View source for Sawatch Uplift

{{Short description|Geologic anticline in Colorado, United States}}
The '''Sawatch Uplift''' {{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|w|æ|tʃ}}<ref name=Sawatch>The place name "Sawatch" is pronounced {{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|w|æ|tʃ}}.  This name derives from the [[Ute language]] [[noun]] "''sawup''" {{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|w|ʌ|p}} meaning "sand dunes".  The [[Spanish language]] version of this name is usually spelled "Saguache", while the [[English language]] version is usually spelled "Sawatch".</ref><ref name=Sawup>{{citation|url=http://www.denverpost.com/outwest/ci_22666597/whats-colorado-name-pronunciation?|title=What's in a Colorado name pronunciation?|last=Merkl|first=Dameon|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]]|date=February 26, 2013|accessdate=March 7, 2013}}</ref> is a prominent [[geology|geologic]] [[anticline]] in the [[Rocky Mountains]] in central [[Colorado]] in the [[United States]]. It was formed as a bulge in the [[North American Plate]] approximately 70&ndash;65 [[mya (unit)|MYA]] during the [[Laramide orogeny]] that created the modern Rocky Mountains. The uplift runs north–south for about {{convert|100|miles|km|sp=us}} in central Colorado. The [[Sawatch Range]] and [[Mosquito Range]] were both formed as part of the uplift. Approximately 35 MYA, stresses in the continental plate in the center of the uplift caused the center to collapse, forming the upper Arkansas River graben. This is a trough between the Sawatch and Mosquito Range that is part of the larger [[Rio Grande Rift]]. The trough runs southward from [[Leadville, Colorado|Leadville, CO]] to the [[San Luis Valley|San Luis basin]]. The upper Arkansas Graben forms the headwater valley of the [[Arkansas River]].<ref name="kellog-1999">{{cite journal |last1=Kellogg |first1=Karl S |title=Neogene basins of the northern Rio Grande rift: partitioning and asymmetry inherited from Laramide and older uplifts |journal=Tectonophysics |date=May 1999 |volume=305 |issue=1-3 |pages=141–152 |doi=10.1016/S0040-1951(99)00013-X}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
*''Roadside Geology of Colorado'', Halka Chronic (1980).

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[[Category:Geologic provinces of Colorado]]


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