HR: 0800h
AN: ED31A-0080    [Abstracts]
TI: Comparing the Grand Canyon of the East to the Western one
AU: * Gorom, J
EM: gorojl47@mail.buffalostate.edu
AF: SUNY College at Buffalo, Dept. of Earth Sciences and Science Education 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY 14222, United States
AU: Martinez-Hackert, B
EM: martinb@buffalostate.edu
AF: SUNY College at Buffalo, Dept. of Earth Sciences and Science Education 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY 14222, United States
AB: The Grand Canyon of the West (GCW) is an internationally well-known geological world wonder of the South Western United States' Colorado Plateau. The Grand Canyon of the East is a similarly beautiful, less well-known, smaller canyon in the Devonian/Silurian sedimentary rocks of the western part of New York State in the Eastern United States. For the purpose of creating a comparative database to be used in the field, classroom and public education settings, features of New York's canyon, better known as Letchworth State Park (LSP) to Arizona's canyon, were collected, obtained, and recorded. We compared various numbers on rock formations, ages of the units, stream volume, and depth and age of canyon formation, erosion processes and other interesting geological features between the two canyons. The sedimentary rocks of both canyons tell the story of the conditions under which the rocks were laid onto the Earth's surface at the time. This study includes an evaluation of how the two canyons have formed including features we see in the strata. Literature research revealed that LSP is on the order of 10 times smaller than the Grand Canyon in various aspects. Genesee river is up to only 4 m deep while the Colorado River reaches depths of up to 30 m. The Genesee extends 25.3 km within its canyon, paling at the majestic 445.79km of the Colorado within its canyon. The depths of the two canyons also show how small LSP is in comparison to the GCW Letchworth canyon's depth is 0.17 km while GCW is 1.61 km. The width of LSP's canyon is 0.1 km while the Grand Canyons' is 28.97 km at their widest locations. Fieldwork in both canyons allowed for some comparison of the natural waterfall features within the canyons. With help from a laser range finder measurements were taken from the most prominent waterfalls of LSP and the Havasu creek. Rock formations were compared. While the periods of Precambrian to the middle Permian time are found in the GCW, the Silurian/Devonian formations are missing at the GCW. On the other hand, during this period of time, a warm shallow sea was present in WNY, as its shoreline transgressed and regressed over the land, it deposited the Silurian/Devonian rocks we see today. This study contains helpful information about geology, past life, and past environments of the two areas. LSP is often used as a field trip location of Western New York's geology educators having in mind similarities to the much further away Grand Canyon. However, even though it's nickname suggest a promising comparison, LSP turns out to be a beautiful yet tiny baby brother of the Grand Canyon of the West, both in size and age.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0830 Teacher training
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting