By: Esther M. Kingsbury-Stewart, Paul K. Link, Carol M. Dehler, and Shannon L. Osterhout
The Kings Peak 7.5-minute quadrangle straddles the crest of the Uinta Mountains in the High Uinta Wilderness Area and contains Kings Peak, Utah’s highest point. The peaks and cliffs are comprised of the newly formalized formations of the Neoproterozoic (late Precambrian) Uinta Mountain Group, which is about 770 to 742 million years old. The basins, basin margins, and cirques are filled with glacial deposits of Smith Fork age-32,000 to 14,000 years ago (Pinedale equivalent). The quadrangle also straddles the anticline crest of the Uinta arch. A series of igneous dikes are exposed in the quadrangle. These dikes cut formations of the Uinta Mountain Group are about 450 to 490 million years old.