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23-460: The reserve is a popular backpacking destination due to its canyon -like gorge valley. A central part of the reserve is the 40 kilometres (25 mi) long and, at places, 80 metres (260 ft) deep Kevojoki canyon, on the bottom of which flows the Kevojoki river. It is surrounded by more level fell upland. Walking in the reserve is only permitted along two marked routes. The Kevo backpacking route

46-572: A breeding pair lives in the nearby Abel Erasmus Pass ), Cape eagle owl , white-faced owl , wood owl , peregrine falcon , black-breasted snake eagle , Wahlberg's eagle , long-crested eagle , lanner falcon , red-breasted sparrowhawk , rock kestrel and others. At 200 metres (660 ft), the Kadishi Tufa waterfall is the second tallest tufa waterfall on earth. A tufa waterfall is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium, and deposits rock formations more rapidly than they erode

69-591: Is 64 kilometres (40 mi) long and follows the gorge valley. The Kuivi route is 78 kilometres (48 mi) and goes along the fell area. Both routes are difficult and include e.g. many paddle crossings. This Lapland (Finland) location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a protected area in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Canyon A canyon (from Spanish : cañón ; archaic British English spelling: cañon ), gorge or chasm ,

92-404: Is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales . Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which

115-569: Is actually 1 km wider than the Grand Canyon, making it the widest canyon in the world. Some canyons have notable cultural significance. Evidence of archaic humans has been discovered in Africa's Olduvai Gorge . In the southwestern United States, canyons are important archeologically because of the many cliff-dwellings built in such areas, largely by the ancient Pueblo people who were their first inhabitants. The following list contains only

138-644: Is occasionally used in the United Kingdom . In South Africa, kloof (in Krantzkloof Nature Reserve ) is used along with canyon (as in Blyde River Canyon ) and gorge (in Oribi Gorge ). Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau or table-land level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on

161-682: Is part of the Panorama Route . This route starts at the town Graskop and includes God's Window , the Pinnacle and Bourke's Luck Potholes . The canyon is named for the river that runs through it, the Blyde River , now called the Motlatse River . Blyde means "glad" or "happy" in old Dutch, a name derived from a voortrekkers ' expedition. The 'happy river' was thus named in 1844, when Hendrik Potgieter and others returned safely from Delagoa Bay to

184-564: Is similarly high, including the beautiful and much sought Narina trogon as well as species such as the Cape vulture , black eagle , crowned eagle , African fish eagle , gymnogene , jackal buzzard , white-rumped vulture , bald ibis , African finfoot , Knysna lourie , purple-crested lourie , Gurney's sugarbird , malachite sunbird , cinnamon dove , African emerald cuckoo , red-backed mannikin , golden-tailed woodpecker , olive bush shrike , green twinspot , Taita falcons (very rarely sighted,

207-580: Is similarly imprecise, especially if one includes mountain canyons, as well as canyons cut through relatively flat plateaus (which have a somewhat well-defined rim elevation). The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon (or Tsangpo Canyon), along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet , is regarded by some as the deepest canyon on Earth at 5,500 metres (18,000 ft). It is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in

230-582: Is soluble to a certain extent, cave systems form in the rock. When a cave system collapses, a canyon is left, as in the Mendip Hills in Somerset and Yorkshire Dales in Yorkshire , England. A box canyon is a small canyon that is generally shorter and narrower than a river canyon, with steep walls on three sides, allowing access and egress only through the mouth of the canyon. Box canyons were frequently used in

253-619: Is the Fish River Canyon in Namibia . In August 2013, the discovery of Greenland 's Grand Canyon was reported, based on the analysis of data from Operation IceBridge . It is located under an ice sheet. At 750 kilometres (470 mi) long, it is believed to be the longest canyon in the world. Despite not being quite as deep or long as the Grand Canyon, the Capertee Valley in Australia

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276-664: The Alps , the Himalayas or the Andes . Usually, a river or stream carves out such splits between mountains. Examples of mountain-type canyons are Provo Canyon in Utah or Yosemite Valley in California's Sierra Nevada . Canyons within mountains, or gorges that have an opening on only one side, are called box canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow canyons that often have smooth walls. Steep-sided valleys in

