Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Emmanuel Toledo
Geology 1010
April 5, 2019
1
The G.K. Gilbert Park is located near Little Cottonwood Canyon, it is known for its
geologic sites and features. This location is famous for its landscape, bedrock, proximity to the
Wasatch Fault and many other features (Eldredge, GeoSights). The park is surrounded by
manmade accommodations such as roads and cross roads for traffic and bicyclists to use. There
are also benches that surround the area for the enjoyment of the public. Along the park there are
fences and pavement placed alongside dirt roads that sport houses. There are houses along the side
of the park of varying heights. However, the focal point of this location is the basin, the mountains
Along the base of the mountain and a way up there is a neighborhood of houses. From this
location you can see that the valley is wide and located within a basin. The basin is u-shaped which
looks like half of a wide cylinder tube. The mountain itself is large with many colors, some of the
most prominent colors are beige, blue and black on the steep slopes. When looking at the
mountains there appears to be minuscule amounts of glacial snow on the peaks. This is common
for the winter and early spring seasons. Along the basin there are boulders that are stacked on the
side of the hill that go in every direction. At the main park there are benches that are located on
gravel, sand and surrounded by granite stones. There are glades of grass that border the side of the
road.
Approximately 15,000 years ago, most of G.K. Gilbert Park was under Lake Bonneville.
Standing at certain parts of the park would have been like standing at the beach in front of Lake
Bonneville (Eldredge, GeoSights). From this beach you could have sailed to Idaho, Nevada, or
within 30 miles of Cedar City, Utah. Ultimately this ancient lake shaped much of the landscape
in G.K. Gilbert Park (Eldredge, GeoSights). There are wave-cut benches, deltas and other aspects
2
Moreover, geological surveys show that between 30,000 to 10,000 years ago, glaciers
covered Utah’s high mountains and plateaus (Utah Geological Survey - State of Utah). In fact this
time table is most often referred to as the last Ice Age. In the basin great depths of snow
accumulated approximately 10,000 feet in elevation causing glaciers to form. These great masses
of ice eventually extended downslope to elevations as low as 5,000 feet in some areas. (Utah
Geological Survey - State of Utah) During that time, the climate was extremely cold, however how
much colder is still up to debate, some estimate that it experienced temperatures 45° to 60°F colder
and wetter (Utah Geological Survey - State of Utah). They also estimated that the precipitation
level was 33 percent more than what it currently is. All of these occurrences also influences and
In addition, thorough research shows that there are many dangers living and settling in G.
K. Gilbert Park due to the proximity to the Wasatch Fault. The Wasatch Fault is one of the longest
and most active faults of its kind in the world (Eldredge, GeoSights). The fault is divided into 10
segments and each segment averages 25 miles in length (Eldredge, GeoSights). Each of these
segments act independently and are sources for large earthquakes. Seismic activity such as
earthquakes along the Wasatch Fault can result in an earthquake of a 7.5 magnitude.
Moreover, surveys show that there are geologic-hazards and the potential of liquefaction
in this area as well as landslides, surface-fault ruptures, debris-flow and an alluvial-fan flooding
hazards. They keep track of these potential hazards through GIS datasets and through their
database. Moreover, they also keep track of potential rock fall, stream flooding and problematic
soils (Utah Geological Survey - State of Utah). All of these hazards are especially dangerous
because of the houses and buildings that are surrounding the park.
3
Aside from all the landscape and potential hazards G.K Gilbert Park is rich in history. G.K
Gilbert Park is a historical location for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the year 1853, Latter-day Saints found the granite they would use to construct the well-known
Salt Lake City Temple. There were workmen assigned to bringing back enormous slabs of granite
from the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Initially these three-ton blocks of granite were hauled
from the canyon to the temple site in Salt Lake City by ox teams. Each trip took three to five days.
In the year 1873, the railroad was completed and a branch track was built that led to and from the
quarry allowing the workers to use the rail cars to transport the granite. This change greatly
impacted the progress of the Salt Lake Temple (Utah Geological Survey - State of Utah 5. SALT
4
Cited work
Eldredge, Sandy. “GeoSights: G.K. Gilbert Geologic View Park, Salt Lake County, Utah.” Utah
geologic-view-park/
pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/does-utah-have-glaciers/
go/geologic-guides/building-stones-of-downtown-salt-lake-city/stop-5/
UGS Compiles GIS Database Showing Geologic-Hazard Special-Study Areas for the Wasatch
special-study-area-of-wasatch-front/
UGS Compiles GIS Database Showing Geologic-Hazard Special-Study Areas for the Wasatch
special-study-area-of-wasatch-front/
5
Mountain observations
LEFT IMAGE: These mountains where one of the
6
Granite observation
Along the park there are many granite rocks of all sizes.
there are many levels and chips. Some rocks are round
7
Sand/gravel observation
rocks feel very light when you pick them up. (Image
below).
8
Granite with mechanical pencil #1
9
Map of the G.K Gilbert park
10
11