Salt Lake Grotto

National Speleological Society

 Clinton's Ca..,.e,also called Black RockIII Ca..,.e
(1,2), is locat.d on the north-
• weaterh face of the Oqu1mohMountains of north ~.ntral Utah, at the ba•• of low
cliffs at anel.vatlon· of about 4560'. It faces north.ast, almost parall.l with
the adjacent mountaiuid.s. Halt-hidden by archeological sirt1nls, its IJQ.1I&re.n-
trance still .ftords ~ inspir1nl view of the blue lak. below, with parts ot the
snow-cappedWasatchRaagedsibl. bqend bleak Ant.lope Island in the middl. distanc ••

This unueual ca..,.ewas, in 1875, the subj.ct. ot the first published speleological
study knownfran Utatu At that time, Gilbert (3) brief17 discussed its g.olol1', and
correct17 recogni.ed its origin by waft action. In the interveriing yeara, its biol--
ogy (4,5) and archeolog (1,2 et al) haft been the subject of reports of major impor-
tance. Ne..,.ert,heless,despite its accessibility and.this continued studT, the tull
story of Clinton's Caveis _till far from told.
.. As·.y be s.en from the appended.p, the length of the cave is about ,325', and,
except for minor 'Variations-ln the wall pattern, is absolutely- strailht until the end
is almost reached. The east _11 Is sllght17 irregular in the final 150', while the
• west wall, being cOnaidera.bl7aore irreplar, has readi17 lent its.lt 'to the studT
of the speleogenesis of the cave.

The great majoritY'of the POOfof th,. caTe, whichis located in ..,..rtieal- beds
of the Oquirrh formation (P.rmqlYanian) strik1nl aboat N25E(mag.), ls foraed of a
grey conglomeratein·which- _11 to "17 large fragments of -elea.nta ot the Oquirrh
formation are embedded. At the entrance it is 11' in width, but arter a'boUt50',
conformablebeds of the fo:nu.tion are seen end-on in the ceilll1&, and the conglom-
erate is narrowedto 4'2". At the narrow rear of the cave, wh.re the conglcaerate
extends beyondthe cave's extent, it measuresabo~t 3' in width.

The first 105' of the cave are of remarkablyunifo1'lllY1dth, 'Var;y1l11

hardJ.Tan
inch, being boundedby smooth'bedding surtaces. The ceiling gradua1l7 ria.s to a
maxjmum near the point of appearanceof the bedding in,the ceilina,then progress-
ively descends. Near the 110' mark, it almost reaches ·the ca-.. floor, especially'
in the beddedwestern portion. Thewidth ot the conglcaerate here ia 4'2". The
ceiling beds consist, from east to'west, of successi..,..thin beds of chert7 llme~:
stone, sandy limestone, lim.f shale, limestone and liJDT.hale. The ceilin& then j:'
rises almost straight up, and a.sumes an arching ourve to a height of about 40',
then begins to descendto a point just before the otf.et where it is on1.Tabout
8' above the floor. At the off-set, numerouslarge rook. are wedgedb.twe.n the
• walls, and are not wall or ceiling breakdownblocks~ The ceiling of the off.et
is again coaposedof the conglomerate,at a height ot 12 to 18'. Characteristic
of the conglomerateceiling is its eyen-ness, which, in places, assum.san al-
most smooth, levelled undersurface.

Beyondth~ low area at 110', the passa.gewidth i. subject to ~ome'Variation,

beginnir.gat '1.12', where-the-'west wall is rec•••• d 2' an, wherethe SUle 'bedding
sequenceis displayed, with the exception of the boundingJIlem1)ors.Thi. width is
maintained to the 140' markwherethe west wall encroaches uponthe pas.age, re-
• ducing the width to 6'10". The samebede are seen here, but while at the 112'
markthe changeis rectangular and flueh, here the shale. are jagg.c:U7and deeply'
incised to as JIIllchaa 10', l.aving the sandy lime &I1d the limestone .eaber. .harp17
• outlined. This width is maint&l1ed to 178', wherethe l' lay.r of cherty lime,ton.
and adjacent sandy limestone'cause a JD1nor diVi.ion of the passage, with a V, 8'
deep and 2' wide at the bas., parallel. the pas.age on the west of the cherty lime.

