The Grand Canyon is a "gorge" or "canyon" if you wish. Hence the name Grand Canyon. However, there are two "plateau's" on either side of the canyon which could be considered part of the GC, from a certain point of view.
It is a plateau
The colorado Plateau
About 75 millions years ago, the Grand Canyon area was a plateau (the Colorado Plateau) that was uplifted an estimated 2 miles (3.2 km) during the Laramide Orogeny.
The Colorado plateau
Colorado Plateau.
1st of course would be the Colorado plateau. Where would the river flow if it came first before the plateau? 2nd would be the Colorado river. As time went by, the Colorado river continually eroded the plateau until it had carved out a deep canyon from the plateau. This would then be the start of the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon, Black Mesa, and the Colorado Plateau.
Grand Canyon, Black Mesa, Colorado Plateau
The Grand Canyon is located in the western part of the United States, running through Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.
The Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon
There are six plateaus in Arizona. The Coconino Plateau is found south of the Grand Canyon. The Datil-Mogollon Section is part of the larger Colorado Plateau. The Defiance Plateau is a 75-mile long stretch of plateau in Apache County. The Kaibab Plateau is located in northern Arizona. The Kanab Plateau is north of the Grand Canyon. The Mogollon Plateau is a pine-covered southern plateau section of the larger Colorado Plateau in east-central Arizona.
The plateau through which the Colorado river has incised the Grand Canyon was, for the majority of the past 500 million years, below sea level and therefore an area upon which sediments have accumulated for a long time. The uplift of the plateau is, geologically, relatively recent and the Canyon guts its way down through this thick sedimentary stack.