Fairmont Hot Springs

The funnest part of writing a geology-based thesis is the field work. The cream-coloured limestone deposit at Fairmont Hot Springs in the Rocky Mountain Trench in southeast British Columbia is the main focus of my work. All of the rocks near the waterfall are part of the deposit and formed from spring water during the past 10,000 years (after the glaciers all melted away). At present, there is not enough water coming out of the springs to have formed the relatively large deposit. Thus, the springs must have been much more active in the past. I am interested in determining why these changes occurred and how they affected deposit formation.

The Fairmont Hot Springs resort is a popular tourist destination because of the hot summers and spring-fed, commercial swimming pool. The pool can have upwards of 3000 visits per day in peak tourist season. At around $10 each, it is easy to see how hot springs can be a lucrative business. The waterfall you see above is anthropogenic -- it is basically a large drain for the commercial swimming pool. But it attracts a lot of tourists because it looks pretty and is free. I've been going to Fairmont since I was a little kid, and was able to turn it into my job. The field work is done, however, so I now I just want to be finished with the writing. Just keep swimming...