Water Salinity Study for the Southern San Pitch Drainage System in Sanpete County, Utah
By: Janae Wallace, J. Lucy Jordan, Christian Hardwick, and Hugh Hurlow

GET IT HERE

This project determines the sources and extent of salinity in the lower San Pitch River drainage and adjoining Gunnison Irrigation Company canal system in southern Sanpete Valley using data we acquired over two field seasons documenting water quality and quantity along different reaches within the San Pitch River and Twelvemile Creek as well as nearby canals and springs. We use geologic mapping and geophysical techniques (TEM) to isolate and identify regions in the subsurface that likely have an influence on river salinity. The data collected for this study provide information necessary to make targeted management decisions to reduce salinity and provide for a sustainable supply of acceptable/suitable quality irrigation water for the GIC and its water users. Overall, our maps emphasize areas of higher and lower salinity sources and show calculated salt load to the San Pitch River.

Spring Inventory and Preliminary Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems Assesment of Manti-La Sal National Forest, Wasatch Plateau, Utah
By Paul Inkenbrandt, Richard Emerson, Janae Wallace, J. Lucy Jordan, and Stefan Kirby

GET IT HERE

In cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, the Utah Geological Survey mapped springs and groundwater dependent ecosystems on the Wasatch Plateau. Using remote sensing, GIS, and field checking, more than 400 points were compiled and plotted for use by the Forest Service.

Yellowstone Basin, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County

Photographer: Rich Emerson © 2017

 

FIELD REVIEW INVITATION

Geologic Map of the Tooele 30′ x 60′ Quadrangle,
Tooele, Salt Lake, Davis Counties, Utah

led by Donald L. Clark (UGS Geologist) and Charles G. Oviatt (Emeritus, Kansas State Univ.; Lake Bonneville specialist)

May 9-10, 2017

Day 1 (May 9), meet at Department of Natural Resources building (1594 W. North Temple, SLC, south side of building); gather at 7:00 am, depart at 7:30 am sharp. Review of the eastern part of map area, and return to SLC.

Day 2 (May 10), meet at DNR at 7:00 am, depart at 7:30 am sharp. Review of the western part of map area, and return to SLC.

You are invited to attend a field review highlighting updated geologic mapping of the area west of Salt Lake City. The purpose of the mapping is to accurately describe the stratigraphy, geologic structure, geologic resources, and geologic hazards of the area. These maps are used for land management planning, geologic hazard evaluation, resource assessment and development, and education, as well as by the weekend hobbyist. The trip will be geared to cover a broad audience including geologists, government officials, and the general public.

Highlights

  • Quaternary geology, Lake Bonneville levels and chronology
  • Quaternary fault zones/Basin and Range structure
  • Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks
  • Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Proterozoic stratigraphy
  • Tooele arch, Stansbury uplift, Uinta-Cottonwood arch (western extension)
  • Sevier fold-thrust belt architecture
  • Subsurface and geophysical data
  • Geologic hazards
  • Geologic resources

Information

  • There is no charge; please circulate this notice among your colleagues.
  • For planning purposes, we ask that you RSVP to the UGS (starrsoliz@utah.gov or 801-537-3300); trip questions to donclark@utah.gov or 801-537-3344.
  • Some stops will involve a few short, strenuous hikes.
  • A high-clearance vehicle is preferable; roads become difficult in wet weather; full fuel tank.
  • Please bring your own food, water, boots, hat, field clothes, and warm waterproof jacket.
  • If severe weather threatens, please call the UGS office on day before to see if rescheduled.
  • A signed liability and consent form is required for trip attendance.

This project was funded through the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program supported by the Utah Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Print Consent Form

 

 

forgeutah.com

Stephen Potter, a graduate student at the University of Utah, presented this poster at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America in Denver on April 19.  Stephen has been analyzing the historic seismicity around Milford, the Roosevelt Hot Spring system, and the FORGE site.  No seismicity has been detected at the FORGE site.

 

Tower of Babel, Arches National Park, Grand County

Photographer: Kent Brown © 2017

kutv.com

Three minutes after road crews in northern Idaho closed down Highway 95, a massive landslide took over the road.

READ MORE

fox13now.com

PROVO, Utah — The discovery of a new dinosaur unearthed in Utah was published this week, and BYU researchers have named the 32-foot herbivore Moabosaurus Utahensis in honor of the city of Moab.

READ MORE

deseretnews.com

SALT LAKE CITY — Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell, which for centuries has inspired stories of origin, ceremonial rites and pilgrimages for multiple tribes, has been designated by the National Park Service as a “traditional cultural property” — the first in Utah.

READ MORE

sciencemag.org

How did the dinosaur become the dinosaur? Somewhere along the line, the ancestor of dinosaurs diverged from the ancestor of crocodiles, a momentous split in the evolution of vertebrates that ultimately set the stage for the age of dinos. But the details of that split remain mysterious, thanks to a dearth of fossils of early dinosaur relatives. Enter the newly identified 247-million- to 242-million-year-old Teleocrater rhadinus, a close relative of dinosaurs that also happened to walk on all fours and share some key features with the ancestors of crocodiles. These shared features, the authors say, suggest that it’s time to rethink what we thought we knew about dinosaurs’ earliest ancestors.

READ MORE