page_title: Canyon
section_title: Others
hierarchical_section_title: Canyon / Notable examples / Asia / Others
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Cirque de la Madeleine, Gorges de l'Ardèche, Languedoc-Roussillon, Rhône-Alpes, France.
context_page_description: A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which the river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations, particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering.
  A canyon may also refer to a rift between two mountain peaks, such as those in ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Himalayas or the Andes. Usually, a river or stream carves out such splits between mountains. Examples of mountain-type canyons are Provo Canyon in Utah or Yosemite Valley in California's Sierra Nevada. Canyons within mountains, or gorges that have an opening on only one side, are called box canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow canyons that often have smooth walls.
context_section_description: Afghanistan—Tang-e Gharu
  Kazakhstan—Charyn Canyon
  Nepal—Kali Gandaki Gorge
  Pakistan—Indus River Gorge through the Himalaya
  Turkey—Ihlara Valley in Aksaray Province
caption: Le cirque de la Madeleine, Gorges de l'Ardèche, France
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