Vacations Blog

Although its awesome grandeur and beauty are the major attractions of the Grand Canyon, perhaps its most vital and valuable aspect lies in the time scale of Earth history that is revealed in the exposed rocks of the canyon walls. No other place on Earth compares with the Grand Canyon for its extensive and profound record of geologic events.

The canyon’s record, however, is far from continuous and complete. There are immense time gaps, many millions of years are unaccounted for by gaps in the strata in which either vast quantities of Earth materials were removed by erosion or there was little or no deposition of Earth materials. Thus rock formations of vastly different ages are separated only by a thin, distinct surface that reveals the vast unconformity in time.

Briefly summarized, the geologic history of the canyon strata is as follows. The crystallized, twisted, and contorted unstratified rocks of the inner gorge at the bottom of the canyon are granite and schist about two billion years old. Overlying these very ancient rocks is a layer of limestones, sandstones, and shales that are more than 500 million years old. On top of these are rock strata composed of more limestones, freshwater shales, and cemented sandstones that form much of the canyon’s walls and represent a depositional period stretching over 300 million years. Overlying these canyon rocks is a thick sequence of Mesozoic Era rocks (245 to 66.4 million years old) that form precipitous buttes remnants and the vermilion, white, and pink cliff terraces of southern Utah but which have been entirely eroded away in the area of the Grand Canyon proper. Of relatively recent origin are overlying sheets of black lava and volcanic cones that occur a few miles southeast of the canyon and in the western Grand Canyon proper, some estimated to have been active within the past 1,000 years.

The cutting of the mile-deep Grand Canyon by the Colorado River is an event of relatively recent geologic history that began not more than six million years ago, when the river began following its present course. The Colorado River’s rapid velocity and large volume and the great amounts of mud, sand, and gravel it carries swiftly downstream account for the incredible cutting capacity of the river. Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam, the sediments carried by the Colorado River were measured at an average of 500,000 tons per day. Conditions favorable to vigorous erosion were brought about by the uplift of the region, which steepened the river’s path and allowed deep entrenchment.

The depth of the Grand Canyon is due to the cutting action of the river, but its great width is explained by rain, wind, temperature, and chemical erosion, helped by the rapid wear of soft rocks, all of which steadily widened it. Amazingly, the canyon was cut by a reverse process, for the river remained in place and cut through the rocks as the land moved slowly upward against it. Only thus can be explained the canyon’s east-to-west course across a south-facing slope and the presence of plateaus that stand across the river’s course without having deflected it.

The most significant aspect of the environment that is responsible for the canyon is frequently overlooked or not recognized. Were it not for the arid climate in the surrounding area, there would be no Grand Canyon. Slope wash from rainfall would have removed the canyon walls, the stair step topography would long ago have been excavated, the distinctive sculpturing and the multicolored rock structures could not exist, the Painted Desert would be gone, and the picturesque Monument Valley would have only a few rounded hillocks.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the world’s premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%).

This canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience. Its beauty and size humbles us. The Grand Canyon we visit today is a gift from past generations. Take time to enjoy this gift. It is more than a pleasuring ground for those that explore the roads, hike the trails, or float the currents of the turbulent Colorado River.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the Grand Canyon surely deserves to be included on your “to visit” list.

By Claudia Miclaus

The Valley of the kings is a place full of history and all its visitors can surely reassure you of that. Egypt and his mysteries are waiting for you to discover them as well!

Gates of the King, better known as Valley of the Kings, is a valley that can be found in Egypt where tombs for the Pharaohs were built for about 500 years; not only the pharaohs but basically if you were rich enough and powerful enough in the Egyptian society, then you got to have your tomb built there. This valley can be found along the west bank of the Nile river right across form Thebes now known as Luxor. Even though the name is in the singular, the “Valley” is actually made up of two valleys, the East Valley and the West Valley.

This is arguable the most famous archaeological sight in the world, we have had archaeologists digging in the dirt in these valley for many years…what made it famous though is the fact that it was here where they discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen; you know the tomb that had the curse of the pharaohs on it?

The Hills of Thebes have one hill in particular that dominates all the rest, it is known(translated) as “The Peak” and it is thought that this is what gave rise to the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. They think that because the hill is being seen on the form of a pyramid when you look at it from the right distance.

The Isolation of the area allowed the tombs to be guarded because of the reduced access. It is strange that what has come to be a symbol in the world’s eyes of ancient Egypt ( the pyramids on the Giza Plateau) really is not the way they did things back then; most of the tombs that can be found were cut out of rock, even most pyramids have sections in them that were cut out of solid rock, you can even find solid rock tombs that date back thousands of years! So what is with the pyramid craze?

There was a time when Egypt was not united, they had separate rulers and separate ideas; when the country was united, at long last the pharaohs wanted to show off their new power and the only way that they could think of to do this, was to build these huge elaborate tombs that told everybody what great people they were.

