Little Cottonwood Canyon: My geological exploration of the Wasatch Front

https://geologylccreport.weebly.com

The purpose of my field study was to identify various types of geological features formed by the glacier that sculpted  Little Cottonwood Canyon, and to tell the story of how the canyon was molded and formed. As I navigated through the canyon and studied different rock types I was able to find evidence of glaciation which proved that within this 12 mile span of rock there was an immense amount of history to be told.   Little Cottonwood Canyon’s many glacial features show indications of a major ice age that was initiated about 20,000 years ago. All of this ice helped molded the infamous U-shaped profile that I saw right at  the entrance of Little Cottonwood Canyon. . The canyon also has what are called hanging valley’s located all throughout that I observed upon entering the entrance of the canyon.  These hanging valleys show evidence of smaller river tributaries that froze and turned into glaciers that then ran into the main glacier that cut through the canyon. These glaciers removed most soil and plants that were once supported by Little Cottonwood Canyon exposing massive granite cliffs. fter passing Albion Basin, I hiked up Cecret Trail lake which lead to one of the many Lakes hidden in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trail itself was littered with planes of rock imbedded throughout the land which I later learned was Tintic Quartzite. My trip took me to a large glacial cirque called Albion Basin which looks like a large bowl shaped amphitheatre. Albion Basin was also carved about by a glacier and has  layers  of rock which looked quartzite up close. 
Different fragments of other rocks can be seen imbedded within the granite found at LCC, and streaks of  pink feldspar can be seen cutting through the granite. These streaks are said to have been injected during the cooling and crystallization of magma however, the composition of the granite bodies throughout Little Cottonwood Canyon also include an abundance of minerals such as quartz and other types of feldspar . Little Cottonwood Canyon is an incredibly geologically diverse park. From all the lakes, to  the massive boulders scattered about, and the fault scarps all along the entrance of the Canyons you can clearly see that there are still geological processes taking place even today. 


John, D. (2010). Big and Little Cottonwood Mining Districts. In Geological Setting and Characteristics of Mineral Deposits in the Central Wasatch Mountains, Utah (pp. 17-21). Menlo Park, California: U.S. Geological Survey.
Richmond, G. (1964). Bedrock Geology. In Glaciation of Little Cottonwood & Bells Canyons, Wasatch Mountains, Utah (pp. D3-D8). Washington, District of Columbia: U.S. Gov't Print.
Madsen, D. (1979). Late quaternary glacial and vegetation changes, Little Cottonwood Canyon area, Wasatch mountains, Utah (Vol. 12). Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah.
Hilpert, L. (1971). Environmental Geology of the Wasatch Front. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Geological Association.
Harris, R. (2011). Exploring the geology of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah : The greatest story ever told by nine miles of rock. Provo, Utah: BYU Press.


Assignment Reflection

The main problem that I encountered during my  trip was collecting photos of rock samples and then identifying them however, I was able to resolve this after gathering more information about the rock types found in Little Cottonwood. 
Also researching the Canyons history made it easier to identify the minerals found while on my trip as where trying to gather information without any prior knowledge of the Canyon would have made it far more difficult. 
Finding samples and captioning photos challenged me to apply what I had previously  learned to accurately describe my observations. While there is an immense amount of information that can be found in books and via the internet, it hinders the learning experience so going out on field study enabled me to collect my own data, make my own observations, and was very constructive.