Fire, Ice and Water: Glaciologic, Paleoclimate and Anthropogenic Linkages During Past Mega-Droughts in the Uinta Mountains, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Power, M. J.; Rupper, S.; Codding, B.; Schaefer, J.; Hess, M.

2017-12-01

Alpine glaciers provide a valuable water source during prolonged drought events. We explore whether long-term climate dynamics and associated glacier changes within mountain drainage basins and adjacent landscapes ultimately influence how prehistoric human populations choose settlement locations. The Uinta Mountains of Utah, with a steep present-day precipitation gradient from the lowlands to the alpine zone of 20-100 cm per year, has a rich glacial history related to natural and anthropogenic climate variability. Here we examine how past climate variability has impacted glaciers and ultimately the availability of water over long timescales, and how these changes affected human settlement and subsistence decisions. Through a combination of geomorphologic evidence, paleoclimate proxies, and glacier and climate modelling, we test the hypothesis that glacier-charged hydrologic systems buffer prehistoric populations during extreme drought periods, facilitating long-term landscape management with fire. Initial field surveys suggest middle- and low-elevation glacial valleys contain glacially-derived sediment from meltwater and resulted in terraced river channels and outwash plains visible today. These terraces provide estimates of river discharge during varying stages of glacier advance and retreat. Archaeological evidence from middle- and high-elevations in the Uinta Mountains suggests human populations persisted through periods of dramatic climate change, possibly linked to the persistence of glacially-derived water resources through drought periods. Paleoenvironmental records indicate a long history of fire driven by the combined interaction of climatic variation and human disturbance. This research highlights the important role of moisture variability determining human settlement patterns and landscape management throughout time, and has direct relevance to the impacts of anthropogenic precipitation and glacier changes on vulnerable populations in the coming century, especially in drought-prone regions.

77 FR 26733 - Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Evanston-Mountain View Ranger District; Utah; Smiths Fork...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-07

... mapped, is anticipated to involve approximately 3.1 miles of new specified road construction, approximately 10.7 miles of temporary road construction, approximately 6.7 miles of additional temporary road use on the existing road prism, and approximately 2.6 miles of road reconstruction. Approximately 3.8...

Principal unconformities in Triassic and Jurassic rocks, western interior United States; a preliminary survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pipiringos, G.N.; O'Sullivan, Robert Brett

1978-01-01

The Triassic and Jurassic rocks in Western Interior United States contain nine unconformities each of which was destroyed to some extent by a younger unconformity. Regardless of extent, all are useful for correlation of rock sequences in areas where fossils or age dates are lacking. The purpose of this report is to call attention to the presence, significance, and value for correlation of these unconformities. The Triassic unconformities are designated from oldest to youngest, Tr-1, Tr-2, and Tr-3; the Jurassic ones similarly are designated J-0, J-l, J-2, J-3, J-4, and J-5. Of these, the J-2 surface is the best preserved and most widespread. It extends throughout the Western Interior and truncates the older unconformities in different parts of this area. Consequently, the J-2 surface is discussed and illustrated in much more detail than the others. Identification of these unconformities throughout large areas where their presence hitherto had been unknown results in some new unexpected correlations and conclusions. Principal among these are: (1) The Red Draw Member of the Jelm Formation of southeastern Wyoming equals the lower part of the Crow Mountain Sandstone of central Wyoming. The Sips Creek Member of the Jelm Formation of southeastern Wyoming equals the upper part of the Crow Mountain Sandstone of central Wyoming and the Gartra Member of the Chinle Formation in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado. The Chinle Formation of the Colorado Plateau and the Uinta Mountains equals the upper part of the Crow Mountain plus the Popo Agie Formation of central Wyoming. (2) The Nugget Sandstone of northern Utah and southwestern Wyoming approximately equals the Glen Canyon Group of the Colorado Plateau. The Temple Cap Sandstone of southwestern Utah equals the Gypsum Spring Formation and the Gypsum Spring Member of the Twin Creek Limestone of Wyoming and the Nesson Formation of Nordquist in the subsurface of the Williston basin. The Sawtooth and Piper Formations at their type sections in Montana and the lower parts of the Twin Creek Limestone (including only the Sliderock, Rich, and Boundary Ridge Members) in western Wyoming and of the Carmel Formation in the Colorado Plateau, at their respective type localities, are equivalent, but none of these correlate with any part of the Gypsum Spring Formation of Wyoming. The Curtis Formation at its type locality in the San Rafael Swell, Utah, equals only the lower part of the Curtis Formation of the Uinta Mountains. The upper part of the Curtis in the Uinta Mountains and the Redwater Shale Member of the Sundance Formation of Wyoming and South Dakota are equivalent. Estimates of the length of time in millions of years (m.y.) required for uplift and erosion of an unconformity range from less than 1 to as much as 10 m.y.; the average is about 1.8 m.y. if the extremes in time are excluded. The length of time for burial of the surfaces by transgression ranges from less than 1 to about 10 m.y.; the average is less than 1 m.y. if the extremes in time are disregarded.

