Golden Spike - a view from the Central Pacific Grade

This view is looking south from the Central Pacific Grade over the cut for the Union Pacific Grade. The wetlands of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are in the distance. The large dolomite outcrop beyond the railroad cut displays a small sea cave-a remnant feature left behind from when Lake Bonneville flooded this entire region during wet periods of the Quaternary Period. High-standing lakes flooded the Great Basin region many times during the last 2 million years. It took many thousands of years for waves to carve each of the terraces visible here and around the Bonneville Lake basin (Utah Geological Survey, 2010a,b).