Name _____________________________________________ Period ______
Grand Canyon Virtual Tour: Geology, National Park Service
Answer the following questions with short answers while viewing the website:
http://www.nps.gov/grca/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm
Geology: 1. What are the 3 major events that have shaped the Grand Canyon?
a.
b.
c.
Deposition: 2. What two principles do geologists use to understand the Grand Canyon?
a.
b.
Stratigraphy: 3. Research _____________________________________ (Assigned by teacher) Describe 4
important characteristics of your layer.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Uplift 4. Explain how the Grand Canyon was once at the bottom of the ocean, but today its elevation is 9000 ft.
Subduction 5. How has subduction contributed to the formation of the Grand Canyon?
Continued Uplift 6. What is an isostatic rebound effect? Try it! What happened?
7.
How is isostatic rebound used to describe the uplift of the Colorado Plateau?
What is a canyon? 8. Describe each of the following:
a. Water carved canyonsb. Glacier carved canyonsc. Rift carved canyons9.
Go to one of the famous canyons and describe what makes it famous.
Colorado River 10. Describe down cutting and what factors affect it.
Steep Slope 11. What is it meant by gradient and how would you describe The Grand Canyon’s gradient?
Large Volume 12. Compare the volume of the Colorado River with other rivers
Arid Climate 13. Why does weathering occur more rapidly in arid regions?
A Dynamic Place 14. Describe each of the topics in the data table.
Width
Depth
Length
Volume
Glen Canyon
Dam
Volcanism
Faulting
Age 15. Describe when and how each of the following formations evolved:
a. __________ million years ago, Haulapai limestoneb. __________ million years ago, Sandy point basaltc. __________ million years ago, Bouse formationd. __________ million years ago, Imperial formatione. __________ million years ago, Gulf of California-
Origins 16. What is the “ancestral Colorado River?”
17. How do scientists explain how the Colorado River cut through Kaibab Plateau?
Little Colorado River 18. Describe how each of the following hypotheses tries to explain why the upper and
lower reaches of the canyon are different ages:
a. The Little Colorado hypothesisb. What is head ward erosion?
c. Spillover theoryd. Karst CollapseThe Canyon Today 19. Why does the canyon contain so many different habitats?
Wildlife 20. Why is park referred to as an ecological refuge?
Precipitation 21. When does the canyon receive its rainfall?
22. What is the difference between a debris flow and a flash flood?
&
Tributaries 23. What is a seep or spring?
24. Most of the tributaries in Grand Canyon are sourced by ____________________.
25. What is meant by the description of most seeps and springs being perennial?
26. What is an aquifer?
27. Why does the water in an aquifer come out of the walls in only certain places?
28. Why are tributaries, seeps, and springs important?
Weathering 29. What are 3 examples of mechanical weathering?
a.
b.
30. What are 2 examples of chemical weathering? a.
c.
b.
Differential Erosion 31. What is meant by differential erosion and how has it contributed to the shape of the canyon?
Discovery 32. Who was the first scientist to view the Grand Canyon?
33. Who was the first geologist to navigate the Grand Canyon?
34. What did Edwin D. McKee find that was so exciting?
Archaeology- Paleoindian period 35. Describe who the first human occupants were and how they lived.
36. What practice did the native Indians begin in the formative period?
Formative period 37. What abrupt change occurred after A.D.1100?
Ice Age Mammals 38. List 3 examples of ice age mammals. a.
b.
c.
39. What is a packrat midden?
40. What is a coprolite?
41. What have scientists been able to learn from the packrat middens in the park?
Now take a Virtual Hike to Phantom Ranch and a Virtual Raft Trip through the Grand Canyon!(At the beginning
of the website)
42. After viewing both of the virtual trips, which would you rather go on and why?