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Grand Canyon
Immense gorge cut by the Colorado River into the high plateaus of
northwestern Arizona, U.S., noted for its fantastic shapes and coloration.
The broad, intricately sculptured chasm of the Grand Canyon contains
between its outer walls a multitude of imposing peaks, buttes, canyons, and
ravines. It ranges in width from about 0.1 to 18 miles (0.2 to 29 km) and
extends in a winding course from the mouth of the Paria River, near the
northern boundary of Arizona, to Grand Wash Cliffs, near the Nevada line, a
distance of about 277 miles (446 km). The canyon includes many tributary
side canyons and surrounding plateaus. The deepest and most impressively
beautiful section, 56 miles (90 km) long, is within Grand Canyon National
Park, which encompasses the river's length from Lake Powell to Lake Mead.
In its general colour, the canyon is red, but each stratum or group of
strata has a distinctive hue--buff and gray, delicate green and pink, and,
in its depths, brown, slate-gray, and violet. At 8,200 feet (2,500 m) above
sea level, the North Rim is 1,200 feet (350 m) higher than the South Rim.
The first sighting of the Grand Canyon by a European is credited to
the Francisco Coronado expedition of 1540 and subsequent discovery to two
Spanish priests, Francisco Garc |