The Valley itself has about 63 tombs, the first being that of Thutmose the first and the last being Ramesses X. Like I mentioned before, even though the valley is called “Valley of the Kings”, there were all kinds of nobles buried there and nobles wives and children, so instead of calling it “Valley of the Kings” they should have called it “Valley of the Rich and Powerful”.

During the eighteenth dynasty, the only people that got to have big beautiful tombs were the kings themselves; when somebody was buried that was not of royal blood, they got to have a much smaller tomb, basically a chamber cut into the rock, this tomb was usually near the tomb of his master…kind of interesting when you think about it.

There was a little village called Deir el-Medina, this is where the workers lived; they built the tombs and decorated them. People have been interested in this place for a while, this has been he sight for major modern Egyptological exploration…before this it was just a place for tourism (a few hundred years ago of course). The strange thing is that even though they have been exploring this place for years, only eleven of the tombs have ever been completely recorded….now why is that? Eleven out of 63.

The Gate of the King, it might be gate of the King but almost all of the tombs have been ransacked…so much for having even a little bit of respect for the dead.

Today tourism is going on good in the valley, there are usually about 16 tombs open to the public (never at the same time of course). Photography is not allowed and people are expected to touch nothing and to walk in single file through the tomb not making a sound (don’t want to disturb the dead you know).

The Gate of the King is an interesting place with an even more interesting history. I highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance!

By Claudia Miclaus

London’s bridges offer great views of the city but of course each bridge has its story and distinctive personality and some of them are loaded with history. Discover them!

I do not know under how many bridges of Thames, the heroes of the English writer Jerome K. have passed, “Three in a boat…”, but I have numbered at least four of them dating back in those times: Chelsea Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge. These, as well as seven more, cross Thames, through all London.

Vauxhall

Built in 1916, this is the first London Bridge on which trams circulated. It is unique because of the bronze figures placed at its endings, figures that represent the Agriculture, the Architecture, the Beautiful Arts, Education and Science. A closed illustration for the creativity of the human kind is the Tate Art Gallery built for the decoration of the bridge. The gallery received the first 65 paintings from a noble of the last century. Today, the rooms of the Tate Art Gallery are full of thousands of paintings and sculptures, a true national collection, from the Renascence till our days.

Lambeth

On the four peaks of the bridge, your eyes are caught by the pineapple fruits carved there to remind of John Tradescant, a landscape painter from the court of Charles the 1st, the illustrious gardener that brought the pineapple in England. On one of the banks of the river, the huge building of the Lambeth Palace virtuously shows its dignity, the London residence of the Canterbury archbishop.

Westminster

The Westminster Bridge is particularly visited, especially for nocturne pictures of St. Stephan tower, which hosts the well-known horologe Big-Ben; of the Congress Palace and of the two towers of the Westminster Abbey, all reflected in a fairy-like light and out of the ordinary in the same time, due to the hue of yellow and green. This tower, as simple as it looks, has been around for almost 150 years.

Waterloo

The Waterloo Bridge, a grandiose construction believed to offer one of the most beautiful views of London, was designed by Lord Giles Gilbert Scott .It was made from reinforced concrete and stone, with women as workers, during the last world war (well…hopefully last world war). Crossing Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge is a road and a foot traffic bridge. Its name is given in the memory of the Waterloo Battle where the British won the victory in 1815.

Don’t miss the splendid view offered by the position of this bridge!You can see in a unique panorama the Wesminster, London Eye to the west and the Canary Wharf as well as the City of London in the est.

Blackfriars

Has the name of a XIII – century monastery, but it belongs to the XIX century, more exactly to the year 1869, when it was laid between the two sides of Thames. This bridge offers a gorgeous view of the Saint Paul Cathedral and of the old centre of London; on the left of the river as well as on the right, you rediscover the Shakespearian Globe Theatre. This right side displays, just as within a parade, dozens of monuments, connected with the world of theatre, of the movie, of big shows, and unnumbered large manifestations.

London Bridge

The history of this bridge goes back in time to the era of the roman invasion, from the first decades after Christ, when the capital city of England was named “Londinium”.

No later than 1179, King Henry the 2nd ordered the building of a new bridge, having at the half a chapel dedicated to the one that was Saint Thomas Beckett. It is known that the traitors’ heads were exposed at the extremities of this bridge in those dark times. Compared to other bridges in London, the London Bridge of today offers the largest traffic capacity.

Tower Bridge

As its name says, Tower Bridge belongs, symbolically to the well-known Tower of London, situated near by. Tower Bridge is an emblem for London, with its two twin towers and the two mobile components between them. The mobile parts of 1000 tones each can rise in only 90 seconds, with the help of a super machine.

Built between 1886 and 1894, Tower Bridge became a tourist attraction in no time due to its spectacular galleries, where the history of its building and the ingenuity of its machines is revealed. It is worth mentioning the fact that Tower bridge also offers an extraordinary view of Thames.

Discover the charm and distinctiveness of the London bridges!

By Claudia Miclaus