kcpw.com
The University of Utah is starting a new masters program in petroleum engineering to help fill high paying jobs that are available in the industry. But some say this is short sighted and fossil fuels are on the way out. KCPW Reporter Kim Schuske has this story.
Core Workshop: Microbial Carbonate Reservoirs from Utah
Field Trip: Modern and Ancient Microbial Carbonates in Utah—Examples from Great Salt Lake and the Uinta Basin’s Tertiary (Eocene) Green River Formation
To register for either the short course, field trip, or both, go online at: RMSAAPG2013.COM and look for short course #4 and field trip #5.
Details are listed below:
Short Course #4: Microbial Carbonate Reservoirs from Utah – Core Workshop
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. at the Utah Geological Survey’s Core Research Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Instructors: David E. Eby, Eby Petrography & Consulting, Inc.; Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., Utah Geological Survey; Michael D. Vanden Berg, Utah Geological Survey
Fee: $200 for professionals, $100 for students (includes lunch, refreshments, and course notes)
Limit: 30 professionals, 5 students
Post-Convention Field Trip #5: Modern and Ancient Microbial Carbonates in Utah: Examples from Great Salt Lake and the Uinta Basin’s Tertiary (Eocene) Green River Formation
Date: Thursday, September 26 – Saturday, September 28
Leaders: David E. Eby (Eby Petrography & Consulting, Inc.), Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr. (Utah Geological Survey), Michael D. Vanden Berg, Utah Geological Survey
Itinerary: Departs from the Hilton in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 8:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 26, and returns to the same venue or the Salt Lake International Airport by approximately 11:00 A.M., Saturday, September 28
Fee: $700 per person. Includes transportation, lunches, refreshments, two nights lodging (double occupancy), and field guide.
Limit: 24 persons
Dr. Jim Kirkland, State Paleontologist with the Utah Geological Survey, will be speaking at Anasazi State Park (http://www.stateparks.utah.gov/park/anasazi-state-park-museum) this Friday, July 12, at 1:00 pm as part of the Boulder Heritage Festival. Jim’s talk is titled “Utah’s Outstanding Dinosaur Heritage.” This event is free to the public. For more information, go to http://www.boulderutah.com/heritage/.
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.
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
If you are interested in learning about Utah dinosaurs, you might like this blog.
http://phenomena.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
801-537-3300 (phone)
801-537-3400 (fax)
Mailing Address:
PO BOX 146100
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
Monday through Friday,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
