25 Grand Canyon Facts That Reveal America’s 6 Million-Year-Old Natural Wonder
"Leave it as it is," implored Teddy Roosevelt in 1903. “You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." This majestic natural wonder of the world puts almost everyone in awe as soon as they see it. Yet most of us know shockingly little about it, like how the Grand Canyon was formed or just how big it is. These Grand Canyon facts will take the geographical divide from a simple tourist attraction to a wondrous feat; time and nature collaborating on one of their best achievements. How The Grand Canyon Was Formed Roughly 1.7 billion years ago, volcanoes crashed into the future continent of North America. This created mountains that eroded down to form the rock resting at the base of the Grand Canyon. Countless millions of years passed as a shallow sea washed over the area. The residual sediment became the layers comprised of sandstone, shale, and limestone. Plate tectonics crashed the rock layers together; rising up to bec...