ksl.com
Gov. Gary Herbert has designated April 4-10 as Earthquake Preparedness Week.
A website provides tips on what to do in preparation for an earthquake and its aftermath.
The Utah Seismic Safety Commission says about 700 earthquakes, including aftershocks, occur every year in Utah.
Roughly 80 percent of the state’s population would be affected by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch Fault.
thespectrum.com
Join Bill Lund, Senior Scientist with the Utah Geological Survey, and learn about the structure of the active earth of Southwestern Utah. Might we experience events similar to those that have recently affected Haiti, Turkey, Chile, and Japan?
April 9: The Geology of Kanab Point
April 16: Pioche; The Early Days
April 23: Earth Day Celebration
April 30: To Be Determined
thespectrum.com
A series of springtime lectures starts Friday with a presentation on faults and earthquakes in southwestern Utah, scheduled for noon at the Interagency Information Center, 345 E. Riverside Drive in St. George.
Bill Lund, senior scientist with the Utah Geological Survey, is scheduled to give a presentation on the structure of active earth in southwestern Utah and give insight as to whether the region could experience an earthquake similar to those that recently affected Haiti, Turkey, Chile and Japan.
The April Brown Bag Program series, sponsored by the Dixie/Arizona Strip Interpretive Association, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, will feature lectures each Friday of the month, covering topics such as the geology of Kanab Point, the history of Pioche, and a musical Earth Day celebration.
Lectures are free to attend, but space is limited and those interested are encouraged to obtain tickets in advance from the Interagency Information Center.
For more information, call 435-688-3246.
Salt Lake Tribune
Since 1939, the Cedar Valley spreading west and north of Cedar City has dropped 100 feet and the only way to stop or slow the process is replenish the underlying aquifer with at least as much water as is being discharged through pumping.
That was one of the statistics the Utah Geological Survey delivered to the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District at its board meeting Thursday night in Cedar City.
William Lund, senior scientist with the agency’s southern Utah office, said the practice of overpumping causes noticeable fissures in the ground that sink all the way to the water table and allow pollutants to seep into the water. Most of the water is now used for agriculture, but officials are concerned about polluting the water source should it be needed for other uses.
“They start as a hairline crack and fast erode into gullies,” said Lund of the fissures.
He noted a fissure first noticed in 1960 northeast of Enoch has grown 2.25 miles long and has snaked its way into a subdivision where home construction was set to begin.
Although only one structure was built and affected by the fissure, it has disrupted the infrastructure that had already been completed, including cracking curbs and gutters, streets and the sewer system, which now runs backward.
Lund said it is the only location in Utah he is aware of that has been damaged by a fissure.
Lund’s updateis part of an $85,700 study the Geological Survey is conducting in conjunction with the conservancy district. The agency is nearing completion of its final report after nearly two years of study.
CORRECTION
Cedar Valley has not dropped 100 feet! (it has subsided 4 feet at the most). Erroneous information was reported by most of the media. Please note the Utah Geological Survey’s following corrections to
IN THE MEDIA
Deseret News
The 2010 Utah Renewable Energy Conference will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus.
Hosted by the Utah Solar Energy Association, the event will feature details about a new Utah State Energy Program rebate for home and business owners; local clean energy companies; and experts in solar, wind and energy-efficiency technologies.
The cost is $5 for individuals and $10 for families or groups of two to five people. Attendees will receive $100 off a solar energy system from installers participating in the conference.
RELATED LINKS
The rock, estimated to be about 21 x 17 x 17 feet and weighing about 450 tons, slid and fell from the upper slope of Rockville Bench, began to roll downslope, collided with a large stationary boulder at the base of the slope, and shattered into numerous smaller fragments that damaged several outbuildings, two cars, and a house. Although people were home at the time, no one was injured.
The rock fall occurred shortly after a protracted storm event on February 5-9, 2010 that produced 1.38 inches of rain at the Zion Canyon RAWS station, 4.5 miles northeast of Rockville.
Related Links
Technical Report (pdf)
Landslides: Events & Information
Rock-Fall Hazards (pdf)
Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. (Synapse) was contracted by several Utah State agencies, including the Utah State Energy Program, the Division of Public Utilities, the Division of Air Quality, the Committee of Consumer Services, and the Governor’s Energy Advisor, to develop and apply methods of calculating water and health co-benefits of displacing electricity generation technologies in Utah with new energy efficiency or renewable energy.
repost from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Sandy—Kids can catch fish, learn about predators and find out how to ride an ATV safely at this year’s DNR Youth Outdoor Sports Fair.
The sports fair is part of the upcoming International Sportsmen’s Exposition.
The expo will be held March 18 to March 21,2010 at the South Towne Exposition Center, 9575 S. State in Sandy. The cost to attend the exposition, which includes the youth fair, is $12 for adults. Kids 15 years of age or younger can attend for free.
The Youth Outdoor Sports Fair will be held at the south end of the exposition center. Six divisions will host activities: Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Oil, Gas and Mining; Parks and Recreation; the Utah Geological Survey; Water Resources; and Wildlife Resources.
More than 20 activities await children who attend the fair. Among the things kids can do:
“We want to get children excited about the outdoors,” says Mike Styler, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. “We also want to teach them skills that will make their next trip into the outdoors safe and enjoyable.”
More information about the International Sportsmen’s Exposition is available at www.sportsexpos.com.
Six-million dollars will soon be turned into roughly $50 million worth of energy efficiency projects in Utah. The Utah State Energy Program (USEP) is partnering with the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) to invest more than $50 million in energy efficiency measures in state-owned buildings.
“This partnership allows DFCM to add $44 million for numerous energy efficiency upgrades,” said Meghan Golden, USEP Clean Energy Program Specialist. “Also, the projects will be completed in a relatively short time frame.” Energy efficiency projects may involve activities such as replacing lighting with more efficient systems or upgrading heating ventilation and air conditioning equipment.
Related Links
Utah State Energy Program
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, is a colorful circular “belly button,” unique among the broad mesas and deep canyons of the Colorado Plateau.
The rim of Upheaval Dome is 3 miles across and over 1000 feet above the core floor. The central peak in the core is 3000 feet in diameter and rises 750 feet from the floor.
Since the late 1990s, the origin of the Upheaval Dome structure has been considered to be either a pinched-off salt dome or a complex meteorite impact crater; in other words the “belly button” is either an “outie” (dome) or “innie” (crater).
Both origin hypotheses account for the overall structure of Upheaval Dome, assuming approximately a mile of overlying rock has been eroded. The main differences between the two hypotheses are the amount of time and the pressures needed to produce the structure.
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:
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Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
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