The Valley of Fire is composed primarily of a sedimentary rock called sandstone. Great sand dunes 80 million years ago eventually settled and formed the hills that make up the area. Transform or slip-strike faults are responsible for the tectonic activity at the site. The mountains which typically appear in the backdrop of the valley of fire were created by the large thrust faults.
The red sand stone is exposed from a large arc fault known as the Sevier fold-thrust. The arc fault extends all the way up to Canada influencing much of the topography and landforms seen throughout the West. The sand dunes here which formed while the western interior seaway was still in existence and later transitioned from a marine bay to desert. The ancient desert that created these ancient sand dunes was large enough to span from Wyoming to Arizona.
As a sedimentary rock, sandstones present with dependent faulting which divide the rock surface into different strata. Over millions of years and through changes in atmospheric and climactic transitions, new strata is layered on top of old which facilitates the dimensions of time and help geologists understand that massive temporal scales that take place to create these formations.
Despite the presence of thrust faults and creation of adjacent mountains in the backdrop, these tectonic processes may not have been responsible for the create of the valley of fire. The transition from sediment to sedimentary rock, known as diagenesis may, may have occurred before this faulting occurred. Indeed these sand dunes did find their origin at the coast of an ancient ocean and would have substantial time to transition into their current configuration.
Sources:
- https://pangea.stanford.edu/research/geomech/People/Flodin_diss.pdf
- http://geology.utah.gov/utahgeo/geo/thrustfault6.htm
