Utah Geological Survey

UGS Petroleum Geologists in London

The oldest and most prestigious geological society in the world, The Geological Society (of London), invited Tom Chidsey and Michael Vanden Berg to present papers at a global symposium on a newly discovered major oil potential that occurs all around the world.  Microbial carbonates are a distinctive type of reservoir rock that until recently was unrecognized in terms of oil potential.  Several new oil fields have been discovered in various areas of the world and some are already producing. Chidsey and Vanden Berg researched both modern (where microbial carbonates are forming today in Great Salt Lake) and ancient (the roughly 54 million-year-old Green River Formation) analogs.  They found microbial rocks in Utah (the Green River Formation), particularly in the Uinta Basin.  Their presentations will make oil companies aware of the vast new oil potential in Utah.

Tom Chidsey and Mike Vanden Berg in front of the “map that changed the world”, William Smith’s geologic map of Great Britain, published in 1815. Displayed at the Geological Society of London, this was the first geologic map ever created.

Utah Geological Survey

Geologists take flight

On April 18, 2013, four geologists from the Hazards Program of the Utah Geological  Survey flew along the Wasatch Front in a Utah Air National Guard Blackhawk helicopter. The flight was part of the Great Utah ShakeOut 2013 earthquake drill, as well as an opportunity to take high-resolution photos  of the fault scarps along the Front from the air. The four geologists were Adam Hiscock, Gregg Buekelman, Mike Hylland, and Adam McKean. It was a freezing cold day in April! Over 1200 photos were taken from the air.


Adam McKean, Mike Hylland, Gregg Buekelman, and Adam Hiscock


Mt Timpanogos

Utah Geological Survey

Utah Master Naturalist students hike Wilson Peak

A glacial end (terminal) moraine in Pine Creek Valley, Wasatch Mountain State Park.

This Saturday Utah Geological Survey geologist Jim Davis and Utah State Parks naturalist Kathy Donnell led a leisurely hike up to Wilson Peak in Wasatch Mountain State Park for Utah State University students enrolled in the course “Utah Master Naturalist.”  The Utah Master Naturalist Program is a three credit certification course open to anyone who is interested in learning more about Utah’s natural world.  The topics for the Wilson Peak hike, part of the “mountains” section of the course, included the Wasatch Mountain’s geologic history, alpine glaciation and glacial landforms, the ice ages, and identification of rocks such as the Tertiary Pine Creek and Valeo volcanic stocks that are granodiorites, the Cambrian Tintic Quartzite, and the Precambrian Mineral Fork Tillite.

Utah Master Naturalist Program, Utah State University

Utah Geological Survey

EVEN BIGGER EARTHQUAKE POSSIBLE WHEN SALT LAKE'S 'BIG ONE' HITS

sltrib.com

 

 

 

New research suggests a seismic connection ties the Salt Lake portion of the Wasatch Fault with the parallel West Valley fault zone about six miles to the west. The two frame the Salt Lake Valley and a potential, simultaneous rupture could make Salt Lake’s “Big One” a little bigger.

Chris DuRoss and Michael Hylland of the Utah Geological Survey reported these findings at the Seismological Society of America meeting Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

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Utah Geological Survey

Exposing the Wasatch Fault – A Source of Large Earthquakes along the Wasatch Front

Video highlighting a recent trench investigation of the Wasatch fault

The Wasatch fault is Utah’s longest and most active fault, extending along the Wasatch Front from southern Idaho to central Utah. Although no large earthquakes have ruptured the fault historically, abundant geologic evidence indicates that the fault is capable of generating earthquakes as large as magnitude 6.5–7.5.

This video takes you along the trace of the Wasatch fault, showing its proximity to cities and towns in the Wasatch Front region, and also highlighting the history of past large earthquakes on the central, most active segments of the fault. The video also includes footage from a recent trench investigation at the North Creek site on the Nephi segment of the fault, and describes how geologists interpret evidence of large, prehistoric earthquakes.

Utah Geological Survey

VIEW AIR PHOTOS COVERING UTAH FROM 1935 TO 2004 ON THE UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WEBSITE

kcsg.com

More than 74,000 aerial photographs covering Utah are now available on the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) website. The UGS Aerial Imagery Collection web application allows easy access, viewing, and downloading of aerial photographs. Various federal agencies, the UGS, and other organizations originally acquired these photographs for a variety of agricultural, geologic, and land-use purposes. Additional aerial photographs are being added.