Developments in Oil Shale

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-17

shale oil.7 The Mahogany zone can reach 200 feet in thickness in the Uinta Basin of Utah, and thus could represent a technical potential of producing...undiscovered technically recoverable conventional oil and natural gas liquids are estimated to underlie the Uinta -Piceance Basin of Utah-Colorado and...River formation over maps of access categories prepared for the EPCA inventory (Figure 6). The Uinta basin in Utah is shown as being subject to

National Hydroelectric Power Resources Study: Regional Assessment: Volume XXII: Western Systems Coordinating Council, (WSCC). Volume 22

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-01

respectively; the Klamath Mountains of Oregon and California; the Basin and Ranges of Nevada, the Teton Range of Wyoming; the Uinta Mountains of Utah...approximately 292,000 square miles, includes all of the Columbia River system in the United States and all other river basins in Idaho, Oregon, and...Central Valley and the Los Angeles Basin of California. The western valleys of the Pacific Northwest, the Denver-Cheyenne area along the Rockies’ eastern

Determining the Influence of Dust on Post-Glacial Lacustrine Sedimentation in Bald Lake, Uinta Mountains, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Keefe, S. S.; McElroy, R.; Munroe, J. S.

2016-12-01

Dust is increasingly recognized as an important component of biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function in mountain environments. Previous work has shown that delivery of dust to the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah has influenced pedogenesis, soil nutrient status, and surface water chemistry. An array of passive and active samplers in the alpine zone of the Uintas provides detailed information about contemporary dust fluxes, along with physical and geochemical properties of modern dust. Reconstruction of changes in the dust system over time, however, requires continuous sedimentary archives sensitive to dust inputs. A radiocarbon-dated 3.5-m core (spanning 12.7 kyr) collected from subalpine Bald Lake may provide such a record. Passive dust collectors in the vicinity of the lake constrain the geochemical properties of modern dust, whereas samples of regolith constrain properties of the local surficial material within the watershed. Together, these represent two end member sources of clastic sediment to Bald Lake basin: allochthonous dust and autochthonous regolith. Ba and Eu are found in higher abundances in the dust than in the watershed regolith. Zr and Th are found to be lower in the dust than in the watershed. Geochemical analysis of the sediment core allows the relative contribution of exotic and local material to the lake to be considered as a time series covering the post-glacial interval when indicator elements are plotted. Findings suggest Bald Lake's dust record tracks regional aridity and corresponds to low-stands of large lakes in the southwestern United States. Spatial variability of elemental abundances in the watershed suggests there are more than two input sources contributing to the lake over time.

Chronology of the last glacial maximum in the upper Bear River Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Laabs, B.J.C.; Munroe, Jeffrey S.; Rosenbaum, J.G.; Refsnider, K.A.; Mickelson, D.M.; Singer, B.S.; Caffee, M.W.

