What is Canyon in Geography?
Canyon geography is very simple. A canyon is a huge valley, with tremendously deep, steep sides and perhaps a river flowing along the bottom. The term “Canyon” is derived from the Spanish word cañon, which implies “pipe” or “tube”. The word “gorge” is also most commonly used to refer to “canyon,” but a gorge is relatively steeper and narrower than a canyon almost always. That said gorges and canyons are almost similar except for steepness and narrowness.
How are Canyons Formed?
The natural processes of weathering and erosion, the movement of rivers, and activity in tectonic creates canyons. Canyons are most commonly developed by erosion.
Have you ever thought how old the Canyons would be? Any guesses, you might think it is around a few months or some years. Not exactly! Canyons have been formed long back millions of years. Canyons are formed with erosion. This happens when the land has started to be worn away within the time due to some sort of force, this might be bodies of water or due to the impact of weather. In terms of Canyons, the river is the primary player that is responsible for creating erosion. Rivers start carving within the land with the flowing water, and the land is worn away and then Canyons formation happens in millions of years.
You must have heard of a Grand Canyons that is available in the United States (western part). This canyon is tremendous so it earns the tag of its grand shape. The size of these Canyons is measured as 250 miles long and a mile deep. It has been formed after millions of years via the famous Colorado River. Similarly, Colca Canyons in Peru, and from Tibet to China Yarlung Tsangpo Canyons is famous for its deep and grand area. The next type of Canyons formation is due to the rifts that occur between the peaks of two mountains. We can give an example of the Himalayas and Alps rocky mountains. In such a situation, a stream or river helps in chalking out a split between two mountains that are towering. And, when Canyons are formed with this process then they are known as box canyons.
What is the Real Role of Weathering in Canyon Formation?
By this time you are aware of the term erosion so weathering is another word for erosion. And, erosions can be of varied types including win, freezing water, flowing water, and thawing water. This is associated with varied factors such as you collect a few stones on a bach that are powerful and large waves. The shape of these stones is well-rounded. Have you ever thought about how they got this round shape? Similarly, you can notice some sand particles having pointed edges now you are getting that weathering is also there in the sand. So, these are examples of water and wind erosion. With such erosion, they have got jagged edges.
These are a few popular examples, you can explore Geography for more such examples.
Canyon Landform
A canyon is a deep valley that is also narrow and cut by a river through rock. Canyons differ in size from narrow cuts to mega trenches. They consist of very steep sides and maybe thousands of feet deep. Smaller valleys of identical appearance are known as gorges. Over thousands of years, a river's flowing water erodes or wears down rocks and soil to create a valley. The largest and most popular canyons have had slit through dry areas by swift streams sustained by rain or melting snow from wetter areas. The walls remain rough and steep since there is little rainfall or surface water to wear them off. An example is the Grand Canyon, in the U.S. state of Arizona.
Weathering and Erosion
Weathering and erosion also lead to the creation of canyons. In the winter season, water seeps into cracks in the rock and then this water. As this water freezes, it enlarges and converts into ice. Ice compels the cracks to get bigger and bigger, eroding bits of stone in the process. During short, heavy rainfalls, water gushes down the cracks, wearing off even more rocks and stone. As more rocks fragment and fall, the canyon grows wider at the top than at the bottom.
When this process takes place in soft rock, like the sandstone, it can result in the formation of slot canyons. Slot canyons are observed to be very deep and narrow. At times, a slot canyon can even be less than a meter (3 feet) wide, but hundreds of meters deep. Slot canyons can be threatening since their sides are generally very smooth and difficult to climb.
Canyon Ledges
Some canyons with hard, underlying rock may grow ledges and cliffs after crumbling their softer, surface rock. These ledges have the appearance of giant steps.
It is in fact quite amazing to know that sometimes an entire civilization can develop on and around these canyon ledges. Native US nations, such as the Sinagua and the Hopi created cliff dwellings. Cliff dwellings look like apartment-style shelters that accommodated hundreds of people. The shaded, lofted canyon ledges in Walnut Canyon and Canyon de Chelly, in Arizona, rendered protection from antagonist locales and the burning desert sun.
Box Canyons
Hard-rock canyons open at one end are known as box canyons. The Navajo and Hopi people usually used box canyons as natural corrals for sheep and cattle. They simply established a gate on the open side of the box canyon and closed it when the animals were inside.
Limestone is a kind of hard rock that is most commonly found in canyons. Sometimes, limestone erodes and develops caves underneath the earth. As the ceilings of these caves crumble, canyons form. The Yorkshire Dales, a region in northern England, is an assemblage of canyons and river valleys developed by limestone cave collapses.
Grand Canyon Geology
The Grand Canyon is one of America’s treasure troves and a World Heritage Site of UNESCO. In the Grand Canyon, there are clear horizontal layers of different rocks that are themselves a telltale of when, where, and how they have been deposited, long before the canyon was even carved. The Law of Superposition implies that sediment is accumulated in layers in order, with the youngest rocks on the top, while the oldest rocks on the bottom just the way sand piles up in an hourglass.
Conclusion
Thus, this was all about canyons. For the ease of the student's definition, ways of canyon formation and their different types have been explained thoroughly. The topic is really interesting if it is studied from scratch and understood with examples. Here, the best tip for the students who are preparing it for examination is that they should prepare their own notes along with this so that their practice starts right from the time of learning. And, once they are versed with the historical background then it is going to be easy for them to learn and remember the concepts.
FAQs on Canyon
1. What are Submarine Canyons in Geography?
A couple of the deepest canyons lie underneath the ocean. These submarine canyons cut into continental slopes and continental shelves —the edges of continents that are underwater. Though the carving out of some submarine canyons is still a mystery, it is believed that some of the submarine canyons were formed by rivers that flowed during the lower sea-level periods, and when the continental shelves were exposed. Submarine canyons can also be carved out when the mighty ocean currents sweep away sediments. In the same way, the rivers erode land, these currents form deep canyons in the ocean floor. The Hudson Canyon stretches out 750 kilometers into the Atlantic Ocean, from the doorway of the Hudson River, in the United States of New Jersey and New York.
A submarine canyon example includes Monterey Canyon, a deep canyon off the coast of the United States of California. Monterey Canyon has been compared to the Grand Canyon because of its size.
2. What is River Canyons in Geography?
The most familiar type of canyon is perhaps the river canyon. The water pressure exerted from a flowing river can cut deep into a river bed. Sediments from the river bed are channelized downstream, forming a deep, narrow channel. Rivers that lie at the bottom of deep canyons are referred to entrenched rivers. They are said to be entrenched since, unlike rivers in wide, flat floodplains, they do not alter and meander their course.
A river canyon example includes the world's deepest and the longest canyon –the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Tibet, part of southwestern China, developed millions of years ago by the Yarlung Zangbo River. This canyon at some points stretches out more than 17,490 feet from top to bottom. It is about 500 kilometers (310 miles) long making it one of the longest canyons in the world.
3. How can I define canyon in simple words?
A canyon in simple words is defined as a narrow and deep valley along with steep sides. The canyons are created with the weather processes and river movements. Plus, tectonic and erosion activities also create canyons. If we talk about the most familiar type of canyon, then the river will come on the top. Along with this simple definition, you can also offer some examples of canyons. Hope this simple definition suffice your motive to write a simple definition of canyons.
4. What are the amazing facts about the grand canyon?
This will be really interesting to include some appealing facts if you are writing short notes on the grand canyons. It is an interesting fact that this canyon is accomplished with a number of hidden caves. On the grand canyon, the temperature keeps fluctuating. The national park located at the grand canyon is bigger as compared to Rhode Island. By adding such interesting facts, you can add more appeal to your content and this will surely make your write-up more engaging and scoring. Make sure to tally all the facts twice before including them.
5. How can I define weathering for canyons?
Weathering is another form that is responsible for the formation of canyons. In place of using the chisel in the form of a sculptor, the minerals and rocks are worn down in varied ways via a process named weathering. From the wind to the water and the animals to the plants, the earth categorizes all sorts of rocks via organic wear and tear. These broken pieces of rocks are further swayed by erosion and these are collected in lakes, rivers, and oceans. So, weathering could be both chemical and mechanical and these two work collectively at the same time.