What makes the Grand Canyon so big?
River That Wouldn't Quit
What makes the Grand Canyon so big?
Stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon and you'll see a hole in the ground so enormous it looks like the planet cracked open. It's a mile deep, ten miles wide in places, and stretches for 277 miles — longer than the distance from New York City to Washington D.C. What on Earth carved something this colossal?
The simple answer is water. Specifically, the Colorado River, which still flows along the canyon floor today. But here's the twist: rivers don't usually dig DOWN. They flow across the land, carving side to side, making valleys shaped like gentle bowls. To understand why this river carved a mile-deep gash instead, you need to know what happened beneath its feet.
