness in abundance, but beauty is lacking. Powell puts the See also:

case graphically when he writes: " A wall of homogeneous granite like that in the See also:

YOSEMITE

Yosemite is but a naked wall, whether it be loco or 5000 ft. high.

Hundreds and thousands of feet mean nothing to the eye when they stand in a meaningless front. A mountain covered by pure See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow ro,000 ft. high has but little more effect on the See also:

IMAGINATION

imagination than a mountain of snow woo ft. high—it is but more of the same thing; but a See also:

FACADE

facade of seven systems of rock has its sublimity multiplied sevenfold." To the See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person most of the Grand Canyon is at See also:

PRESENT

present inaccessible, for, as Powell states, " a year scarcely suffices to see it all "; and " it is a region more difficult to See also:

TRAVERSE

traverse than the See also:

ALPS

Alps or the Himalayas." But a part of the canyon is now easily accessible to tourists. A trail leads from the See also:

ATCHISON

Atchison, See also:

TOPEKA

Topeka & See also:

SANTA

Santa Fe railway at Flagstaff, See also:

ARIZONA (from the Spanish-Indian Arizonac, of unknown meaning,—possibly " few springs,"-the name of an 18th-century mining camp in the Santa Cruz valley, just S. of the present border of Arizona)

Arizona; and a See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch See also:

LINE

line of the railway extends from See also:

Williams, Arizona, to a hotel on the very brink of the canyon. The plateau, which in places bears an open See also:

FOREST

forest, mainly of See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine, varies in See also:

ELEVATION

elevation, but is for the most part a series of fairly level See also:

TERRACE (Fr. terrace, terrasse, from It. terraccia, terrazzo, Lat. terra, earth)

terrace tops with steep faces, with mesas and buttes here and there, and, especially near the huge See also:

EXTINCT

extinct See also:

VOLCANO

volcano of See also:

San Francisco mountain, with much See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of former volcanic activity, including numerous cinder cones. The traveller comes abruptly to the edge of the canyon, at whose bottom, over a mile below, is seen the silvery See also:

THREAD (0. Eng. praed, literally, that which is twisted, prawan, to twist, to throw, cf. " throwster," a silk-winder, Ger. drehen, to twist, turn, Du. draad, Ger. Draht, thread, wire)

thread of water where the muddy torrent rushes along on its never-ceasing task of sawing its way into the depths of the earth. Opposite rise the highly coloured and terraced slopes of the other canyon wall, whose See also:

crest is fully 12 m. distant. Down by the river are the folded rocks of an ancient mountain See also:

SYSTEM

system, formed before vertebrate See also:

LIFE

life appeared on the earth, then worn to an almost level See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition through untold ages of slow denudation. Slowly, then, the mountains sank beneath the level of the sea, and in the Carboniferous. See also:

Period—about the See also:

time of the formation of the See also:

COAL

coal-beds—sediments began to See also:

bury the ancient mountains. This lasted through other untold ages until the See also:

TERTIARY

Tertiary Period—through much of the Palaeozoic and all of the Mesozoic time—and a total of from 12,000 to 16,000 ft. of sediments were deposited. Since then erosion has been dominant, and the river has eaten its way down to, and into, the deeply buried mountains, opening the strata for us to read, like the pages of a See also:

BOOK

book. In some parts of the plateau region as much as 30,000 ft. of rock have been stripped away, and overan area of 200,000 sq. m. an average of over 6000 ft. has been removed.

The Grand Canyon was probably discovered by G.L. de See also:

CARDENAS (San Juan de Dios de Cardenas)

Cardenas in 1540, but for 329 years the inaccessibility of the region prevented its exploration. Various See also:

PEOPLE

people visited parts of it or made reports regarding it; and the Ives Expedition of 1858 contains a See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report upon the canyon written by Prof. J. S. New-See also:

berry. But it was not until 1869 that the first real exploration of the Grand Canyon was made. In that year See also:

Major J. W. Powell, with five associates (three left the party in the Grand Canyon), made the See also:

COMPLETE

complete journey by See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat from the junction of the Green and Grand See also:

rivers to the lower end of the Grand Canyon. This hazardous journey ranks as one of the most daring and remarkable explorations ever undertaken in See also:

North See also:

AMERICA

America; and Powell's descriptions of the expedition are among the most fascinating accounts of travel See also:

RELATING

relating to the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent. Powell made another expedition in 1871, but did not go the whole length of the canyon. The See also:

government survey conducted by Lieut.

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GRANBY, JOHN MANNERS, MARQUESS

[next]
GRAND ALLIANCE, WAR OF THE (alternatively called th...