Entries by Utah Geological Survey

SURVEY NOTES volume 44 number 1

This Issue contains: Northwest Utah—Could it be Utah’s Newest Energy Hotspot? What is a Metamorphic Core Complex? Every Record Must Fall—An Update on the Largest Arches in the World Energy News: Utah’s Gordon Creek Field to Test Commercial-Scale Storage of Carbon Dioxide Glad You Asked: Is There Coral in Great Salt Lake? GeoSights: The Honeycombs […]

How can I name a mountain?

The “Glad You Asked” article, What is the correct name of…?, in a previous issue of Survey Notes addressed how to find the correct names of Utah’s geographic features using the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). This article addresses how to propose a new name or change an existing geographic feature name. […]

What are the roots of geobotany?

Plants can enlighten geologists as to the rock beneath. Geobotany, also called phytogeography, is the scientific study of the distribution of plants. Climate is considered the primary control on plant life, but within a particular climatic region the rock beneath soil—known as the parent material of soil—is typically the key factor influencing the vegetation growing […]

What is the correct name of…?

            Among the more commonly asked questions we receive at the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) are those dealing with the correct names of Utah’s geographic features. Perhaps the best tool for answering these questions is a searchable database established and maintained by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which is […]

Ice Ages – What are they and what causes them?

What is an ice age? An ice age is a long interval of time (millions to tens of millions of years) when global temperatures are relatively cold and large areas of the Earth are covered by continental ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within an ice age are multiple shorter-term periods of warmer temperatures when glaciers […]

How many islands are in Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake has islands from small to large, from one corner of the lake to the other. But how many islands are there? The question is not as straightforward as one might think. Although there are 17 officially named islands, answers to the question typically range from zero to 15. It All Depends. . […]

Utah Paleontologists Featured on DIRTY JOBS

Digging in the dirt does not sound like a glamorous job, but it caught the attention of the cable television network’s Discovery Channel.  The show, DIRTY JOBS recently went on a dinosaur dig with some paleontologists from the Utah Geological Survey (UGS).  The show is set to air on Tuesday, December 20. According to the […]

New Geologic Map of the Provo Area, Utah Valley, and central Wasatch Range

The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) has released a new full-color preliminary geologic map covering about 1800 square miles of diverse geology and landscape in parts of Utah, Wasatch, and Salt Lake Counties. The map encompasses large tracts of Forest Service, BLM, and state public lands, important watersheds and wilderness areas, and densely populated cities and […]