Owl Creek Mountains

2025-07-12T20:14:18Z

216.67.167.165: Wrong Basin name

{{Short description|Subrange of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, United States}}[[Image:Wpdms nasa topo owl creek mountains.jpg|200px|right|thumbnail|The Owl Creek Mountains in Wyoming are shown highlighted on a map of the western United States]]
The '''Owl Creek Mountains''' are a subrange of the [[Rocky Mountains]] in central [[Wyoming]] in the [[United States]], running east to west to form a bridge between the [[Absaroka Range]] to the northwest and the [[Bridger Mountains (Wyoming)|Bridger Mountains]] to the east. The range forms the boundary between the [[Bighorn Basin]] to the north and the [[Wind River Basin]] to the south. The [[Wind River (Wyoming)|Wind River]] passes through the gap between the range and the Bridger Mountains to the east, and becomes the [[Bighorn River]] on the north side of the mountains. The high point of the range is {{convert|9665|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=14415|title=Owl Creek Mountains|publisher=peakbagger.com}}</ref> The range is entirely within the [[Wind River Indian Reservation]].
[[File:WindRiverCanyon2.jpg|thumb|Wind River Canyon on the east side of the Owl Creek Mountains has been extensively studied by geologists]]

==Geology==
During the [[Tertiary period]], the rivers in the region removed much of the basin fill exposing older bedrock. The rocks in the Owl Creek Range date from the [[Mississippian (geology)|Mississippian age]] through the [[Cretaceous]] period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~maher/air/air07.htm|work=[[University of Wisconsin Madison]] Department of Geoscience|author=Louis J. Maher, Jr.
|date=2001|title=Geology by Lightplane}}</ref>
The mountains likely emerged in the late Cretaceous, in the [[Laramide orogeny]]. In areas near the Boysen Fault, just north of [[Boysen Reservoir]]'s dam at the southern mouth of [[Wind River Canyon]], erosion has removed the upper part of the thrust of the mountain, exposing [[Cambrian]] and [[Ordovician]] rocks, overlaying [[Triassic]] age rocks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://usgeologymorphology.com/wind-river-canyon-p1.html#:~:text=The%20Owl%20Creek%20Mountains%20originated,(~3%20km%20south%20of|work=USGeologyMorphology.com|author=Patrick J. Mangou PHD|title=Geology of Wind River Canyon, Wyoming|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}</ref>

[[Wind River Canyon]] has several markers along the [[U.S. Route 20 in Wyoming|main roadway]] through it, which indicate the time period the rocks are from.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=88141|title=Geology of the Wind River Canyon|work=Historical Marker Database|date=September 3, 2015}}</ref>

[[Metavolcanic rock]]s of predominantly [[basaltic]] and [[Dacite|dacitic]] composition have been found in the canyon.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Mueller, Zell Peterman, James Granath|title=A Bimodial Archean Volcanic Series, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming, The Journal of Geology|publisher=The [[University of Chicago Press]]|date=1985}}</ref>

[[File:US 20 and Owl Creek Mountains WY1.jpg|thumb|The Owl Creek Mountains from U.S. Route 20 at the south end of [[Wind River Canyon]]]]

==See also==
* [[List of mountain ranges in Wyoming]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Mountains of Wyoming}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|43|27|N|108|45|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of Wyoming]]
[[Category:Landforms of Hot Springs County, Wyoming]]
[[Category:Wind River Indian Reservation]]

{{Wyoming-geo-stub}}

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Owl Creek Mountains