La Sal Mountains

La Sal Mountains

La Sal Mountains as seen from Arches National Park
Highest point
Peak Mount Peale
Elevation 12,721 ft (3,877 m)
Coordinates 38°26′19″N 109°13′45″W / 38.43861°N 109.22917°W / 38.43861; -109.22917 
Geography
Location of the La Sal Range within Utah
Country United States
State Utah
Range coordinates 38°26′56″N 109°14′28″W / 38.44889°N 109.24111°W / 38.44889; -109.24111Coordinates: 38°26′56″N 109°14′28″W / 38.44889°N 109.24111°W / 38.44889; -109.24111
Parent range Rocky Mountains

The La Sal Mountains or La Sal Range are a mountain range located in Grand and San Juan counties, Utah along the Utah/Colorado border. The range rises above and southeast of Moab and north of the town of La Sal. This range is part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest and the southern Rocky Mountains. The maximum elevation is at Mount Peale, reaching 12,721 feet (3,877 m) above sea level. The range contains three clusters of peaks separated by passes. The peaks span a distance of about 10 miles (16 km). The name of the range dates to Spanish times, when the Sierra La Sal (meaning the "Salt Mountains") were a prominent landmark on the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles.

Geology

Mountain ranges associated with laccoliths and other igneous intrusions on part of the Colorado Plateau. The red dot marks the Four Corners, the intersection of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. L, La Sal Mountains; A, Abajo Mountains; S, (Sleeping) Ute Mountain; C, Carrizo Mountains; N, Navajo Mountain; H, Henry Mountains.

The range formed as a result of intrusion of igneous rocks and subsequent erosion of the surrounding less-resistant sedimentary rocks. The most abundant igneous rocks are porphyritic, with phenocrysts of hornblende and plagioclase: these rocks are called diorite in some accounts but trachyte in at least one other source. Syenite, some containing the unusual mineral nosean, makes up a few percent of the igneous rocks present. Some of the igneous intrusions have the shapes of laccoliths. Ages of these igneous rocks fall in the interval 25 to 28 million years. The magmas were emplaced into sedimentary rocks with ages from Permian to Cretaceous.

The La Sal Mountains rises high over the surrounding Colorado Plateau. Two other ranges on the Plateau, the Abajo Mountains and the Henry Mountains, formed around igneous intrusions of about the same age. Yet other nearby ranges, such as the Carrizo Mountains and Ute Mountain, formed about otherwise similar intrusions emplaced about 70 million years ago. Formation of these igneous rocks in two distinct time intervals has attracted the interest of scientists seeking explanations for magma production below relatively stable parts of the Earth's crust.

The La Sals at Sunset from Gemini Bridges Road

Peaks of the La Sal Mountains

Little Tuk (left) and Mt. Tukuhnikivatz (right) of the La Sal Range in summer, seen from the south.

The significant peaks of the La Sal Mountains are:

See also

References

Jules D. Friedman and A. Curtis Huffman, Jr., Coordinators, Laccolith Complexes of Southeastern Utah: Time of Emplacement and Tectonic Setting—Workshop Proceedings, United States Geological Survey Bulletin 2158, 292 pages, 1998. http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b2158/B2158.pdf

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