Blog: Researchers solve a Colorado River mystery
New scientific literature is providing insights into the origins of the Colorado River, using data from ancient sedimentary deposits located east of the San Andreas fault near the Salton Sea in Southern California. The papers present evidence that the now desert landscape of the river’s lower valley was submerged roughly 5 million to 6 million years ago under shallow seas with strong, fluctuating tidal currents that flowed back and forth along the trajectory of the present-day river.