Abstract
Anticlines are not unusual features, but the Ophir anticline is exceptional. Regions shortened laterally by compressional tectonics have folds and/or faults including anticlines, synclines, monoclines, and thrust faults. However, most anticlines are buried or partially buried, visible on land only as discontinuous snippets in road cuts or visible from above as one flies across terrain too regional to be viewed in entirety from land. The Ophir anticline is unusual as its limbs and crest can be viewed in their entirety, exposed in cross-section on Ophir Canyon’s walls. Ophir Canyon provides evidence that the compressional tectonics associated with the Ophir anticline long-preceded active-extensional tectonics associated with today’s basin and range topography of western Utah. This geosite is the 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of Ophir Canyon that exposes the anticline.
Highlights
GPS LocationAnticlines are not unusual features, but the Ophir anticline is exceptional
The Ophir anticline is unusual as its limbs and crest can be viewed in their entirety, exposed in cross-section on Ophir Canyon’s walls
Ophir Canyon provides evidence that the compressional tectonics associated with the Ophir anticline long-preceded active-extensional tectonics associated with today’s basin and range topography of western Utah
Summary
Anticlines are not unusual features, but the Ophir anticline is exceptional. Regions shortened laterally by compressional tectonics have folds and/or faults including anticlines, synclines, monoclines, and thrust faults (figure 1). Ophir Canyon provides evidence that the compressional tectonics associated with the Ophir anticline long-preceded active-extensional tectonics associated with today’s basin and range topography of western Utah. This geosite is the 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of Ophir Canyon that exposes the anticline (figure 2). From Utah County, travel west on Route 73 via Lehi, Cedar Fort, Fairfield, and Five Mile Pass to the small parking area at the intersection of Route 73 with Ophir Canyon Road. From this parking area, one can view the western range front of the Oquirrh Mountains and Ophir Canyon. The parking area at 5650 ft a.s.l. (1720 m) lies a few hundred feet above the Bonneville level of Lake Bonneville, the lake that occupied much of Rush Valley and most of western Utah approximately 30,000 to 13,000 years ago
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