Description
Antelope Canyon consists of two small canyons, called Lower Antelope Canyon and Upper Antelope Canyon. These are so-called slot canyons, narrow gorges carved by water or mud. The Antelope Canyons are located on a Navajo reservation near the village of Page, Arizona, near Lake Powell. Upper Antelope Canyon is approximately 400 meters long and 44.3 meters deep. Unique light effects can be seen here, as the sun's rays shine through narrow openings in several places. The closing of the Iapetus Ocean during the Devonian period created the Appalachian Mountains. At this time, erosion of these mountains also began. A great deal of erosion material was transported by the trade winds to the center of what we now call the United States. A vast, or enormous, sand sea was formed, similar to the Sahara Desert. Increasing pressure (diagenesis) created sandstone, better known as Navajo Sandstone. In this rock, a canyon is formed by erosion. Because rainwater rapidly collects in upstream basins during the monsoon season, the enormous amount of rainwater flows along with the sediment through the valley, creating mudflows. At the narrowing points of the canyons, these further erode the canyon. The wind also played a role, wearing down the softer rocks and polishing the harder ones.
