By: Daren T. Nelson and Paul W. Jewell
The Hogup Bar quadrangle is located southeast of Park Valley, Utah, and west of the northwest arm of Great Salt Lake. Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville sediments and related shorelines dominate the landscape, and record the transgression and regression of Lake Bonneville. Surficial deposits overlie Tertiary basalt and Permian-Pennsylvanian sedimentary bedrock.
Great Salt Lake may ebb and flow, however its current low levels give impetus to talk about water use, and how to use it more wisely in the desert. Andrew Rupke, a minerals specialist here at UGS, joins the conversation in this article. Check it out!
deseretnews.com
Not many states have a defining natural feature that locals actually discourage visitors from seeing.
While the weather has been warm, and there’s not a lot of snow or ice around, it’s a great time of year to look at the Ice Age animals of Utah. Did you know that Great Salt Lake is the remnant of Ice Age lake, Lake Bonneville? Read more about this different age in Utah in our “Popular Geology” subjects HERE.
Great Salt Lake, Davis and Tooele Counties, Utah
Photographer: Mark Milligan; © 2013
Take in this photo as your day comes to a close. Sometimes a setting sun brings out the best colors in Utah Geology.
fox13now.com
Utah’s Great Salt Lake has been protecting the Wasatch Front from a potential health hazard for 150 years, but that protection is threatened, say some scientists, by a growing, thirsty population and a drying climate.
We’ve got some Great Salt Lake trivia for you to end the day on—how many think you can answer correctly?? Check out our “Glad You Asked” article below for the answers.
1. What do Great Salt Lake, the Bahamas, the old Hansen Planetarium in downtown Salt Lake City, the Manti LDS Temple, and Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, have in common?
2. What does the original Saltair resort on the south shore of Great Salt Lake have in common with the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, and northwestern Malaysia?
3. What two things do Great Salt Lake, Apollo 16, and northern shovelers and common goldeneyes (ducks) have in common?
Find the answers HERE
photo by Stevie Emerson
Fall is here! Utah is just stunning in the fall, and the colors compliment our geology so well! Where is your favorite Utah fall destination found?
White Rock Bay, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah
Photographer: Adam McKean; © 2013
Silver Island Mountains, Box Elder County, Utah
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman; © 2013
Chemical weathering produces pits and holes in the surface of Jurassic-age quartz monzonite at Crater Island, in the northeast part of the Basin and Range Province. The “island” of rock rises from the barren, salt-covered plains of the Great Salt Lake Desert east of the distant Pilot Range.
Check out this other article talking about the levels of Great Salt Lake that are approaching record lows. Andrew Rupke, a geologist and industrial minerals specialist here at the Utah Geological Survey, talks about the effects a low shoreline has on mineral density.
deseretnews.com
Dave Shearer sees the evidence of water levels dropping in the Great Salt Lake every time a boat has to be taken out of its slip at the Great Salt Lake Marina.
Jim Davis, one of our geologists here at the Utah Geological Survey, talks about the Great Salt Lake levels, and the factors that contribute to their rise and fall in this 6PM KSL interview. Check it out!
ksl.com
Water levels at the Great Salt Lake are just a couple of feet above a record low set in 1963, and state geologists say it’s likely the lake will continue to evaporate.
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.