Utah Geological Survey

ANCIENT OWL'S MEALS OFFER CLUES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

sltrib.com

Homestead Cave is not much to look at, a modest opening in a knoll at the north end of Utah’s Lakeside Mountains. But it has yielded a paleontological jackpot for scientists reconstructing ancient Great Basin environments thanks to owls that spit up small-animal prey in the cave for thousands of years.

The piles of regurgitated pellets drew Dave Madsen in the early 1990s to this lonely spot on the Utah Test and Training Range west of the Great Salt Lake. Then with the Utah Geological Survey, Madsen and colleagues Don Grayson and Jack Broughton hoped the bones, known as “death assemblages,” would provide a record of the plants and animals that inhabited the surrounding area over the years.

What they found was scientific pay dirt that continues to yield dividends. Three years of excavation recovered undisturbed bones layered down at least 2 meters, representing what’s been on the owls’ menu for the past 13,000 years.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

REPORT WARNS OF SHRINKING AQUIFER WEST OF CEDAR CITY

sltrib.com

Just as a bank account dips when withdrawals exceed deposits, so the water table in the Cedar Valley Aquifer has been dropping over the past 70 years as discharge rates have exceeded recharge, and the losses likely will continue unless measures are taken to plug the problem.

That was the conclusion of a report delivered Thursday night to a meeting of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District in Cedar City.

The report, compiled by senior geologist William Lund and his staff with the Utah Geological Survey (UGS), was commissioned by the conservancy district in 2009 after a ground fissure nearly 4 miles long was discovered snaking through a subdivision in the city of Enoch.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

UTAH GEOLOGIC CALENDAR AVAILABLE NOW

sltrib.com

Some of Utah’s most scenic geologic wonders from slot canyons to glaciers are featured in the Utah Geological Surveys 2011 calendar.

The calendar, on sale for $4.95 at the Department of Natural Resources Bookstore at 1594 W. North Temple or online at www.mapstore.utah.gov, features more than 50 photos of Utah taken by staff members on assignment.

The pictures are accompanied by geologic descriptions and location information. Topics include igneous mountains, bridges, arches, the Green River Formation and geologic hazards.

READ MORE

GET IT HERE

Utah Geological Survey

CEDAR VALLEY WATER

sltrib.com

Big cracks are forming in the floor of Cedar Valley. They’ve already undermined one unfinished subdivision north of Enoch, and they’re still growing. One is 2.4 miles long. If unchecked, they could threaten Enoch itself, not to mention local roads and buried utility lines.

This is not a Halloween story, or the movie “Tremors.” It’s scarier, in fact, because it’s real. Fortunately, the Utah Geological Survey knows what the cause is, and if the people who pump water from the many wells in the area can cooperate, the problem is fixable. But a solution will require both community spirit and self-sacrifice, because people will have to use less water.

Since 1939, according to the UGS report, more water has been taken from the aquifer below Cedar Valley than Mother Nature has funneled back in. The water table has dropped by as much as 114 feet. This has caused the underground sediments in the aquifer to compact. The fissures and sinkholes visible on the surface of the ground are evidence of subsidence, that is, ground settling. The ground has sunk by as much as four feet over a broad area of Cedar Valley.

This settling has caused about 4 miles of cracks or fissures in the ground, particularly in the area of Enoch (north of Cedar City) and around Quichapa Lake. There may be other fissures that are not yet visible.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

COMPLETED SUBSIDENCE, FISSURE REPORT TO BE PRESENTED

ironcountytoday.com

A study by the Utah Geologic Survey has confirmed that land subsidence and earth fissures in Cedar Valley have been caused by long-term aquifer pumping in excess of water recharge and during a meeting Thursday a final report from the UGS will be provided.

The regular meeting of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District will also include a report on recent water wise conservation projects by Candice Schaible, USU Extension and CICWCD employee, and reports from CICWCD board members about the Lake Powell Pipeline, the West Desert water filings, and Coal Creek recharge plans.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Heritage Center.

William Lund and Tyler Knudsen will speak about the UGS study. The study is also available on the CICWCD website, www.cicwcd.org. It documented subsidence, or the sinking of the ground because of a permanent drop in the aquifer, throughout the valley, and surveyed earth fissures in Enoch and near Quichipa Lake.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

BACKPACKING BUDDIES—UNDER-THE-RIM TRAIL MAKES A GREAT FIRST BACKPACK TRIP

thespectrum.com

“Dad, am I dreaming?” asked my 6-year-old daughter Zoe as we descended
another switchback on the Under-the-Rim Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park.

It was a fitting question for the bizarre world we had immersed ourselves into.

Clearly, our minds had not yet accepted the peculiar tangerine hues or the improbably balanced spires and hoodoos that trademark the eroded edges or “breaks” of the Paunsaugunt Plateau as reality.

