Salt Lake Community College

Geology 1010

Instructor: Michael Kass

Big Cottonwood Canyon Field Trip Investigation

Written by: Lissann Lichtenstein

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 When most Utahans hear the name Big Cottonwood Canyon, they

think of the popular ski resorts, Brighton and Solitude, located at the top,

the hiking and rock climbing opportunities, and the quicker route to Park

City in the warmer months. However, this area of the Wasatch Mountain

range has much more to offer, particularly geologically. Millions of years of

geologic time are expressed in the landscape, allowing researchers a wide

variety of events to study. From sand dunes to sea deposits to the worlds

youngest glacial period, this canyon tells a very unique story of what this

desert valley used to be.

Little Cottonwood Canyon is better known in Utah history for its

granite quarry that was used in the construction of the LDS temple in Salt

Lake. However, Big Cottonwood has many things to offer to the public

today. There is a multitude of hiking trails, leading to such places as Donut

Falls and Lakes Mary, Catherine, and Martha. There are also many places

for rock climbing. The Stairs Hydroelectric Power Plant, built in 1894, is

also located in this canyon. It was the first hydroelectric power plant to

provide electricity to Salt Lake City [and] one of the first plants in Utah to

transmit power long distance, (Stairs, 1996) Deposits of silver, lead, and

copper in both canyons lead to profits exceeding $34 million dollars from

1867-1940. (Link, 1997) And geologically, this canyon is an amazing guide

to the past from top to bottom.

The time range Big Cottonwood Canyon covers is immense. At the

mouth of the canyon, at the Little Willow Formation, is found the oldest of

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the Precambrian rock of the canyon. This is the most metamorphosed rock

in the canyon, but shows only small folds in the rock itself. (James, 1979)

And at the head of the canyon, surrounding Brighton, lays a 35-million-

year old igneous pluton made of granodiorite. (Geologic guide, 2005)

The geologic time record of Big Cottonwood Canyon starts around 1

billion years ago, with the suggestion of an ocean shoreline. (Geologic

guide, 2005) This can be observed in the cross-bedded layers of quartzite

and shale that are very prevalent at the start of the canyon. Specifically,

shale, a sedimentary rock, is formed when silt- or clay- sized particles are

able to settle out of solution in more non-turbulent environments, such

lakes and deep-ocean basins. (Tarbuck, 2014) A conspicuous example of

this is found at the Storm Mountain site. There lies a massive outcropping

of many-layered quartzite and shale, indicating the rise and fall of water

levels in the area. These patterns are found throughout the canyon.

Another example of tidal influence is the tidal rhythmites. Believed

to be the oldest known record of tidal rhythmites, the consistent layers

between 850-million and 1-billion years ago enables researchers to realize

the daily tidal patterns of that time. The almost tree ring-like nature of

these layers has brought to light that the moon took less time to orbit the

Earth. The records indicate that one billion years ago, a day on Earth

lasted only 18 hours, there were 13-plus months in a year, and about 481

days in a year! (Geologic guide, 2005)

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 While the tremendous amount of water had a major effect on the

formation of Big Cottonwood, another large contributor to the canyon was

glacial activity. Between 30,000 to 10,000 years ago, much of the higher

elevation of the canyon was filled with glaciers. In Big Cottonwood,

evidence indicates that the glacier only advanced around 5 miles down the

canyon, to the point known as Reynolds Flat. It is believed this was

probably due to less snow and is in sharp contrast with what occurred in

Little Cottonwood Canyon. (Eldridge, 2010) This difference is seen in the

change of canyon shape at Reynolds Flat: U-shaped above from the

smoothing qualities of the glacier and a more narrow, windy and rugged V-

shape below from the rivers and tributaries. One can also see that

tributary glaciers merged with a main glacier at the top of Big Cottonwood

at places such as Lake Blanche. While merging glaciers meet evenly at the

top, the larger, thicker main glacier erodes deeper then the merging

glaciers, forming hanging valleys. (Eldridge, 2010)

In conclusion, it can be said that Big Cottonwood Canyon has had

much to offer throughout history. Early settlers were able to find monetary

value in the many ores found there and in water-powered electricity.

Todays folk find entertainment and recreation in the various yearlong

physical activities present. And todays researchers can see and

understand how the land we have enjoyed has changed throughout the

last billion years. Water, glaciers, metamorphism, magma intrusions, and

sediments of all sizes have created a record that proves what we have now

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has not always been. This canyon and the history it tells will continue to

shed light on the past of this valley and remind the people here how lucky

they are to have what is here today.

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 Work Cited

Eldredge, S. (2010). GeoSights: Glacial Landforms in Big and Little

Cottonwood Canyons,

Salt Lake County. Retrieved from http://geology.utah.gov/map-

pub/survey-

notes/geosights/glacial-landforms-in-big-and-little-cottonwood-

canyons/

Geologic guide to the central Wasatch Front canyons, Salt Lake County,

Utah. (2005). Salt

Lake City, UT: Utah Geological Survey. Retrieved from

http://files.geology.utah.gov/geo_guides/c_wasatch/pdf/pi-87.pdf

James, L. P. (1979). Geology, ore deposits, and history of the Big

Cottonwood Mining

District, Salt Lake County, Utah. Retrieved from Google Books.

Link, P. K., & Kowallis, B. J. (1997). Field trip guidebook: Geological Society

of America,

1997 Annual meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah (Vol. 42). Provo, UT: Dept

of Geology,

Brigham Young University. Accessed online.

Stairs Hydroelectric Power Plant. (1996). Retrieved from

https://heritage.utah.gov/apps/history/markers/detailed_results.php?

markerid

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 =3134 (Utah Division of State History Markers and Monuments

Database)

Tarbuck, E. J., & Lutgens, F. K. (2014). Earth: an introduction to physical

geology(11th

ed.). NJ: Pearson.

Sandstone outcropping
near Mill B South
Trailhead

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Various rock debris on
Broads Fork Trail

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Outcrop at Storm Mountain

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I believe this is a shale outcrop
at Storm Mountain

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 Storm Mountain
cross-bedded
sandstone
outcrop

My hand samples: several pieces of sandstone, shale, and small

conglomerate sedimentary sample

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