The Grand Canyon

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  • Created by: Peter
  • Created on: 15-09-12 14:39

The Grand Canyon is about 300kms south east of the gambling city of Las Vega. It is in the desert state of Arizona in the south west of the country called the USA.

DESCRIPTION AND HOW IT WAS FORMED
The Grand Canyon is more than 1000 deep, more than 10000 metres wide and over 400 kms long. It was formed by vertical erosion by the River Colorado over about 5 million years. At the same time as the river was eroding downwards earth movement were lifting up the Colorado Plateau so the river sliced a huge canyon. Canyons have narrow sides as in the dry climate there is usually not much weathering. However, here the occasional heavy rains lead to flash floods and debris flows down side canyons so the Grand Canyon has been widened.

HOW PEOPLE USE IT
The Native Americans used to visit it for worship and it still creates a huge sense of awe and wonder at the power of nature to create impressive landforms. The Grand Canyon is a world famous visitor attraction and attracts 5 million visitors a year. 83% from the USA, 17% from abroad (with 4% of these from the UK). Visitors can go to the glass bottomed Skywalk built at Grand Canyon West just outside the controls of the National Park. Visitors do casual sightseeing at either Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim

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