ROCK ON!
Get out your party hats and saddle up your mules. It’s celebration time at the Grand Canyon! This year marks the 100th anniversary of when the canyon became a national monument.
National mounments are landmarks that are protected by the government. U.S president Theodore Roosevelt declared the canyon a national monument on Jan. 11,1908.
A century later, the Grand Canyon is still rocking. Nearly 5 million tourists travel each year to see the Grand Canyon. At more than a million acres, it’s one of the world’s largest canyons.
The Grand Canyon’s national monument staus is 100 years old, but the landmank itself is much older. Geologists estimate that the canyon has been around for up to 6 million years. The canyon’s oldest rocks are nearly 2 billion years old.
Those rocks, called Vishnu schist,might have been large mouutains millions of years ago. Over time, oceans washed over the mountains, eroding them into a plain. The oceans left behind sand and tiny rocks that gradually formed layers of rock. The Colorado River carved through those layers, creating the Grand Canyon.
Chirs and his coworkers are studying those changes carefully. They want to make sure the canyon is still looking good in another 100 years. “We’re trying toprovide the science to best preserve and protect the Grand Canyon,” Chris said.