How Was the Grand Canyon Formed? A Catastrophic Lake Spillover Model
Nate Loper - April 29, 2026 If you read most park signs, you'll find the formation of the Grand Canyon is often treated as a simple question of slow erosion and time. A river cut downward over 5.5 to 6 million years and produced the canyon we see today. At first glance that might seem reasonable. But the more closely the landscape is examined, the more that simple explanation begins to fall short. And interestingly, that explanation is losing favor among many geologists today. You see, the canyon is not