jps246's Full Review: Stanley S. Beus - Grand Canyon Geology
Have you ever wondered what really makes up the Grand Canyon area and how such a big hole in the ground formed?
Then Grand Canyon Geology is the book for you. Stanley Beus and Michael Morales have edited and compiled the definitive guide to the geologic history of the canyon area. The book is an edited and compiled selection of various papers, research studies, and writings on the geology of the Grand Canyon region, synthesized into a single, coherent book.
Geology, why do I want to know about rocks?
Well I will admit that it does take a certain kind of person to truly enjoy geology. I have been known to pull over on highways to take a look at rock cuts and I could spend days running around on rock exposures and cliffs, picking up pieces here and there, knocking off a loose chunk every now and then.
However, in general, Geology is probably one of the most accessible sciences for the general public (once you get past the nomenclature and a few esoteric ideas) because it generally is the study of what you see right in front of you. In the Grand Canyon, this is laid out in a grand scale for you and there are not any trees to get in the way. Basically, if you cannot get a grasp of geology, or wonder about Earth’s history at the canyon, then you are a lost cause because it does not get any more obvious than it does here.
I do not think that you can help but wonder how such an amazing landscape as the Grand Canyon formed. Standing at the edge of the canyon, you look out and see layer upon layer of rock, further and further down into the canyon. Then underneath the almost level layers of rock, there is a section of tilted rocks you see and finally, beneath that, the canyon has cut into a rough looking, dark, blocky rock that almost hides the river. It is amazing to think that over a mile worth of rock has been eroded and removed from right in front of you to expose all of these rocks. The Grand Canyon is like a book of the Earth’s history, laid out for all of us to consider.
What about the book?
Grand Canyon Geology provides an in-depth and critical review of the current state of geologic science in the Grand Canyon area. It is a big book (close to 500 pages) and it can get very technical at times. However, in its 20 chapters you will develop a deeper understanding of the geologic history and setting of the Grand Canyon region and you will have a better understanding of how today’s landscape came into being.
The book is set up in somewhat of a chronological format, starting with an overview of the Grand Canyon area and followed by a review of the various layers of rock, from the crystalline Pre-Cambrian rocks at the very bottom of the gorge, to the Kaibab Formation capping the Grand Canyon and the rocks beyond in others areas of the Grand Canyon Plateau area (the Grand Canyon region encompasses most of the 4-corners area of the Southwest and while the Grand Canyon is the major feature, the Colorado Plateau, as it is called extends for some distance, in all directions from the canyon). Each chapter is a review of the existing formation, it’s lithology and various facies, followed by a discussion on the depositional environments for that formation and how the formation fits into the geologic history of the Grand Canyon.
Following a review of each of the layers of the Grand Canyon area, Grand Canyon Geology delves into an overview of the history of the Grand Canyon area, starting with a review of the Phanerozoic history of the canyon (the deposition of all relatively flat layers of the canyon). Following the Phanerozoic, the book reviews the relatively recent (15 million years ago to present) history of the canyon and how it came into being.
Did you know that the main section of the Grand Canyon (the deepest section throughout the western half of the canyon) was most likely carved in less than 4 million years? The entire area was uplifted a little more than a ½ a mile (within the last 15 million years) and before that, the ancestral Colorado actually ran to the northeast. It was not until a river, eroding into Colorado Plateau from the south, captured the ancestral Colorado, that the river flowed to the south, into the Gulf of California.
After the discussion of the rock layers and the history of the canyon, Morales and Beus tackle several other geologic questions and issues in the Grand Canyon region. What ensues are several interesting geologic topics, including a review of the dynamics of rapids in the Grand Canyon, a review of Cenozoic lava dams (at times, lava dams almost completely filled the canyon in places, creating large lakes – but with time the lava dams were breached and eroded – the eventual fate of the man-made dams as the lakes behind them fill with sediment), the seismicity of the Grand Canyon area, a review of current rock movements and mass wastage in the region and finally, a review of the side canyons of the Colorado River.
I’m not a geologist, can I still understand what they’re talking about?
Some geologic background is useful for reading this book. However, a layman to geology can still read this book and will be able to learn something. The most important concept to remember is the geologic time-scale. Geologic time references are tossed about throughout the book and without an understanding of the time-frame of each reference, it is quite easy to get lost (I still have to refer to geologic time tables for reference). A Geologic Time-Scale is provided in the foreword to the book and I would suggest that anyone reading the book, take a good look at the foreword, which introduces basic geologic concepts and provides background information for the rest of the book.
If you have an understanding of geology, then this book will be an engaging read. Without that background, you may have to flip back and forth a bit, or skip over a few of the very in-depth sections, but you will finish the book with a better understanding of the geologic settings and history of the Grand Canyon region.
This book is perfect for anyone, from rock hounds to the casual visitor to the Grand Canyon area who want a better understanding of the story behind the rocks of the Grand Canyon. They don’t claim that the Grand Canyon exposes one of the largest swaths of Earth’s history for nothing, within the walls of the canyon, almost 2 billion years of geologic history is exposed. Grand Canyon Geology picks up where the pictures stop and explains the history of the canyon like no other book I have read.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.