Grand Canyon

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Introductory Geology, Oswego State : One Thread

Now this is a short question, but one i do not know, where did all the Sediment go from the Grand Canyon? I know the Grand Canyon is located in Colorado, but who knows.

-- Bryan Fromm (Frommie2@aol.com), February 28, 2001

Answers

The Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California in Mexico. There is a really nice web page that talks about the Colorado River Delta, that formed from deposition of Colorado River sediments. Since late in the 19th century, people in the US have diverted Colorado River water and used it for irrigation and water supplies for towns and cities as far away as San Diego. Use of water for irrigation made the river water get saltier and saltier. What little water that was reaching the Colorado River Delta was of extremely poor quality, and that harmed the ecosystem there. Recently, the US has promised to send more water of better quality downstream to Mexico, and that has helped rehabilitate the Colorado Delta somewhat.

-- Sharon Gabel (gabel@oswego.edu), March 01, 2001.

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