1 A Changing Cryosphere: The Past and Present

Tuesday, 23 May 2023
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 304-306

NEW GLACIAL DEPOSIT MAPPING IN THE WASATCH RANGE, UTAH, YIELDS POTENTIAL SITES FOR ADDITIONAL GLACIAL AGE DATING IN THE EASTERN GREAT BASIN

Paper number: 1-9
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 10:20 AM – 10:40 AM

Authors

Abstract

Recent lidar acquisitions in Utah provide geologic mappers with the opportunity to map glacial deposits of the Wasatch Range in greater detail than previously possible. New geologic mapping of the Draper, North Ogden, and Mantua 7.5-minute quadrangles has benefited from high-resolution, lidar-derived digital elevation models created with this data. In the Draper, North Ogden, and Mantua quadrangles, previously mapped and unmapped Bull Lake and Pinedale glaciation deposits were mapped in greater detail. High-elevation regressive Pinedale moraines, potentially late-stage Pleistocene, and/or younger (Younger Dryas?) glacial deposits were newly recognized near Lone Peak in the Draper quadrangle. These young glacial deposits may correlate to similar glacial deposits dated in Albion Basin of Little Cottonwood Canyon. In the North Ogden and Mantua quadrangles, glacial deposits between Willard Peak and Ben Lomond in the Cutler Creek drainage of the North Fork Ogden River have a large, poorly understood end moraine that may be either Bull Lake and/or Pinedale age. Interestingly, the accumulation zone for these Cutler Creek drainage glacial deposits lacks the typical cirque geomorphology. Current accumulation zone morphology, regressive moraines, and glacial deposits in the Cutler Creek drainage are heavily affected by large landslides likely sourced from weak Neoproterozoic bedrock. The Cutler Creek end moraine and high-elevation moraines near Lone Peak may be potential sites for new glacial age analyses in the northern Wasatch Range. The end moraine site at Cutler Creek is interesting for aging analysis as it could provide another location for Bull Lake and Pinedale glaciation ages outside of those in the central Wasatch Range. The high-elevation moraines near Lone Peak are interesting because they could be targets for potential late-stage Pleistocene and/or younger (Younger Dryas?) glacial deposits in the Wasatch Range.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 55, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2023RM-388013

© Copyright 2023 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.