Tag Archive for: geological

Utah Geological Survey

Laying to Rest an OverARCHing Issue

landscape-arch1Does Utah have the biggest natural arch in the world? Yes. Sort of. Depends on your definition of “biggest”.

Mapping geologists with the Utah Geological Survey recently published an article in the May 2009 edition of Survey Notes that attempts to answer that question. “In nearly three decades of working in Utah’s geology, I have been asked many times, ‘What is the largest/longest/biggest arch in the world?'” says Grant Willis, article author and UGS mapping geologist. “For years I told people it was Landscape Arch in Arches National Park.”


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Related Links

Natural Arch and Bridge Society Web site

Survey Notes- May 2009 article

Salt Lake Tribune article

Deseret News article

KSL.com article


Utah Geological Survey

OPEN-FILE REPORT 539

OFR-539MINERALOGY AND FLUID CHEMISTRY OF SURFICIAL SEDIMENTS IN THE NEWFOUNDLAND BASIN, TOOELE AND BOX ELDER COUNTIES, UTAH
Blair F. Jones, William W. White III, Kathryn M. Conko, Daniel M. Webster, and James F. Kohler

This CD contains a 53-page report (plus 43-page appendices) that details a three-year field study of Newfoundland Basin’s shallow-brine aquifer and associated playa and lacustrine sediments. Chemical and mineralogical characterization was performed on brine and selected core samples collected from the shallow-brine aquifer and sediments intercepted by 24 boreholes and 8 sets of nested monitoring wells. Aquifer tests were also conducted on specific boreholes and monitoring wells. Ground-water-brine transport in sediments of the shallow-brine aquifer occurred mainly in the permeable sedimentary facies, and possibly in vertical fissures observed in mudflat-clay facies. TEQUIL predicted mineral-sequence plots, from simulated step-wise evaporation of pore-fluid brines from peripheral and central-basin core samples, demonstrated that near-surface pore-fluid brines (<5-foot/1.5-meter depth) were a mixture of pre-West Desert Pumping Project ground water and Great Salt Lake brine. Conversely, pore fluids from core depths ranging from 5 to nearly 7 feet (1.5 to 2.1 meters) below ground level had predicted mineral sequence plots similar to the pre-pumping ground-water brine.

CD (53 p. + 43 p. appendices)
OFR-539……..$14.95

Utah Geological Survey

SURVEY NOTES volume 41, number 2

survey-notes-cover-41_2UTAH’S NATURAL ROCK ARCHES

This issue contains:

*   What is the Biggest Natural Arch in the World?
*   Ancient Landslides of the Beaver Dam Mountains
*   Virtual Geologic Map Overlays
*   Energy News: Utah’s Renewable Energy Zone Assessment
*   GeoSights: Wall Arch—A Fallen Giant
*   Survey News
*   Teacher’s Corner
*   New Publications

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PAST ISSUES

Utah Geological Survey

Landsliding in Northern Utah, Early 2009

An upslope-facing scarp in the Springhill landslide in North Salt Lake. Additional damage to several of the houses on the landslide has resulted from an increase in the rate of movement in 2009

Local wet conditions in northern Utah have caused some landslides to reactivate along with other types of shallow slope failures. Areas with active landslides in early 2009 include Ogden Valley in eastern Weber County, western Morgan County, southeastern Davis County, and Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah County. Examples include:

1.  reactivation or acceleration of persistently moving historical landslides,
2.  minor movement of landslides in highway cut slopes,
3.  local highway embankment and rock-wall failures, and
4.  local shallow slides on steep slopes in pre-existing landslides.

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Utah Geological Survey

OPEN-FILE REPORT 548

OFR-548COMPILATION OF 1970s WOODWARD-LUNDGREN & ASSOCIATES WASATCH FAULT INVESTIGATION REPORTS AND OBLIQUE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, WASATCH FRONT AND CACHE VALLEY, UTAH AND IDAHO
Steve D. Bowman, Keith Beisner, and Corey Unger

This nine DVD set contains a descriptive 3-page report and digital files created from the Wasatch fault investigation project performed for the Utah Geological and Mineralogical Survey (now the Utah Geological Survey) and the U.S. Geological Survey by Woodward-Lundgren & Associates.  The project was performed to identify surface fault rupture hazard areas along the Wasatch fault and in Cache Valley.  This compilation contains digital scans of the three separate Wasatch fault reports, 47 fault maps, and 1326 oblique aerial photographs (frames).  The digital files include aerial photograph scans in TIFF format, fault maps in TIFF and Adobe PDF formats, and index maps in Google Earth KMZ, GIS shapefile and Adobe PDF formats.  Specialized software (not included) is required to utilize the Google Earth and GIS files, and can be downloaded from the Internet.

