Cotahuasi Canyon

15°16′S 73°02′W / 15.267°S 73.033°W / -15.267; -73.033

Cotahuasi Canyon (from Quechua Kutawasi), near the city of Arequipa in Peru, is one of the deepest canyons in the world. With a depth of approximately 3,354 metres (11,004 ft), as defined as the difference in elevation at river level and the peak of a mountain alongside the canyon, it is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The Cotahuasi River eroded the canyon between two mountain massifs: the Coropuna (6,425 m or 21,079 ft ASL) and the Solimana (6,093 m or 19,990 ft ASL). It extends from spurs of the snow-covered Solimana to the confluence with the Ocoña River near the village of Chaucalla [es].^[1]

The Cotahuasi River's source is Lake Wansuqucha, at more than 4,750 m (15,580 ft) above sea level. It receives the tributaries of the Wayllapaña River in the neighborhood of Pampamarka, to the north, and the Huarcaya near Tumipampa, to the west, and is later joined by the Maran River to form the Ocoña River, which ends at the Pacific Ocean.