Starting nea:rthis point, the east wall show,minor 'Variations. Th. width of
3'7" to "0".
the passage varies frCllll At 280' is an offset of a very few inch.s,
and at 308' OCCllr.the 3' off,et. Erod.d .lickenelides are.till "cognisable on
f the expOsedfaces, indicating the presence of two minor faults, who.. planes
 apparently' dip about 600, in the axis of the beds. Beach sands are present in im-
dentations along the fault lines.. The irregular wall at the end of the main pas-
sage consists of a sandy' 1iJiI.estonewhich apPears identical with the bed which forms
the east wall of the entranceo The end of the offset passage is of shaleo The
proximal end of the ot'fset is rounded imto the main passage, and the distal end
rounded. Like Gilbert (3), the writer .If been unable to make
is fairly lIIDlooth17
&n7 satisfacto17 surtace correlations with these bedso

The double fact. of the cOl'1glomerate1-oof of Clinton's Cave, which in some 'W&7111
is similar to that or JIlan1' of the littoral cavu of the Bonneville lakesg and its
prima17 origin by removal of a shale bed with imperfect removal of the adjacent
formations, clearly indicate that the origin of this cave is not due to classical
phreatic solutiono SiidlarlT, the varied. contour of the ceiling and the walls show
no semblance-of vadose patternso The overall pattem of- the cave is that of "sea
caves" 0 Long9 narrow, tapering and essentiallTstraight, the cave is located in
vertical beds, which, particularly 1mthe case of the 1a:m1natedbeds, are highly
sensitive to _ve-act.iono This is further shownby' the deeply' incised shale layers
on the exposed··side of the right-angled alterations 1mpassage shape, while on the
• protected side, the beds are essentia1l1' fiusho The niches fran ill' to 140' 9 thusjjl
appear due to loss of wall blocks with seconda17 wave-corr&sion of the exposed shaleso
While the cave is almoat parallel tb the mountainside, it is ],ocated within the
range of elevation or most of the Bonneville sea caves (6) 0

'It thus appears that the first stage in the speleogenesis of Clinton~s Cave
was the removal by' a Bonneville or pre-Bonneville lake of the shale and portions
of adjacent bedso Similar 1Il'lroofedexamplesare visible nearby' tociay'o At a later
time, the cClllg10merateof'the roof was su~ deposited in this narrow galcho
FimallYj the waters of receding Lake Bonneville, at the cave level, rel!JlDl1ed
exca-
vations, and produced the cave as we now knowit, except for its subsequent fill"

Unfortunately', the process was evidently- not this simpleo For ex.ampleg whe-=-
ther the loss of some of the wall blocks occurred before the cave was roofedg or
during re-excavation cannot be stated, since tl!l87..,. yet be buried within the
cave fillo While the presence of conformable bedding in the roof at the rear ot
the entrance portion is evidence of erosion since deposition of the conglomerate,
the remarkable lowering of the ceiling at the 10.5' ark was also obscureo Also a
peculiarity is the rounding displayed at the north angle of the otfset, for it is
the south angle whick should be more directlY' subject to vave-actiono hrther-
more9 the nature as well as the contour of the roof is distinctly' oddo It has been
mentioned that at first the conglomerate makes up the entire roof 9 then conglomerate
and vertical bed remnants in real"kably' even pattern as tar as the low area9 bey'omd
which the bed fraction i8 moditied bY'block remonljl while the conglomerate rises
vertica11y'g then arches smoothiiy'downwardtoward the Qffseto

If the cave were to terminate at the low area, there would be little hesi=
tation in stating that it were of wave-cut origin9 primarily' in conglomerate pre-
viOUsly'laid downbetween vertical beds of the Oquirrh formationg with lesser
erosion of moderatel$ resistant adjoining beds 0 Bevondthis point 9 however[I this
• explanation is inadequateo

