Sevier Orogeny Namesake Area - Canyon Range, Utah
Canyon Range Thrust, West-Central Utah Sevier-Laramide Project Looking north in East Fork of Eightmile Creek in the Canyon Range. The Canyon Range is the place the Sevier orogeny is named for because the thrust faults are parallel to the Sevier River, and the river sweeps around the north end of the range to empty into the Sevier desert. It's a natural! Of all the places where I've visited the Sevier faults and folds, this may be my favorite because of its unique scenery, beautiful quartzite bedrock, remoteness, and geologic significance. The range is made of Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks (quartzite, metasiltstone, and slate) overlain by Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian sedimentary rocks. The rocks here are beautiful! I went home with hundreds of pounds of quartzite with cross-bedding, coarse clasts, and colorful bands. Access on the south end is by primitive 2-track roads that are rocky, rough, narrow, and little used, so I advise a good 4WD (...