2007-01-01

The headwaters of the Bear River drainage were occupied during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) by outlet glaciers of the Western Uinta Ice Field, an extensive ice mass (???685 km2) that covered the western slope of the Uinta Mountains. A well-preserved sequence of latero-frontal moraines in the drainage indicates that outlet glaciers advanced beyond the mountain front and coalesced on the piedmont. Glacial deposits in the Bear River drainage provide a unique setting where both 10Be cosmogenic surface-exposure dating of moraine boulders and 14C dating of sediment in Bear Lake downstream of the glaciated area set age limits on the timing of glaciation. Limiting 14C ages of glacial flour in Bear Lake (corrected to calendar years using CALIB 5.0) indicate that ice advance began at 32 ka and culminated at about 24 ka. Based on a Bayesian statistical analysis of cosmogenic surface-exposure ages from two areas on the terminal moraine complex, the Bear River glacier began its final retreat at about 18.7 to 18.1 ka, approximately coincident with the start of deglaciation elsewhere in the central Rocky Mountains and many other alpine glacial localities worldwide. Unlike valleys of the southwestern Uinta Mountains, deglaciation of the Bear River drainage began prior to the hydrologie fall of Lake Bonneville from the Provo shoreline at about 16 ka. ?? 2007 Regents of the University of Colorado.

The Geologic Story of the Uinta Mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hansen, Wallace R.

1969-01-01

The opening of the West after the Civil War greatly stimulated early geologic exploration west of the 100th Meridian. One of the areas first studied, the Uinta Mountains region, gained wide attention as a result of the explorations of three Territorial Surveys, one headed by John Wesley Powell, one by Clarence King, and one by Ferdinand V. Hayden. Completion of the Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming 100 years ago, in 1869, materially assisted geologic exploration, and the railheads at Green River and Rock Springs greatly simplified the outfitting of expeditions into the mountains. The overlap of the Powell, King, and Hayden surveys in the Uinta Mountains led to efforts that were less concerted than competitive and not without acrimony. Many parts of the area were seen by all three parties at almost the same time. Duplication was inevitable, of course, but all three surveys contributed vast quantities of new knowledge to the storehouse of geology, and many now-basic concepts arose from their observations. Powell's area of interest extended mainly southward from the Uinta Mountains to the Grand Canyon, including the boundless plateaus and canyons of southern Utah and northern Arizona. King's survey extended eastward from the High Sierra in California to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and encompassed a swath of country more than 100 miles wide. Hayden's explorations covered an immense region of mountains and basins from Yellowstone Park in Wyoming southeast throughout most of Colorado. Powell first entered the Uinta Mountains in the fall of 1868, having traveled north around the east end of the range from the White River country to Green River, Wyoming, then south over a circuitous route to Flaming Gorge and Browns Park, and finally back to the White River, where he spent the winter. In 1869, after reexamining much of the area visited the previous season, Powell embarked on his famous 'first boat trip' down the Green and Colorado Rivers. This trip was more exploratory than scientific; his second, more scientific trip was made 2 years later. Powell revisited the Uinta Mountains in 1874 and 1875 to complete the studies begun 6 years earlier. His classic 'Report on the Geology of the Eastern Portion of the Uinta Mountains and a Region of Country Adjacent Thereto' was published in 1876. King's survey?officially 'The United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel'?is better known simply as the '40th Parallel Survey.' King began working eastward from California in 1867. The Uinta Mountains region, however, was mapped by S. F. Emmons, under the supervision of King, in the summers of 1869 and 1871. Emmons' work was monumental, and although he emphasized in his letter of transmittal to King the exploratory nature of the work?as the formal title of the report indicates?his maps, descriptions, and conclusions reflect a comprehensive understanding of the country and its rocks. The 40th Parallel report contains the best, most complete early descriptions of the Uinta Mountains. It, indeed, is a treasurechest of information and a landmark contribution to the emerging science of geology. Hayden visited the Uinta Mountains in 1870, descending the valley of Henrys Fork to Flaming Gorge in the fall after having earlier examined the higher part of the range to the west. Most of Hayden's observations were cursory, and he repeatedly expressed regret at having insufficient time for more detailed studies. In reference to the area between Clay Basin and Browns Park, he remarked (Hayden, 1871, p. 67) somewhat dryly that 'the geology of this portion of the Uinta range is very complicated and interesting. To have solved the problem to my entire satisfaction would have required a week or two.' Eighty-odd years later I spent several months there?looking at the same rocks. Powell was perhaps more creative?more intuitive?than either King or Hayden, and his breadth of interest in the fields of geology, physiography, ethnology, an

