The Black Canyon of the Colorado is the
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
on the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
where
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...
was built. The canyon is located on the Colorado River at the state line between
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
and
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. The western wall of the gorge is in the
El Dorado Mountains
The Eldorado Mountains, also called the El Dorado Mountains, are a north-south trending mountain range in southeast Nevada bordering west of the south-flowing Colorado River; the endorheic Eldorado Valley borders the range to the west, and the r ...
, and the eastern wall is in the
Black Mountains of Arizona. The canyon formed about 15 million years ago during the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
Basin and Range
Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...
uplift.
[Black Canyon Wilderness Area]
Information on Black Canyon and its natural history. Black Canyon gets its name from the black
volcanic rocks
Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a Rock (geology), rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of Volcano, volcanic origin. Like all rock types, ...
that are found throughout the area.
[
Just south of the Hoover Dam on the Nevada side of the canyon is the Sauna Cave. This cave was drilled by miners working on Hoover Dam while it was being constructed. It is a deep cave with calcium carbonate crystals on the walls. At the end of the cave is a hot spring, which causes temperatures in the cave to reach .
One prominent canyon that splits from this canyon south of the Hoover Dam is Boy Scout Canyon. Boy Scout Canyon has water running through it that is warmed from a geothermal source.
On the Arizona side of the river, there are several large ]hot spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
s that can be found by taking a trail north from a larger bay about south of the Hoover Dam.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Canyon Of The Colorado
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Canyons and gorges of Nevada This category contains canyons in the U.S. state of Nevada.
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the ...
Canyons and gorges of Arizona
Colorado River
Landforms of Clark County, Nevada
Landforms of Mohave County, Arizona