barranca
bah-RAHN-kah
A deep ravine or gorge, especially one with steep, often vertical walls — the Spanish equivalent of canyon or gulch, used across the American Southwest and Latin America. A barranca is typically narrower and more precipitous than an arroyo, cut deeper into the rock by centuries of flash floods.
Etymology
Spanish, possibly from a pre-Roman Iberian word. The term is common in place names across the Southwest: Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in Mexico is deeper than the Grand Canyon.
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