Status of Utah Bats

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-27

objectives and scales. Survey effort was lowest in Utah’s West Desert, the Uinta Basin , and extreme southeastern Utah. The Colorado Plateau ecoregion had... Basin shrub steppe, Mojave desert, Wasatch and Uinta montane forest, and Wyoming Basin shrub steppe) as did the physiographic province ( Basin and...shrublands, accounting for 48% of all data, Wasatch and Uinta montane forests 31%, the Great Basin shrub steppe 19%, the Mojave Desert 1.6%, and the

Deployment Area Selection and Land Withdrawal/Acquisition. M-X/MPS (M-X/Multiple Protective Shelter) Environmental Technical Report. Mining and Geology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-02

found in the Uinta Basin . Major production in Utah comes from the Four Corners area on the Colorado plateau. Geothermal resources are abundant in...upper Uinta Basin ; the Pineview Field in Summit County; and the Greater Aneth Field in the Four Corners region of southeastern Utah. In 1976, some 82...area. About 3,000 sq mi (7,800 sq km) in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah is underlain by oil shale 15 ft (4.5 m) thick and averaging at least 15

The state of stress in the limb of the Split Mountain anticline, Utah: constraints placed by transected joints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silliphant, Laura J.; Engelder, Terry; Gross, Michael R.

2002-01-01

Transected joints (i.e. systematic joints that strike at an angle to the present fold axis trend) occur on the flanks of Split Mountain, a Laramide anticline near the eastern end of the Uinta Mountains, Utah. The common orientation on both flanks for these WNW-striking joints is inconsistent with joints driven by a syn-folding stretch normal to the direction of highest curvature. A smaller dispersion of the poles to these transected joints occurs when they are rotated with bedding to their 'pre-fold' orientation. This dispersion of poles is inconsistent with a post-fold genesis in a regional stress field but permits the possibility that these WNW joints propagated as a systematic set prior to Laramide folding. A pre-fold interpretation is substantiated by a regional WNW-striking joint set within Cretaceous and older rocks in the surrounding Piceance, Uinta, and southeastern Sand Wash basins. During tilting accompanying the upfolding of Split Mountain, most joints of this WNW-striking regional set remain locked without slipping under a shear stress. Fracture toughness and frictional strength are two rock properties that serve to lock a joint until a critical resolved shear stress is achieved. A gravity load caused down-dip slip on some joints that were tilted to a dip of about 62°. This suggests that a local principal stress remained roughly vertical during bedding rotation. Assuming fracture strength and friction prevented slip on most joints during tilting, the ratio of least horizontal, Sh, to vertical stress, Sv, at the critical tilt angle was approximately 0.55.

Critical Elements in Produced Fluids from Nevada and Utah

DOE Data Explorer

Simmons, Stuart

2017-07-27

Critical elements and related analytical data for produced fluids from geothermal fields in Nevada and Utah, Sevier thermal belt hot springs, Utah, and Uinta basin oil-gas wells, Utah are reported. Analytical results include pH, major species, trace elements, transition metals, other metals, metalloids and REEs. Gas samples were collected and analyzed from Beowawe, Dixie Valley, Roosevelt Hot Springs, and Thermo. Helium gases and helium isotopes were analyzed on samples collected at Patua, San Emido and two wells in the Uinta basin.

Hydrologic reconnaissance of the southern Uinta basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Price, Don; Miller, Louise L.

1975-01-01

This report summarizes the findings of an investigation of the water resources of the southern Uinta Basin conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights. The purpose of the investigation was to evaluate the water resources of the southern Uinta Basin on a reconnaissance level and to provide information to assist in future planning and development of the water and related land resources.

Assessment of In-Place Oil Shale Resources of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Self, Jesse G.

2010-01-01

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a total of 1.32 trillion barrels of oil in place in 18 oil shale zones in the Eocene Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado.

