Canyon
A canyon (from English canyon ; / ˈkænjən / ) or Cañon (from Spanish caño = tube; German / ˈkanjɔn / or / kanˈjoːn / ) is a certain type of gorge . As a technical term, it is used by German-speaking geologists for a deeply incised valley with stepped slopes in areas with horizontal layers of rock.
Emergence
Canyons are created by the incision of a river in a plain that digs into the plateau in a long process of erosion . The result is protruding cliffs , because layers of harder rock are more resistant to slope erosion ( denudation ) and these are exposed, whereas underlying morphologically softer layers are cleared to a greater extent. The different degrees of hardness ultimately result in stepped slopes. Canyons are more common in dry areas, as weathering there has less of an effect than in wetter areas, so the surrounding plateaus are preserved and the walls of the canyon are not flattened. Canyons are often formed from resistant sandstone , limestone or granite . Particularly narrow canyons are called slot canyons , which roughly corresponds to the German term Klamm , an example is Antelope Canyon in northern Arizona .
There are also submarine canyons , typically at estuaries as an undersea extension of the river's course.
Designations
Some valleys called canyons or canyons in the local language do not correspond to this geological definition, for example the Bryce Canyon .
Conversely, many geological canyons do not have canyons or canyons in their names, but different words for canyons in the various national languages. Even in the USA, many are referred to as "gorges" or "ravines" .
Examples
America
- Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona ( USA ), America's largest canyon
- Antelope Canyon (see above)
- Canyon system of the Barranca del Cobre in the Mexican state of Chihuahua , numerous canyons with a combined very large area
- Colca Cañon in Arequipa ( Peru ), particularly deep
- Cañón de Somoto in Nicaragua , only discovered in 2004
- Guartelá Canyon in Brazil , 200 kilometers long
Asia
There are several, so far little known canyon systems in the Himalayas :
- Yarlung Zangbo Canyon of the Brahmaputra River in Tibet ( PR China ), deepest canyon in the world and a little longer than the Colorado
- Kali Gandaki Canyon in Nepal , second deepest canyon in the world
- Polung Zangbo Canyon in Tibet, very inaccessible
- Köprülü Kanyon National Park in Turkey
- Ihlara Valley in Aksaray Province , Turkey
Africa
- Fish River Canyon in Namibia
- Blyde River Canyon in South Africa
- many of the wadis of the Sahara
Europe
- Verdon Gorge in France
- Tara Gorge in Montenegro , with up to 1300 m deepest canyon in Europe
- Gorges in Paklenica National Park in Croatia
- Canyon Sautso des Altaelv in Norway .
- Rokliny (singular roklina ) in Slovenský raj , Slovakia
- Dunajec breakthrough in the Pienines , Poland and Slovakia
- Gorges (singular rokle ) in the Moravian Karst
- Torrent de Pareis gorge in Mallorca
- Cañón de Añisclo in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park in Spain
- Samaria Gorge in Crete
- Barrancos of the Canary Islands , like the wadis of North Africa, only carry water after rainfall
tourism
Canyons and other gorges are attractive tourist destinations. Gorges in arid areas in particular, which normally have little or no water, become dangerous when the valley floor is suddenly flooded by masses of water after rainfall and the steep valley flanks hardly offer any escape opportunities. People drown there again and again.
Canyoning was established as an adventure sport in the 1990s , in which a gorge is climbed downwards with equipment. Difficult passages have to be passed by abseiling, swimming or diving.
