Utah Geological Survey

Photo of the Week: Mineral Fork, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake County Photographer: Torri Duncan Layer-liscious! Interbedded shale and quartzite of the Proterozoic-age Big Cottonwood and Mutual Formations form eye-catching arcs. Around one billion years ago, these rocks were deposited in a tidal environment near an ocean shoreline. Now, the tilted and folded layers of the oldest rocks in the canyon offer prime recreation areas for climbing, hiking, skiing, and more.

The Utah Geological Association (UGA) and the UGS presented the 2024 Lehi Hintze Award to Bob Biek for his outstanding contributions to Utah geology. Bob received his B.A. in geology from the University of California at Berkeley and M.S. in geology from Northern Illinois University and spent four years with the North Dakota Geological Survey before joining the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) Geologic Mapping Program in 1996. Bob’s geologic mapping focused on southwestern Utah and along the Wasatch Front, and he has authored or co-authored more than forty 7.5-minute and four 30 x 60-minute geologic maps. Bob’s professional life changed in the late 2000s when he discovered the fabulous and enigmatic geology of Haycock Mountain. He along with colleagues Pete Rowley and David Hacker soon realized that they stood at the toe of one of the world’s largest landslides, naming it the Marysvale gravity slide complex (MGSC). They convened a GSA-sponsored Thompson Field Forum to recruit other specialists, which led to a multi-university, multi-disciplinary NSF-sponsored research effort now in its final year. Bob was UGA Secretary in 2002; UGA Newsletter Editor from 2002 to 2018, and co-editor of UGA’s Publication #43 Geology of Utah’s Far South (2014) and Publication #48 Utah Geosites (2019). He has been a member of the Geological Society of America since 1991 and a GSA Fellow since 1997. After 26 years with the UGS, Bob retired in 2022 but continues to work with colleagues to revise the Beaver and Panguitch 30 x 60-minute geologic maps, with an eye toward incorporating new MGSC discoveries. Named for the first recipient, the late Dr. Lehi F. Hintze of Brigham Young University, the Lehi Hintze Award was established in 2003 by the UGA and UGS to recognize outstanding contributions to the understanding of Utah geology. #utahgeology #lehihintze

Near the base of Notch Peak, pink Jurassic-age granite intrudes much older thinly bedded gray argillite and white marble of the Cambrian-age Marjum Formation. Deep in the Earth’s crust 170 million years ago, high heat and fluids from the granite metamorphosed the surrounding rock, turning limestone into marble and shale into argillite. House Range, Millard County, Utah. Photo by Mark Milligan.

Check out the latest issue of Survey Notes featuring articles on Utah’s geothermal energy resources, inventorying and ranking potential geoheritage sites in Utah, an update on Utah’s earthquake early warning efforts, a new GeoSights location, and much more–https://ow.ly/P85s50UArTF #utahgeology #surveynotes

The "Utah Road and Recreation Atlas" uniquely combines the most accurate trip planning information with spectacularly beautiful Landscape Maps. Find this book and more at the Natural Resources Map & Bookstore. Visit us at 1594 West North Temple in Salt Lake City or at utahmapstore.com. #shoplocal #utahgeology

Happy Fossil Friday! Dinosaur skin is preserved at many Utah dinosaur sites. Fossilized dinosaur skin impressions, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Kane County, Utah. Photo: Tyler Knudsen #fossilfriday

The hydrologic cycle is the continuous water circulation among the oceans, continents, and atmosphere. Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front create or have a hydrologic sub-cycle that contains many complexities and feedback loops. Learn more about Utah's complex hydrologic cycle in this week's Glad You Asked–http://ow.ly/eg0e50GvkJO #utahgeology

Let 2025 be the year you explore Utah’s geologic wonders. Late summer rains pass over the northern San Rafael Swell. Nicknamed the "Little Grand Canyon," this spectacular region showcases the San Rafael River carving through more than 1,200 feet of multi-colored Jurassic-age strata that include, from base to top, the Wingate Sandstone (red-tan cliffs), the Kayenta Formation (slope former), and the Navajo Sandstone (tan cliffs). Little Grand Canyon, Emery County Photo by: Ryan Gall #newyear #utahgeology

A helictite is a speleothem (cave-formed mineral) found in a limestone cave that changes its axis from the vertical at one or more stages during its growth. Helictites are, perhaps, the most delicate of cave formations. They are usually made of needle-form calcite and aragonite. Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah has one of the world's largest collections of these formations. *These formations are extremely delicate, and caution must be taken when exploring near them. #utahgeology #helictite

The scenic Pine Park area exposes intriguing volcanic deposits that reveal the story of the most significant volcanic eruptions in Utah’s geologic history. However, the beautiful exposures outcrop in only a small area, and the eruptions that produced the volcanic deposits in this part of Utah were some of the largest in Earth’s history. Learn more here– http://ow.ly/cAkq50CR4M0 #utahgeology