I had promised Zoe at the beginning of the summer her first backpacking trip —
just the two of us. But every weekend filled up with other duties until we were down to the last weekend before school was to start. After Zoe reminded me of my promise, I checked my schedule and thankfully, it was open.

Bryce Canyon was an easy choice because its backcountry trails are loaded
with great scenery, notoriously free of crowds and as a bonus, the National Park
Service was waiving entrance fees that weekend.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

ZION STUDY

thespectrum.com

Utah’s national parks are filled with dramatic scenic views and some of the best hiking trails in the entire world. Zion National Park, it could be argued, is the jewel in an entire crown of natural wonders.

But national parks also can be dangerous places because of natural hazards that demand visitors’ respect.

Those hazards are the focus of a new study about Zion published by the Utah Geologic Survey. The main goal of the study is to assist park managers as they map out the future of Zion.

The study focused on high-use areas of the park — Zion and Kolob canyons, Kolob Terrace and the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway corridor. The findings provided the basis of maps that show areas subject to flooding, rock falls, landslides and erosion, among other hazards. The plan is for park managers to use the information as they plan out improvements in an effort to keep the more than 2.5 million visitors each year to Zion safe.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

FISSURES CAUSED BY WATER MINING

thespectrum.com

Pumping more water than is being recharge the aquifer, also called water mining, is causing earth fissures identified in Enoch and Quichapa Lake, the Utah Geological Survey reported to the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District
Thursday.

The study commissioned by the CICWCD to the UGS came from a request by Enoch City officials to investigate a feature affecting a new subdivision in the northern part of that community on May 5, 2009. Enoch City Public Works Director Earl Gibson thought the massive land crack might be an active fault. UGS geologists responded to the request and subsequently mapped a 2.4-mile-long, generally north-south-trending earth fissure that had formed along the west side of the Enoch Graben area, an empty, 400-lot subdivision. The affected subdivision is near the south end of the fissure and has formed
in basin-fill deposits, crossed several undeveloped lots and has cracked and vertically displaced asphalt concrete street surfaces, concrete curb and gutter and sidewalks, the UGS study said.

An inspection using a pipeline camera revealed that the flow direction of a sewer line crossing the fissure had been reversed and that it was no longer possible to gravity drain sewage from the subdivision. At the time of the inspection, the streets, curb and gutter, and underground utilities in the subdivision were less than 18-months-old, the UGS study said.

“Once the water is removed, it is removed permanently so the community should be concerned because this issue involves a scarce resource and will become more expensive the further you have to go to get water and will be less and less available,” said UGS Geologist Bill Lund. “The second main issue is the land subsidence and earth fissures that are encroaching in the built environment, and when that happens, you have problems. Damages nationwide from fissures are $125 million annually.”

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey

GEOLOGIC HAZARDS IN ZION PARK, NEARBY AREAS, FOCUS OF STUDY

sltrib.com

The geologic wonders of Zion National Park were created by rock slides, earthquakes, landslides, flooding and debris flows. But those forces are a threat to tourists and people who live in surrounding towns and along the popular highway leading into the park.

A recently completed survey of the region, based on existing maps of the hazard-prone areas, will help park managers protect visitors as they plan future construction. The study, by the Utah Geologic Survey, took two years to complete.

Carol Harlan, who lives in Rockville, near the park, said she and her husband have traveled to take photos near dust clouds that signal a rockfall from the cliffs north of town.

In 2001, a 300-ton boulder destroyed the new house of a Zion employee. “In that one I disappeared in a hole it left,” said Harlan.

It’s something residents have dealt with since the area was settled.

READ MORE

Utah Geological Survey
,

Calendar of Utah Geology 2011

CALENDAR IS SOLD OUT!

The 2011 Calendar of Utah Geology is now available for purchase in the Natural Resources Map & Bookstore!

Featuring everything from slot canyons to snowy glaciers, the calendar has more than 50 photos depicting Utah’s fantastic scenery and geologic wonders.

“The photos are taken by staff members who are often on assignment in some of the most intriguing areas of the state,” says Rick Allis, UGS Director.

This year, 318 photos were juried for inclusion in the calendar.  This was the first time Martha Hayden, a paleontologist, had submitted photos for consideration, and her shot of pictographs in Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands National Park won a coveted spot.  “I’m happy the photo was selected because it’s one of the truly great places in Utah.”

The pictures are accompanied by geologic descriptions and location information.  “I hope that these pictures will encourage people to get outside and off the beaten path,” says Tyler Knudsen, a geologist with several picture credits.  “We are so lucky to live in a state with so much geologic diversity.”

UGS attempted to capture the diversity in the calendar with topics including igneous mountains, bridges and arches, the Green River Formation, and geologic hazards.

The calendars are on sale in the Bookstore for $4.95 or $4.25 for orders of 10 or more.
You can view the calendar online at: geology.utah.gov/whatsnew/news/new1010.htm Remember, the holidays are fast approaching, and the calendar makes a great gift for friends and family!

IN THE NEWS