Current Issue Contents:
The Early Miocene Markagunt Megabreccia
UGS Releases New Interactive Geologic Map
Energy News: Liquid-rich Shale Potential of the Uinta and Paradox Basins
Geologic Maps As Art
Glad You Asked: Can Rockfalls Cause Wildfires?
GeoSights: Notch Peak—BIG Cliff, Millard County
Teacher’s Corner
Survey News
New Publications
by Hellmut H. Doelling and Paul A. Kuehne
The Short Canyon quadrangle in Emery County, central Utah, has some world-class examples of Utah’s spectacular geology. Driving through the quadrangle on the Moore Road takes you from the Jurassic Carmel Formation through about 100 million years or 3700 feet (1200 m) of rock into the Cretaceous Mancos Shale. Many species of dinosaur have been discovered in the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, which is beautifully exposed here. The Short Canyon Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation was mapped and newly described in the quadrangle. Mineral resources from the area include gypsum, coal, and chalcedony.
GIS files are provided in an ESRI file geo database and as ESRI shapefiles. Also included is a 13-
page booklet and two plates.
Map 255DM $24.95
by Michael D. Vanden Berg, Danielle R. Lehle, Stephanie M. Carney, and Craig D. Morgan
As petroleum production increases in the Uinta Basin, Utah, operators are pressed to establish
suitable saline water disposal plans. Several natural gas operators have identified the Birds Nest aquifer in central Uintah County as a possible large-scale, saline water disposal zone; however, disposal into this aquifer poses unique challenges and risks. The Birds Nest aquifer formed from the dissolution of saline minerals within a saline zone in the upper Green River Formation’s Parachute Creek Member. Through the examination of core, outcrop, and geophysical logs, we determined that the aquifer is separated into an upper zone, covering about 410 square miles with an average thickness of 79 feet, and a more extensive lower zone, covering about 719 square miles with an average thickness of 84 feet. The fact that the Birds Nest aquifer lies within the Uinta Basin’s oil shale horizon raises questions as to how large-scale, saline water disposal into this zone might impact potential future oil shale development.
Special Study 147 $39.95
sltrib.com
A new exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah uses art to celebrate the state’s geology recorded in ancient dunes and seabeds and the memory of East High School English teacher Cheryl Grubb Funston.
On commission from the Funston family, Salt Lake City painter Mark Knudsen created the landscape triptych depicting three famous Utah formations: Wingate sandstone, Entrada sandstone and Mancos shale. Museum officials on Tuesday hung the three paintings on a wall that visitors pass on their way between the Earth and Sky galleries.
sltrib.com
Billions of dollars in destruction. Hundreds dead.
Such carnage is what seismologists predict will happen when the big earthquake destined to hit Utah strikes.
Essentially, the area between the Wasatch and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges is stretching like a rubber band. It will eventually break along a fault line running along the Wasatch foothills length.
sltrib.com
New research suggests a seismic connection ties the Salt Lake portion of the Wasatch Fault with the parallel West Valley fault zone about six miles to the west. The two frame the Salt Lake Valley and a potential, simultaneous rupture could make Salt Lake’s “Big One” a little bigger.
Chris DuRoss and Michael Hylland of the Utah Geological Survey reported these findings at the Seismological Society of America meeting Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
www.sciencecodex.com
Salt Lake Valley, home to the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone and the West Valley fault zone, has been the site of repeated surface-faulting earthquakes (of about magnitude 6.5 to 7). New research trenches in the area are helping geologists and seismologists untangle how this complex fault system ruptures and will aid in forecasting future earthquakes in the area.
UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GIS ANALYST
(BUSINESS ANALYST) This is a full-time, career service position, located in Salt lake City, Utah. CLOSES: 5/05/2013
The incumbent in this position is responsible for Geographic Information System (GIS) map and database products for the Utah Geological Survey Geologic Mapping Program. The incumbent will scan, vectorize and prepare GIS databases and various explanatory files of geologic maps; produce derivative maps and databases; design and prepare maps and related materials for public release; and assist geologists in completing new or revised geologic maps.
To be considered for this position, you must complete and submit an application through the State of Utah jobs website at http://statejobspostings.utah.
Video highlighting a recent trench investigation of the Wasatch fault
The Wasatch fault is Utah’s longest and most active fault, extending along the Wasatch Front from southern Idaho to central Utah. Although no large earthquakes have ruptured the fault historically, abundant geologic evidence indicates that the fault is capable of generating earthquakes as large as magnitude 6.5–7.5.
This video takes you along the trace of the Wasatch fault, showing its proximity to cities and towns in the Wasatch Front region, and also highlighting the history of past large earthquakes on the central, most active segments of the fault. The video also includes footage from a recent trench investigation at the North Creek site on the Nephi segment of the fault, and describes how geologists interpret evidence of large, prehistoric earthquakes.
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) is a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Several specialized programs comprise the UGS: Data Management, Energy & Minerals, Geologic Hazards, Geologic Information & Outreach, Geologic Mapping, Groundwater & Wetlands, and Paleontology.