Geologic history of the Colorado River: Chapter C in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669)
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Abstract
John Wesley Powell clearly recognized that the spectacular features of the Colorado River - its many grand canyons - were dependent upon the structural history of the mountainous barriers crossed by the river. He conceived of three different historical relationships between rivers and structural features: (1) Newly uplifted land surfaces have rivers that flow down the initial slope of the uplift; these relationships he termed consequent. (2) A river may be older than an uplift that it crosses because it has been able to maintain its course by eroding downward as the uplift progresses; this relationship he named antecedent. (3) An uplifted block may have been buried by younger deposits upon which a river becomes established. The river, in cutting downward, uncovers the uplifted block and becomes incised into it; this relationship he called superimposed.
The geologic history of the Colorado River involves all three relationships. In addition, although the position of the river course through a particular structural barrier may have been the result of superposition, the depth of the canyon at that point may be largely due to renewed uplift of the barrier; such deepening of the canyon, therefore, is due to antecedence. The problem of the Colorado River remains today very much as G. K. Gilbert stated it nearly 100 years ago: "How much is antecedent and how much is superimposed?" The question must be asked separately for each stretch of the river.
Publication type | Report |
---|---|
Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Title | Geologic history of the Colorado River: Chapter C in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669) |
Series title | Professional Paper |
Series number | 669 |
Chapter | C |
DOI | 10.3133/pp669C |
Year Published | 1969 |
Language | English |
Publisher | U.S. Government Printing Office |
Publisher location | Washington, D.C. |
Description | iv, 72 p. |
Larger Work Type | Report |
Larger Work Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Larger Work Title | The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669) |
First page | 59 |
Last page | 130 |
Country | United States |
Other Geospatial | Colorado River |
Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |