<P> Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny ; a mountain - building event that is largely responsible for creating the Rocky Mountains to the east . In total , the Colorado Plateau was uplifted an estimated 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) . The adjacent Basin and Range Province to the west started to form about 18 million years ago as the result of crustal stretching . A drainage system that flowed through what is today the eastern Grand Canyon emptied into the now lower Basin and Range province . Opening of the Gulf of California around 6 million years ago enabled a large river to cut its way northeast from the gulf . The new river captured the older drainage to form the ancestral Colorado River , which in turn started to form the Grand Canyon . </P>
<P> Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny ; a mountain - building event that is largely responsible for creating the Rocky Mountains to the east . In total , the Colorado Plateau was uplifted an estimated 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) . The adjacent Basin and Range Province to the west started to form about 18 million years ago as the result of crustal stretching . A drainage system that flowed through what is today the eastern Grand Canyon emptied into the now lower Basin and Range province . Opening of the Gulf of California around 6 million years ago enabled a large river to cut its way northeast from the gulf . The new river captured the older drainage to form the ancestral Colorado River , which in turn started to form the Grand Canyon . </P>
where was the material that was eroded by the colorado river deposited
where was the material that was eroded by the colorado river deposited
the Grand Canyon
the Grand Canyon