Cedar Mesa, San Juan County
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen © 2017
An overhanging ledge of Permian-age Cedar Mesa Sandstone protects ancestral Puebloan ruins in Road Canyon. The informally named “Fallen Roof” ruin owes its name to the prominent spalling and collapse of thin sandstone slabs from the overhang’s ceiling.
Poison Spider Mesa, Grand County
Photographer: Ben Erickson © 2017
Located along the Colorado River near Moab, Longbow Arch is an example of the delicate beauty of wind-sculpted rock. The arch spans 60 feet in the Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone.
POTD October 4, 2017: Yant Flat, Washington County
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen © 2017
Western Garfield County
Photographer: Bob Biek © 2017
Basaltic lava flows produce stark, bouldery slopes near Panguitch Lake. The rugged, blocky lava flows are among the youngest in Utah, and erupted from nearby Miller Knoll cinder cone and adjacent vents.
POTD September 12, 2017: Goblin Valley State Park, Emery County
Photographer: Paul Inkenbrandt © 2017
Cedar Breaks National Monument, Iron County
Photographer: Ken Krahulec © 2017
Headward erosion into the Markagunt Plateau has created the spectacular badlands of the Cedar Breaks amphitheater. The brightly colored rocks of the Claron Formation include limestone, mudstones, sandstone, and conglomerate deposited in streams and lakes around 50 million years ago, as well as ancient soils developed in these deposits.
Bonnie Lake, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County
Photographer: Ben Erickson © 2017
Blue Hills Overlook, Wayne County
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman © 2017
Early morning light spotlights a mesa in a typical badland landscape composed of easily eroded shaly siltstone and mudstone of the Tununk Shale Member of the Cretaceous-age Mancos Shale. The Ferron Sandstone, also a member of the Mancos Shale, is in the foreground.
Notom Badlands Wayne County.
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman © 2017
San Rafael Swell, Emery County
Photographer: Don DeBlieux © 2017
Clam trace fossils on a fallen sandstone block of the Brushy Basin Member of the Jurassic-age Morrison Formation.
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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