According to Jewell, the current scientific belief is the Wasatch Mountains were formed some 15 million years ago from the uplift created at the junction of tectonic plates that float on the earth's surface.

The Wasatch Mountains are still growing a fraction of a millimeter each year. However, they may not actually be getting any taller because erosion may be wearing them down faster than they are rising.

The Wasatch isn't the tallest part of the Rockies. For example, Colorado has numerous 14,000-foot-peaks in its Rockies. However, one clear difference much of the Wasatch has is that it is in the literal back yard of Salt Lake City and the majority of Utah's population. No substantial drive is required here. The mountains sit right at the edge of Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo and Logan.

Although the Wasatch is only Utah's fifth-tallest range, it is significant because it creates a watershed and climate that helps sustain about 90 percent of the state's population.

The same geography that makes the Wasatch a part of the Rocky Mountains has adopted the Uinta Mountains, too, though they are the only exception to the predominant north-south pattern of the Rockies. The Uintas run east-west and from orbit probably resemble a type of geological spacer that makes the Wasatch Mountains seem that much farther away from Colorado's Rockies.

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