Divergent Plate Boundary: A Grand Canyons History

(Short clip of the grand canyon)…

Narrator: Hello! You can't see me, but what you can see is the most prestige rift valley
in the world! The Grand Canyon!
(video switches to the narrator)…
Narrator: Greetings everybody, my name is Mendy Almazan and I will be your geologist
for 3 Minutes. Let's start!
(montage of the Grand Canyon)…
(Reversing back to the narrator)…
Narrator: wait, for those who didn’t know,
(clip of Grand Canyon showing its size and location)
Narrator: The Grand Canyon, up to 447 kilometers (277 miles) long, 29 kilometers (18
miles) wide, and 1.8 kilometers (6,000 feet) deep, is the largest canyon in the United
States. It is located in the U.S. state, specifically in the northwest corner of Arizona,
close to the borders of Utah and Nevada. Geologists debate the age of the canyon
itself. it may be between 5 million and 70 million years old. It tells one of the world’s
greatest geologic stories. Its distinctive features allow researchers to piece together the
history of this unique location, one of America’s treasures and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Thinking of the geologic record as a book is helpful to understand each
page of Earth’s history.
(Back to the narrator)
Narrator: But did you know how these type of geological structure is created? If not
then let’s find out!
(combinations of montage and closeups)…
Narrator: Although millions of years and a variety of processes have led to today’s view
of the Grand Canyon, the process which gave way to its formation is known as plate
tectonics. Before discussing the specifics of plate movements, it is important to give
credit to one of the contributors to the plate tectonic theory, Alfred Wegener. Alfred
proposed the concept of “continental drift.” He believed at one point, “all continents were
one huge supercontinent” known as Pangea. During his time, there was not enough
evidence to convince skeptics, but since his death and the advanced understanding of
the earth’s structure, his idea is accredited within the paradigm of plate tectonics.
The plates responsible for continental movement are found in the lithosphere, the
upper layer of the earth’s structure. These plates are thought to float on top of the
asthenosphere, a layer capable of movement because of its “plasticity.” The moving
plates can be either continental or oceanic crust. Plate movement is classified into one
of three categories. Divergence, which pulls plates apart, convergence, the coming
together of plates, and transformation, the process by which plates move side by side.
By understanding the type of movements made by the earth’s plates, it is
possible to imagine the convergence of the Pacific Plate (ocean crust) and the North
American plate (continental crust) that led the way to the forming of the Grand Canyon.
Millions of years ago when these two plates collided, the oceanic crust was subducted,
meaning it was forced underneath the continental crust and this upward push of
continental crust led to the Rocky Mountains as well as the uplift of the Colorado
Plateau. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau allowed the Colorado River “to carve its way
downward” about 5 to 6 million years ago commencing the creation of the canyon itself.
What a magnificent structure isn’t it? But we all know that the plates are always
moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still
moving today. Some of the most dynamic sites of tectonic activity are seafloor
spreading zones and giant rift valleys. So, if we try to look at the future for about a billion
years, what do you think will the Grand Canyon look like? Well, that’s for our future
generation of scientists to determine.
Well, that’s 3 minutes, see you tomorrow!

(the video stops)…p