Utah Geological Survey
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Underneath Utah: The often forgotten spot in Zion National Park

Kolob Canyon may be off the beaten path, but remains a fan favorite when visiting Zion National Park. Did you know that it also displays some of the park’s oldest geology? Tyler Knudsen, one of our geologists here at the Utah Geological Survey, talks about the geology present in Kolob Canyon in this video. Check it out!

good4utah.com

Good 4 Utah is celebrating Utah’s diverse and unique geologic history this summer. Kylie Bearse and photographer Gus Seashore are traveling to Utah’s famous landmarks, and a few spots you may not have known about, to learn more about our state’s geology.

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Utah Geological Survey

Teens in the Woods: Mapping our Future

Last Thursday the Utah Geological Survey participated in Teens in the Woods: Mapping our Future outdoor program, an education initiative designed to bring underserved, urban, and diverse children and adolescents to the forests to spark curiosity, exercise, and connect the next generation with nature. The week-long event is chock-full of activities set up by scientists from many fields in the Earth sciences, emphasizing conservation, stewardship, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. On our trip with high school and middle school students we traveled to Big Cottonwood Canyon and Silver Lake to explore geology, forestry, air photo interpretation, and aquatic biology.

Teens in the Woods is a new nation-wide program spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Forest Service and in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, partnered with some dozen other organizations including the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation and Bad Dog Art.

Ms. Amy discusses water chemistry and lake health with students in the rain.

A student examines a leech and other aquatic invertebrates that inhabit Silver Lake.

A young bull moose examines the students at Silver Lake.

Utah Geological Survey

Glad You Asked: June 26, 2014

Is that coral in Great Salt Lake? Great Salt Lake was lower than average last summer, exposing coral-like structures that are usually beneath water. Maybe some of you saw them!

Great Salt Lake has reef-like structures that resemble coral and are often called coral, yet they are not true coral. Algae build bulbous sedimentary rock structures known by various names: algal bioherms and stromatolites are two of the most common.

Read more about bioherms and stromatolites in our “Glad You Asked” article HERE

Utah Geological Survey

Southern Utah highway severely damaged by nearby construction project

kutv.com

Part of SR 143 in the town of Brian Head, Utah has been shut down after the ground slowly started to shift during construction of a man-made pond.

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Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 24, 2014: Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah

Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: Stevie Emerson, © 2013

The Wasatch Range was once home to more than 60 glaciers. On the east slope of Mount Timpanogos, Emerald Lake occupies a glacially carved cirque in the Pennsylvanian-age Bear Canyon Member of the Oquirrh Formation.

Utah Geological Survey

The ‘indescribable’ fun of digging dinosaurs in Utah

sltrib.com

Jeanette Bonnell likes to play in the dirt. The 62-year-old retired human resources specialist is also pretty handy with a dentist’s drill.

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Utah Geological Survey

What do this newly-discovered dinosaur and DC Comics' The Flash have in common?

Though a flightless creature, this newly-discovered dino takes after the Roman god Mercury, and even superhero The Flash, with wings on its head.

gmanetwork.com

The Roman god Mercury is a rather influential figure – a planet, an element, and even superheroes, such as the Golden Age version of DC’s the Flash, have either been named after or inspired by the fleet-footed messenger deity.

Utah Geological Survey

Dino Goes Digital, Scientists Map Wall Of Bones

upr.org

Scientists from Brigham Young University and Dinosaur National Monument have teamed up to map the famous “wall of bones,” a sandstone slab containing more than a thousand dinosaur fossils.

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Utah Geological Survey

Glad You Asked: June 19, 2014

So you think you’ve found a meteorite; is it really a meteorwrong? You found a strange rock. It is heavy, dark-colored, and magnetic; so you are thinking it must be from outer space.

Find out more about meteorites in our “Glad You Asked” article HERE.

Utah Geological Survey

Colorado River researchers find signs of ancient, devastating floods

In more recent times, focus has been on the drought conditions affecting Southern Utah and the Colorado River. But what if the Colorado River were flooding? An interesting insight to the river’s extreme flood history, and research for better understanding of the rare events.

latimes.com

Scientists say it would have been a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. If the Glen Canyon Dam had failed, it would have changed the lives of millions of people and reshaped the history of the American West.

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