Tag Archive for: “Spot the Rock”

Spot the Rock

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Hats off to a new year! Let’s celebrate with a new round of “Spot the Rock.” Anyone have an inkling where these rocks are mingling? Post your guesses below, and we’ll reveal the answer next week!

Photo by: Jeremy Harwood

UPDATE: Location Revealed!

Our friends were “spot” on guessing last week’s “Spot the Rock”! This photo shows Mexican Hat, the famous sombrero-shaped rock perched in the Halgaito Formation. The Halgaito and Honaker Trail Formations appear as red and greenish-gray ribbons on the western flank of the Raplee anticline. Farther south on this route, the rock ribbons take on a scalloped appearance that is due to differential erosion of the soft and hard rocks; the softer Halgaito is wearing away from the crest of the anticline.

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We’ve got another Google Maps edition of “Spot the Rock” for you geo friends this week. Each of these photos are from the same location, but at different zoom levels. Can you guess where this is??

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Happy Thursday, everyone! The weekend is almost here, and with it, another round of “Spot the Rock.” Tell us below where in Utah you think this rockin’ site is found!

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UPDATE: Location Revealed

Step Mountain is a Tertiary-aged (dated at 36 million years) andesitic dike in Rose Canyon, three miles southwest of Herriman. The summit is at 6109 feet above sea level. The mountain is a fine example of columnar jointing, typically associated with basalt, but also found in andesites. Columnar jointing is found below the surface of thick lava flows, sills, and dikes, and is caused by the cooling and contracting of the lava creating long vertical joints that form slender polygonal columns, typically pentagonal or hexagonal in shape. In the case of Step Mountain dike, magma filled a crack in the pre-existing rock and the joints formed horizontal to the surface, so the columns act as “steps.” The weathering-resistant dike now has a prominent relief due to the erosion of the softer surrounding volcanic rock.

Well we hope your January has really rocked! And on that note— it’s another great Thursday. Time for another round of “Spot the Rock”! Let us know where you think this geologic site is found.

Down and down it goes, where it stops, no body knows! Tell where this stuff flows!

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UPDATE: Location Revealed
Last week’s “Spot the Rock” photo shows natural oil seeps (black) and salt (white) at Rozel Point about ½ mile southeast of the Spiral Jetty on the shore of Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County. Miocene to Pliocene (24 to 1.8 million years old) organic-rich lake sediments probably generated the oil. From these source beds, the oil migrated upward along faults and fractures to a porous basalt layer that comprises a main reservoir. Some of the oil in this basalt reservoir leaks to the surface through faults and fractures, emerging as thick, sticky, tar-like oil.

Rozel Point is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) fields to produce oil in Utah. The seeps have been known since the late 1800s and production attempts began in 1904. The field produced an estimated 10,000 barrels of oil from 30 to 50 wells, but has been inactive since the mid-1980s due to extremely difficult production, very high refining costs, and rising lake levels.

It’s another wonderful Thursday…and time for “Spot the Rock” again!

Though this red rock may look familiar, something tells me it’s quite peculiar. If you know where this slot canyon hides, try your luck and tell us where it resides.

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UPDATE: Location Revealed
This Spot the Rock photo was taken in Quail Creek Canyon, roughly 15 miles northeast of Saint George, Washington County. This section of Quail Creek Canyon is located within the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, and Cottonwood Canyon Wilderness. The trailhead for this site is found in the Red Cliffs Campground.

The red rocks of the Red Cliffs are composed primarily of Jurassic age Navajo Sandstone. The towering Pine Valley Mountains, which provide the water for the creek, are a volcanic feature called a laccolith.

This area of Utah is unique in that it is a transition zone between the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau, and Mojave Desert.

Hey there geo friends! It’s another wonderful Thursday, so you know what that means…
Time for “Spot the Rock”! Oodles of doodles etched in stone. Truth is they’re actually well known! If you’ve got a guess, write it down.

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UPDATE: Location Revealed
Parowan Gap (located approximately 20 miles north of Cedar City along Gap Road) is the product of a bygone stream. It’s a 600-foot deep canyon carved into the Red Hills. Millions of years ago, the hills began to rise as a result of fault movement, and the stream eroded the Parowan Gap canyon across the emerging ridge. An often-used analogy is that of a buzz saw (the river) slicing a groove (Parowan Gap) into a log rising up from below (the Red Hills).

The Parowan Gap Rock Art is on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a diverse array of deeply carved petroglyphs with geometric designs and repeating elements suggesting some could be astronomical calendars (Zipper Glyph Calendar as seen in the picture) or maps. Much of this art is thought to be inspired by Parowan Gap’s fixed position to viewers in relation to the varying position of the sun, sunrise, and sunset throughout the year.

Here is the first post for “Spot the Rock.” It is a mysterious place where hissing and bubbling ground can be found. Be sure to turn up your volume to listen to it boil and toil. Can you spot this rock? Tell us where you think it is! The location will be revealed next week.

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Hey geo friends! Today we kick off an exciting new feature—”Spot the Rock”. Check out this press release for more info, and stay tuned for the inaugural post of “Spot the Rock” later today!
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kcsg.com
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) kicks off a new way to familiarize yourself with the state. It is called “Spot the Rock” and it is a way to show off Utah’s spectacular geologically themed sights.
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