The rocks were Bentan shale and clay. Its age is estimated to be around 90 million years old. It is suspected that the past deposition environment of the area was underwater marine of the intercontinental sea. The only event that occurred at this era was the continuation transgression of the sea level. The formation at the stop would cause a problem for any construction plan because of the swelling soil. The effects of this could be felt when we are driving across the roads as it will start to go up and down slightly. Roadcut along Rooney road south of I-70 was our last stop. At this stop we could see both Pierre formation and Foxhill formation. Clay was the only rocks at the site of both of these formations. Thus, the grain size was smaller
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On the first stop of our trail, we could see that the Pierre formation made up of shale on our right side. The Fox Hills formation made up of sandstones was visible to our left side. Both of the materials deposited in these two formation was estimated to be 72 million years ago. The contact between both the Pierre and Fox Hills was abrupt as it changes from to completely different type of rocks. Lying only above the Pierre formation was conglomerates or breccia. This material is suspected to be deposited after the tilting event. The strike and dip at the location was 319 and 71 respectively. Around the same period, the regression of sea level along with maybe some uplift took place at the area. We then moved onto the next site, which was the memorial White Ash mine. This mine used to be a coal mine. An unfortunate turn of event where the mine was flooded during 1889 took several lives of miners. Up till this day, there are still 10 men buried approximately 730 feet under this memorial site. Moving on from the historical part of the site, the formation that surrounded the place was the Laramie formation that stood about 5780 feet above sea level. This formation is mainly made up of clay. On our next stop, there were visible red rocks of the Fountain formation. The same of formation that we saw on our first stop at Red Rocks Park. Coarse sandstone and conglomerates were the type of rocks of the Fountain formation. At this stop, we could also see the youngest and the oldest rocks in the Golden area. Table Mountain Basalt was identified as the youngest rocks, whereas Idaho Spring Gneiss rocks were the oldest
On the first stop of our trail, we could see that the Pierre formation made up of shale on our right side. The Fox Hills formation made up of sandstones was visible to our left side. Both of the materials deposited in these two formation was estimated to be 72 million years ago. The contact between both the Pierre and Fox Hills was abrupt as it changes from to completely different type of rocks. Lying only above the Pierre formation was conglomerates or breccia. This material is suspected to be deposited after the tilting event. The strike and dip at the location was 319 and 71 respectively. Around the same period, the regression of sea level along with maybe some uplift took place at the area. We then moved onto the next site, which was the memorial White Ash mine. This mine used to be a coal mine. An unfortunate turn of event where the mine was flooded during 1889 took several lives of miners. Up till this day, there are still 10 men buried approximately 730 feet under this memorial site. Moving on from the historical part of the site, the formation that surrounded the place was the Laramie formation that stood about 5780 feet above sea level. This formation is mainly made up of clay. On our next stop, there were visible red rocks of the Fountain formation. The same of formation that we saw on our first stop at Red Rocks Park. Coarse sandstone and conglomerates were the type of rocks of the Fountain formation. At this stop, we could also see the youngest and the oldest rocks in the Golden area. Table Mountain Basalt was identified as the youngest rocks, whereas Idaho Spring Gneiss rocks were the oldest