The Geologic Story of Palo Duro Canyon

by William Henry Matthews

HOW THE CANYON WAS CARVED

The visitor seeing Palo Duro Canyon for the first time may find it difficult to believe that this yawning chasm began as a simple gully. But to the geomorphologist—the geologist who studies the origin and development of landscapes—Palo Duro Canyon is but a gully magnified many times over. This is evident because the shape of the canyon, the nature of its tributaries, and the character of its walls indicate that it has been deepened and lengthened by the downcutting of a stream and widened by other geologic processes.