Week 8: Rock Structures

 This picture was taken from I-15 of the mountains just east of Willard, Utah. One interesting feature of these mountains is the band of lighter-colored rock that is in the top middle of them. I believe this is the result of thrust faults. This seems to be the result of a footwall that has folded over the hanging wall. The evidence for this is that you can see the layers in a rippling pattern, and erosion has revealed the different-colored layers at the top of the fold.

This picture was taken from Highway 89 in Brigham City. You can see in the mountains to the east the distinct thrust fault. The footwall is above, where the "I" is, and the hanging walls are below.This is the result of compressional stress. As the plates push together, the top plate folds over the bottom plate, causing steep folds.