Fall colors and snow compliment brightly colored lichen on Miocene-age volcanic boulders on the shore of Johnson Valley Reservoir. Cloud shadows dapple the Fish Lake Hightop, one of several high plateaus in central Utah dominated by Tertiary-age volcanic rocks.
Fishlake National Forest, Sevier County, Utah. Photo by J. Lucy Jordan.
Fishlake National Forest, Piute County, Utah
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen
Storm clouds gather over Mount Belknap (12,137 feet) in the Tushar Mountains, Utah’s third-highest range. The smooth, rounded slopes of this summit ridge are composed of easily eroded volcanic ash and lava flows. The mountains are part of the eruptive center of the Marysvale volcanic field, an area of intense volcanic activity between 32 and 22 million years ago.
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.