Grand Canyon Older Than We Think
- Thread starter Scotty
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ppine
Forester
Scotty,
The Vishnu Schist the black metamorphic rock in the lower bottom of the Canyon has been aged for a long time at PreCambrian. That is way before the Mesozoic and Paleozoic Eras. It is much older than the dinosaurs.
edit-One of the unusaul things about the GC is that the rate of uplift has been very similar to the rate of downcutting for a long time. That helps explain the depth of the canyon. Commonly in nature, there are major disturbances, and changes in drainage patterns that don't allow for deep canyons to continue to form.
The Vishnu Schist the black metamorphic rock in the lower bottom of the Canyon has been aged for a long time at PreCambrian. That is way before the Mesozoic and Paleozoic Eras. It is much older than the dinosaurs.
edit-One of the unusaul things about the GC is that the rate of uplift has been very similar to the rate of downcutting for a long time. That helps explain the depth of the canyon. Commonly in nature, there are major disturbances, and changes in drainage patterns that don't allow for deep canyons to continue to form.
Last edited:
Sagebrusher
Member
They're talking about the age of the canyon itself, not the rocks in it. Except for more recent volcanic rocks, the rocks in the canyon are considerably older than 75 million years.
BTW, I took a geology class once with a professor who's area of study was Arizona. He said* that there was once another big canyon that roughly followed the Gila/Salt river valleys, but the rivers actually flowed east to the Rio Grande. This was 20-30 million years ago. The North Rim of that canyon still exists today...the Mogollon Rim!
*this was his idea, I am not sure how well accepted it is
ppine
Forester
Barney,
The more we go into the future, the more we know about the past. The idea that someone could figure out how old the Pyramids really are is fascinating and impressive. I love science and have lots of respect for scientists. Weather prediction and dating historic and pre-historic resources are examples of inexact sciences that continue to improve over the years.
The more we go into the future, the more we know about the past. The idea that someone could figure out how old the Pyramids really are is fascinating and impressive. I love science and have lots of respect for scientists. Weather prediction and dating historic and pre-historic resources are examples of inexact sciences that continue to improve over the years.
wvbreamfisherman
Active Member
Similarly, the ancient Teays River evolved into the current New/Kanawha/Ohio system.
CozInCowtown
Moderator
carmen
Active Member
I am a history buff myself and I remember hearing stories of a few locals saying it was pretty old and that all of the history books had it road. Last week we caught a show on the boobtube talking about how old parts of Belize were. To me anywhere in the world, history is a part that many of us seem to take for granted.
hummingbird
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That's very interesting. I love to read things like this. I don't remember history facts but it's always interesting to see what theories are out there. Dinosaur-I think I may have been right before you. 
Sagebrusher
Member
Ran across a blog post on the subject. I was actually looking for photos of a trail I did years ago. This guy co-wrote the "Ancient Landscapes" book which I would love to have a copy of.
Earthly Musings - Wayne Ranney's Geology Blog: The Latest Big Controversy on the Age of the Grand Canyon
Earthly Musings - Wayne Ranney's Geology Blog: The Latest Big Controversy on the Age of the Grand Canyon