The geologic cross section of the South Rim Grand Canyon consists of the South Rim geology and the Colorado River Formation. This geological attraction will be examined to see if the old rock layers that have been appearing for thousands of years are useful in settling the Grand Canyon. The reason is to find out the importance of the Grand Canyon to our country and whether the cross-section division is important in our course of the topic. The discussion will be about a historical depiction of the canyon and will then include all the different rock layers and what they mean, the environmental outcome between fossils and rock layers, and finally how the Colorado River traveled a certain path to form this canyon. The cross section is a vital part and main feature of the Grand Canyon. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is a world-famous geological location. Evolution through geological time can be interpreted through changes between different rock layers. This article will examine how our environment affects rock formation and how the Colorado River began to carve the canyon. Next, the Grand Canyon is made up of many different rock layers. Rock layers such as igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, etc. Rocks are constantly changing and so this discussion will be about the type of rock and its formation. With different sources such as wind and water, rocks are pushed away and change. Magma follows a similar process. When the surface of the earth heats up it can destroy rocks, thus causing cracking. Rocks come in all different shapes, forms and sizes. Rocks can be classified into three different categories. These three categories of rocks are found in the Grand Canyon today. Igneous rocks are formed from rocks melted on the ground. They are about one hundred million years old and are formed in volcanic environments. When rocks are deep below the Earth's surface, the magma underneath melts the rock due to its high heat and thus forms the magma chamber. Looking at figure one below, we can see how the rocks are changing due to the magma on the surface. Once the magma begins to cool and the heat dissipates, crystals will soon form and eventually turn into granite. Once the magma cools on the Earth's surface, it immediately cools down. Therefore, there is not enough time for the rock to fully crystallize causing the formation of a small-grained type of rock called basalt. This rock can be harmful because it is volcanic with alarming temperatures. Sedimentary rocks are visible on the Earth's surface on both water and land. They are a few million years old and form in water areas such as rivers or lakes. This type of rock comes from the material we use today such as minerals or animal/plant materials. Sedimentary rocks are formed when we see layers of rocks covering old underlying layers. They come together compacted as one and form this type of rock. Soon after, the sedimentary rocks that have been compacted and pushed together, combine with different chemicals and minerals. Sedimentary rocks contain so much because they are compacted together as one. These rocks can be formed to be enormous in size. The sand we see on the beach may be formed as sedimentary rock. This is why this type of rock is so commonly seen. Metamorphic rocks are only formed when the other two rocks are not present and therefore it can forma new rock. This is why metamorphic rock is less common. However, they are approximately 1.8 billion years old and form in warm, high-temperature environments. When the other two fail to absorb the heat source and such a high temperature, that's when the metamorphic rock comes into action. The result that the rock will produce is the transformation and change that we will see in the rock due to the crystals that form it. This change is due to new minerals being created and water moving in these rocks. In picture two we see through the narrow openings in the rocks, the water flows like a river. They play an important role in changing the structure of the entire rock. We can see that small subjects make a huge difference in the rocks formed in the canyon. Finally, metamorphic rocks can also be transformed into other metamorphic rocks with a different temperature or pressure exerted on them. Finally, young rocks are always piled on top of older ones. The study of the sequence of these rock layers is our main source of knowledge about the history of the earth. This includes the evolution of life and the changes appearing in our climate. We see that with the humidity in the air and the humidity in the air, the climate is affected. As for the geological section that defines these rocky layers, it can be said that it emerges from the faults and folds that the canyon continuously crosses. This defines that the rocks are continually modified due to the pressure experienced by parts of the canyon. For example, an earthquake that occurs is an effect that relates to the cross section. This goes hand in hand with and also affects our rock layers in the Grand Canyon. Second, the rock layers that form in the Grand Canyon have an effect that relates to fossils. The canyon contains rock formations which we discussed above with the hidden effect on them. These are fossil fuels that are hundreds of millions of years old. Fossils