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Glaciation and drainage changes in the fish Lake Plateau, Utah

November 1, 1952

The Fish Lake Plateau, nearly centrally located among the High Plateaus of Utah, exhibits glacial and other geomorphic features of regional significance. The plateau is divided into two areas by Fish Lake and the wide valley of Sevenmile Creek. The Fish Lake trough is a structural basin; Sevenmile Valley may be largely erosional. Volcanic rocks of Tertiary age underlie most of the plateau; early Tertiary sedimentary rocks are also present. Glaciated canyons with well-developed cirques are especially prominent along the east-facing sides of the Fish Lake trough and Sevenmile Valley. Ice-eroded features occur over much of the plateau top. Near the mouths of several of the glaciated canyons are two conspicuous sets of moraines. The older set is more extensive and less rugged than the younger and occurs at somewhat lower elevations. Two substages of glaciation thus recognized are correlated with Wisconsin I and II of Ray; probable correlatives of Wisconsin III, IV, and V are represented by moraines which are younger than these two sets. Fish Lake drains north into Fremont River, a tributary of the Colorado River. An abandoned southern outlet and waterfall, the latter at a higher elevation than the present elevation of the original northern bedrock divide, indicate drainage reversal. Evidence is presented which suggests that this reversal was pre-glacial and probably the result of fault-block tilting. 

Publication Year 1952
Title Glaciation and drainage changes in the fish Lake Plateau, Utah
DOI 10.1130/0016-7606(1952)63[1109:GADCIT]2.0.CO;2
Authors Clyde T. Hardy, S. Muessig
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Geological Society of America Bulletin
Index ID 70221613
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse