Tag Archive for: geological

Utah Geological Survey

APRIL SHOWERS BRING UTAH MUDSLIDES

deseretnews.com

With moisture-laden soil across the state receiving fresh bursts of precipitation this week, it’s not just floods that loom as a threat for Utahns, but mudslides as well.

“It’s not too soon to say there are potential problem areas,” said Rich Giraud, senior geologist with the Utah Geologic Survey’s geologic hazards program.

April is typically the month along the Wasatch Front for slide activity, but Giraud said there have already been some problems reported, with slides in North Salt Lake and on transportation corridors such as I-80 at Parleys Summit.

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Utah Geological Survey

CEDAR HILLS CLARIFIES REQUIREMENT FOR BUILDING ON HILLSIDES

heraldextra.com

The recent earthquakes and tsunamis in other parts of the world have made some people along the Wasatch Front wonder if they are ready for a natural disaster in their own community. Many have checked their emergency kits, food storages and even building foundations in preparation.

In Cedar Hills, there is a different worry involving a recurring landslide, with the latest occurrence in August 2005 that caused the evacuation of many homes and families.

As part of precautions, the Cedar Hills Planning Commission took action on Tuesday to recommend adding a new paragraph to the current City Code describing how to measure the required 30 percent grade for building.

The code was made to stop developments from inching up toward dangerous ground and onto areas that may be affected by the landslide.

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Utah Geological Survey

GeoSights—Glacial Landforms in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Salt Lake County, Utah

Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons contain some of the most dramatic glacial scenery in the Wasatch Range. This article highlights some of the numerous and varied glacial features in both canyons.

Geologic Information: The Cottonwood Canyons and many of their tributaries and high-elevation basins were filled with hundreds of feet of glacial ice between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago.

The Little Cottonwood Canyon glacier reached beyond the mouth of the canyon and extended into Lake Bonneville, calving ice bergs into the Ice Age lake. The Big Cottonwood Canyon glacier, however, advanced only about 5 miles down its canyon. Presumably this was due to less snow accumulation in Big Cottonwood’s catchment area.

Valley (alpine) glaciers originate at the head of valleys in high mountain ranges and then flow down preexisting stream valleys. They erode and transport considerable amounts of rock debris, enabling them to significantly modify the landscape. Many distinctive erosional and depositional landforms result; however, this article addresses only the more prominent local features. Beautiful granitic rock that has been sculpted by glacial ice in both canyons enhances the spectacular rugged, mountainous scenery.

Erosional Landforms and Features: Glaciers pluck and abrade a staggering amount of rock from the canyon walls and floors, which is then carried along with the moving ice. Thus, the hefty mass of rock material and ice perform some serious erosion. The valley bottom and walls are scoured vigorously, creating a deeper and much wider U-shaped canyon—one of the most distinctive valley glacial features.

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Utah Geological Survey

NEW STUDY RELEASED ON 'THUNDER THIGHS' DINO IN UT

deseretnews.com

Fossil remains of an athletic sauropod with a potentially mighty kick found in eastern Utah offer a rare bounty of clues into how four-legged herbivores thrived, according to a new study of the discovery.

The results, published this week in the British journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, show that an unusually large hip bone compared to other sauropods could mean that the Brontomerus Mcintoshi had powerful hind legs to kick away predators, such as raptors.

“This is a very exciting discovery, because a majority of sauropods were known to have lived during the Jurassic period, but these fossils show us that they lived well into the early Cretacious period,” said Mathew Wedel, an assistant professor of anatomy at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif.

The fossils were excavated by American scientists in the mid-1990s.

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*correction: Jim Kirkland is the state paleontologist for the Utah Geological Survey.

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Utah Geological Survey

CREWS PREPARE TO DEMOLISH LANDSLIDE-DAMAGED NORTH SALT LAKE HOME

ksl.com

Demolition crews today are preparing to knock down a house damaged by a slow-moving landslide in the Springhill area.

City manager Barry Edwards said a recent report from the Utah Geological Survey indicated there had been “significant movement of the ground” in the past 30 days, creating additional damage to homes in the North Salt Lake neighborhood.

“There’s movement underneath the house,” Edwards said. “It’s pushing the house down the hill.”

Front pillars recently have fallen from the bank-owned home near 150 South and 400 East. In addition, the floor has buckled, and windows have broken.

“It’s getting in a position where the house itself poses somewhat of a safety hazard,” he said.

The bank obtained a demolition permit from the city, and crews were waiting for the gas to be shut off to the home before beginning demolition work.

Edwards said there are other houses in the area that are in similar condition and also should be torn down. However, owners of those homes haven’t yet said that’s what they want to do.

“We haven’t pressed (the issue) because the people who lived in those houses have already been financially stressed,” he said. “We don’t want to add any financial burden on them right now.”

According to the Utah Geological Survey’s website, the state agency has been monitoring conditions in the Springhill neighborhood since 1998. Residents first began noticing cracks related to minor movement in their homes about a year earlier.

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Utah Geological Survey

Summary of Springhill Landslide Movement and Conditions in 2010

This section summarizes landslide conditions from January 20 through December 7, 2010. Precipitation for the water year is also discussed.