This compilation will be useful for professionals involved with paleoseismology investigations; geologic, geotechnical, and environmental assessment and investigation projects; land-use planning and management; government agencies; and the general public and others as an historical archive.  Oblique aerial photography was used to highlight certain topographic features, such as fault scarps and traces, for mapping purposes.

9 DVD set (3 p,. 6 pl., [contains GIS data])

OFR-548……….$74.95

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Utah Geological Survey

Rock Fall in Provo, April 11, 2009

rock-fall-2009Around 11:30 a.m. on April 11, 2009, a rock fall impacted the area of 1500 North and 1550 East in Provo, Utah.

One rock-fall boulder damaged the outside of a playhouse located at 1522 North 1550 East, and another, larger boulder severely damaged a vacant house at 1496 North 1550 East.

The April 11, 2009 rock fall occurred one lot north of the May 12, 2005 “Y” Mountain rock fall.

The rock fall occurred shortly after a storm on April 8-9 that dropped 1.5 inches of precipitation in less than 18 hours at the Cascade Mountain Snotel site, 3 miles southeast of the rock-fall source area.

Impact craters (bounce marks) evident on the slope above the houses indicate several rocks traveled downslope. The rocks traveled an estimated one mile downslope, and likely achieved high velocities as they bounced and rolled.

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Related Links

2005 Provo Rock Fall

Rock-Fall hazards

Utah Geological Survey

MAP 234

Map-2342GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE WEST MOUNTAIN QUADRANGLE, UTAH COUNTY, UTAH
Donald L. Clark

The West Mountain quadrangle covers West Mountain and parts of Utah and Goshen Valleys along the Interstate 15 corridor.  Improvements were made to the bedrock structure and stratigraphy, and to mapping of Quaternary surficial deposits.  The mountain consists of folded and faulted Paleozoic strata, largely of the Oquirrh Group.  The valleys are mostly covered by Quaternary deposits related to the Bonneville lake cycle, as well as by some younger deposits of Utah Lake and other surficial processes.  A large aggregate quarry is located at the south end of the mountain at Keigley.  This map is part of ongoing work by the UGS to complete a regional-scale map of the Provo 30′ x 60′ quadrangle.

3 pl., 1:24,000, ISBN 1-55791-784-1

M-234……….$15.95

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Utah Geological Survey

Stories a Trench Can Tell—Determining St. George Earthquake Threat

Geologists are digging into the Washington fault about three miles south of the Utah-Arizona border in Arizona. “The fault is three miles east of St. George and runs through the nearby city of Washington,” said Bill Lund, UGS senior geologist. “There is evidence of surface rupturing earthquakes. Our goal is to figure out how often the fault has moved and how large the earthquakes have been. That will help us understand the potential for future earthquake activity.”

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Utah Geological Survey

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION 09-2DM

MP-09-2DMGEOLOGIC MAP OF PART OF THE LEES FERRY AREA, GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA
D.A. Phoenix

This CD contains a digital dataset of a geologic map of the Lees Ferry area, Arizona, and is one of several maps that together provide complete GIS geologic map coverage of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The Utah Geological Survey Geologic Mapping Program produced the map from U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1137, scale 1:24,000, published in 1963.  Geographic Information System (GIS) files are provided as ESRI® file geodatabase and shapefiles. Metadata, PDF, text, and image files are included to help the user view, evaluate, and utilize the spatial data.  Adobe Reader® is required to view the PDF files and can be downloaded at www.adobe.com.  Specialized GIS software is required to utilize the GIS files.

CD (2 pl., 1:24,000 [contains GIS files]), ISBN 1-55791-809-0

MP-09-2DM……….$24.95

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Utah Geological Survey

Stimulus Package – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law as of February 17, 2009. Portions of the ARRA energy funds will be directly administered by the Utah State Energy Program (USEP).

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