New geologic hazard maps of western Salt Lake Valley have just been released by the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). The 10 maps include the town of Magna and portions of Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Kearns, and West Jordan to the south. “This area is expected to experience a significant population increase in the […]
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 […]
by Bruce Vandre Dixie State College Community Education Call #: 25586 Date: Feb 25, 2012, 9:30am-‐4:30pm Place: DSC, Smith Computer Center, Rm 118 Call 652-‐7675 for info. Class Fee: $38 per person Lab Fee: $10 payable to Community Education Digital map and location referencing technology is rapidly changing. This class will survey available resources and […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. . […]
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 […]
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.
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