Meanders are a series of bends in a river which are formed when the moving water in a river erodes the outer banks and widens its valley trying to find the quickest route. This results in a snaking pattern and when a meander is cut of it forms an ox-bow lake.
After travelling through Utah, it enters its middle course, Arizona where it has famously carved out the Grand Canyon. This canyon once the Colorado plateau, was formed through millions years of erosion by the Colorado through multiple layers of rock while the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are being debated by geologists, recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago, Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon as we know It today. Continuing along the river it starts to head west. As the Colorado nears the Grand Wash Cliffs, the canyon walls drop away and the river enters Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the United States, on the border of Arizona and Nevada. Formed by Colorado River, US
The Hoover Dam southeast of Las Vegas, this reservoir can hold almost two years of the river's flow. After passing Las Vegas, the rivers turns south again where it enters its lower course here it is joined by a few other rivers like the Gila river before it dumps its load in the sea of Cortez between the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico.
Flora and fauna
Most of the population of wildlife and plants occur in the lower cause of the Colorado, Below the Davis dam and especially in the Colorado River delta. A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river, where a river flows into an ocean, sea, lake, or reservoir. Deltas are formed from the deposition of sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. The delta supports nearly 360 species of bird despite river pollution and water diversion. The reduction of the delta size has led to the endangerment of many species like jaguars and porpoises.
More than 1600 species of plants and 42 different species of fish thrive in and along the course of the river. These numbers have also been affected by pollution and the introduction of new species.
River development
Nearly 30 dams have been constructed along the Colorado; including the more famous Hoover dam. The dam's generators produce 2080 megawatts of power which provides for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is also a major tourist attraction bringing in a million tourists each year. Many reservoirs are built along the basin of the river, including Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover dam, which is the largest reservoir in the USA, holding approximately 26,134,000 acre feet (32.236 km3) of water. It serves the states of Nevada, Arizona and Colorado through a network of underground pipes. The Colorado is so carefully managed – with basin reservoirs capable of holding four times the river's annual flow – that each drop of its water is used an average of seventeen times in a single year.
Glossary
Dam - a barrier that impounds water and sometimes creates hydroelectric power
Reservoir - an artificial body of water created by the impoundment of a dam
Meander- a bend or curve in a river formed when a river erodes the outer banks widening the valley
Ox-bow Lake – a u-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander is cut off to create a lake
V-shaped Valley - a valley formed by corrosion (grinding away by rock particles) along a stream bed, and erosion cuts downwards more than it does sideways, larger valley maybe called canyons.
Waterfall - A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff. It’s formed when a river erodes away different layers of rock that have different rates of erosion, softer rocks have a quicker rate of erosion whereas harder rocks have longer rates of erosion. The soft rocks is undercutted forming a waterfall