The Geological History of Big Cottonwood Canyon

Catherine J. Anderson

Professor Cam Mosher, Geology 1010

Salt Lake Community College

November 26, 2018

https://ollyollyolivetree.weebly.com
 Abstract

The Wasatch Mountains formed due to tectonic shifts in the Earth’s crust millions of

years ago. Along with that, the ocean filled the area containing the now canyons within the

Wasatch Front, depositing sand sediments which eventually formed the now seen Quartzite and

Shale formations, which have layered on top of each other over the centuries. Glaciers cut

through the ground, forming what is now known as Big Cottonwood Canyon. Most of the rocks

seen in the canyon are Quartzite and Shale, but sedimentary forms of these known as sandstone

and clay minerals forms manifested as Old Till can be observed as well.

The Geological History of Big Cottonwood Canyon

The Wasatch Mountains are a mountain range that begin near Southern Idaho and

continue well into Central Utah. They consist of various rocks that have folded due to tectonic

plates shifting along the fault line located near the west side of the mountain range, as well as

compression forces throughout the Earth’s crust located between California and Colorado.

(Parry, 2005). The canyons within the mountain range were created from glaciers slowly

creeping down the summit as we progressed out of the Ice age, forming the U shaped valleys

within them. As the glaciers melt, the water continues down the path creating a jagged, V shaped

valleys. (Case, 2005). The Big Cottonwood Canyon is a great example of these glacial

movements being halted as the enormous frozen mass got stuck while the water drips down

uninterrupted, creating a visible change between the upper and lower canyon.

Millions of years ago, the Big Cottonwood Canyon was filled with water from the

various oceans that covered the Earth’s surface. (Eldredge). Sand and Clay minerals were

beneath the waves, which compacted together to form Shale, Sandstone and Limestone deposits,

known as Sedimentary Rocks. (Thompson, 1950). As millions of years passed, the ground
shifted and changed creating the metamorphic form of these rocks, most commonly Quartzite

and Marble with bits of Shale still appearing. (Case, 2005).

Parts of Big Cottonwood Canyon have nearly vertical portions of rocks with Quartzite

composition alternating with Shale formations. (Eldredge). Quartzite comes in a variety of

colors, ranging from bluish greys to rusty reds. The coloration comes from different events in the

rocks’ lifespan, such as chemicals and weathering. The presence of certain chemicals, such as

Iron Oxides, give the rock a more reddish rustic color, while the amount of weathering the rock

has experienced gives it a more grey or white color; the true color that lies underneath the stains.

(Chan, 1993). A possible formation of White Quartzite is shown below in Figure 1. The mass

could also be Plagioclase and Potassium Feldspar due to the appearance of cleavage within the

rock, although that can be explained as the cross bedding of the Quartzite as the sediment layered

on top of each other.

Found along with the Quartzite formation in the field was a piece of Shahe. Shale can

range from purple to green, as shown in figure 4, but it can also be shades of black. (Eldredge)

Shale is often found layered, with small, thin layers of green laying between the purple and

black. (Chan, 1993). This could also be a piece of Slate, the metamorphic form of Shale, due to

the layered appearance known as foliage. Although this is plausible, Slate can be much more

varied in color, and the only colored shown are purple, green, and black in this particular rock

sample.

As mentioned before, the ocean carried bits of sediment onto the Wasatch Range. Those

sediments were Sand and Clay particles. As the particles accumulated, they morphed into

sedimentary rocks, and those rocks morphed into their metamorphic forms. Though, not all the

sediment did so. You can still find pieces of Sandstone and Till throughout the canyon trails.
Examples of those are shown in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows some poorly sorted, slightly

rounded clay minerals not yet formed into true layered shale state. As shown, the rocks are

purple and green, much like the layered piece of shale in Figure 4. Figure 3 is a piece of quartz

sandstone with bits of black shale scattered throughout. It was found near a man-made fireplace

with other forms of sandstone and quartzite making the ring.

Figures 5 and 6 were found at a secondary location within the Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Both are excellent depictions of quartzite. Figure 5 is an example of White Quartzite with Iron

Oxide covering part of it. Due to the strange coloration, it is shown that the rock was part of a

larger formation near the higher reaches of the mountain walls. As time moved on, Iron Oxides

discolored the quartzite, and when the piece of rock broke off, it exposed the fresh white coloring

underneath. Another observation found on Figure 5 are the black circles covering it, which is a

fungus named Lichen. After the shard of rock fell from the canyon walls, it stayed where it

landed, where Lichen began to grow and display its beautiful effect on this rock.

Figure 6 is also a form of White Quartzite that fell, breaking open to show its unique

fracture pattern. Quartz is one of the few minerals that does not have cleavage. Cleavage is

where a rock or mineral splits apart independent from outside forces tampering with it. While

Quartz doesn’t have this, it does have a particular fracture pattern called Conchoidal. A

Conchoidal fracture pattern looks like what would happen if you dropped a rock into a lake;

waves ripple out in all directions, creating curves breaks as opposed to straight cleavage

fractures.
 References:

Case, W. F., Eldredge, S. N., Milligan, M. R., & Wilkerson, C. (2005). Geologic guide to the central

Wasatch Front canyons, Salt Lake County, Utah. Retrieved from

https://ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/public_information/PI-87.pdf

Chan, M. A. (1993, February). Sedimentology of the Precambrian Big Cottonwood Formation, Big

Cottonwood Canyon, Central Utah. Retrieved from

https://ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/contract_reports/CR-93-1.pdf

Eldredge, S. N. (n.d.). Big Cottonwood Canyon. Retrieved from

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

canyons/big-cottonwood-canyon/

Parry, W. T. (2005). A hiking guide to the geology of the Wasatch mountains : Mill Creek and Neffs

Canyons, Mount Olympus, Big and Little Cottonwood and Bells Canyons. Salt Lake City :

University of Utah Press, ©2005. Retrieved from

https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat01

423a&AN=slcc.ocm60669047&site=eds-live

Thompson, M. L., Verville, G. J., Bissell, H. J. (1950, July). Pennsylvanian Fusulinids of the South-

Central Wasatch Mountains, Utah. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-

org.libprox1.slcc.edu/stable/1299638?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents