Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Faculty of Geography and Geology
Grand Canyon Country
Specialization: Tourism and Regional Developement
Content:
Introduction
Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, gets its nickname from its most spectacular wonder. Northwestern Arizona is home to the Grand Canyon and many other popular natural and manmade attractions, and yet the Grand Canyon region also holds the most remote land in the state. The Arizona Strip, as the stretch of land between the canyon and the Utah border is known, is physically cut off from the rest of the state. Two large manmade lakes flank the Grand Canyon on either side, where the Colorado River is held back first by Glen Canyon Dam and then, by Hoover Dam. Many say the Grand Canyon is the planets history book: 2 billion years are inscribed on the multicolored strata of its cliffs and canyons. One of the worlds most visited natural wonders; this World Heritage Site holds an unmatched array of geological, historical and biological treasures. Water, wind, plants, animals and humans have all made their mark on the Grand Canyon in significant ways; all are part of this well preserved history book, which also offers some of the most stunning visual spectacles on earth. The Grand Canyon was formed by long sequences of weathering, erosion, sedimentation, volcanism, faulting and uplifting; eons of pushing up, wearing down and washing away created the canyon we see today. The hardness and resistance of each type of rock determine what remains and what crumbles away. Geological forces continue to sculpt the Grand Canyon today: a river works at the bottom of the canyon, while weather and erosion carve its walls. The canyons most powerful creative force, the Colorado River, winds 443 kilometers through Grand Canyon National Park from Less Ferry to Lake Mead; it runs 2,320 kilometers from its source in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California and drops over 3962 meters in elevation over its course. In the Grand Canyon, the rivers average width is 91 meters and its average depth is 12 meters. The Colorado River became cleaner and more predictable after it was dammed upstream, but more than 160 heart pumping white water rapids still make the trip exciting. To preserve its beauty, the National Park Service limits the number of people who can boat though the canyon, but anyone who has run the rapids says it is worth the wait for a private permit or commercial trip to experience the thrill and wonder of floating through the canyon via the river.
The Grand Canyons range of elevations, climates and geological features allows a great biodiversity of plant and animal species to thrive. From the desert scrub at the bottom of the canyon, to the spruce-fir forest on the North Rim, the canyons biotic communities include 1,800 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammal, 47 reptile, 17 fish and 19 amphibian species. The Grand Canyon also has a lengthy human history. Four thousand years ago, archaic hunters and gatherers wove small figures that looked like deer and mountain sheep out of split willow twigs; piercing them with spear like sticks, possibly as a ritual to ensure good hunting. These artifacts have been found in the recesses of the inner canyon. Though the canyons historic period begins in 1540, when conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explored the West, claiming lands for King Charles V and searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Coronado sent Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to the Grand Canyons South Rim. Three of his soldiers hiked one third of the way down before returning to report that a rock that looked as tall as a man from the rim was actually bigger than the great tower of Seville. Though Europeans visited the Grand Canyon few more times, they considered it little more than a travel obstruction. In 1857 the U.S. Army sent Lieutenant Joseph Christmas Ives and a small crew up the Colorado River in a small paddle steamboat. The expedition floated up the river to the rapids at Black Canyon, then continued on foot along the South Rim. In his report, Ives said, Ours has been the first and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. It seems intended by nature that the Colorado River, along the greater part of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed. In 1886, Indiana senator Benjamin Harrison began the campaigning to make the Grand Canyon a national park. Politics and private interests delayed the process, but Harrison designated the area a forest reserve in 1893. Then, to provide more protection for the canyon, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon a national monument in 1908 without the consent of Congress. For the next years various Grand Canyon National Park bills were fought out between private interests and the government. Finally, in 1919, Congress voted on a compromise and President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill creating Grand Canyon National Park. The most breathtaking sites in the Grand Canyon that still attract the most tourists are: The South and North Rims, the Inner Canyon, Havusu Canyon, Grand Canyon West, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Vermilion Cliffs and Lake Mead.
The South and North Rims
Of the 5 million people who visit the Grand Canyon each year, most see it from the South Rim, the most easily accessible and developed part of the park. Crowds came here to gaze in awe on the great charm. At an average elevation of 2,133 meters, the South Rim experiences the full range of seasons, and the central of human activity there is the Grand Canyon Village. The Historic District was built by the Santa Fe Railway during the first half of the 20th century. The railroad partnered with the Fred Harvey Company to craft the canyons image as a place of dramatic scenery and interesting cultures, providing tours and accommodation that highlighted Southwest themes. The North Rim and the Kaibab Plateau host the ponderosa pine forest, spruce-fir forest, mountain meadows and grassland communities; mountain lions, elk and northern goshawks inhabit these communities. As the inner canyon climate warmed up and dried out over the ages, the Kaibab subspecies evolved in geographic isolation.
