Where is Grand Canyon run-off?

Question

In creating the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River eroded an enormous quantity of rock material. Where did the eroded material get depositied?

Answer 1

The Colorado River did not "create" the Grand Canyon. It's a common mistake among many people to say that that the Grand Canyon was created by the Grand Canyon.

If you have ever been to the Grand Canyon, you will note the expanses of up to 15 miles with extremely sharp steep cliffs. The Grand Canyon is also about 1 mile deep. For the Colorado River to cut something like that it would take umpteenth billion years or what-not. Especially considering that the bottom of the Grand Canyon is granite rock and the Colorado River currently downcuts about 1 millimeter per every 2000 years. At least that's what they told me at the US Geological Survey when I took a trip with them to measure.

If the Colorado River were to take that long to cut the Grand Canyon, it would have created soft, rounded edges. The Grand Canyon has far from soft rounded edges. Also, the Grand Canyon has hundreds of side canyons. Some going for as much as 50 miles. These side canyons are anywhere from 1000 to 2500 feet deep and they are dry 95% of the year. The only time do they have water is when it rains here... and Arizona gets 300+ days of sunshine per year. So how did the Colorado River cut the side canyons?

Another thing about the Grand Canyon is that you can find sea fossils all throughout Northern Arizona. It's commonly agreed upon among geologists at Northern Arizona University (the closest University to the Grand Canyon) that the whole area used to be an ocean.

So most likely, the Colorado Plateau came up in a relatively fast and violent manner which broke part of the Plateau leaving the Grand Canyon and many other side Canyons. This would also explain the many canyons throughout the rest of the Colorado Plateau. Oak Creek Canyon is about half the depth of the Grand Canyon but is just as magnificient. Walnut Canyon is also very pretty. The oceans most likely emptied wherever they could go lower in elevation. Phoenix area, California, parts of Utah. Then the remaining lakes dried up and now there is a desert.

Now specifics are debated like crazy. There is even one theory taught at Northern Arizona University about a Glacier cutting the Grand Canyon in about 4 days. That seems a little extreme to me. Most likely it took around 4000ish years to make. And we know the Grand Canyon was in existance at least 4000 years ago due to Anasazi Indian ruins which date from 1000 to about 4000 years old.

How old the Grand Canyon is can be widely debated but I can garuntee that the Colorado River did not cut the Grand Canyon.

Answer 2

A lot was deposited in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf Of California) in Mexico where the River Colorado meets the sea. However, a lot would have also been deposited along the course in small amounts at each places.

If you look at the river now, you can see how brown it is as a result of the material it is transporting. There is a huge amount. This is because the canyon is still growing. The River Colorado is nothing more than a stream once it reaches the Sea of Cortez. A lot of the material is deposited at dams along the way and again, at general places along it's course.

Answer 3

Down stream. The Colorado River empties into the top of the Gulf of California, as another responder noted. Most likely the gulf extended further north at one time, although plate tectonics is presently moving the western portion--the ithsmus--further north.

Answer 4

Most likely in the Gulf of California, where it empties.

Answer 5

At the end of the canyon.

Is this a trick question?

TFTP

Answer 6

Downstream. Duh!