Landslide Movement

The landslide was active in 2010 and had been continuously moving at a very slow rate since at least January 2008. Measurements indicate that different parts of the landslide were moving at slightly different rates. In general, the landslide moved to the northwest, toward Valley View Drive. Ground deformation measurements were collected from survey markers using a steel measuring tape and a survey-grade GPS instrument, depending on location.

The UGS monitored ground deformation at several locations on the landslide with wooden stakes to estimate approximate movement. At the head or main scarp of the landslide (uppermost part), stretching (points on the ground get farther apart) occurred due to landslide movement. At the toe of the landslide (lowermost part), shortening (points on the ground get closer together) occurred.

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Utah Geological Survey

New Geologic Maps of Southern Portions of the Uinta Mountains Now Available

Two new geologic maps near Vernal, Utah have been released. The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) recently published two 1:24,000-scale geologic maps covering a part of the south flank of the Uinta Mountains near Vernal. These maps provide data useful to consultants/land-use managers to address geologic hazard and resource issues; they will also be of interest to educators and others simply interested in learning about the fascinating geology of the Vernal area.

“The Dry Fork and Steinaker quadrangles contain some of the most scenic and geologically diverse landscapes in the southern Uintas,” said Doug Sprinkel, UGS geologist. “These quadrangles reflect that diversity and provide basic geologic information for the popular Steinaker Reservoir, the Red Cloud Loop Drive, and the spectacular Flaming Gorge-Uintas National Scenic Byway.”

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Utah Geological Survey

UTAH ELECTRICITY RATES AMONG LOWEST IN THE WEST

deseretnews.com

Paying to keep the lights on can put a strain on many a household budget. But some Utahns might be surprised to learn that their electricity rates are among the lowest in the West.

Last week, Rocky Mountain Power announced it would be seeking a $232.4 million general rate hike, which would increase the typical household power bill by about $10 per month.

The company said the reasons for the rate hike request are the ever-increasing costs to produce electricity and heavy investments in equipment to serve customers. The funding is also needed to maintain and upgrade existing facilities as well as increase capacity to meet increasing customer demand.

That would seem all well and good, but the announcement was met with skepticism by some ratepayers who thought their rates were already high enough. The Utah Public Service Commission will have 240 days from the date of submission to review the request before deciding how much of an increase will be implemented sometime this fall.

While some Utahns may believe they pay a pretty penny to power their homes, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration would suggest otherwise when compared to neighboring states and the rest of the country.

Among eight states that make up the Mountain Region, Utah paid the second lowest residential electricity rates at 8.51 cents per kilowatt-hour as of October 2010. Only Idaho had a lower residential rate at 8.02 cents per kilowatt-hour — also the lowest in the nation — while Nevada paid the highest regional residential rates at 12.18 cents per kilowatt-hour.

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Utah Geological Survey

REPORT FINDS UTAH SCHOOLS AT RISK IN EARTHQUAKE

necn.com

A volunteer panel that assesses earthquake risks in Utah said it examined nearly 130 school buildings in the state and found more than half fail to meet federal earthquake safety guidelines.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday that 77 of 128 Utah school buildings examined by the Utah Seismic Safety Commission failed the so-called sidewalk surveys last fall.

Officials say most school buildings are made of unreinforced bricks and blocks. They’d be unlikely to stand up to a significant temblor.

The 15-member commission — made up of engineers, architects, government officials and others — reviews earthquake hazards and advises lawmakers, and state and local agencies. Its latest findings are in a report called “Utah Students at Risk: The Earthquake Hazards of School Buildings.”

Using a computerized seismic evaluation tool approved by FEMA, the engineers found that 51 of the 128 school buildings were strong enough to withstand a significant temblor. Another 77 buildings had a 1-in-100 chance of collapsing during the biggest earthquake that is considered likely.

The Utah Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey have said an earthquake about 500 years ago tore a deep gash along a 35-mile section of the Wasatch Fault known as the Weber segment.

The quake was likely a magnitude 6.5 or 7 — large enough to cause major damage if it occurred today.

Project engineer Barry Welliver says all 1,000 school buildings in the state need to be checked.

“We’re trying to say you can’t afford to do nothing,” said Welliver, a member of the Structural Engineers Association of Utah, which co-sponsored the report.

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Utah Geological Survey

NEW DINOSAURS DISCOVERED

thefutureofthings.com

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Utah Geological Survey in Salt Lake City discovered and classified the skeletons of two new species of dinosaurs. Dated to the Early Cretaceous Epoch (approximately 145.5 to 99.6 million years ago), both are beaked herbivorous dinosaurs classified as iguanodonts. The two skeletons were found at different sites in Utah, one near Green River and the other near Arches National Park.

The first new species of dinosaur is hippodraco scutodens. The first part of the name means “horse dragon,” and the second “shield tooth.” The scientists chose the name because the shape of the skull resembles that of a horse and its tooth crowns look much like oblong shields. The dinosaur also has a shelf of bone extending along the lower jaw parallel to its teeth, something not found in other iguanodonts. Paleontologists recovered nearly the entire skeleton, including the skull, vertebrae, and limbs, although many of the bones were crushed. It is estimated at 15 feet long, although scientists do not think the dinosaur was fully grown when it died, so adult hippodraco dinosaurs may have been larger. The dinosaur discovered in Utah is believed to be approximately 125 million years old.

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