Fountain Formation Research Paper
The timeline of the geologic history here in Colorado starts 1.7 billion years ago with the Idaho Springs gneiss found at the upper parking lot of Red Rocks Amphitheater. This rock is made up of potassium feldspar and quartz predominantly, which makes the rock appear mostly white in color, however, hematite stains the outside to give it a red color. The Idaho Springs gneiss was created by two geological events, both the growing of the North American basement rock and the formation of super continent Columbia. This can be seen because the Idaho Springs gneiss was formed deep underground and deep in oceans, and was only brought up to the surface through erosion and subduction zones. An analog to this rock structure is the Sea of Japan in current
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The Fountain formation is a poorly sorted conglomerate of pieces of the Idaho Springs gneiss. This rock formation is 300 million years old. It is an alluvial fan that was made by a river flowing out of the ancestral Rocky Mountains after their uplift 320 million years ago. The Fountain formation is dipping in an eastern direction, meaning that to find younger rocks than the Fountain formation, one would have to travel in an eastern direction. Directly following the Fountain formation is the Lyons sandstone, which is 270 million years old. This sandstone is made up of potassium feldspar and quartz, like the two formations before it, however, it has significantly less biotite and hematite, differentiating it from the previous two. This sandstone was formed from the wearing down of the ancestral Rocky Mountains. When the wind picked up this sediment, it was deposited in beaches that formed the Lyons sandstone. On these beaches, the water level began to transgress, and they soon became submerged. This was called the Western Interior Seaway. This submersion of the beach lead to the creation of the Likins formation, which has characteristics of mudstone, sandstone, and limestone. This formation is 260 million years old. The Likins formation is made up primarily of quartz, gypsum, calcite, and halite. This calcite and halite are indicative of the shallow marine
The Fountain formation is a poorly sorted conglomerate of pieces of the Idaho Springs gneiss. This rock formation is 300 million years old. It is an alluvial fan that was made by a river flowing out of the ancestral Rocky Mountains after their uplift 320 million years ago. The Fountain formation is dipping in an eastern direction, meaning that to find younger rocks than the Fountain formation, one would have to travel in an eastern direction. Directly following the Fountain formation is the Lyons sandstone, which is 270 million years old. This sandstone is made up of potassium feldspar and quartz, like the two formations before it, however, it has significantly less biotite and hematite, differentiating it from the previous two. This sandstone was formed from the wearing down of the ancestral Rocky Mountains. When the wind picked up this sediment, it was deposited in beaches that formed the Lyons sandstone. On these beaches, the water level began to transgress, and they soon became submerged. This was called the Western Interior Seaway. This submersion of the beach lead to the creation of the Likins formation, which has characteristics of mudstone, sandstone, and limestone. This formation is 260 million years old. The Likins formation is made up primarily of quartz, gypsum, calcite, and halite. This calcite and halite are indicative of the shallow marine