This earthcache was developed to give you a simple explaination of how this mountain range was formed, and to have you look at the layers of rock (sandstone and shale) that were forced upwards, almost on end, at this location.
There is limited parking at this location and you must be careful going in and out of this site.
It is best to approach this location by driving East from the mouth of Ogden Canyon.
Todays lesson, How was the Wasatch Mountain range created ?
A quick and simple explaination of how the Wasatch Mountain range was formed. The process began with...
Plate tectonic evolution from 1 Billion years ago to the present. (Ma = million years ago.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQqQhZp4uG8
(40 seconds long)
The creation of the Wasatch Mountain range began with the collision of moving plates of the earth's crust. The resulting mountain-building event was called the Sevier orogeny. This event was named after the Sevier River area in Utah.
The Sevier orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonic activity and deformation that occurred from approximately 160 million years (Ma) ago to around 50 Ma. This orogeny was caused by the subduction of the oceanic Farallon Plate underneath the continental North American Plate.
Orogeny is a process in which a section of the earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range as a result of the collision of two land masses.
The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from northern Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. The Sevier thrust belt in Utah can be divided in two, north of Salt Lake City and south of Salt Lake City. The northern portion runs through present day Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. The southern portion stops around Las Vegas.
The earth's crust in this area was compressed during this event. The total crustal shortening of the northern portion was roughly 60 miles. Deep layers of rock were forced upward when the area was compressed, forming the mountain range.
Location of the Sevier Fold and Thrust Belt (highlighted in red). After Yonkee and Weil (2015
The Sevier orogeny left behind many distinctive geologic features in the Utah region.
This earth cache takes you to one of them.
The area that we are visiting is a small portion of the rock layers that were forced upwards, almost on end, during this event. A larger example of the uprighted sandstone rock (ancient ocean beach) is located across the canyon looking to the north-west on private property.
At the posted coordinates you can examine the uprighted layers of quartz rich sandstone rock, and just to the east and uphill, the flaky shale rock (ancient shallow ocean bottom) from long ago, where trace fossils can sometimes be found.
It is interesting to think, that at one time, these layers of sandstone and shale rock were basically laying flat and deep underground.
Imagine the tremendous pressure that was exerted in this area to be able to force the flat layers of sandstone rock and shale rock upward enough to create this geologic feature...
Or to create the mountain !
To log this earthcache, you need to visit this location, then message the info below to me.
1- Include the GC code, and all the people you may be submitting answers for.
2- Did the Fallon Plate collide with the North Americian Plate on the east side or the west side of the North Americian Continent?
3- At this site, look at the layers of rock that have been pushed from a flat position into an upright position. Given 90 degrees is straight up and down, what angle and to what direction do you think are layers of rock are leaning?
What would that tell you about the the forces that were exerted underneath the once horizontal layers of rock?
4- Based on your observations and the cache description, what do you think forced these layers of rock and the surrounding area to move upwards and create the mountain? Compression or tension?
5- Post a photo at the location of you and/or a personal item with the upright layers of rock in the background. You have to actually visit this earthcache site. Not including a photo with your log or photoshopping something will get your log deleted.
Thank you for visiting this earthcache.
I hope this earthcache helped you to understand how these mountains were created
and that you have had an informative visit.
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