Space View of Green River Flowing Through 1,000-Foot-Deep Labyrinth Canyon
Space View of Green River Flowing Through 1,000-Foot-Deep ‘Labyrinth Canyon’
In 2018, the International Space Station (ISS) captured a stunning image of the Green River winding through a canyon in Utah. This canyon, known as “Labyrinth Canyon,” is 1,000 feet deep, as reported by NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Labyrinth Canyon is part of the Colorado Plateau, which covers an area of about 130,000 square miles (337,000 square kilometers). This mostly desert region spans five states.
The Colorado Plateau was formed due to tectonic movements that caused the Earth’s mantle to swell, raising the plateau to 7,000 feet.
The Green River itself is 730 miles (1,175 kilometers) long and flows through Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. The image shows the river about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Canyonlands National Park.
The river’s path is quite zigzagged. At one point, it runs parallel to the canyon wall before doubling back on itself. This specific area is known as Bowknot Bend, which is 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) long. Here, the canyon walls have eroded due to soil erosion on both sides.
NASA’s Earth Observatory speculates that in about 100 to 1,000 years, the saddles in this region will be completely eroded by the river’s flow. This could lead to the formation of a crescent-shaped lake, known as an Oxbow Lake, which would be separated from the main river.
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