Parameters Affecting the Characteristics of Oil Shale-Derived Fuels.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-01

rock with essentially no organic matter. The oil shale of the Uinta Basin in Utah and extreme western Colorado is richer than the Wyoming shales, but...could be used in several areas of the Uinta Basin . Once the oil shale is mined, it must be heated to about 900’F to hreak down the kerogen. A variety... Uinta Basin of eastern Utah. The sections presented above d.l not exhaust the supply of retorting tech- niques that are in various stages of

Seismic Discrimination

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-03-31

J\\ "’l \\ UBO \\ NUR UINTA * BASIN ARRAY. UTAH \\ NURMIJARVI, FINLAND »X 1964-1971 ^ • A...Gs N 1 i 1 1 , 1. 50 60 STATION mK UBO UINTA BASIN ARRAY, UTAH 1964-1970 s...appropriate to the Basin and Range geologic province. This comparison indicates that the Colorado Plateau structure is significantly different than

M-X Environmental Technical Report. Environmental Characteristics of Alternative Designated Deployment Areas, Mining and Geology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-22

Nevada and Utah Great Basin area, can be quickly drawn because of the paucity of known sites. The sole commercially producing area of oil and gas in...good production (in addition to oil shale, tar, sand and Gilsonite) is to be found in the Uinta Basin . Major production in Utah comes from the four...Utah crude came from these four fields. About 3,000 ni 2 (7,800 km 2 ) in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah is underlain by oil shale 15 ft (4.5 m

Depositional setting and diagenetic evolution of some Tertiary unconventional reservoir rocks, Uinta Basin, Utah.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pitman, Janet K.; Fouch, T.D.; Goldhaber, M.B.

1982-01-01

The Douglas Creek Member of the Tertiary Green River Formation underlies much of the Uinta basin, Utah, and contains large volumes of oil and gas trapped in a complex of fractured low-permeability sandstone reservoirs. In the SE part of the basin at Pariette Bench, the Eocene Douglas Creek Member is a thick sequence of fine- grained alluvial sandstone complexly intercalated with lacustrine claystone and carbonate rock. Sediments were deposited in a subsiding intermontane basin along the shallow fluctuating margin of ancient Lake Uinta. Although the Uinta basin has undergone postdepositional uplift and erosion, the deepest cored rocks at Pariette Bench have never been buried more than 3000m.-from Authors

Forest ecology and biogeography of the Uinta Mountains, USA

Treesearch

John D. Shaw; James N. Long

2007-01-01

The Uinta Mountains form a crossroads of forests and woodlands in the central Rocky Mountains. Although no tree species is endemic to the area, all species characteristic of the central Rocky Mountains are found there, and the ranges of several other species terminate in the Uinta Mountains and the surrounding area. The peninsula-like shape, east-west orientation, and...

Detailed north-south cross section showing environments of deposition, organic richness, and thermal maturities of lower Tertiary rocks in the Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.

2014-01-01

The Uinta Basin of northeast Utah has produced large amounts of hydrocarbons from lower Tertiary strata since the 1960s. Recent advances in drilling technologies, in particular the development of efficient methods to drill and hydraulically fracture horizontal wells, has spurred renewed interest in producing hydrocarbons from unconventional low-permeability dolomite and shale reservoirs in the lacustrine, Eocene Green River Formation. The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in Lake Uinta, a long-lived saline lake that occupied the Uinta Basin, the Piceance Basin to the east, and the intervening Douglas Creek arch. The focus of recent drilling activity has been the informal Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation and to a much lesser extent the overlying R-0 oil shale zone of the Green River Formation. Initial production rates ranging from 500 to 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day have been reported from the Uteland Butte member from horizontal well logs that are as long as 4,000 feet (ft);. The cross section presented here extends northward from outcrop on the southern margin of the basin into the basin’s deep trough, located just south of the Uinta Mountains, and transects the area where this unconventional oil play is developing. The Monument Butte field, which is one of the fields located along this line of section, has produced hydrocarbons from conventional sandstone reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation and underlying Wasatch Formation since 1981. A major fluvial-deltaic system entered Lake Uinta from the south, and this new line of section is ideal for studying the effect of the sediments delivered by this drainage on hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Green River Formation. The cross section also transects the Greater Altamont-Bluebell field in the deepest part of the basin, where hydrocarbons have been produced from fractured, highly overpressured marginal lacustrine and fluvial reservoirs in the Green River, Wasatch, and North Horn Formations since 1970. Datum for the cross section is sea level so that hydrocarbon source rocks and reservoir rocks could be integrated into the structural framework of the basin.

