One of the natural wonders of the world-the Grand Canyon of America

The Grand Canyon is located on the Kaibabu Plateau in northwest Arizona, USA. It is a world-famous natural wonder and one of the most magnificent scenery on earth. From 65438 to 0979, according to the selection criteria of natural heritage, the Grand Canyon National Park was approved as a natural heritage by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and included in the World Heritage List.

The Grand Canyon is also known as the Colorado Grand Canyon because of the strong downward cut of the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon National Park is a part of the Grand Canyon in Colorado. It was built in 19 19 and covers an area of 1904 square miles. Overall, it is east-west, with a total length of 350 kilometers and a canyon top width of 6 30 kilometers. The canyon contracted downward into a V-shape. The banks are high in the north and low in the south, and the maximum valley depth exceeds 1500m. The width of the valley bottom is less than 1000m, and the narrowest part is only120 m. The Colorado River flows through the bottom of the valley.

The Colorado River is one of the major rivers in North America. It originated in the Rocky Mountains of the tribes in north-central Colorado, and was supplied with water by melting large areas of thick snow, with a length of about 2,333 kilometers. Most of the entire Colorado River system flows into the Gulf of California, which is the main source of fresh water in California. Another part flows south to Mexico, and the other part disappears to the west of the Rocky Mountains. 1540, Spanish explorer Melchior Diaz was the first explorer to explore and record the Colorado River.

Grand canyon history

According to research, human beings have lived in the Grand Canyon for more than 4000 years. About 2000 years ago, Indian tribes Anasatz and Pueblo appeared here. They have a farm and live in a stone house. The best physical evidence of prehistoric people living here can be traced back to 1000 years ago. Anasazi people live in houses made of stone and mud, and archaeological sites about 2,500 years ago have been found in the canyon, which means that people have lived here for the past 4,000 years. Anasazi ruins are scattered all over the canyon, which can be seen by tourists who take a boat or stroll along the canyon path or the edge of the canyon.

The first group to come to the Grand Canyon was a Colorado expedition led by Spanish aristocrat Don Lopez Corona. They arrived here about 1540, less than two years after Columbus discovered the new continent. They came across the Grand Canyon while looking for the Seven Huang Jincheng in Sipola. When Cora climbed the Rocky Mountain and saw red stones everywhere, she was shocked by the colorful wilderness scenery and immediately named it "Colorado" (meaning red) in Spanish. Led by an Indian guide, he came to the south edge and became the first white man to see the Grand Canyon.

19 In the 1950s, the US military sent an expedition into this area, and the most famous explorer was American artillery major john wesley powell. 1869, Powell became the first modern explorer in the history of the Grand Canyon.

Powell called nine brothers and led an expedition to explore the Colorado River and the canyon area by boat, drifting from the upper reaches of the Colorado River to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. This is a thrilling trip. The swift Colorado River is beyond Powell's imagination. Major Powell, who had only one arm, had to tie himself to a chair to avoid falling into the water when the ship was moving fast. Major Powell's three deputies escaped because they couldn't stand the hunger and despair caused by the Grand Canyon environment. The other three were killed for raiding Indians. Only Powell and the other three finally completed the expedition with extraordinary courage. Powell relied on the geographical knowledge he had learned in the past to observe the quartzite and mud layer deposited in the interlayer without any complicated instruments to explain the dislocation of the continental plate and the cutting action of the river. He wrote his travels about the canyon scenery and adventures he witnessed during his 98-day adventure, which was widely circulated after publication and caused great shock in the United States and Europe. The positive result of this expedition is that this large area is no longer blank on the map. At the same time, his exploration opened up a new field for the study of geology, and Powell therefore established a very high reputation. In 1980s, the explorer John Hans, who is famous for his wit and legend, began to organize sightseeing groups to visit the Grand Canyon. 1883, Benjamin Harrison established the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve as the President of the United States. 1903, President Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon for the first time. 1908, President Roosevelt proposed to establish a national memorial park in the Grand Canyon. Colorado National Reserve was established in 19 1 1. 19 19 The US Congress passed a bill to designate the deepest and most spectacular section of the Grand Canyon as the Grand Canyon National Park, which has been listed as one of the world natural heritages by UNESCO. Today, with its rich geological wonders and beautiful natural scenery, the Grand Canyon has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Grand canyon geology

The gorge wall of the Grand Canyon is engraved with the history of the earth's development-about one-third of the history of crustal changes is deeply recorded on the stone wall, and the rocks at the bottom of the valley have undergone changes for about two billion years, which is half the age of the earth.

