|
The prominent hill to the east is known as Sheep Mountain. It is the surface expression of an upward fold in the earth’s crust that geologists refer to as an anticline. Sheep Mountain is a textbook example of an anticline fold. It is 15 miles long and the involved rock formations, which were originally horizontal, have been bent and uplifted over 1000 feet. The surface sedimentary rock formations that are exposed in the fold, range in age from 66-360 million years. Anticlines form when deep seated, compressive forces within the earth’s crust, squeeze and shorten the crust. The geologic event, which resulted in the creation of Sheep Mountain Anticline, along with many other anticlines in the Big Horn Basin began approximately 66 million years ago. This is the same time period during which dinosaurs became extinct. The present Sheep Mountain has evolved over the past 3 million years. It resulted from down cutting of the land surface by rivers and streams and the removal of much of the original basin fill sediment. |
|
|
