Grand Canyon Found to be Younger Than Previously Thought
The debate over the age of the Grand Canyon has been going on for over 140 years. Karl Karlstrom, a geologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, thinks the debate is over. He and his team used dating methods to study rocks from the Grand Canyon and think it is much younger than previously thought.
There are segments of the canyon than are indeed very old, like the Eastern Grand Canyon. It is dated 15-20 million years old and another stretch downriver is 50-70 million years old but there are areas that are much younger than previously thought.
The Grand Canyon didn’t form all at once. Different segments didn’t link to the Grand Canyon until 5-6 million years ago. It’s Marble Canyon at the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona that Karlstrom says in only 5-6 million years old that lead to the linking together and the forming of the complete structure.
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