Grand Canyon

National Park · Arizona

Park Stats

Area1,217,262 acres

Depthup to 1,829 m

Length446 km

Established1919

DEMUSGS 3DEP 10m

Notable Features

Mather Point (S Rim)2,144 m
Cape Royal (N Rim)2,478 m
Bright Angel Point2,500 m
Phantom Ranch 760 m
Colorado River 700 m

Layer

Colored Hillshade

Elevation

Hillshade

Opacity 100%

About

The Colorado River carved through the Colorado Plateau over the past 5–6 million years, exposing rock layers that span from ~270 million years (Kaibab Limestone at the rim) down to 1.84 billion years (Vishnu Schist at the river). It is one of the few places on Earth where you can read 40% of geologic time in a single vertical section. The horizontal banding visible in the relief comes from differential erosion — softer shale layers retreat faster than the harder sandstone-and-limestone caps above them.

10 m colormap + 10 m hillshade NW @ 45° · sources at /data