Utah Geological Survey

A New “Golden Spike” Monument in Colorado Marks Geologic Time

blogs.kqed.org

For something that is supposed to keep track of 4 billion years of history, the geologic time scale is quite a fuzzy and slippery yardstick. After two centuries of careful research and argumentation, the world’s geologists have only recently adopted a system to literally nail down the different time periods taught in geology school. Last week that project took another slow step forward as a “golden spike” was officially driven into a precise spot on the ground near Pueblo, Colorado, a benchmark for the beginning of the Turonian Age.

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Paleozoic Partner Highlight- Utah Geological Survey

nps.gov

Cambrian Fossils in Utah’s West Desert, Millard County

Utah is recognized for having the longest and most diverse dinosaur record in the nation. Yet, the Cambrian rocks in Utah’s West Desert contain one of our nation’s best records of the early evolution of life on Earth. View a slideshow of rocks and fossils from the West Desert here. During the Cambrian Period, North America straddled the Equator and the continent was oriented nearly 90 degrees clockwise of its present position. The Cambrian coastline extended north-south across Utah shifting southward (our east) with rising sea level. This resulted in a nearly complete sequence of Cambrian rocks preserved in Utah’s West Desert on what was the northern coastline of early North America. When Tertiary extension forces formed the Basin and Range Geological Province throughout the last 20 million years, these Cambrian rocks became well-exposed across western and central Utah, revealing the extraordinary fossil record within. Nowhere is this geology better exposed than in Millard County, Utah. Refer to Hintze and Davis (2003) (17 MB PDF) for a detailed discussion of the county’s geology. The Cambrian is best known for the “Cambrian Explosion” (or “Cambrian Radiation”) , when a great diversity of multicellular animals first appears. The first scientific report on these fossils was a description of Elrathia kingii in 1860, probably the world’s most well-known trilobite species.

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Utah Geological Survey
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The San Rafael Swell and Henry Mountains Basin: Geologic Centerpiece of Utah

Edited By: Thomas H. Morris and Robert Ressetar

The Sections in this CD Include: Introduction, Structure, Statigraphy and Sedimentary Geology, Geologic Resources, and Field-Trip Guide

UGS-42 CD………….. $34.95

GET IT HERE

Utah Geological Survey
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Yellowstone's Killer Hazard: Earthquakes, Not Eruptions

livescience.com

A supervolcano blasting Yellowstone National Park to smithereens may capture the imagination, but the region’s real risk comes from earthquakes, researchers reported here Sunday (Oct. 27) at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting.

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Predicting Quakes Still Shaky, But Being Prepared Is Crucial

upr.org

Morning recess at St. Augustine Catholic School in Culver City, Calif., is like recess in many other schools. Children run and play in the afternoon sun. But nearby, away from the basketball hoops and the games of tag, the staff is preparing.

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In Goblin Valley, chances of getting hurt by a falling rock are slim

The hypothetical family that a group of Highland men allegedly was trying to protect when they destroyed a rock structure was more likely to die on the drive to Goblin Valley State Park than to be crushed by a falling rock.

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Utah paleontologists probing for signs of dinosaurs’ rise

sltrib.com

For paleontologists Randall Irmis and Andrew Milner, the tiny stuff matters, especially when you’re exploring the dawn of big reptiles. Microscopic fossilized pollen, two-inch fishes, even the color of the rock that bones are embedded in say a lot about the landscapes dinosaurs roamed, the climate, what they ate and what their prey ate.

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High school student finds bumpy-headed baby dino

foxnews.com

A dinosaur skeleton discovered by an eagle-eyed high-school student turns out to be the smallest, youngest and most complete duck-billed dinosaur of its kind ever found. This Cretaceous-era herbivore, Parasaurolophus, walked the Earth some 75 million years ago. The dinosaurs in this genus are best known for their impressive tube-shaped head crests, which may have been used for display or perhaps to amplify the animals’ calls. The little specimen, dubbed “Joe,” was so young that its crest was a mere bump on its head.

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Utah Geological Survey

Fulgurites: When lightning strikes sand, magic is formed

www.mnn.com
All it takes is a flash. Lightning strikes the ground, creating temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees. The sand around the lightning strike fuses together, and fulgurite is formed. What are fulgurites? The word – based on the Latin world for thunderbolt – refers to a hollow glass tube formed when lightning strikes soil, silica, sand or even rock. These amazing structures – sometimes referred to as “petrified lightning” or “lightning stones” – don’t look like the transparent glass in your windows or kitchen cabinets. Instead they are complex structures that resemble a cross between a vegetable root and some of the more crystalline minerals such as mica. They vary in shape and size – most are only a few inches long – and they tend to form around the path of the dispersing electric charge of the lightning.
Utah Geological Survey

What Did the Continents Look Like Millions of Years Ago?

theatlantic.com

The paleo-tectonic maps of retired geologist Ronald Blakey are mesmerizing and impossible to forget once you’ve seen them. Catalogued on his website Colorado Plateau Geosystems, these maps show the world adrift, its landscapes breaking apart and reconnecting again in entirely new forms, where continents are as temporary as the island chains that regularly smash together to create them, on a timescale where even oceans that exist for tens of millions of years can disappear leaving only the subtlest of geological traces.

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