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If you look closely right in the middle, you can see a fine light line running toward lower right just above the river. That's the first emergence of the Vishnu Schist, the very hard precambrian rock that defines the steep inner gorge of what I consider the Canyon proper. Note how the river seems to disappear into a steep slot. The Schist is very hard, and so difficult for the river to cut. Down to there it was able to pretty much meander at will and wear away the soft sedimentary layers above. But the Schist is metamorphic: compressed and heated and deformed into a much more coherent state. Forged instead of just cast. |
