sltrib.com
The Utah Geological Survey has released its 2012 Calendar of Utah Geology. Of the more than 300 photos that were submitted, 33 were selected for the 2012 calendar.
deseretnews.com
A massive landslide that took out a stretch of state Route 14 in Cedar Canyon will take months and millions of dollars to remove — tasking state transportation officials with finding a home for up to three million cubic yards of debris and repairing the shattered roadway.
deseretnews.com
A 2012 calendar showcasing photos of some of Utah’s most spectacular scenery — many taken with a geologist’s expertise — is now available.
thespectrum.com
While the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District was embroiled in a June controversy over the degree of land subsidence reported in the Cedar Valley, no one has said it does not exist.
Bill Lund, senior geologist for the Utah Geological Survey, had submitted a report on land subsidence to the water district, which was placed on its website. The study the report was based on originally measured subsidence at four feet, but that measurement was later corrected to two feet after benchmarks were found to be inaccurate. The report was removed from the website after a heated June meeting in which Cedar City Surveyor Curt Neilson and Engineer Kit Wareham demanded the report be removed because the measurements reported in the study were still wrong and had not been performed by a licensed surveyor.
Although Lund is working on amending the report with the fi ndings of a licensed surveyor, he stands rm that there is evidence of subsidence in the valley, including the fissures appearing in Enoch. They point to the Cedar Valley aquifer being overdrawn, Lund said.
deseretnews.com
Public land managers weighing the environmental impacts of a controversial pipeline that would tap groundwater from the Snake Valley aquifer have extended the comment deadline by a month.
Those who want to weigh in on the draft environmental impact statement analyzing the Las Vegas pipeline plan now have until Oct. 11, rather than Sept. 9, to give input.
Pressure from critics opposed to the plan or by those who simply wanted more time to read the voluminous document led to the extension.
“We appreciate the BLM being responsive to the many requests they received from organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens,” said Rob Mrowka, spokesman for the Great Basin Water Network, one of the lead critics.
Among those who urged an extension were 22 members of the Utah Senate and 50 members of the House of Representatives after lobbying by the Great Basin network during last week’s special session of the Utah Legislature.
standard.net
Depending on public reaction to a recently completed water study, a water moratorium in Morgan County could end in as few as 30 days. The study revealed sources of nitrates in drinking water and could affect the administration of water rights in Morgan County.
In 2004, the state Division of Water Rights, the Utah Geological Survey and the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District teamed up to begin a groundwater study of Morgan County. Since 2008 and in conjunction with the study, officials enacted a moratorium on all water leasing in the area. That moratorium will be lifted after a 30-day public comment period.
Because the groups anticipated the study would be completed in 2010, Morgan residents were left waiting a year for the results. The county council chambers were packed to standing room only at a recent public meeting discussing the water study.
The study could affect how future water rights are administered in a county that has experienced much residential growth since 2007 and is expected to experience more once the housing market improves.
billingsgazette.com
Two Kansas fossil hunters say they think they found something new while digging in Montana.
Jim Kirkland, a state paleontologist at the Utah Geological Survey, has examined photos of the fossil that Robert and Alan Detrich are uncovering and said it looks like a new type of ankylosaur. The low-slung heavily armored dinosaurs lived around 65 million years ago and munched on plants.
“This thing is worthy of note. There is no doubt about it,” said Kirkland, who specializes in ankylosaurs. “In my mind it’s clearly a new one.”
The brothers have been digging since May in a fossil-rich area near the town of Jordan. They’ve uncovered the ankylosaur fossil’s skull, part of its leg, ribs, armored plates and some vertebrae.
rrstar.com
Burpee Museum of Natural History staff and volunteers have had a successful season of digging at the Hanksville-Burpee Quarry in Utah, uncovering new finds officials say could be integrated into the museum by 2013.
The museum wrapped up its most recent work at the quarry site with Rockford resident Joe Mongan discovering an upper leg bone to a juvenile diplodocus, which gave him the opportunity to nickname the dinosaur — called Jimmy, in honor of his father — said Burpee Executive Director Alan Brown.
Dr. James Kirkland, a state paleontologist at the Utah Geological Survey, said the finding will guide researchers to better understand life 35 million to 65 million years ago.
Much to learn from fossil
“The fossil record is our only record of the history of life on our planet,” he said. “We’re exploring the age of dinosaurs. They’re collecting some trophy dinosaurs that will be exhibited, and at the same time they’re collecting data to understand why the dinosaurs were there. Until you understand what controlled the formation of the site, you can’t even come to a conclusion of what kind of questions the site can answer about the geological record. This is the only way we get to understand the effects on life on a global scale.”
sltrib.com
Insurance companies have given no help to some North Salt Lake residents whose homes are being destroyed by a slow-moving landslide. Nor has the federal government. But their neighbors did on Saturday — rallying with a community breakfast and fun run to raise money to help.
“I’m glad somebody — somebody — is helping. We need it,” said Stefanie Christiansen, whose home is being torn apart slowly. She, like many of her neighbors on Springhill Circle and Springhill Drive, were among the volunteer cooks and servers Saturday during the breakfast at Foxboro Regional Park.
As she was helping serve hot pancakes to neighbors paying $5 each, she said, “We really appreciate what people are doing for us. It means a lot.”
She said she and her husband bought their house on Springhill Drive in the foothills 15 years ago.
“Then in 1998, we had some movement from the landslide. Then it was fine for a lot of years,” she said. But more recently, it started moving again — about an inch a year — cracking foundations and walls, and tearing apart homes.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
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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