Fig.1. South Rim 5
The Inner Canyon
The most adventurous visitor can go beyond the sweeping vistas of the canyons rims into its depths, exploring the inner canyons rocks, waters and caverns by food, by mule, or by boat. The inner canyon plunges as much as 6,000 feet below the rim, exposing layers of geological strata from the base layer, Vishnu Schist, to the top layer of Kaibab Limestone. The inner canyon is home to a variety of biotic communities. The rivers edge hosts riparian vegetation and sandy beaches, with red spotted toads, great blue herons, beavers, coyotes and ringtails. Just above the river, Mojave and Great Basin desert scrub
Fig.2. Inner Canyon; sura: wallpaper.com
communities thrive, with a wide variety of cacti, desert shrubs and trees, plus bats, rattlesnakes, lizards and wood rats. Above the desert scrub, pinyon and juniper grow to elevations of 6200 feet and above that, ponderosa pine to 8,200 feet.
Havasu Canyon and Grand Canyon West
Outside park boundaries on the western end of the canyon, the Havasupai and Hualapai Indian Reservations offer unique attractions. Often referred to as a Shangri-la, or paradise, Havasu Canyon is a large tributary on the south side of the Colorado River, located within the Havasupai Indian Reservation. It can be accessed only by foot, mule, horse, or helicopter. Havasupai means people of the blue green waters, referring to the vivid turquoise water of Havasu Creek. Travertine, formed by calcium carbonate, coats the streambed and the refraction of light gives the water is color. Tribal members and their ancestors have lived in
Fig.3. Grand Canyon West 6
the canyon and on the rim for several hundred years. The Havasupais spent summers at the bottom of Havasu Canyon and winters up on the plateau until 1882, when they were confined to the canyon on a tiny reservation; in 1975, some of their plateau lands were finally returned to them. Today, tourism is a major source of revenue to the Havasupais, as each year thousands visit the village of Supai to explore the nearby idyllic pools and waterfalls.
Vermilion Cliffs
The aptly named Vermilion Cliffs rise high above Less Ferry. Administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument encompasses nearly 300,000 acres magnificent sandstone foundations, canyons and cliffs ranging from 3,000 to 6,500 feet in elevation. The monument is situated along the Colorado and Paria river, northeast of the Grand Canyon between Page, Arizona and Kanab, Utah. The monument is home to bighorn sheep, pronghorn and antelope. Endangered California condors were reintroduced here in 1994 and the cliffs make a beautiful backdrop for viewing the huge black birds. The Vermilion Cliffs get their intense colors from iron oxide, manganese and other minerals, forming one of the steps in the Grand Staircase, a series of sedimentary rock layers the stretch from Utahs Bryce Canyon National Park to the Grand Canyon. Located mostly within monument boundaries, the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness is a favorite destination of backpackers because of its deep, narrow canyons, red sand beaches and fantastic purple, red and black cliffs.
Fig.4. Vermilion Cliffs 7
Lake Mead
On the opposite end of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam holds black the Colorado River to create Lake Mead, the continents largest manmade lake. The dam, named after President Herbert Hoover, was built to supply water and electricity to the Southwest. When the dam was completed in 1936, it was the worlds largest concrete structure, at 764 feet high and 1 244 feet wide at the top. Lake Mead National Recreation Area extends west from the Grand Wash Cliffs, which mark the end of the Grand Canyon, to hug the Arizona-Nevada border along 140 miles of the Colorado Rivers original course. When full, Lake Mead is 110 miles long, with 550 miles of shoreline marked by beaches and covers that invite boaters to linger. Smaller and narrower Lake Mohave, at 67 miles long, was created by Davis Dam and is also part of the recreation area. Lake Mohave seems more river than lake, retaining some of the Colorados original characteristics. Kayakers and hikers enjoy exploring the springs and steeps of striking Black Canyon, which begins at the lakes upper reaches, in the shadow of Hoover Dam.
Fig.5. Lake Mead
Bibliography Ghidul Arizona-scenic wonders of the Grand Canyon State http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/az_intro.htm http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
