Brian Wernicke: The Ancient California River and How it Carved Grand Canyon in the Age of T. Rex

Anyone who stands at the rim of Grand Canyon is confronted with one of the most humbling spectacles in the solar system, a high, featureless plateau interrupted by a mile-deep chasm. Its origin has been controversial ever since John Wesley Powell's historic navigation of the Colorado River in 1869. A long-held consensus is that the canyon is six million years old and was carved by the Colorado. We will examine data collected over the last three years suggesting instead that the canyon was incised between 70 and 80 million years ago, by a river flowing in the opposite direction to the modern Colorado.

Brian Wernicke is the Chandler Family Professor of Geology at Caltech.

Please Note: This event will be digitally recorded and made available for viewing on the Caltech Theater site. Many past Watson Lectures are available for viewing online on the Caltech Theater site, and are available for purchase: DVD Order Form (PDF)