Canyon

A canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls. Canyons are much more common in arid areas than in wetter areas because weathering has a greater effect in arid zones. Canyon walls are often formed of resistant sandstones or granite. Submarine canyons are those which form underwater, generally at the mouths of rivers. The word canyon is Spanish in origin (cañón). The word canyon is generally used in the United States, while the word gorge is more common in Europe and Oceania, though it is also used in some parts of the United States and Canada. The military derived word defile is occasionally used in England.

A famous example is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In the southwestern United States, canyon are important archeologically because of the many cliff-dwellings built there, largely by the earlier inhabitants, Ancient Pueblo Peoples.

Sometimes large rivers run through canyons as the result of gradual geologic uplift. These are called entrenched rivers, because they are unable to easily alter their course. The Colorado River and the Snake River in the northwestern United States are two examples of tectonic uplift.

Canyons often form in areas of limestone rock. Limestone is to a certain extent soluble, so cave systems form in the rock. When these collapse a canyon is left, for example in the Mendip Hills in Somerset and Yorkshire Dales in Yorkshire, England.

A canyon may also refer to a rift between two mountain peaks such as those in ranges such as the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Himalayas or the Andes. Usually a river or stream and erosion carve out such splits between mountains. Examples of mountain type canyons are Provo Canyon in Utah or Yosemite National Park in California's Sierra Nevada. Canyons within mountains or gorges that only have an opening on one side are called box canyons.

Largest canyons

Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA
Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico
The definition of "largest canyon" is rather imprecise, as a canyon can be large by its depth, length, or the total area of the canyon system. Also the inaccessibility of the major canyons in the Himalaya contributes to their not being regarded as candidates for the biggest canyon. The definition of "deepest canyon" is similarly imprecise, especially if one includes mountain canyons as well as canyons cut through relatively flat plateaus (which have a somewhat well-defined rim elevation).

The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, China, is regarded by some as the deepest canyon in the world, and is even slightly longer than Grand Canyon. Hence it is regarded by many as the world's largest canyon, followed by the Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal, Polung Tsangpo Canyon in Tibet, Cotahuasi Canyon in Peru (3,535 m deep and the deepest in the Americas), and the Tekezé gorge (2000m+ deep and deepest in Africa).

Slot canyons are very narrow canyons, often with smooth walls.

Lists

List of canyons

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado, USA
Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan
Chicamocha Canyon, Santander, Colombia
Saturban canyon, Santander, Colombia
Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru
Cotahuasi Canyon, Arequipa, Peru
Dirk River Canyon, Montenegro, Europe
Fish River Canyon, Namibia, Africa
Fraser Canyon, British Columbia, Canada
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Wyoming, USA
Guartelá Canyon, Paraná, Brazil
Hells Canyon, Idaho and Oregon, USA
Horseshoe Canyon, Alberta, Canada
Huasteca Canyon, Monterrey, Mexico
Kings Canyon (Northern Territory), Australia
Nfeye Canyon, Portugal
Nine Mile Canyon, Utah, USA
Ouimet Canyon, Ontario, Canada
Palo Duro Canyon, Texas, USA
Rugova Canyon, Kosovo, Europe
Shnizow Canyon, Uşak, Turkey
Sumidero Canyon, Chiapas, Mexico
Valla Canyon, Kure,Turkey
Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, USA
Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, Tibet Autonomous Region, China

List of gorges

Avon Gorge, Bristol, England
Bog Walk Gorge, Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
Bued Gorge, Benguet, Philippines
Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Australia
Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England
Columbia River Gorge, USA
Corrieshalloch Gorge, Ullapool, Scotland
Galston Gorge, NSW, Australia
Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, England
Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (The word Kloof means 'gorge' in Afrikaans)
Komati Gorge, South Africa
Lanner Gorge, South Africa
Manawatu Gorge, Manawatu, North Island, New Zealand
Montalban Gorge, Philippines
New River Gorge, West Virginia, USA
Katherine Gorge of Nitmiluk National Park in Australia
Pankisi Gorge, Georgia (country)
Pine Creek Gorge, Pennsylvania, USA
Red River Gorge, Kentucky, USA
Royal Gorge, Colorado, USA
Samaria Gorge, Crete, Greece
Talari Gorges, Mali
Gorges du Tarn, France
Taroko Gorge of Taroko National Park, Taiwan
Three Gorges, Hubei, China
Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China
Verdon Gorge, Provence, France
Vikos Gorge, Vikos-Aoos National Park, Greece

List of other features causing gorges or canyons

Ardèche River, France
Bued River, Philippines
Danube River, Europe, including the Iron Gate
Kings River of the Kings Canyon National Park, California, USA
South Nahanni River in Canada[http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/SouthNahanni/SouthNahanni-F_e.htm]
Steall Waterfall of Glen Nevis, Lochaber, Scotland
Swaan River in the Pothohar Plateau, Pakistan

Canyons on other planetary bodies

Valles Marineris on Mars, the largest known canyon in the solar system
Ithaca Chasma on Saturn's moon Tethys

Venus has many craters and canyons on its surface. The troughs on the planet are part of a system of canyons that is more than 6 400 km long.

Translation

The word "Canyon" occurs as such in the following languages: English, German, French, Norwegian (Bokmål), Sicilian, Simple English.

Translation(s) in other languages: Arabic: تلعة, Aragonese: Foz, Asturian: Canga, Breton: Kanienn, Bulgarian: Каньон, Catalan: Congost (hidrografia), Czech: Kaňon, Danish: Kløft, Navajo: Tsékooh, Estonian: Kanjon, Spanish: Cañón (geomorfología), Esperanto: Kanjono, Persian: تنگ, Galician: Canón (orografía), Korean: 협곡, Indonesian: Ngarai, Italian: Gola (geografia), Hebrew: קניון (עמק), Georgian: კანიონი, Lithuanian: Kanjonas, Hungarian: Kanyon, Dutch: Kloof, Japanese: 峡谷, Polish: Przełom rzeki, Portuguese: Canhão (geologia), Romanian: Defileu, Russian: Каньон, Slovak: Kaňon, Slovenian: Kanjon, Finnish: Kanjoni, Swedish: Kanjon, Tagalog: Sabak, Turkish: Kanyon, Ukrainian: Каньйон, Chinese: 峡谷.