The rocks in the Grand Canyon of the United States are mostly red, and the strata from the bottom to the top are relatively complete. Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata are exposed, and the oldest strata are Archean metamorphic rocks. The exposed strata have clear layers and different colors, and contain representative biological fossils of various geological ages, which is also called "living geological history textbook".

Colorado Plateau is a typical "Table Mountain", also known as "Table Mountain", that is, a mountain with a flat top and steep sides. This terrain is formed by erosion (undercut and spalling). During the period of erosion, the hard rock strata on the plateau constitute the protective cap of the inter-valley area, and the erosion in the valley is active.

-Archaean-Paleoproterozoic:

The oldest rock exposed in the Grand Canyon area is Vishnu schist, which is distributed near the riverbed in the deep canyon and is called the Canyon Granitic Metamorphic Rock Series. Lithology is schist and gneiss. The protolith is mainly a set of volcanic sedimentary rocks and granitic intrusive rocks. Above Vishnu schist is ElvesChasm gneiss, which is in unconformity contact with Vishnu schist. The protolith is a set of shallow marine volcanic sedimentary rocks with metamorphic age of 65.438+0.84 billion years. Formed the crystal basement of the Grand Canyon area.

-Mesoproterozoic:

Mesoproterozoic, called the Grand Canyon Supergroup, is a set of gray, red and orange sedimentary rocks and volcanic rocks deposited by shallow sea facies and river facies, directly unconformity covered on the Proterozoic-Archean crystalline basement, with an age of/kloc-0 1.2574 billion years and a thickness of 3600m m, which is the only representative stratum in North America in this period. There is a 400 million-year sedimentary gap between it and the underlying crystalline substrate.

-Paleozoic

At the end of Paleozoic, due to the large-scale volcanic eruption in the world, the sea water became cold, which led to the mass extinction of ice sheets and organisms. Only 5% of marine life, 33% of terrestrial life survived, and 90% of the world's biological species became extinct. At the same time, with the convergence of Permian global continental blocks and the formation of Pangaea supercontinent (286.248 billion years ago), the tectonic environment of the southwest margin of North America changed greatly in Permian, from passive continental margin to active continental margin.

-Mesozoic and Cenozoic:

Marine Mesozoic and continental Mesozoic were deposited in the southwest of Colorado Plateau, which is rare in the Grand Canyon. Because the exposed parts are different and the ages of the rocks are different, we can feel the geological marks of different ages when we walk in different positions of the Colorado Grand Canyon.

Due to the different stratum structure and density in the Grand Canyon area, the rivers are rampaging, and this long canyon is strewn at random, especially the stratum section of the valley wall, with clear texture and overlapping layers. Tourists here admire the wonders of nature. The color of the canyon is different due to the types of rocks on the two walls, the degree of weathering, the evolution of time and the different minerals contained. The scenery of the canyon is unpredictable and colorful under the sunlight.

Grand Canyon National Park

The Grand Canyon National Park is one of the seven natural wonders in the world (Colorado Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls in Africa, Mount Everest, mammoth cave in Kentucky, Glacier Bay in Alaska, Lake Baikal and Yellowstone National Park). The Grand Canyon is divided into three parts: the southern edge, the northern edge and the western edge (or the southern gorge, the northern gorge and the Xixia), each with its own characteristics.

The Grand Canyon National Park is named after its southern and northern edges, which are managed by the Grand Canyon National Park Administration, while the western edge is a Hualaipai Indian reservation. Among them, Xia Nan has many scenic spots, which are well developed and open for a long time. It is the most visited route by tourists, and its self-driving expressway is also well built. Most of the 5 million tourists go to Xia Nan every year. Beixia is a place that tourists seldom visit because of its high altitude (more than 300 meters higher than the southern edge). Not only is it remote, but it is closed to the public from mid-May to mid-10/0 every year because of the winter snow and ice weather. But the air on the northern edge is thin and the sky is blue. Moreover, the climate and landscape of the two walls and the bottom of the canyon are very different. The south wall is dry and warm, with few plants. The north wall is higher than the south wall, the climate is cold and humid, and the trees are green; The bottom of the valley is dry and hot, showing a desert landscape. The Colorado River, which winds at the bottom of the valley, is deep and curved, and the riverbed gradient of the whole Grand Canyon area is per kilometer 150 cm, which leads to the rapidity of rivers in some areas of the canyon. Because of this, sailing and drifting along the canyon has become one of the fascinating activities. Although the Grand Canyon is not the deepest canyon in the world, its magnificent and beautiful scenery ranks first in the world and it is one of the most worthwhile national parks in the United States.

