The last rays of light illuminate buttes and mesas along the North Rim of Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park as viewed in this panoramic photograph from Yavapai Point. The deep gash of Bright Angel Canyon at left was created as Bright Angel Creek carved down into a fault in the earths crust. The sharp profile of Zoroaster Temple catches last light just left of center as flat-topped Wotans Throne rises at right center. While rocks now exposed at the bottom of the canyon were formed nearly 1.7 billion years ago, they have only been exposed within the last 10 million years as the Colorado River began to cut through the Kaibab Plateau as forces deep within the earths crust began to push it high into the sky. Much of this erosion occurred during the last 3 million years as raging meltwaters during the ice ages sent prodigious volumes of water through the canyon. Todays dam-controlled flow is a mere trickle compared to this torrent. This panoramic photograph was captured with a Fuji GX 617 panorama camera. All photos in these galleries may be ordered as fine art framed prints or for stock photography usage.