Canyon Diablo

Canyon Diablo, previously named "Cañon Diablo", is a canyon that winds through the Colorado Plateau approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Flagstaff in northern Arizona. It is an example of an incised meander, a river bend carved into the plateau by erosion, creating a gorge. Portions of the canyon experience an ephemeral stream and act as a tributary to the Little Colorado River. Archeologists have discovered evidence of human settlements belonging to both the older Desert Archaic peoples and the more recent Sinagua people from the 12th century. In the 19th century, several Old West ghost towns were established on the rim of the canyon, including Canyon Diablo and Two Guns. Today, the 81-mile (130 km) canyon lies within both Coconino County and the Navajo Nation. Three bridges now span the canyon: a railroad bridge originally associated with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that connected the southern route of the first transcontinental railroad through Arizona across the canyon in 1882, but was later rebuilt and modernized in 1947; a former automobile bridge that once carried Route 66 over the canyon; and the current highway bridge that hosts Interstate 40. The climate of Canyon Diablo and the immediate vicinity is generally arid to semi-arid, with microclimates created by elevation and topography. Summers are generally moderate in temperature while winters can dip to severe cold for periods of time. Microclimate conditions are formed by slope exposure to the sun and by the canyon restricting the total solar input into other areas of the canyon. Canyon Diablo is also subject to mesoscale drought cycles, on the order of hundreds of years. Changes in the precipitation volumes have been identified in the 13th and 16th century along with a cycle which started in 1998.

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).