Which is older the Mississippi River or the Colorado River?

Question

Over it's lifetime the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon, but the land around the Mississippi River is predominantly flat. Does that mean the Colorado River is older? If not, what is the reason for the difference in topology?

Answer 1

I am not sure of the exact ages of either river. This is a hard thing to discern. River systems evolve and change, so it is hard to pin down when the river as we know it originated. I would say the Colorado is probably older by about a couple of million years. The Mississippi as we know it was heavily influenced by glaciation within the past couple million years, so it is a bit more recent.



The reason for the difference in topography is more a function of the geology surrounding the rivers than the rivers themselves. The Mississippi flows through the interior of the North American continent, which is relatively flat and seismically stable. As such it has room to meander along and spread along its floodplain. The Colorado flows through the southwest, notably the Colorado Plateau, site of the Grand Canyon.



The Colorado Plateau has experienced massive uplift, although the rock layers remained relatively flat. The Colorado River and its ancestors already were flowing through the area when the uplift began. As the land below the river was slowly uplifted, the river's gradient increased and it began cutting into the rock faster. Thus, rather than the river cutting down thousands of feet, the land rose thousands of feet beneath it, and the river basically stayed where it was.



Hope this helps!

Answer 2

the Mississippi river is older then the Colorado river.



an old river has large flood plans and oxbows and it has no water falls and is wide and flat, oxbow are areas of the river that have found a way around obstacles to form the wayside water to go there that is way it is called oxbow.



a young river has water falls and hardly any flood plans and has no oxbows and it had rapids, its banks are lot more confined. the topology is this a young river cavers its way through the land and an old river has done this already.

Answer 3

well for me, try to search the net so that you can satisfy yourself with the informations... he...he... joke. well for me sometimes topography really does predicts the age of a structure. well for me Colorado River is more older than than that of Mississippi river because sometimes disfigured lands around Colorado is caused by some calamity leading it to its present appearance.

Answer 4

I think the Colorado Rivers birthday is tomorrow

Answer 5

Mississippi is older