I know there’s snow up in the Wasatch today, but the valley sure feels as nice as this photo!
Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Range, Salt Lake County, Utah
Photographer: Adam Hiscock; © 2015
Glacially scoured and polished quartzite of the Precambrian-age Big Cottonwood Formation near Lake Blanche, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Range, Salt Lake County.
Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah
Photographer: Marshall Robinson; © 2015
Delicate Arch, a 65-foot-tall natural arch in Arches National Park, Grand County, is composed of Jurassic-age sandstone including the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone (base and pedestals) and Moab Member of the Curtis Formation (bridge).
Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah
Photographer: Adam McKean; © 2015
Towering 1,488 feet above the canyon floor, Angels Landing is a joint-controlled resistant fin of Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone, carved out by the incised North Fork Virgin River. A popular, but steep and exposed, hiking trail guides park visitors along the sheer fin to inspiring views of Zion Canyon.
Wishing our Tuesday was spent out there! The weather just gets nicer and nicer by the day. What Utah places do you want to explore this year?
Capitol Reef National Park, Wayne County, Utah
Photographer: Tyler Knudsen; © 2015
Fluted crimson walls of Jurassic-age Entrada Sandstone rim Cathedral Valley in the remote northern part of Capitol Reef National Park. The near-vertical Entrada walls owe their existence to the overlying white Curtis Formation that serves as a protective cap rock.
Wasatch Range from northern Goshen Valley, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: J. Lucy Jordan; © 2015
Little Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Range, Salt Lake County, Utah
Photographer: Taylor Boden; © 2015
Lower Red Pine Lake occupies part of a cirque basin below White Baldy (11,321 feet). Pleistocene glaciers carved the Tertiary-age granitic bedrock of the Little Cottonwood Stock into a variety of alpine landforms including cirques, arêtes, and horns.
This warmer weather has our sights on southern Utah red rock day dreams!
The Red Mountains and the city of Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah
Photographer: J. Lucy Jordan; © 2015
Cathedral Valley Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park, Wayne County, Utah
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman; © 2015
Light-brown sandstone of the Jurassic-age Curtis Formation caps the underlying reddish siltstone of the Entrada Formation in Cathedral Valley. In places, only boulders remain of the resistant cap rock as the Curtis Formation slowly weathers away.
Happy Groundhog Day, everyone! This photo feels as warm as Milltown Mel’s early spring prediction (compared to this morning in Salt Lake at least, brr!). What’s everyone hoping for?
Mount Timpanogos, Wasatch Range, Utah County, Utah
Photographer: Elizabeth Firmage; © 2015
Stewart Falls and the eastern slopes of Mount Timpanogos, Wasatch Range, Utah County.
Boulder Mountain, Garfield County, Utah
Photographer: Elizabeth Firmage; © 2015
Aspen groves produce spectacular fall colors high on Boulder Mountain along the east side of the Aquarius Plateau. Large, rounded boulders eroded from Tertiary-age lava flows give Boulder Mountain its name.
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.