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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.
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.
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.
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.
Hite Crossing vicinity, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Garfield and San Juan Counties, Utah
Photographer: Don DeBlieux; ©2011
Permian- and Triassic-age sedimentary rocks color the shorelines of dam-impounded Lake Powell near the confluence of the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers. Although the lake water has submerged numerous relicts of ancient animal (including human) and plant life, traces of prehistoric life can still be found along the lake shores and in some tributaries.
Insect fossils in core retrieved from Green River Formation, Utah
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg; © 2011
Insect fossils preserved in core retrieved from the lake-deposited Green River Formation.
Uinta Basin, Uintah County, Utah
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg
The Mahogany oil shale zone contains the highest percentage of organic material in the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Uintah County.
Eastern Uinta Basin, Uintah County, Utah
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg
Retrieving oil shale core from the Tertiary-age Green River Formation, eastern Uinta Basin, south of Bonanza near Evacuation Creek, Uintah County.
Uinta Basin, Uintah County, Utah
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg
The exceedingly rare Graham’s penstemon grows exclusively on the sparsely vegetated outcrops of Green River Formation oil shale deposits and can be found only in the Uinta Basin of Utah and the Piceance Creek Basin in Colorado. Federal protection for this scarce plant could be forthcoming as petroleum development becomes more prevalent in the basin.
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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