are the ancient remains of animal body parts dating back millions of years. This can include a leg or even teeth. Rocks connect to fossils because they contain footprints from the past that are placed on a new layer on top of the old layer to trace these steps. These fossil fuels appeared due to these rock layers and are classified as a great attraction for people today. Three types of fossils will be discussed, such as marine fossils, terrestrial fossils, and recent fossils. Marine fossils are fossils seen due to the layers of sedimentary rocks that were found in the canyon over the past few million years. Stromatolites are classified as a type of marine fossil that is the oldest in the Grand Canyon. In figure four, we see a stromatolite that looks like a piece of wood, although the reason they look that way is that the fossils are made up of bacteria piling on other bacteria. As more bacteria are added, the sun hits the bacteria that are forming. This creates layer upon layer of bacteria in the waters, which are dominant. However, once predators such as animals come into play, stromatolite formation can be affected in some way. For this reason today salt is put in the water to keep predators away. This solved the problem of keeping the stromatolites in a good place. Terrestrial fossils are made up of mudstones and siltstones that then formed connected river systems. This occurred at an average climate temperature. The sand that appeared from these sandstones was caused by significant amounts of wind pressure on the dunes. The layers were all divided and each layer pointed to a fossil. As we can see, there is a huge connection between the two. Terrestrial fossils are found today inthroughout the Grand Canyon, such as the Coconino Sandstone, Hermit Shale, and Supai Formation. In these areas we see these types of fossils appear because of the rocks that are in between. Recent fossils are fossils that are recently discovered or not too old. With the temperature the Grand Canyon is at today, we see cool, warm weather. This allows us to see these recent fossils. With the remains we have today, for example the skull of a sloth from a cave, scientists are able to study it and tell us about the effects that climate change has brought on humans and how they can move forward in the right direction. In figure three, we see the sloth skull and we can determine that with this figure scientists will be able to discover new things with all kinds of different fossils that they might encounter. As we can see, layers of rock upon old layers are the product hidden beneath these rocks and connect to the fossils found along the walls of the Grand Canyon. Finally, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is a significant landmark today recognized by many people around the world. The landmark formed because of the rocks that would appear and the way they would form on the Earth's surface. This is why we see so many different interesting features in the canyon today. We see rocks coming in different ways, such as going up and down, side to side, unraveling, etc. The Colorado River is divided into multiple plateaus in the province. It comes with four different parts. The province is classified among sedimentary rocks. Thanks to these rocks the province was formed and can do much more. Many erosions have formed due to the formation of rocks that have made this canyon miles long. During the Proterozoic Era, crystals began to appear. This was an extremely positive outcome for the canyon because the magma and heat that formed in these rocks allowed the crystals to form into the shape they have today. The magma contained in these rocks rose deeper and soon formed granite. This is due to the crystalline structure that appeared. Many years ago, the mountains that formed the canyon due to the rocks, and cracked, tilted the shape and form of these rocks. Then erosion appeared and took away these cracked rocks. A small number of tiny particles were present in the eastern canyon. The rock layers formed in the Paleozoic era were more evident in the walls that made up the canyon. Layers of limestone and sandstone have added to make the canyon so deep and thick in structure. The Grand Canyon is now a geological area. In figure five we see a picture of the Grand Canyon and we can say that as rocks form on top of rocks, different levels rise and different levels fall. This all has to do with how the rock was manipulated and the path it went through. It has been providing water for thousands of years. These rivers produced by the supplied water are intended for agricultural use by many groups along the canyon rim. We see so many ups and downs in the canyon happening all the time. For example, sometimes we see erosion, but then we can see violent, heavy storms rolling in. The moisture from the air and water that the canyon receives sometimes creates the rock area. Even today, geologists are discovering how rocks are the main source of cover in the canyon, and whether these rocks can make new carvings in the canyon. The canyon today allows people to see these interesting landmarks and see the different types of rock formations and what they look like. Furthermore, we can see that one effect will cause another and continue to occur. We may see big differences in the future.