The Grand Canyon

By: Leah Bahlman

Water

• How was the Grand Canyon formed? The Colorado River cuts through the Colorado Plateau. For 6 million years, the water has been wearing down the rock. The river also carries away the broken particles of rock.

Superposition

• The oldest layer of rock is at the bottom.• The newest layer of rock is at the top.• A geologist is a scientist who studies rocks.• Geologists look at rock layers to find out how

old the rocks are.• A geologic time scale is a record of the

geologic events and life forms in Earth’s history.

History lesson

• The walls of the Grand Canyon in Arizona show 2 billion years of Earth’s history.

• If I went down into the Grand Canyon I would see sandstone and limestone. The deeper I go the older the rocks are.

Fossils

• Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of living things.

• Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by sediments.

• Paleontologists are scientists who study fossils.

• There are many fossils in the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon

Colorado river

Rock layers of the Grand Canyon

Erosion and Deposition

• Erosion is the process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock and soil.

• Deposition is the process in which sediment is laid down in new locations.

Map of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon pictures

The rock cycle

Sedimentary Rock

Fossils

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of living things.

glacier

• Glacier is a large mass of moving ice and snow on land.

Colorado RiverA river is a large stream

weathering

• Weathering is the chemical and physical processes that break down rock at earth’s surface.

Grand Canyon Facts

• The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long. And up to 18 miles wide. It is one mile deep. The Grand Canyon National Park is in Arizona.