Tag Archive for: Bioherms
Is that coral in Great Salt Lake? Great Salt Lake was lower than average last summer, exposing coral-like structures that are usually beneath water. Maybe some of you saw them!
Great Salt Lake has reef-like structures that resemble coral and are often called coral, yet they are not true coral. Algae build bulbous sedimentary rock structures known by various names: algal bioherms and stromatolites are two of the most common.
Read more about bioherms and stromatolites in our “Glad You Asked” article HERE
Great Salt Lake is a modern hypersaline lake and a remnant of freshwater Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. It serves as a modern analogue to the Uinta Basin’s lacustrine Green River Formation and lacustrine microbial formations worldwide, including several recent very large oil discoveries in the deepwater offshore Brazil (pre-salt Santos Basin and others). Actively forming microbial stromatolites, pustular thrombolites, and tufa deposits are found within the lake and along its shores. Beaches and nearby dunes consist of abundant associated hypersaline ooids, coated grains, peloids, and rip-up clasts.
Recently, a few geologists from the UGS traveled to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake to investigate the modern microbial carbonates (i.e., bioherms) first hand. The most convenient place to see the bioherms is in Bridger Bay on the northwest side of the island. The bioherms live in roughly 1 to 3 feet of water, of course this will depend on overall lake level elevation. Now is a good time to see these unique structures as the lake level is quite low.
Geologists from around the world have traveled to Utah to see these modern bioherms and relate their depositional environment back to ancient examples that now serve as excellent oil reservoirs.
Tag Archive for: Bioherms
Is that coral in Great Salt Lake? Great Salt Lake was lower than average last summer, exposing coral-like structures that are usually beneath water. Maybe some of you saw them!
Great Salt Lake has reef-like structures that resemble coral and are often called coral, yet they are not true coral. Algae build bulbous sedimentary rock structures known by various names: algal bioherms and stromatolites are two of the most common.
Read more about bioherms and stromatolites in our “Glad You Asked” article HERE
Great Salt Lake is a modern hypersaline lake and a remnant of freshwater Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. It serves as a modern analogue to the Uinta Basin’s lacustrine Green River Formation and lacustrine microbial formations worldwide, including several recent very large oil discoveries in the deepwater offshore Brazil (pre-salt Santos Basin and others). Actively forming microbial stromatolites, pustular thrombolites, and tufa deposits are found within the lake and along its shores. Beaches and nearby dunes consist of abundant associated hypersaline ooids, coated grains, peloids, and rip-up clasts.
Recently, a few geologists from the UGS traveled to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake to investigate the modern microbial carbonates (i.e., bioherms) first hand. The most convenient place to see the bioherms is in Bridger Bay on the northwest side of the island. The bioherms live in roughly 1 to 3 feet of water, of course this will depend on overall lake level elevation. Now is a good time to see these unique structures as the lake level is quite low.
Geologists from around the world have traveled to Utah to see these modern bioherms and relate their depositional environment back to ancient examples that now serve as excellent oil reservoirs.
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.