LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON SELF GUIDED FIELD TRIP

Little Cottonwood Canyon Self Guided Field Trip

Sydney M Prather

Salt Lake Community College

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Little Cottonwood Canyon has remained an important landmark in Utah since the

state was first founded. The canyon has gone through various transformations over the

millenia, starting with a massive glacier, and ending in a beautiful ravine home to lucrative

ski resorts, hiking trails, and beautiful wildflower beds. The purpose of this paper is to

research and understand the connection between the alpine glaciers, magma protrusion, and

large earthquakes from the Wasatch fault line that have created the landscape and scenery we

see in Little Cottonwood Canyon today. These processes have been millions upon millions of

years in the making, and understanding how these formations occurred can help us

understand how Utah will continue to change in the years to come.

Little Cottonwood Canyon was created by an alpine glacier, which typically forms in

mountain ranges with high altitude. This glacier was truly enormous, running around 12

miles in length and is speculated to have been roughly 850 feet deep (Eldredge, 2010). It

was responsible for creating the rock formations that make Little Cottonwood Canyon

famous today, such as its deep u-shaped structure (see figures 2 and 5), which is a hugely

prominent feature of numerous glacier-created canyons. Alpine glaciers are also known for

carving out hanging valleys, which typically form when two glacial paths interface with one

another, and the glacier with more mass slowly erodes the rock material and creates these

steep valleys seen in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Kiprop, 2018). Hanging valleys are more

prominent towards the south end of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and were formed by a slight

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movement from the ice towards the Albion Basin.

Little Cottonwood Canyon’s glacier is believed to have begun in Albion Basin and

extended past the mouth of the canyon itself. Geologist Elliott Lips believed that this glacier

moved past this point of the canyon multiple times. The most notable of these was when the

glacier extended into the Alta area 12,000 years ago, during a mass cooling stage called the

Younger Dyas. At this point in time, Lake Bonneville had already drained significantly, but

rose above the Great Salt Lake’s current level to create the Gilbert Shoreline (Biek, Ehler,

Willis, 2010). I believe that this is significant information because it shows that the glacier’s

advancement south may have had a direct effect on Lake Bonneville, resulting in different

coloration and sediments forming in the shorelines.

On the north end of Little Cottonwood Canyon, there are various boulders littered

about. This is directly because of glacial erosion and movement of sediments varying wildly

in shape and size, which are commonly referred to as glacial till (Eldredge, 2010). The vast

majority of Little Cottonwood Canyon is made up of white granite (Quartz monzonite, see

figure 5), which came up to Earth’s surface as magma and slowly cooled nearly 31 million

years ago. While 31 million years seems like an eternity, it is actually considered to be one of

the youngest formations found in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Wilkerson). The largest I found

on my exploration were tucked away by Grit Mill Trailhead. The boulders came about

halfway up my torso, and were white with large black spots on the sides (see figure 3). While

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looking, I also found a medium sized stone with turquoise crystals, which I identified as a

type of quartzite (see figure 4).

At the north end of Little Cottonwood Canyon, there are deep, distinct slopes called

fault scarps. These were created by multiple large earthquakes coming from the Wasatch

Fault Line, which lies adjacent to the mouth of the canyon. In fact, just a single large

earthquake can create a fault scarp that goes nearly 20 feet high. While one would assume

that these scarps remain permanent, they actually disappear where erosion and deposition are

prominent (UGS, 1996). The fault scarps along the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon are

much deeper than an average scarp, as they go up to over 100 feet high (Eldredge, 2008).

This implies that the earthquakes that caused these fault scarps were highly disruptive. We

can use the information gathered from these fault scarps to prepare for future large

earthquakes, since it is inevitable that more will continue to occur and change Utah’s

landscape further.

Little Cottonwood Canyon has a long, complex, but incredibly fascinating geological

history. What once started as a glacier sneaking over into the great Lake Bonneville has

become a flourishing canyon that is now the heart of Utah’s tourism industry and remains

significant to locals for its beautiful rock formations. Ultimately, understanding the stories

that structures like Little Cottonwood Canyon brings us closer to the Earth and can act as a

reminder that there are so many things much bigger than us occurring right in front of our

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eyes.

References

Biek, B., Ehler, B., & Willis, G. (2010, September 1). UTAH’S GLACIAL GEOLOGY.

Utah Geological Survey. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/utahs-glacial-geology/.

Eldredge, S. (2010, September 1). GEOSIGHTS: GLACIAL LANDFORMS IN BIG

AND LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYONS, SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH. Utah

Geological Survey. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/glacial-landforms-in-big-an

d-little-cottonwood-canyons/.

GeoSights: G.K. Gilbert geologic View Park, Salt Lake County, Utah. Utah Geological

Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2021, from

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/g-k-gilbert-geologic-view-p

ark/.

Kiprop, J. (2018, March 1). What is a hanging valley? WorldAtlas. Retrieved

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November 29, 2021, from

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-hanging-valley.html.

USGS. (n.d.). What is a fault and what are the different types? Retrieved November 29,

2021, from

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-fault-and-what-are-different-types?qt-news_scienc

e_products=0#qt-news_science_products.

The Wasatch Fault. (1996). Utah Geological Survey Public Information Series , 40, 3.

https://doi.org/10.34191/pi-40

Wilkerson, C. (n.d.). Little cottonwood canyon. Utah Geological Survey. Retrieved

November 28, 2021, from

https://geology.utah.gov/popular/places-to-go/geologic-guides/virtual-tour-central-wa

satch-front-canyons/little-cottonwood-canyon/.

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This is the entrance to G.K Gilbert Geologic View Park, the first stop of my research project

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The u-shaped structure of Little Cottonwood Canyon is prominent from outside the canyon

This was the largest of the white granite boulder I found.

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This rock had a glassy appearance with large crystals, I identified it as quartzite.

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This trimline formation of granite at the mouth of the canyon is so gorgeous.

The u-shape of the canyon is incredibly prominent from inside looking out.

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