Water-related Issues Affecting Conventional Oil and Gas Recovery and Potential Oil-Shale Development in the Uinta Basin, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berg, Michael Vanden; Anderson, Paul; Wallace, Janae

Saline water disposal is one of the most pressing issues with regard to increasing petroleum and natural gas production in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah. Conventional oil fields in the basin provide 69 percent of Utah?s total crude oil production and 71 percent of Utah?s total natural gas, the latter of which has increased 208% in the past 10 years. Along with hydrocarbons, wells in the Uinta Basin produce significant quantities of saline water ? nearly 4 million barrels of saline water per month in Uintah County and nearly 2 million barrels per month in Duchesne County. As hydrocarbonmore » production increases, so does saline water production, creating an increased need for economic and environmentally responsible disposal plans. Current water disposal wells are near capacity, and permitting for new wells is being delayed because of a lack of technical data regarding potential disposal aquifers and questions concerning contamination of freshwater sources. Many companies are reluctantly resorting to evaporation ponds as a short-term solution, but these ponds have limited capacity, are prone to leakage, and pose potential risks to birds and other wildlife. Many Uinta Basin operators claim that oil and natural gas production cannot reach its full potential until a suitable, long-term saline water disposal solution is determined. The enclosed project was divided into three parts: 1) re-mapping the base of the moderately saline aquifer in the Uinta Basin, 2) creating a detailed geologic characterization of the Birds Nest aquifer, a potential reservoir for large-scale saline water disposal, and 3) collecting and analyzing water samples from the eastern Uinta Basin to establish baseline water quality. Part 1: Regulators currently stipulate that produced saline water must be disposed of into aquifers that already contain moderately saline water (water that averages at least 10,000 mg/L total dissolved solids). The UGS has re-mapped the moderately saline water boundary in the subsurface of the Uinta Basin using a combination of water chemistry data collected from various sources and by analyzing geophysical well logs. By re-mapping the base of the moderately saline aquifer using more robust data and more sophisticated computer-based mapping techniques, regulators now have the information needed to more expeditiously grant water disposal permits while still protecting freshwater resources. Part 2: Eastern Uinta Basin gas producers have identified the Birds Nest aquifer, located in the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation, as the most promising reservoir suitable for large-volume saline water disposal. This aquifer formed from the dissolution of saline minerals that left behind large open cavities and fractured rock. This new and complete understanding the aquifer?s areal extent, thickness, water chemistry, and relationship to Utah?s vast oil shale resource will help operators and regulators determine safe saline water disposal practices, directly impacting the success of increased hydrocarbon production in the region, while protecting potential future oil shale production. Part 3: In order to establish a baseline of water quality on lands identified by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as having oil shale development potential in the southeastern Uinta Basin, the UGS collected biannual water samples over a three-year period from near-surface aquifers and surface sites. The near-surface and relatively shallow groundwater quality information will help in the development of environmentally sound water-management solutions for a possible future oil shale and oil sands industry and help assess the sensitivity of the alluvial and near-surface bedrock aquifers. This multifaceted study will provide a better understanding of the aquifers in Utah?s Uinta Basin, giving regulators the tools needed to protect precious freshwater resources while still allowing for increased hydrocarbon production.« less

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Uteland Butte Member of the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Klett, Timothy R.; Leathers, Heidi M.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.

2015-09-03

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered resources of 214 million barrels of oil, 329 billion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 14 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the informal Uteland Butte member of the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah.

Properties of Modern Dust Accumulating in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA, and Soil Evidence of Long-Term Dust Deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munroe, J. S.

