Natural wonder of the world: The Grand Canyon - PHOTO REPORT

Arizona. 7 November. REPORT.AZ/ Grand Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world. It is also called "the eighth wonder of the natural world".

In Arizona, the Colorado Plateau in the turbulent waters of river have created a masterpiece of natural architecture over millions of years.

Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago.Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).

In the structure of the ravine includes rocks from the four geological eras. Lava flows, frozen on faults belong to the Cenozoic era. The canyon walls are cut by layers of sandstone and limestone, formed in the Paleozoic era, and the lowermost layers are composed of ancient crystalline slates belong to the Precambrian period.

The area around the Grand Canyon is a national park, which is visited by millions of tourists a years.

In 1979, the Grand Canyon is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Southern edge of the canyon is the most visited, here are the most popular sightseeing points.

North part of Canyon is much less visited due to the remoteness and inaccessibility.

There are very popular tours for tourists: floating on the Colorado River in the canyon, the descent into the canyon by mule, and a tour by helicopter, overlooking the canyon with a bird's-eye view.

By the way earlier, in 1940-1950-ies, the crews of many US passenger aircraft flying over the area, specially planned route to show passengers views of the Grand Canyon.Often, pilots made several circles over the canyon, to improve passenger visibility. However, such visual flights were banned after the collision of two passenger planes in June 1956 over the Grand Canyon.