299-602: The Grand Canyon and the Fish River Canyon . Unlike the Grand and Fish River Canyon, the Blyde River Canyon is a "green canyon" which is dominated by subtropical vegetation. The canyon forms part of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve . The Blyde River Canyon passes a rock formation known as the " Three Rondavels ". So named as the formation resembles three African-style houses or rondavels . This canyon

322-454: The United States , place names generally use canyon in the southwest (due to their proximity to Spanish-speaking Mexico ) and gorge in the northeast (which is closer to French Canada ), with the rest of the country graduating between these two according to geography. In Canada , a gorge is usually narrow while a ravine is more open and often wooded. The military-derived word defile

345-631: The seabed of the continental slope are referred to as submarine canyons . Unlike canyons on land, submarine canyons are thought to be formed by turbidity currents and landslides . The word canyon is Spanish in origin ( cañón , pronounced [kaˈɲon] ), with the same meaning. The word canyon is generally used in North America , while the words gorge and ravine (French in origin) are used in Europe and Oceania , though gorge and ravine are also used in some parts of North America. In

368-455: The western United States as convenient corrals, with their entrances fenced. The definition of "largest canyon" is imprecise, because a canyon can be large by its depth, its length, or the total area of the canyon system. Also, the inaccessibility of the major canyons in the Himalaya contributes to their not being regarded as candidates for the biggest canyon. The definition of "deepest canyon"

391-533: The United States, with an average depth of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) and a volume of 4.17 trillion cubic metres (147 trillion cubic feet), is one of the world's largest canyons. It was among the 28 finalists of the New 7 Wonders of Nature worldwide poll. (Some referred to it as one of the seven natural wonders of the world .) The largest canyon in Europe is Tara River Canyon . The largest canyon in Africa

414-606: The United States. Others consider the Kali Gandaki Gorge in midwest Nepal to be the deepest canyon, with a 6,400-metre (21,000 ft) difference between the level of the river and the peaks surrounding it. Vying for the deepest canyon in the Americas is the Cotahuasi Canyon and Colca Canyon , in southern Peru. Both have been measured at over 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) deep. The Grand Canyon of northern Arizona in

437-723: The canyon walls, in a process known as frost wedging. Canyon walls are often formed of resistant sandstones or granite . Sometimes large rivers run through canyons as the result of gradual geological uplift. These are called entrenched rivers , because they are unable to easily alter their course. In the United States, the Colorado River in the Southwest and the Snake River in the Northwest are two examples of tectonic uplift . Canyons often form in areas of limestone rock. As limestone

460-514: The most notable canyons of the world, grouped by region. Venus has many craters and canyons on its surface. The troughs on the planet are part of a system of canyons that is more than 6,400 km long. [REDACTED] Environment portal Blyde River Canyon The Blyde River Canyon is a 26 km long Canyon located in Mpumalanga , South Africa . It is one of the larger canyons on Earth but much smaller than those of Asia,

483-919: The rest of their party of trekkers who had considered them dead. While still under this misapprehension they had named the nearby river where they had been encamped, Treurrivier , or 'mourning river'. In 2005, the Blyde River was renamed to the Motlatse River, and the Mpumalanga Provincial Government announced that the canyon would be renamed as well. The Blyde River Canyon supports large diversity of life, including numerous fish and antelope species as well as hippos and crocodiles , and every primate species that may be seen in South Africa (including both greater and lesser bushbabies, vervet monkeys and Samango monkeys ). The diversity of birdlife

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506-461: The river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations, particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering. A canyon may also refer to a rift between two mountain peaks, such as those in ranges including the Rocky Mountains ,

529-456: The valley walls. Canyons are much more common in arid areas than in wet areas because physical weathering has a more localized effect in arid zones. The wind and water from the river combine to erode and cut away less resistant materials such as shales . The freezing and expansion of water also serves to help form canyons. Water seeps into cracks between the rocks and freezes, pushing the rocks apart and eventually causing large chunks to break off

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