Wah Wah Mountains


The Wah Wah Mountains are a north-south trending range in Iron, Beaver, and Millard counties in west-central Utah, United States part of the larger Basin and Range Province.

Description

The range is bounded by Pine Valley to the west, Wah Wah Valley to the east, the Escalante Desert to the south, and on trend with the Confusion Range to the north. The Wah Wah Mountains are located in Beaver and Millard counties. State Route 21 bisects the range, crossing over Wah Wah Summit at about above sea level. Elevations range from about at the mountain front to in the southern Wah Wahs.
The "Wah Wah" name comes from Wah Wah Springs, on the eastern slope of the mountain range. "Wah Wah" is reported to mean "good clear water".
The Bureau of Land Management, which administers most of the land within the Wah Wah Mountains, has designated two wilderness study areas, one in the north and one in the central portion of the range.

Geology

The Wah Wah Mountains are made up of Neoproterozoic- to Paleozoic-aged sedimentary rocks, overlain by younger Tertiary volcanic rocks on the eastern flank of the range. A series of thrust faults cut through the sedimentary rocks in the southern end of the range. It is notable as the only known source of a rare red beryl gemstone, which is mined commercially. Perhaps, the most famous geologic feature is Crystal Peak, in the northern part of the range. It is an erosional remnant of a Paleogene rhyolite tuff that has abundant doubly terminated crystals of quartz. The Wah Wah Mountains were the site of a massive supervolcano eruption 30 million years ago that ejected more than 5,900 cubic kilometers of material. An additional reference to the geology of the range is the map by Hintze and Davis.

Ecology

The plant species Terraria haydenii, commonly known as Frisco Mountains mustard, is endemic to the Wah Wah Mountains, where it is known only from two small populations.

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