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Comb Ridge Origins (continued)
Most
monoclines are the surface expression of a reverse fault in the older
rocks deep beneath the surface (see attached figure for possible
inclusion here). This intense compression shoved older rocks eastward
and upward over younger rocks along a low angle fault, tilting the
sedimentary layers far above. The surface representation of this deep
fault after ~50 million years of erosion creates the current
incarnation of Comb Ridge - a hogback of fiercely resistant red
sandstone coupled with the adjacent cottonwood-lined valley of Comb
Wash, hewn from easily eroded shale and siltstone. Both are clear
expressions of the monocline.
RF
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Cross-section
through a typical monocline showing the inferred reverse fault at depth
that at the surface is expressed as a simple ramp-type fold.
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