Spring Mountains, Las Vegas

Las Vegas is not all casinos and full of sin, like believed. Vegas is in a basin on the desert floor and surrounded by the Spring mountains. I am going to focus a lot on the mountains opposed to all of the man-made beauties of Las Vegas. These mountains are dry and most of the landscape is dusty and rocky.

Overview of Las Vegas showing the Spring Mountains.

The Spring Mountains are a composite of sedimentary rock that has lain down on top of what was once an ancient sea bed. There are stratum that are noticeable and made mainly of limestone that has been pressed together which led to them being layered on top of one another. Over time, these then folded and faulted and uplifted and eroded to form the peaks and cliffs that are there today.


Spring Mountains being the strip in Las Vegas.





The Red Rock Canyons (pictured below) are at the eastern foot of the Spring Mountains. These mountains are made of sandstone that formed millions of years ago by the shifting sands that got petrified. Due to a continent-to-continent convergence millions of years ago, layers of older rocks were thrust on top of the younger rocks creating the rock layers of different age. This formation is true at the top of the Spring Mountains where the limestone can be seen. The limestone is one of the older rocks in the Spring Mountains due to this tectonic shift millions of years ago.

Sandstone in Red Rock Canyon.

The Spring Mountains are just one area in Las Vegas where the development of different rocks can be seen. They have the most visited camp sites for tourists in Vegas that are more adventurous than gamblers.













Images from: http://www.wall-maps.com/Unique_Media/LasVegas.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/las_vegas_strip
http://www.goldengatephoto.com/westus/redrock.html