The Grand Canyon 大峡谷The Grand Canyon, exceptionally deep, steep-walled canyon in northw

The Grand Canyon

大峡谷

The Grand Canyon, exceptionally deep, steep-walled canyon in northwestern Arizona, is excavated by the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon is 446 km long, up to 29 km wide, and more than 1,500 m deep. The entire canyon is extremely beautiful, containing towering buttes, mesas, and valleys within its main gorge. A spectacular section of the canyon, together with plateau areas on either side of it, are preserved as the Grand Canyon National Park, which receives about four million visitors a year.

The Grand Canyon cuts steeply through and arid plateau region that lies between about 1,500 and 2,700 m above sea level. This region, although lacking year-round streams in recent years, is sharply eroded, showing such characteristic forms as buttes; it is interspersed with old lava flows, hills composed of volcanic debris, and intrusions of igneous rock. The plateau area has a general downward slope to the southwest and in its upper reaches is sparsely covered with such evergreens as juniper and pion. Parts of the northern rim of the canyon are foresteD．Vegetation in the depths of the valley consists principally of such desert plants as agave and Spanish bayonet. In general the entire canyon area has little soil. The climate of the plateau region above the canyon is severe, with extremes of both heat and colD．The canyon floor also becomes extremely hot in summer, but seldom experiences frost in the wintertime.

The Grand Canyon has been sculpted in general by the downward cutting of the Colorado River, which flows through the canyon's lowest portions. Other factors have also played a part. The Kaibab Plateau, which forms the northern rim of the canyon, is about 365 m higher than the Coconino Plateau, which forms the southern rim. Water from the northern side has flowed into the canyon, forming tributary valleys, while the streams of the southern plateau flow away in a southerly direction without carving valleys in the canyon walls. The underlying rock beds also have a southwestern slant, with the result that groundwater from the north finds its way into the canyon , but water from the south does not. In the entire canyon region, the rocks have been broken by jointing and faulting, and fractures in the rocks resulting from these processes have contributed to the rapid erosion of the gorge.

The Grand Canyon is of relatively recent origin; apparently the river began its work of erosion about six million years ago. Coupled with the downward cutting of the river has been a general rising or upwarping of the Colorado Plateau, which has added its effect to the action of the river.

Although the canyon itself is of comparatively recent origin, the rocks exposed in its walls are not. Most of the strata were originally deposited as marine sediment, indicating that for long periods of time the canyon area was the floor of a shallow seA．

In a typical section of the canyon, toward its eastern end, nine separate rock layers can be seen, piled vertically like a stack of pancakes. Beneath these layers, at the bottom of the canyon, are the most ancient rocks of all, Precambrian schists and gneisses, from half a billion to a billion years old.

Which of the following is true of the first paragraph？

A．The Grand Canyon National Park consists of the whole canyon.

B．The Grand Canyon National Park covers a part of the canyon and plateau areas on both sides of it.

C．The most impressive part of the canyon is just beside the Grand Canyon National Park.

D．The Grand Canyon National Park contains towering buttes, mesas and the whole valleys.