Events Calendar
How Old is The Grand Canyon: Resolution of a 140-Year-Long Debate
Thursday October 16, 2014
5:30 pm
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Presenter: |
Karl E. Karlstrom,
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico |
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Series: | Sigma Xi Public Talk | |
Abstract: | Geoscientists have debated for 140 years how and when the Grand Canyon formed. Recent "old" canyon models suggest that paleorivers incised a canyon in the same location and of similar depth as modern Grand Canyon, and thus the Colorado River played little role in carving Grand Canyon. In contrast, our new data support a "young" canyon model which suggests that most of Grand Canyon was carved by the Colorado River once it became integrated from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. The goal of this talk is to explain how different segments of the Grand Canyon became linked together by the Colorado River 5-6 million years ago to form The Grand Canyon. | |
Host: | Harjit Ahluwalia | |
Location: | Room C, UNM Conference Center | |