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 |