Tag Archive for: Utah Geological Survey

Utah Geological Survey

Lehi F. Hintze

The sad passing of Lehi F. Hintze, a geologist who gave a lot of his time and career to Utah and the Utah Geological Survey.

heraldextra.com

Lehi Ferdinand Hintze passed away 1 July 2014 in Provo, Utah. He was born 14 April 1921 in Denver, Colorado to Ferdinand F. and Henrietta Jones Hintze. In 1942 in Salt Lake City he married Ione Peaches Nelson of Brigham City. After graduation from the University of Utah and service in the Army Field Artillery he obtained a Ph.D. in Geology from Columbia University. He taught geology for 35 years at Oregon State University and Brigham Young University, and is noted for his 1980 Geologic Map of Utah, an academic work titled Geologic History of Utah, and the Geologic Highway Map of Utah.

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Utah Geological Survey

POTD July 2, 2014: Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah

Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: Stevie Emerson; © 2013

Glacially carved Timpanogos Basin in the Wasatch Range, Utah County.

Utah Geological Survey
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Underneath Utah: The often forgotten spot in Zion National Park

Kolob Canyon may be off the beaten path, but remains a fan favorite when visiting Zion National Park. Did you know that it also displays some of the park’s oldest geology? Tyler Knudsen, one of our geologists here at the Utah Geological Survey, talks about the geology present in Kolob Canyon in this video. Check it out!

good4utah.com

Good 4 Utah is celebrating Utah’s diverse and unique geologic history this summer. Kylie Bearse and photographer Gus Seashore are traveling to Utah’s famous landmarks, and a few spots you may not have known about, to learn more about our state’s geology.

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Utah Geological Survey

Teens in the Woods: Mapping our Future

Last Thursday the Utah Geological Survey participated in Teens in the Woods: Mapping our Future outdoor program, an education initiative designed to bring underserved, urban, and diverse children and adolescents to the forests to spark curiosity, exercise, and connect the next generation with nature. The week-long event is chock-full of activities set up by scientists from many fields in the Earth sciences, emphasizing conservation, stewardship, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. On our trip with high school and middle school students we traveled to Big Cottonwood Canyon and Silver Lake to explore geology, forestry, air photo interpretation, and aquatic biology.

Teens in the Woods is a new nation-wide program spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Forest Service and in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, partnered with some dozen other organizations including the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation and Bad Dog Art.

Ms. Amy discusses water chemistry and lake health with students in the rain.

A student examines a leech and other aquatic invertebrates that inhabit Silver Lake.

A young bull moose examines the students at Silver Lake.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 24, 2014: Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah

Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: Stevie Emerson, © 2013

The Wasatch Range was once home to more than 60 glaciers. On the east slope of Mount Timpanogos, Emerald Lake occupies a glacially carved cirque in the Pennsylvanian-age Bear Canyon Member of the Oquirrh Formation.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 17, 2014: Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County, Utah

Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County, Utah
Photographer: Mark Milligan; © 2013

Black basalt boulders of the Spiral Jetty in Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 3, 2014: Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef National Park, Garfield County, Utah

Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reef National Park, Garfield County, Utah
Photographer: Adam Hiscock; © 2013

 

Utah Geological Survey

"Spot the Rock" May 29, 2014

Can anyone “Spot the Rock” this week? This photo shows one of the many textures present in Utah’s geology. Tell us where you think this is!

Like us on FACEBOOK or follow us on TWITTER to participate!

UPDATE: Location Revealed
The Honeycombs, or Honeycomb Hills, is a solitary cluster of hills far out in Utah’s West Desert between the Fish Springs and Deep Creek Ranges. The hills are a product of a violent volcanic eruption some 4.7 million years ago, where forty feet of tuff underlies a 200 million cubic yard dome of topaz-rich rhyolite. The Honeycombs gets its name from the texture of the rock; a recurrent pattern of alcoves, hollows and cubbies, called tafoni, created from a weathering process known as honeycomb, cavernous, or alveolar weathering. This type of weathering is most common to seacoasts and deserts in sandstones and granites on inclined or vertical rock faces. Salt weathering has been implicated in forming tafoni, as well as many other physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms. The weathering of rock into tafoni can occur rapidly, as seen on seawalls built only centuries ago.

 

Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 10, 2014: Mary Ellen Gulch, American Fork Canyon, Utah County, Utah

Mary Ellen Gulch, American Fork Canyon, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen; © 2013

Quartzite of the 900 million-year-old Big Cottonwood Formation holds up the rugged headwall of Mary Ellen Gulch. Well-preserved ripple marks and mud cracks indicate the Big Cottonwood Formation was deposited in the tidal zone of a shallow sea.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD May 28, 2014: Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah

Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah
Photographer: Ken Krahulec; © 2013

Towering cliffs of Jurassic-age sandstone constrict lower Zion Canyon. The prominently cross-bedded Navajo Sandstone, deposited in a vast dune field comparable to that of the modern-day Sahara, forms the cliffs, including the narrow spine of Angels Landing at left.