Sculpting the Earth's Surface

In 1935 the Hoover Dam was completed forming Lake Mead, providing flood control, reservoir storage, power generation and regulates the downstream flow to the Lower Basin States. [footnoteRef:20] In 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam was completed forming Lake Powell, providing the Upper Basin States with enough reserve capacity to allow them to meet their annual obligation of 7.5 Million Acre Feet (MAF) to the Lower Basin States, allowing the Lower Basin States to use the allocation.[footnoteRef:21] As a consequence of the construction of the Hoover Dam and the Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado?s flow often evaporated in Mexican sands close to the Delta.[footnoteRef:22] Around the 1970s, the Cienega de Santa Clara had shrunken by 500 acres. Nevertheless, due to the following wet decades, the Cienega was resuscitated to about 10% of its original acreage in the 80?s and 90?s.[footnoteRef:23] Currently, the Cienega is a 40,000 acre wetland that exists due to the return flows from the Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District near Yuma, Arizona.[footnoteRef:24] This Cienega is the home of less than 100 members of the Cucapa tribe and is the habitat of several endangered fish and birds, including Desert Pupfish and Yuma Clapper Rail.[footnoteRef:25] [19: D.F.

The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural creations our planet has to offer. Have you ever been mesmerized by the giant cliffs, massive ridges, or the wide array of beautiful colors? If you answered yes, this paper is just for you! After reading this, you will be well educated about the Grand Canyon.

Have you ever wondered how landmarks like the “The Tepees” in the Painted Desert of Arizona came to be? Erosion and weathering are the main culprits behind the creation of these unique and beautiful attractions. The mechanical and chemical procedure that modify objects on Earth’s surface over time are called weathering. Erosion is the method of taking weathered material from one region to another. Weathering is the breaking down of rock, soil, and minerals. Erosion is the development of being eroded by wind, water, or other natural causes. Weathering is grinding out of man-made or natural landforms. Erosion is the weathering out of surface soil and rock worn way through natural causes like water and wind for example.

We learned that Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to geological history, varying rock formations, earthquake potential, ancient glacial formations, landslides, and our effect. This Canyon runs along the Wasatch fault and has much potential for large earthquakes. The mountains have been carved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age. Rock falls and landslides have left large boulders as evidence of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and the flooding of Little Cottonwood

Mesa Verde National Park on the Colorado Plateau contains many geological aspects of interest, including its sedimentary rock layers, its canyons, its alcoves utilized by ancient people and how these alcoves were formed. Mesa Verde National Park is located in the southwest corner of Colorado, close to the Four Corners area, on top of a high mesa overlooking the Mancos River (Harris et al. 2004). The park, covering 81 square miles, consists of several main sedimentary formations that are characteristic to the park (Encyclopedia Britannica 2015). Canyons are carved into the sedimentary rock, with the cave dwellings found high on their steep walls. These dwellings are an especially unique aspect to the Mesa Verde National Park, and are built out of large alcoves. The alcoves were produced by weathering and erosion of the sedimentary rock type. To better understand how these alcoves formed, we must understand the geology of Mesa Verde National Park and how it has developed over history.

Old- Earth Seculars search and explore these areas of the Grand Canyon to find answers to the age of the earth.

Around 650 A.D., the Mesa Verdean peoples initiated construction of apartment-style homes, termed by Spanish explorers as pueblos. The Puebloan architecture is original in that it utilized the local stone and mud deposits of the region to maintain the structural integrity of their burgeoning developments. As this community evolved into the twelfth century, Mesa Verdeans further integrated the geology of their environment into their lifestyles by building homes, known as cliff dwellings, within the naturally formed alcoves of Mesa Verde. By the thirteenth century, the Mesa Verdeans vacated this region due to severe droughts and subsequent social instability. Despite the later abandonment of their cliff dwellings, it is clear that the geology of Mesa Verde National Park impacted the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans significantly. The following sections provide detailed information regarding the rock formations that make up the geological

Our hike will start here, at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We will go all the way to the bottom of the canyon. But first, a description of this area. The Grand Canyon is one on the most visited and studies sites for geologists on Earth. There are almost forty major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon. Some of these rocks layers are two hundred million years old or two billion years old. Most of the sediment that makes up the rocks was deposited by oceans and seas, which now, are long gone. We know this because there are many fossils and and other records on large bodies of water in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is found in the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is lifted almost two miles, or four and a fifth kilometers. It started to lift up seventy-five million years ago. This started a mountain-building period of time called the Laramide orogeny. During this period, the Rocky Mountains were created. The main types of rocks found in the Grand Canyon are limestone, siltstone, shale, and sandstone. Many of the layers are made up of limestone. Some examples of these are the Kaibab Limestone, the Redwall Limestone the Temple Butte Limestone, and the Muav

Conservation of our natural environment is of vital importance. Now, people should preserve nature and protect it. In addition, it is imperative to realize that, the survival of humanity and many creatures depends mainly on the state of the environment around us. As matter of fact, science place a relevant part in the conservation of the planet. Moreover, Physical geography is the study of all natural forms and processes in an environment, also, the field covers the cause and effect of human activity on the environment. “Geographers study the location and distribution of things-tangible things such as rainfall, mountains, and trees" (Hess, Darrel, Physical Geography, Third California Edition) For this reason, I decided to visit The Whittier Narrows Center. It is one of the many centers that have been established in US to conserve the most crucial asset that human beings possess, the environment. Those who study geography realize that it is important to conduct a thorough study on the center and its activities to identify what makes it such a unique site. This project is providing an insight of the center by describing its natural settings per Physical Geography. The paper will focus on the center’s location, geographical settings, weather, climate, plants and trees, soils, wildlife, terrain, local history and a site map.

Especially in the area around the Great Basin, since that covers most of the state. This area is surrounded by the mountain ranges and gets all the run off . This water helps with the water shortage throughout the year but at the time it is too much for the area to handle as there is no drainage to the ocean from this area. Groundwater is used throughout the state. Sometimes, the water is pumped out faster than it can be replenished. When this happens, the land surface can be affected. There are many cracks in the ground near Las Vegas, and in some places the land has sunken in over six feet within the last sixty years. An increase in the population of the state is to blame for the increased demand on the groundwater and therefore, the increased damage being done to the landscape as a whole. More people, more water, more land being developed, means less of the natural preservers being available. Also, with these floods the state sees landslides. The rocks of the area show the different ways the terrain was built

Previously, the geology of Death Valley National Park and Yosemite National Park in the Basin and Range Province and Sierra Nevada Range respectfully were discussed. West of Death Valley, is the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in the Sierra Nevada Range in California. The Sequoia National Park is also 629 square miles and includes 403,482 acres while Kings Canyon is 722 square miles with 461,901 acres(739). Interestingly enough, in Spanish Sierra Nevada means “snow-covered mountain” although many people think that it doesn’t snow in California. Since the Yosemite National Park, Sequoia, and Kings National Park are a part of the Sierra Nevada Range, there will be similarities and differences in their geology.

They have sinuous, curving channels and their heights are higher compared to their widths (Thompson & Thompson, 2003). Irregularities toward the local direction of slant cause paths sinuosity. Canyons located in the Mammoth Cave run up to 80 to 100 feet high and 10-30 feet wide but many of them are not that high and much narrower. Vertical shafts are created where water can run down vertically alongside fractures (Call, 2010) as illustrated in figure 6.

Austin, Steven A. 1994. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, California: Institute for Creation Research.

diluted enough that they are no longer a problem. Of all the water on the earth,

From the time the earth was formed, water have been endlessly circulating. This circulation is known as the hydrologic cycle. Groundwater is part of this continuous