1. Grand Canyon Tourist Center

The Grand Canyon Visitor Center is the first stop to the Grand Canyon. There is a detailed introduction to the Grand Canyon, as well as the length and time of each climbing route. It is also the connection between bicycle rental and three free buses.

2. Free buses in the park

Xia Nan has four free buses to take, which will be more frequent in spring and autumn and less in winter. Most of them operate before sunrise and after sunset 15 minutes. The main attractions of the Grand Canyon are concentrated on the red line (to the hermit's residence in the west) and the orange line (to the Yaki corner in the east). Further east, there is no bus to the desert landscape observation tower, so you need to drive.

Red Line Hermit Road Route: The whole journey takes 80 minutes (without getting off) and is open all day. The scenic spots that stop at the west of the hermit rest house are relatively concentrated, including Hopi Point, Powell Point, Pima Point and other scenic spots along the way. Monave and Pima are two excellent places to watch the sunset, and change to the Blue Line at Village Transfer.

Orange Line Kaibabrim route: 50 minutes by car (without getting off), open all day. It is the main scenic spot connecting the visitor center and the east of the park, including Cape Mather, Cape Yawapai, geological museum, South kebab climbing entrance, Cape Yaki (a good place to watch sunrise and sunset) and so on. , and then change to the blue line at the visitor center.

Blue Line Village Route: The whole journey takes 50 minutes (without getting off the bus), and it is open all day, connecting the visitor center and Grand Canyon Village.

Hiker Express Mountaineering Shuttle: It is open all day, and only stops at the entrance of Bright Angel Trail, Visitor Center and South Barbecue Trail. There are flights only in the morning and every hour.

Grand Canyon Nanxia Scenic Area

The main scenic spots in Xia Nan (from west to east) are: 1. Melmit rests, 2. Hopi point, 3. Ya wa pai Dian, 4. Mather pt., 5. Yaki Point, 6. Fairview 7. Moran. 8. Li pandian 9. Navajo point 10.

1. Mermit rest area

Hermit rest place is the bus terminal of the Grand Canyon Loop, so you can only take the red line bus, but you can't go in by car. The hermit rest house itself is a stone house with distinctive architecture, which is well worth seeing. The most famous scenic spot nearby is Cape Hopi (you can see the Colorado River), which is the best place to watch the beautiful sunset.

2. Hopi Point

Hopi Point Scenic Area is the place where the Grand Canyon watches the sunset. The most beautiful time in the whole Grand Canyon is at sunrise/sunset every day. It is generally believed that Cape Hopi is the most classic scenic spot to watch the sunset in the Grand Canyon, and a large number of tourists gather here every sunset. The constant theme here is that the shadows produced by the fiery red rock mass and the surrounding rock mass set off each other. In Hopi Scenic Area, visitors can easily capture the sunset scenery they have never seen before.

3. Yawa Paidian

Yawapei scenic spot is located in the north of Grand Canyon Village, and the canyon has a panoramic view at this scenic spot, which can take care of sunrise and sunset. There is also a geological museum next to this scenic spot.

4. Mather Point

Cape Mather is the nearest tourist attraction and one of the best places to shoot the Grand Canyon.

5. Yaki pt.

This is also a very suitable scenic spot for watching the sunrise. There is a 5-kilometer-long trail between Cape Yaki and Yawapa Palpointt, a scenic spot in Yawapa, which is suitable for short-distance hiking.

6. Big idea

It is 2256 meters above sea level, overlooking the extension of the Grand Canyon from west to east and the winding Colorado River. Here you can see the panoramic view of the Grand Canyon and appreciate the details of the Grand Canyon.

