Parts of Grand Canyon Formed Six Million Years Ago

A latest study has suggested that certain sections of the Grand Canyon are much younger than previous estimates.

Researchers at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and colleagues dated rock samples obtained from various sections of the 277-mile canyon. Their analysis has shown that some parts of the canyon are old- about 70 million years- but some are relatively younger and have formed just six million years back, AFP reported.

The study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.                    

Not as Old as the Dinosaurs

The age of the Grand Canyon, which snakes through the state of Arizona, has been a subject of debate for about 150 years now. In 2012, University of Colorado researchers reported that the behemoth structure was about 70 years old and was probably carved out by ancient rivers. According to this study, which was published in the journal Science, the canyon is so old that dinosaurs must have been its first tourists.

The new study, in part, challenges this idea. They say that dinosaurs must have probably seen a very different Grand Canyon- one that wasn't as wide or as deep as we see today.

In the present study researchers looked at ancient erosion rates using thermochronology- a technique that helps geologists understand thermal history of rocks. According to their estimates, Hurricane fault segment was carved out nearly 65 million years ago by a river that flowed north-west, Washington Post reported.

Their research has also shown that the Colorado River stitched young and old parts of the Canyon together, about six million years ago while it began flowing in the Gulf of California.

"The 'old canyon model' has argued that the Grand Canyon was carved 70 million years ago in the same place and to nearly the same depth as the modern canyon. We are refuting that," said Prof Karl Karlstrom from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, according to BBC.

"We are also refuting the 'young canyon model', which claims the canyon was cut entirely in the last six million years. Instead, we show that the Colorado River used some old segments as it found its path from the Rockies to the Gulf of California in the past six million years," he told BBC. "What's different here I think is that we finally have a description of the Grand Canyon that honours all the hard-won data."