ProvocanyonislocatedontheeastsideofUtahCountyalongthesouthernendof

theWasatchFront.ProvoCanyonisbetweenMt.TimpanogosandMt.Cascade.This

researchpaperwillshowhowthecanyonwascreatedalongwithothergeologicfeatures.

Focusingondifferenttypesofrocksandsedimentsinthecanyon.Erosionwillalsobea

partofthecanyonsformation.

TwotypesofgeologicprocessesformedProvocanyon;faultinganddepositingof

sediments.FaultinghasoccurredinwhatisnowProvoCanyonforthelast30million

years.Upliftedmountainswerewornbyerosion;thestreamscarriedthesedimentstothe

UtahValley.Thismaterialcomingdowncanalsobepartofaglacialtill.Whenvisiting

ProvoCanyonInoticedtheloosesedimentsclosetothemouthofthecanyonwherethe

gravelpitsarelocated.Thisindicatestherewasmoraineclosetothemouthofthe

canyon.Themouthofthecanyonhadfineraggregatethantheuppercanyon,showing

thatthematerialwasbrokendownwhilecomingdownthecanyon.Theaccumulationof

sedimentsfillingthevalleyispartoftheearliesteventsthatrelatedtoLakeBonneville

fillingpartsofUtahValley.

Onmytripinthecanyonyoucouldseethebeddingandcobblestonesallalongit

ontheriver.Thereasonstherocksarecobblearebecausetheriverbreakingoffthesharp

edgescausingthemtoberoundedhaspulledthemdown.Brecciaisalsoseenbytheriver

butmostlytowardsthefaultsurfaces.Alongthefaultyoucanalsoseethevertical

groovesinthesurfacethatindicatethedirectioninwhichitismoving.Youcouldsee

examplesoffrostwedgingallalongthemountainsidebutIfocusedmoreonitbythe
river.Youcanseehowrockshadbeensplitopenbyfrostwedging.Nowdaysthewater

comesfromsnowmeltandrainratherthanglaciers,causingflashfloods.Provocanyon

hashadhistoricalflashfloods.Oneflashfloodiscapableofmanyyearsofnatural

erosiontodeliversediments.TheProvoriverhascutmultiplychannelsthroughthe

sediments.Thereisafloodplaincausedbythisatthegroundlevel.There

Youcanseeinmypictureshowtheformationsoflayersonthemountainside

weretwistedandgrooved.Thesemarkingsandstriationsarecausedbyextremepressure

andheat.Theywerebentandbuckledunderpressurefinallybreakingloosecausing

jaggededgestocomeoutofthemountainside.Thelimestoneinthemountainsideshows

thecharacteristicsofstratification.Whileinthecanyonwithmydadwebroughtwhite

vinegar.Weputsmallfragmentsoflimestoneinaglassjarandwiththewhitevinegar.

Needlesstosayitfizzedbecauseitismostlycalciumcarbonate.Theserocksare

fragmentsfromthecliffshigherup.Youcanalsoseethewhitecrystallinestructures

acrossthebedofthelimestonethatwasoriginallycracks.

YoucanseeevidenceofLakeBonnevilleinProvocanyonwiththelinesonthe

mountain.InmoreflatareaswheretherearedeltasoftheProvoRiver,youcanseethe

markingsofwhereverthewaterwasatthetimeinhistory.Terracesareasureknown

evidenceprovingthemarkingsofthelake.Asbeforethisispartofwhatformedthe

canyonthrougherosionfromwater,chemicals,ice,wind,etc.AsIwaslookingformore

evidenceonhowthecanyonwasformed,Ilookedatthetopofthemountaintoseewhere

LakeBonnevillemusthavestarted.Obviouslywithtimethemountainsgrewwiththe

platescomingtogetherthroughpressure.WithinthelastfewmillionyearsLake
Bonnevillehadandelevationof5135feet.BeingthatMtTimpanogosisthetallest

mountaininProvocanyonat11,752.Itwastomyknowledgethelakewasjustunderhalf

thatinhalf.

OneoftheHumanhistoricalpartsofProvoCanyonwastherestaurantatBridal

VeilFalls.Afternearly50yearsinProvoCanyon,thetramlineattheoldEagle'sNest

lodgeatthetopofBridalVeilFallswascutdown.Theysayamanmadefiredamaged

thetramlinetothepointwhereitwasnolongerusable.Themountaintoprestaurant

hadntbeeninusebecauseofanavalanchethatdamagedtherestaurantsequipmentso

badlytowheretheyshutitdown.

ProvoCanyonwasmadethroughtheprocessofextremefaultinganderosion.The

mountainsallthroughoutthecanyongiveproofofupliftanderosion.Themountains

wouldcomeoutinwhatseemstobejaggedsharpedges.Thereasonforthesharpness

wasduetothetypeofstonealongwitherosion.Mostofthecanyonislimestone.This

explainswhyyouseesomanyfragmentpiecesofrock.Therewerealsoconglomerate

rocksandcobblestonedownbytheProvoriver.
 WORKS CITED

J. Keith Rigby and Lehi F. Hintze (1968) Guide to the Geology of the
Wasatch Mountain Front, Between Provo Canyon and Y
mountain Northeast of Provo, Utah 10-16

Lee, omas S. and Brandon, Steven H., "Geotechnical and Geologic

Features of U.S. 189 in Provo Canyon, Utah" (1998). International
Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 7. 725-
732
Twiss, R.J., and Moores, E.M., 1992, Structural geology, W. H. Freeman and
Company, 53

William R. Lund and Bill D. Black. (1998). PALEOSEISMOLOGY OF UTAH,

VOLUME 8. PALEOSEISMIC INVESTIGATIONAT ROCK CANYON,
PROVO SEGMENT, WASATCH FAULT ZONE, UTAH
COUNTY, UTAH.