7. Moran pt

In Cape Moran, you can see the rushing Colorado River in the distance.

8. Li Pan pt.

There are three scenic spots in the desert landscape area, namely Lipan Point, Navajo Point and Desert Landscape from west to east. Cape Li Pan is the best place to watch the sunrise.

9. Navajo Point

Navajo Point is the highest scenic spot in the South Canyon and one of the best scenic spots in the Canyon. Here, you can see the panoramic view of the western canyon and the Colorado River in the north, and you can also watch the sunrise/sunset here.

10. desert landscape watchtower

The desert watchtower is located on the east side of the desert landscape highway in the eastern part of the southern margin of the Grand Canyon. Because the watchtower is located at the highest altitude on the southern edge, it has become an unparalleled attraction. The lighthouse can not only overlook the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, but also see the San Francisco Peak, the residence of Navajo Indians and the vast and colorful desert. The walls inside the building are also covered with Indian paintings and artworks, allowing you to experience Indian culture.

1 1. Xia Nan hiking route

Xia Nan has many hiking routes, quite a few of which have to go to the bottom, and there are several fixed turning points on many routes. Visitors can choose whether to continue to go to the bottom or go back the same way according to their own time and physical fitness.

Among these hiking routes leading to the bottom of the valley, the "Angel of Light Road" is the most famous one.

Start from the "Angel of Light Road" and meander down until you see the Colorado River at the bottom of the valley. One-way distance 13 km, altitude change reaches1400m.

There are three rest/turn-back points: 1.5 mile (2.4 km) rest point, 3 mile /4.8 km rest point and Indian Garden.

Every rest point is equipped with toilets and free drinking water, and many people will take the Indian garden as a turning point. From the starting point of the trail route (2088m above sea level) to the Indian Garden (1158m above sea level), the round-trip distance is14.4km, and the round-trip time is 6-9 hours. You can't see the Colorado River in the Indian Garden. If you want to see the Colorado River, visitors need to follow the signs of Indian Garden and walk to Plateau Point. The one-way distance of this road is 2.5 kilometers. Plateau point is a big platform, from which you can clearly see the Colorado River and enjoy the scenery inside the Grand Canyon. Round-trip distance from the starting point of the alley to the plateau point 19 km. This is the lowest position of the Grand Canyon recommended by the park to walk back and forth on the south edge in a single day, and the reference time required for walking is 8- 12 hours.

Nankaibabu Trail is another famous trail in the Grand Canyon. From the starting point of the trail to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon, it is the most representative hiking route in the Grand Canyon. It is magnificent, with a one-way drop of about1460m and a length of about 1 1 km (red arrow). This path is very steep.

Finally, we will reach the Colorado River, where there is a footbridge across the Colorado River, called the Black Bridge. This bridge was built in 1928, with a length of 100 meters and cliff bridges at both ends.

Because going down is downhill, it will be faster, but going back will be very painful. In addition, in order to avoid going back, it is suggested to choose another route, the Bright Angel Trail (blue arrow). Although it is longer, it is smoother and easier to climb, and you can climb less 1 10 meters. It takes about 27 kilometers to walk like this, which is a lot all day, and it will be more difficult to walk at the end of the day.

At this time, you can start from the fork of Guangming Angel Creek Canyon outside Phantom Ranch, walk a few hundred meters along the right bank of Colorado River, and you will reach another river-crossing bridge, which is called Yinqiao, opposite to the black bridge in front. After crossing the Silver Bridge, walk about two kilometers along the left bank of the Colorado River to a public toilet (River Resthouse), and then you can connect to the Angel of Light Trail and return.

Western grand canyon

The Xixia of the Grand Canyon is adjacent to the west side of the Grand Canyon National Park, which belongs to the Hualapai Indian reservation and is not within the scope of the National Park. More experience activities can be carried out here, so it attracts more than 500 thousand tourists to experience the natural scenery every year.

In Hindi, Hualazong refers to "a man among tall pine trees", which has a history of hundreds of years in Xixia. 1983, Xixia established "Hualapai Amerindian Jurisdiction", 1988, Indians established "Xixia Tribal Park". Later, they cooperated with Mr. Jin Ying, an immigrant from China, and established a world-famous man-made miracle-Sky Trail.