In this part of the Oquirrh Range, as well as on other calcareous borders of

•• the Great Salt Lake Basin, Bonneville turf and conglomerates not uncODmon1y over-
lie earthy depositso While this has not been specifically' demonstrated in the
c~se ofpre-Bormeville conglomerates9 its <pl-obabilitv remains higho It seems
worthwhile to compare the theoretical results of speleogenesHl involving such an
occurrance with the speleogens actually' observed in this unique caveo
 '-,. -'-.", .
FromstudT of modemfills betweensimilar be~s nearby~ it is apparent that their
'typical form is characteri.ed by' a steep front, whichthen assUllesan even arch a fflt(
inches to a fflt( feet belowthe top of the boundingribs, with its -.xiDmmfill at t.1).e
apex of a curved bed reiIInaJlt.
such as at the cave. The undersurface of a congl.erate
overlPng such a fill, therifore, wou.ldposess a steep origin tapering into a high
arched curve, of more e.x&ggerated incline than the arch of the bed remnant. themsel-
ves. This is precise1y' the case in the midportion of Glinton's Cave.
Themajor remaiDinglUlusua1feature of the cave is the fault-produced 3' offset
which disp[aeed the terminal 17' of the cave about 3' southwest~and 7' upward, and
the nature of the svfaces thereby produced. As previously mentioned,,the end of the
offset is of shale, and the end of the _in passage is the sandy'lime Jrirl,chbounds
the entrance on the _st. The latter is irregularly but quite shallowly incised, in
contrast to the end of the offset whichis muchaore even. The proximal end of the
offset is irregular~ roundedinto the _in passage. A three foot width allows pas-
sage into the off.et~
The ceiling of the cave in the imIlediate vicinity of the offset junction is made
up of nUllerouslarge boUlders, securely wedged. Thq average 2 to 3' in diameter,
and, as this is the only' place in the cave where such wedgedboulders exist, it is
probable that theY'are related to the fault rather than to the conglomeratewhich
makesup the resto'of.the ceiling •. The rest of the offset is roofed with the con-
gl_erate at a height of 12' to 18', whereas,the ceiling height in the main passage
just before the offset is about 7'. The junction of the conglomeratewith the shale
at the end of the ca_ is incised juist enouahto reveal that the cong1omerat'e con-
tinues be10ndthe exteDt of the cave.

The roundedproD-1 end of the offset presats an appearance found nowhereelse

in the cave, and contrasts' with the twnearby pas•• ge ends. The appearance i.
strongly that of corra.ion, -whichwouldbe expected to occur at this point during
wave-removalof sand or e&rt.hyfiUs. CorrasiOl'1sh01l1d
'also be expcoted at the
east angle of the' oft.et jUDCtion,and at the e. of the offset. The re~tive
smoothnessof the latteJ;sqgests that occurred to s•• extent. The sandTllaestone,
however,despite its direct exposure, has nowhereeroded significantly. This erosion
pattem and the locu beach sands in the fault line pOckets suaest that the faulting
occurred during Bonneville t.1ae, imaed1atel1'prior to or dUring removalof the sub-
congl.e:rate gravels. Stl'Ol':tlltsugested, also, is the possibility that the ccmclCllll-
erate -1') be pre-Bormeville.
This is ,not the only plausible theor,y which can be advancedfor the orl,nn of
this unique cave. Seae cutting into the bedrock by late Bonneville waters appears
probable in Ul7 cas.. TiJilerelations are, unforl1Dl&teJ.,v. the most tenu••• points
under 'di,cussion. While .-'e details re_in to be clarified and others will p1"Obab17
be drastically modified, however,the ,equence just pre.ented shoUldle"e as a
satisfactor,y start onth1s interesting bat little-known problem.

REFERENCES
Enger, W.DoAroMolou of Black RockIII Cave, Utah. U of utah Arch. & Ethn.
Paper #17, 1942. . .
St•.••.rd, J .H. Ancient Cavellof the Great Salt Lake Region. Bu. Am.Ethn. Anthr.
Paper #16, 1937.
Gilbert, Golo d.n-Wheeler'sEXplorationsand Survqs West ot the lOOthMeridian.
G.P.O., Wasington,D.C., 1875.
Packard, AoSoOn aNew Can Faunain. Utaho Bull. Hqden S1U'"Y'. VoIII, 1877.
ibid. The CaveFa'U1'1& of N. Aller. Memo Nato Acad. Sei., V.4·,Part 1, 188S.
Hallidq, WoR. Sea Cavesof Aacient Lake Bonn.Tille. Tech. Note in press.
3
CLINTON'S CAVEs TOOELE COo, U'l'AH

Carapas.& tape sllr'V'81' 3~1-53by'

Salt Lake Grotto
National Speleological ~ociety

o, 10, 20,