Entries by Utah Geological Survey

Geologic Map Of The Santa Clara Quadrangle, Washington County, Utah

By: Grant C. Willis and Janice M. Hayden The Santa Clara 7.5′ quadrangle is in the northwestern part of the St. George basin in southwestern Utah, and includes Santa Clara and Ivins Cities, and colorful Red Mountain and Snow Canyon State Park. Movement on an underlying thrust fault created a variety of faults, joints, deformation […]

Real-time Monitoring for Potential Landslides

landslides.usgs.gov Landslides often occur in response to heavy or prolonged rainfall. On hillsides, gravity is constantly working to pull the soil and rock downslope, and rainfall infiltrating into the ground changes the forces or stresses acting on those hillside materials. If the changes in stress are large enough to overcome the strength of the hillside […]

Photos: Utah’s National Parks

For those of our friends that can’t get out into the outdoor wonder-world this weekend, here are some stunning photos to keep you company. travel.nationalgeographic.com SEE THEM HERE  

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UV Light Reveals the Colors of Fossil Shells

smithsonianmag.com Rays of ultraviolet light—the same wavelengths that stream from black lights to give funky fluorescence to a rave—can be used to uncover secrets usually invisible to human eyes. A UV camera can expose sun damage to skin, show how carnivorous plants lure ants and highlight hints of feathers still clinging to dinosaur fossils. Now […]

Antelope Island Bioherm Flyover

The shallow waters of Bridger Bay, on the northwestern tip of Antelope Island in the southern arm of hypersaline Great Salt Lake, support extensive microbial carbonate formation, especially in the north-northeast portion of the bay near Egg Island.  Lake levels in the fall of 2014 were near 60-year lows (as low as 1278.1 m [4193.3 […]