Mount Nebo ~ Majestic Mountain EarthCache
Mount Nebo ~ Majestic Mountain
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Mount Nebo ~ Majestic Mountain
Mount Nebo is the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah, in the United States. Named after the biblical Mount Nebo overlooking Israel, which is said to be the place of Moses' death, it is the centerpiece of the Mount Nebo Wilderness, inside the Uinta National Forest..
Mount Nebo is crowned by three peaks, with the northern peak reaching 11,928 ft (3,636 m). Original surveys placed the southern peak as the highest at 11,877 ft (3,620 m). Unfortunately, when the mountain was resurveyed in the 1970s and the northern peak was found to be the highest, two substantial trails already led to the south summit.
Parts of the mountain are covered in snow from mid-October until July. It is a popular, although strenuous, destination for hikers.
A mountain is usually produced by the movement of lithospheric plates, either orogenic movement or epeirogenic movement. The compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, a mountain. The absolute heights of features termed mountains and hills vary greatly according to an area's terrain. The major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Two types of mountain are formed depending on how the rock reacts to the tectonic forces—block mountains or fold mountains.
Compressional forces in continental collisions may cause the compressed region to thicken, so the upper surface is forced upward. To balance the weight of the earth surface, much of the compressed rock is forced downward, producing deep "mountain roots". Mountains therefore form downward as well as upward. However, in some continental collisions part of one continent may simply override part of the others, crumpling in the process.
Some isolated mountains were produced by volcanoes, including many apparently small islands that reach a great height above the ocean floor.
Block mountains are created when large areas are widely broken up by faults creating large vertical displacements. This occurrence is fairly common. The uplifted blocks are block mountains or horsts. The intervening dropped blocks are termed graben: these can be small or form extensive rift valley systems. This form of landscape can be seen in East Africa, the Vosges, the Basin and Range province of Western North America and the Rhine valley. These areas often occur when the regional stress is extensional and the crust is thinned.
The mid-ocean ridges are often referred to as undersea mountain ranges due to their bathymetric prominence.
Rock that does not fault may fold, either symmetrically or asymmetrically. The upfolds are anticlines and the downfolds are synclines: in asymmetric folding there may also be recumbent and overturned folds. The Jura Mountains are an example of folding. Over time, erosion can bring about an inversion of relief: the soft upthrust rock is worn away so the anticlines are actually lower than the tougher, more compressed rock of the synclines.
Information taken from Wikipedia..
This Earthcache is found from the Mount Nebo Overlook, on the Nebo Loop, Scenic Byway, Drive. From about October to May this part of the canyon will be closed for the winter.
At the coordinates there is a sign, to log this earthcache, you must answer the following questions. The picture is optional, but the answers to the questions must be sent to me, or log(s) will be deleted. If you are with a group, one email for the group is fine, please let me know in the email who all is in your group. From the sign, please answer the following questions:
1~ What is in the creative process of forming a mountain like Mount Nebo?
2~ How is Mount Nebo a unique mountain geologically?
3~ At the bottom of the sign, in a circle, are 3 words, what are those words?
4~ For fun, take a picture of you, and/or your group, with Mount Nebo behind you
Email the answers to me. Go ahead and log the cache, you will only hear back from me if the logging requirements are not fulfilled.
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