7+The+Grand+Caynon

Grand Canyon By: Mackenzie

__Map of Grand Canyon__

__The Grand Canyon in the Morning__



__Grand Canyon at Sunset



Grand Canyon During the Day__



__ Grand Canyon __ The largest gorge on earth is the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon, a valley formed by cutting water, started forming 1.25 billion years ago and is still forming today. The Grand has an average width of 10 miles as well as an astounding depth of one mile. The whole canyon is 277 miles long and stretches across Arizona in the southwestern United States. There are 450 million years where rock is missing from the Grand Canyon. Scientists believe the rock isn’t there was because a natural disaster occurred. People actually started living in the canyon 4000 years ago. They lived in pit houses, hunted for food, and made lovely baskets. The Spanish explored the Grand Canyon in 1540 lead by Francisco Vàsquez de Coronado looking for the Seven Cities of CÃ­bola which were said to contain great riches which do not actually exist. Lead courageously by Lieutenant Joseph explored the canyon in 1821 in order to chart the unknown southwest territories. Thanks to these explorer’s this fascinating wonder has been a tourist attraction since 1900. The canyon was declared a national park in 1919 and today is visited by 4 million people every year. The Grand is now also one of the 7 Wonders of the World. There are many theories on how the Grand Canyon formed. Although no one knows for sure scientist are pretty almost positive it was affected greatly by the Colorado River which flows through the canyon today that cut through the many layers of limestone and other rocks. It formed not only the magnificent canyon itself but many rock formations, buttes, towers, ravines, side canyons, and ledges. The Grand Canyon is home to beyond 400 species of animals as well as 2 different species of squirrels. The Abert Squirrel lives on the south rim while the Kaibab squirrel lives on the north rim. The Grand Canyon has many birds and reptiles. Even though most are harmless there are also some poisonous reptiles such as rattle snakes. In addition to all these animal’s the canyon is also home to 1,500 species of plant’s. It has 167 fungi species, 64 moss species, 195 lichen species, and many others. Even though this park is enormous and nearly doubled in size in 1955 only 10 percent of the park is exotic. The climate at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 25 degrees hotter than the rim and only get’s 7 inches of rain a year only some plants and animals can live there. While the top gets 26 inches of rain a year and has many animals. This large gorge, The Grand Canyon is wondrous. The sunsets are amazing. It is also greatly known for its fun water rafting and hiking. I hope you would now consider going some day.