·This diagram illustrates the features you can see from here. North and South table Mountains are remnants of ancient lava flows now separated and eroded by Clear Creek. The Dakota Hogbacks on the left and right sides of the image were one continuous, but they have been cut off by the Golden Fault shown in black in this picture and on the geologic map. The rocks you are standing on were uplifted along the Golden Fault and are now two miles higher than the same rocks under the Table Mountains.·Geologic Map. Generalized bedrock geologic map shows location of geologic formations. Red line A-A shows the location of the geologic cross-section on the right.

·Geologic Cross-section. A Geologic Cross-section shows a cut-away of the rocks underlying Lookout Mountain, the City of Golden, and the Table Mountains. The rocks you are standing on are on the left side of the diagram. They are igneous and metamorphic rocks over 1.7 billion years old. As these ancient rocks were uplifted, the originally flat sedimentary rocks were faulted and tilted. Some of these sedimentary rocks were tilted to near vertical. These sedimentary rocks were easily eroded forming the valley before you, with the more resistant igneous and metamorphic rocks forming the mountains.

·Do You Remember?
· Igneous rock-a rock formed by the crystallization from a melt. Includes granite in the mountains to the west and the Table Mountain lava flows. These rocks are resistant to weathering and erosion.

· Metamorphic rock-rock that did not melt and formed by alterations of preexisting rocks at depths by heat and pressure. Includes the rock around the museum and grave site. These rocks are also resistant to weathering and erosion.

· Sedimentary rock-rock formed on the earth's surface by weathering, erosion, and deposition. Includes the rocks beneath Golden and along the mountain front. These rocks are generally softer and more easily eroded, except for well-cemented sandstone and conglomerates such as the Dakota Hogbacks.

· Fault-break in rock along which movement has occurred. There has been about 10,000 feet of movement along the Golden Fault.

· Laramide-mountain building episode that began 68 million years ago and continued for about 25 million years, uplifting the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

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Show me all markers in:  Golden, CO  |  Jefferson County  |  80401  |  Colorado  |  United States of America

Our Changing Landscape-From Sea Floor to Mountain Top
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Charles E. Kirk
Buffalo Bill
Recreation: Past to Present
Water Carves Canyons
Play in the Wind
Windy Saddle Park / Connecting to the Past
Triceratops Trail

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