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Bear River, Rich County, Utah
Photographer: Chris DuRoss; © 2011
This sand boil (eruption of liquefied sand) resulted from ground shaking during the 2010 magnitude 4.5 Randolph earthquake, which is one of the smallest earthquakes recorded to generate liquefaction. Bear River, Rich County.
It’s Thursday, and time for another “Spot the Rock” challenge! Let’s see how many of you can guess where this is!
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UPDATE: Location Revealed
Alhambra Rock is a diatreme seen to the west of Scenic Byway 163 is southeastern Utah just south of Mexican Hat. Explosive Tertiary volcanic events created diatremes, which are volcanic necks or plugs. Small vents erupted pulverized rock and gas from the magma chamber to the earth’s surface. The magma-filled vents cooled and hardened, and were covered by sediments that later eroded. The remaining volcanic necks now stand in stark outline above the surrounding landscape. Diatremes are present along Comb Ridge, and are also in adjacent states, and include the famous Shiprock in northwestern New Mexico. You can read more about the surrounding area in our “Canyon County” pamphlet (pdf) here: http://1.usa.gov/1cqMLQ9
thespectrum.com
SILVER REEF — The Museum at Silver Reef is sponsoring a “Geology Walk and Talk” Feb. 22 led by geologist Marc Deshowitz. The presentation is free to the public and will begin at 10 a.m. at the Cosmopolitan restaurant next to the museum, 1903 Wells Fargo Road in Silver Reef. The walk will lead to a view of the White Reef, about a half-mile, gently uphill).
Wasatch Plateau, eastern Sanpete County, Utah
Photographer: Rich Giraud; © 2011
The lower part of the Slide Lake landslide has averaged 14 feet of movement per year between 2004 and 2009. The landslide occurred in the Tertiary-Cretaceous-age North Horn Formation, which is known for producing many large landslides. Near Joes Valley Reservoir, the 1.2 miles long landslide deflects Seely Creek.
By: Tyler R. Knudsen
The Enoch quadrangle, in eastern Iron County, Utah, includes the northeastern part of Cedar Valley and parts of the adjacent Red Hills. The Red Hills-structurally consisting of an elevated, fault-bounded horst block-expose the upper parts of the Tertiary Claron Formation as well as a chaotic mass of Miocene and Oligocene volcanic rocks that may be part of the Markagunt Megabreccia that is widely exposed on the central and northern Markagunt Plateau to the east. Basaltic andesite flows cover large parts of the North Hills in the northeastern part of the quadrangle. Earth fissures related to groundwater overdraft of the Cedar Valley aquifer and resultant land subsidence have formed along parts of the eastern and western margins of the Enoch graben.
This CD contains two plates-a geologic map at 1:24,000 scale and an explanation plate-and a 12-page booklet, all in PDF Format. The latest version of Adobe Reader is required to view the PDF files.
Salt Creek Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County, Utah
Photographer: Martha Hayden; © 2011
Pictographs painted about 1,000 years ago on a Permian-age Cedar Mesa Sandstone cliff face in Salt Creek Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County.
By: Tyler R. Knudsen and Robert F. Biek
The Cedar City NW quadrangle includes the southwestern part of Cedar Valley and parts of the adjacent Eightmile Hills and Granite Mountain in Iron County, Utah. Exposed strata range from the Jurassic Temple Cap Formation to Oligocene-age quartz monzonite of the Granite Mountain laccolith. Emplacement of the Granite Mountain and Three Peaks laccoliths was controlled by the east-verging Sevier-age Iron Springs Gap thrust fault. Replacement manetite-hematite ore bodies in the Co-op Creek Limestone Member exist locally along the margins of the laccoliths and have made the Iron Springs mining district the largest iron-producing district in the western U.S. In the Eightmile Hills, regional ash-flow tuffs are locally involved in a large gravity slide shed off the Granite Mountain laccolith. Earth fissures related to groundwater overdraft of the Cedar Valley aquifer and resultant land subsidence have formed north and west of Quichapa Lake.
This CD contains two pates-a geologic map at 1:24,000 scale and an explanation plate-and a 18-page booklet, all in PDF format. The latest version of Adobe Reader is required to view the PDF files.
By: Tyler R. Knudsen
The Cedar City 7.5′ quadrangle is roughly centered on the rapidly-growing community of Cedar City in Iron County, Utah. It straddles the boundary between the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces, which at the latitude of the quadrangle, is defined by the north-south-trending Hurricane fault. The eastern half of the quadrangle encroaches on the western margin of the Markagunt Plateau (Colorado Plateau). Rocks there are mostly Mesozoic in age, and have been moderately to highly deformed by Sevier-age thrusting and folding and by later basin-and-range-style normal faulting. The western half of the quadrangle lies in Cedar Valley, a typical Basin and Range basin filled with hundreds to thousands of feet of unconsolidated basin-fill sediments and basaltic lava flows.
This CD contains two plates-a geologic map at 1:24,000 scale and an explanation plate-and a 20-page booklet, all in PDF format. The latest version of Adobe Reader is required to view the PDF files.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, San Juan County, Utah
Photographer: Don DeBlieux; © 2011
Dinosaur tracks on a block of fallen Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone. North of the confluence of the San Juan and Colorado Rivers, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, San Juan County.
Buckhorn Wash, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah
Photographer: J. Buck Ehler; ©2011
Petroglyphs etched into a Navajo Sandstone cliff, probably about 1,000 years ago in Buckhorn Wash, San Rafael Swell, Emery County.
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.
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