Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Kane County, Utah
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen
Powerful and turbulent flash floods carved this convoluted slot canyon into the Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone along Willis Creek. Differential weathering of alternating weak and more resistant sandstone layers formed the horizontal grooves etched into the canyon’s walls.
Dead Horse Lake, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Photographer: Corey Unger
Dead Horse Lake and West Fork of the Blacks Fork drainage, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Spinners Reservoir, Wasatch Plateau, Sanpete County, Utah
Photographer: Greg McDonald
Spinners Reservoir in the Muddy Creek drainage basin, Wasatch Plateau, Sanpete County, Utah
Twelvemile Canyon, Wasatch Plateau, Sanpete County, Utah.
Photographer: Rich Giraud
Island Lake at the head of Twelvemile Canyon, Wasatch Plateau, Sanpete County, Utah.
Mirror lake, Uinta Mountains, Duchesne County, Utah
Photographer: Ken Krahulec
Mirror Lake nestles among 11,000-foot peaks of the western Uinta Mountains. The rocks of the Uintas, consisting largely of sandstone and shale of the Precambrian-age Uinta Mountain Group, contain microscopic bacteria nearly 800 million years old that likely represent Utah’s oldest fossils.
Spring-fed Pruess Lake, Snake Valley, Millard County, Utah.
Photographer: Matt Affolter
Middle Springs, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Juab County, Utah
Photographer: Matt Affolter
Great Salt Lake, Tooele County, Utah
Photographer: Tom Dempster
Solar evaporation pond at Great Salt Lake, Tooele County, Utah
Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Juab County, Utah.
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg
Baked by the summer sun, clay on the floor of an ephemeral pond in Utah’s west desert produces an expanse of mud cracks. Such playas, or pans, are common throughout the Great Basin; many, like the Bonneville Salt Flats, are floored by saline minerals.
Sipapu Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, San Juan County, Utah.
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen
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.
1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
801-537-3300 (phone)
801-537-3400 (fax)
Mailing Address:
PO BOX 146100
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
Monday through Friday,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
