- The Grand Canyon National Park encompassed
1,218,375 acres on the Colorado Plateau in northwestern Arizona.
- The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up
to 18 miles wide and 5000 feet deep.
- The Grand Canyon cuts through the Colorado
Plateau that is between 5000 and 9000 feet above sea level.
How the grand Canyon came to be The Grand Canyon:
- The Grand Canyon began forming six million
years ago with the beginning erosion of the Colorado River.
- The Grand Canyon has been created in general
because of the downward cutting of the Colorado River which flows
thru the canyon.
- Another factor that has caused the Grand
Canyon to form is the Kaibab Plateau (which is the north rim)
is about 1200 feet higher then the Coconino Plateau (which is
the southern rim). Water from the northern plateau flows into
the canyon creating stream and eroding the earth, but the stream
from the southern plateau flows in a southern direction away from
the north therefore the canyon never fills with water it just
continues to erode.
- The Grand Canyon contains several major
ecosystems.
- The Grand Canyon hosts five of the seven
life zones and three of the four desert types in North America.
If you were to travel from Mexico to Canada you would see the
same five life zones represented in the Grand Canyon.
- The five life zones represented are the
Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian, and Hudsonian.
- Over 1,500 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammalian,
47 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 17 fish species are found in the
park.
- Since the entire canyon has little soil
there is very little vegetation is seen except on parts of the
rims. The northern rim is partly forested with evergreens. In
the depths of the valley very little grows except desert plants
and Spanish bayonet.
For more information visit the National
Park Service. For information on
accommodations in the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff area visit Radisson
Woodlands Hotel Flagstaff or
Flagstaff Hotels.
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