 

 

Utah Geological Survey

2012 UGS EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to Jay Hill who was named the 2012 UGS Employee of the Year.  Jay is a GIS analyst in the Editorial section and has worked for the UGS for four years. His excellent work, positive attitude, and sense of humor make Jay a deserving recipient of the UGS Employee of the Year Award.

Utah Geological Survey
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New Publications

LATE HOLOCENE EARTHQUAKE HISTORY OF THE BRIGHAM CITY SEGMENT OF THE WASATCH FAULT ZONE AT THE HANSEN CANYON, KOTTER CANYON, AND PEARSONS CANYON TRENCH SITES, BOX ELDER COUNTY, UTAH

By Christopher B. DuRoss, Stephen F. Personius, Anthony J. Crone, Greg N. McDonald, and Richard W. Briggs

This report (28 p. + 5 appendices, and 3 plates) presents new information on the timing and displacement of late Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the Brigham City segment of the Wasatch fault zone, collected as part of a joint Utah Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey seismic-hazard evaluation. Paleoseismic data from two trench sites on the northern Brigham City segment (Hansen Canyon and Kotter Canyon sites) confirm the timing of the youngest surface-faulting earthquake, and results from a trench site on the previously unstudied southern part of the segment (Pearsons Canyon site) have important fault-segmentation implications. These results help clarify the timing, recurrence, and extent of large-magnitude earthquakes on the Brigham City segment, which will help improve seismic-hazard evaluations of the region. This study was partially funded by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.

Special Study 142    $19.95

VIEW REPORT
GET IT HERE

 

GREAT SALT LAKE BRINE CHEMISTRY DATABASE, 1966–2011

by Andrew Rupke and Ammon McDonald

This open-file release includes a brief 7-page report and the Great Salt Lake brine chemistry database in digital format. The report briefly describes the Great Salt Lake brine sampling program and database that the Utah Geological Survey has conducted and maintained since 1966. The Great Salt Lake brine chemistry database includes information on chemistry, salinity, and density of Great Salt Lake brine samples that have been collected from over 50 locations on Great Salt Lake. For this release the database has been reorganized into one Excel spreadsheet file for ease of use.

Open-File Report 596      $14.95

VIEW IT HERE
GET IT HERE

MODERATELY SALINE GROUNDWATER IN THE UINTA BASIN, UTAH

By Paul B. Anderson, Michael D. Vanden Berg, Stephanie Carney, Craig Morgan, and Sonja Heuscher

The base of the moderately saline water (BMSW) (10,000 mg/L TDS transition) in the Uinta Basin was first mapped in 1987 and re-mapped in this study using similar methods.  Water samples from primarily oil and gas activities through the basin’s history were compiled into a database (2788 records) and used as an aid in mapping.  In addition, geophysical logs from 260 wells distributed throughout the basin were interpreted and used in mapping the BMSW.  Regional groundwater flow paths, saline minerals, structural shape of the basin, and faults and fractures strongly influence the distribution of TDS levels.  Both older and new data points were used to create an elevation contour map of the position of the shallowest occurrence of the BMSW below the surface.  Depth-correlated water analysis data were mapped and compared to the log-derived BMSW.  Mapped water analysis data indicate the northern portion of the basin has numerous occurrences of water fresher than 10,000 mg/L below the BMSW, indicating a complex stratification of salinity coincident with the area of primary recharge, whereas shallow saline waters dominate the central portion of the basin. 30-page report + 9 plates

Special Study 144    $24.95

VIEW IT HERE
GET IT HERE

 

Interim Geologic Map of the Rush Valley 30′ x 60′ Quadrangle, Tooele, Utah, and Salt Lake Counties, Utah

By Donald L. Clark, Stefan M. Kirby, and Charles G. Oviatt

This CD contains two plates—the geologic map at 1:62,500 scale and the explanation sheet—plus a 62-page booklet, all in PDF format.

Open-File Report 593    $19.95

VIEW IT HERE
GET IT HERE

 

 

Utah Geological Survey

North Creek Trench time-lapse

A 3-minute, time-lapse video, taken over 10 days, showing the excavation and study of the North Creek trench on the Nephi segment of the Wasatch fault zone.