There are three scenic spots in Xixia, namely Indian Hualapai Ranch, Eagle Cliff (including air corridor) and Bat Cliff. Sitting in the car ferry inside Xixia can get up and down freely.

1. Walapai Ranch

Indians were the earliest owners of the Grand Canyon, and most Indians here still retain their unique way of life and their religious beliefs. The Indian's house is in an earthen enclosure, which is a place for selling small commodities and entertainment.

2. Eagle Horn

Eagle Cliff is a must for every tourist. There is a gap between the ridges of the canyon, like an eagle flying high, hence the name Eagle Cliff.

The eagle is an Indian god. They represent honesty, truth, majesty, strength, courage, wisdom, rights and freedom. Indians believe that when eagles soar in the sky, they are special messengers of God. According to legend, in ancient times, local Indians lived at the bottom of the valley, and they didn't know that a big flood was coming. The creator sent an eagle to tell people that the flood was coming. This condor not only brought a warning, but also landed on the cliff, watching people walk out of the danger of flood from the bottom of the valley, and then turned into this eagle-like rock, so the Huala tribe regarded it as a sacred place.

In order not to change this godsend wonder, there is no fence on the steep cliff, so tourists should pay attention to safety when taking pictures.

3. Grand Canyon Flyover

The most famous classic of the West Grand Canyon is the glass bridge hanging at an altitude of 4,000 feet, which is called "the eighth wonder of the world". The air corridor is made of unique glass, suspended above the Colorado River/KOOC-0/2/KOOC-0/9 meters, and extends 2/KOOC-0/.34 meters beyond the cliff of the Grand Canyon, which can bear the weight equivalent to 7/KOOC-0/Boeing 747 aircraft. Visitors standing in the air corridor of the Grand Canyon can enjoy the wonders of the Grand Canyon from a 720-degree angle. Since its opening in March 2007, the Grand Canyon Air Corridor has quickly become one of the famous tourist attractions in the United States. Standing on it is like walking in the air, but this is a landscape only for the brave, but tourists who are afraid of heights need to weigh it carefully.

Skywalk is the masterpiece of China entrepreneur David King in Las Vegas. David King was born in Shanghai David King 1962. 1987, went to the United States to study English and start a business. On a whim, he became the father of Skywalker and created a new "world miracle". A construction company in Las Vegas turned David King's idea into reality, providing countless tourists with an unprecedented way to visit the Grand Canyon. On June 6th, 2004, 65438+20041October 6th, the construction of Sky Trail was started, and it was completed and opened in 2007. The first people to walk the Grand Canyon Skywalk were Buzz Aldrin (the second man to land on the moon) and astronaut Jon Herrington. Skywalk is the world's first viewing corridor with glass hanging in the air. Up to now, it has been 14 years and received more than100000 tourists.

4. Bird droppings

Bat Cliff Scenic Area is located in the north of Xixia. There is a bird droppings hole on the cliff 600 feet away from the bottom of the valley. The bird droppings in the hole are accumulated by millions of bats for thousands of years, so the mountain is named "Bat Cliff" (some tourists mistakenly think it is the same as Eagle Cliff, named after the mountain looks like a bat).

Bat Rock is located in the corner of the Grand Canyon, which is the highest point for viewing the Grand Canyon. Here, you can enjoy the scenery of the Grand Canyon in all directions. It should be said that this is the best place to see the Grand Canyon. Standing on the top of Bat Rock, the panoramic view of Xixia is as far as the eye can see, with cliffs and ravines on both sides. Like an uncanny workmanship, the deep part of the big crack is the swift Colorado River. Watching the Grand Canyon here can make you feel more magnificent and spectacular.

5. Travel by helicopter+rafting

To fully appreciate the magnificent scenery of Xixia, taking a helicopter is the best choice. The helicopter that boarded the super-large panoramic window looked down through the glass window, and the Grand Canyon unfolded slowly in front of us like a vast and magnificent geological picture scroll. Visitors will appreciate the amazing magic and beauty of the Grand Canyon. Helicopters travel between the rock walls of the canyon, descend 4000 feet from the edge of the canyon to the bottom of the valley, and then transfer to a cruise ship and go down the Colorado River. Visitors along the way can enjoy the beautiful scenery and magnificent scenes of the Grand Canyon from different angles.