Geography Of Salt Lake City

While Brigham Young reputedly saw Salt Lake City in a vision before he and his Mormon pioneers arrived, you probably won't be as lucky. There's an unfortunate shortage of visions at present, so if you're coming in from Toronto to take advantage of a research and development tax credit you'll probably appreciate a bit of a run-down on the geography so you can know what to expect in terms of views and scenery. Here at SaltLakeCityUT.net we're nothing if not obliging, so feast your eyes upon this article on Salt Lake City's geography.

As you would expect from a city that's located in a mountain range in the middle of nowhere, the average elevation of Salt Lake City is over 4,000 ft above sea level and the total area is more than 110 square miles. Like Waterloo, Ontario homes, most of Salt Lake City is located in a valley. This valley is known as Salt Lake Valley and it was once the ancient bed of a lake. This lake, known as Lake Bonneville, was filled with water until the last Ice Age and you can see where its shorelines used to be by examining the rocks in the surrounding mountains.

The Salt Lake Valley is bracketed by several interconnected mountain ranges: the Wasatch Mountains to the east, the Oquirrh Mountains to the west, and the Traverse Mountains to the south. These mountains form tall glacially and volcanically carved peaks that dominate the city's skyline like Lake Ontario provides the focus for Toronto real estate. The largest mountain visible is the Twin Peaks in the Wasatch Mountains, at 11,330 ft. The second highest is Flat Top in the Oquirrh Mountains, at 10,620ft. Views of the mountains are available from nearly everywhere in the city.

There are also several rivers and creeks that pass through the city giving Salt Lake City some measure of waterfront frontage. Among them are the Jordan River, City Creek and Emigration Creek. The Great Salt Lake, from which the city derives its name, is the terminus for the Jordan River. It is highly saline and home to a vast array of birds and animal life. Separating it from the city proper are a series of marshes and wetlands that would probably have been filled in and replaced by Aurora homes if they were located anywhere else. But Salt Lake City has lots of room to grow, and the bacteria in the marshes are allowed to continue their vital decomposition work, the smell from which occasionally wafts into the city.

Apart from the smell, the other major danger presented by the Salt Lake City landscape is that it is located near a fault line. The Wasatch Fault follows the base of the Wasatch Mountains, and indeed is the reason for their existence in the first place. According to seismologists, the Wasatch Fault is overdue for a major earthquake, which may measure as high as 7.5 on the Richter scale. With the possibility of flooding and mudslides in the city during such an event, this danger may send the faint of heart on a search for Ajax condos instead.