video courtesy of David Rankin
Shot on September 9th. We have had subsequent floods one after another in south central Utah for over 3 days now. This was some footage from flooding on the 9th. The water undercuts the banks and causes them to collapse, sometimes with very little warning. Its quite the sight in person. Enjoy!
washingtonpost.com
Once in a great while, I stumble upon extreme weather video unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Today’s example? A large, violent debris flash flood that gutted a creek basin in southern Utah Thursday afternoon (south of Bryce Canyon National Park, about eight miles north of Lake Powell).
thespectrum.com
A series of springtime lectures starts Friday with a presentation on faults and earthquakes in southwestern Utah, scheduled for noon at the Interagency Information Center, 345 E. Riverside Drive in St. George.
Bill Lund, senior scientist with the Utah Geological Survey, is scheduled to give a presentation on the structure of active earth in southwestern Utah and give insight as to whether the region could experience an earthquake similar to those that recently affected Haiti, Turkey, Chile and Japan.
The April Brown Bag Program series, sponsored by the Dixie/Arizona Strip Interpretive Association, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, will feature lectures each Friday of the month, covering topics such as the geology of Kanab Point, the history of Pioche, and a musical Earth Day celebration.
Lectures are free to attend, but space is limited and those interested are encouraged to obtain tickets in advance from the Interagency Information Center.
For more information, call 435-688-3246.
KSL.com
A new species of dinosaur has emerged from the rocks of southern Utah.
Buried by a collapsing sand dune, perhaps 185 million years ago, the new dino was probably a plant eater and an early relative of the giant animals later known as sauropods, researchers report in Tuesday’s edition of the journal PLoS One.
Named Seitaad ruessi, the species was 10-to-15 feet long and 3-to-4 feet high. Its bones were found protruding from sandstone at the base of a cliff, directly below an ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling.
No humans were around at the time of the dinosaurs, but researchers say the bones could well have been visible when the early Indians lived there.
IN THE MEDIA
Salt Lake Tribune
Since 1939, the Cedar Valley spreading west and north of Cedar City has dropped 100 feet and the only way to stop or slow the process is replenish the underlying aquifer with at least as much water as is being discharged through pumping.
That was one of the statistics the Utah Geological Survey delivered to the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District at its board meeting Thursday night in Cedar City.
William Lund, senior scientist with the agency’s southern Utah office, said the practice of overpumping causes noticeable fissures in the ground that sink all the way to the water table and allow pollutants to seep into the water. Most of the water is now used for agriculture, but officials are concerned about polluting the water source should it be needed for other uses.
“They start as a hairline crack and fast erode into gullies,” said Lund of the fissures.
He noted a fissure first noticed in 1960 northeast of Enoch has grown 2.25 miles long and has snaked its way into a subdivision where home construction was set to begin.
Although only one structure was built and affected by the fissure, it has disrupted the infrastructure that had already been completed, including cracking curbs and gutters, streets and the sewer system, which now runs backward.
Lund said it is the only location in Utah he is aware of that has been damaged by a fissure.
Lund’s updateis part of an $85,700 study the Geological Survey is conducting in conjunction with the conservancy district. The agency is nearing completion of its final report after nearly two years of study.
CORRECTION
Cedar Valley has not dropped 100 feet! (it has subsided 4 feet at the most). Erroneous information was reported by most of the media. Please note the Utah Geological Survey’s following corrections to
IN THE MEDIA
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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