2013-12-01

Modern eolian sediment was collected at four locations in the alpine zone of the Uinta Mountains (Utah, USA) between July 2011 and July 2012. Collectors were a passive design based on the classic marble dust trap, but modified for use in this high-precipitation environment. On average the collectors accumulated 1.5 gm of dust, corresponding to an annual flux of 4.4 g/m2. This result is similar to values measured from snowpack samples in the Wind River (Wyoming) and San Juan (Colorado) Mountains. Dust flux was 3 to 5x higher during the winter compared with summer at the two sites featuring continuous vegetation, but was consistent between the seasons at the two collectors surrounded by a greater area of exposed soil. XRD analysis reveals that dust samples are dominated by quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase, and illite. Some samples contain amphibole and chlorite. In contrast, samples of fine sediment collected from the surface of modern snowbanks are dominated by clay with no feldspar or quartz, suggesting that these minerals are derived from the surrounding soil surface, which is snow-covered in the winter. ICP-MS analysis reveals that the geochemistry of the coarse (>63-μm) fraction of the dust resembles that of the underlying bedrock, confirming a local origin for this sediment. In contrast, the fine (<63-μm) fraction of the dust closely matches the fine fraction of the soil A horizon, supporting an eolian origin for the ubiquitous layer of fines that mantles soil profiles throughout the Uinta Mountains. Grain size analysis with laser scattering reveals that modern dust is very well-sorted, with a median size of 8 μm (7.0 Φ). Using the annual dust flux and mean grain size, and taking into account the measured bulk density (0.95 gm/cm3), organic matter content (20%), and silt content (32%) of this loess cap, the extrapolated loess accretion rate is ~18 cm per 10,000 years. Given that prior studies (Bockheim et al., 2000 Catena; Munroe, 2007, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research) have reported mean loess thickness from 16 to 25 cm throughout the alpine zone, this result suggests that the loess cap is a post-glacial feature.

Water resources of Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sumsion, C.T.

1976-01-01

Dinosaur National Monument, partly in the Rocky Mountain System and partly in the Colorado Plateaus physiographic province, covers an area of 322 square miles (834 square kilometres) in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. The climate is generally cool and pleasant in May, early June, September, and October; winters are cold. Normal annual precipitation ranges from less than 8 to more than 16 inches (203 to 406 millimetres).Geologic formations in the monument range in age from upper Precambrian to Holocene, but not all ages are represented. The monument is on the south limb of the east-trending regional fold representing the Uinta Mountains. Faults and subsidary folds on the south slope of the Uinta Mountains complicate the geology and hydrology of the area.None of the surface streams in the monument are diverted for public supply, but the Green and Yampa Rivers are a recreational resource for boaters. The flow of the Green River is regulated by Flaming Gorge Reservoir; however, flood potentials are estimated for the Yampa River and three smaller streams. Facilities in the monument are not endangered by probable mean annual floods, but may sustain some damage to facilities by the 25- or 50-year floods.Major aquifers in the monument are sandstone and limestone formations, but these formations are drained in the higher areas. Alluvium along the major stream channels yields small amounts of water to wells, but some of the water is not of suitable chemical quality for public supply. All public water supplies in 1971 were obtained from wells, and the use of water during 1970 was estimated to be 15 million gallons (46 acre-feet or 0.057 cubic hectometres). Most of the ground water obtained from sandstone and limestone is of suitable chemical quality for public supply.

76 FR 43898 - Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plan Revisions; Infrastructure Requirements for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-22

...: The commenter supported EPA's efforts to require ozone monitoring in Utah's Uinta Basin. However, the... air quality in the basin is not in compliance with the ozone standard,'' to designate the Uinta Basin... commenter refers to. For a discussion of other monitoring data in the Uinta Basin, see the response to...

Selected hydrologic data, Uinta Basin area, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hood, J.W.; Mundorff, J.C.; Price, Don

1976-01-01

The Uinta Basin area in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado covers an area of slightly more than 10,000 mi2 (25,900 km2). More than 95 percent of the basin is in Utah, thus most of the data in this report apply to Utah. Most of the water wells are concentrated in populated areas along the lower parts of the basin; records of only a representative number of these water sources are included in this report.This report presents consolidated listings of data selected for use in hydrologic studies in the Uinta Basin area through June 1974. The data are principally taken from three studies made during 1971-74 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights. Also incorporated in this report are data collected since 1935 by the Geological Survey and other organizations. This report is intended to make data conveniently available and to supplement interpretive reports that will be published separately. For some data sites, the volume of data is too great for complete inclusion here. For these sites, data summaries are provided, and for greater detail the reader is referred to the sources listed under Selected references.

Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion: Chapter 21 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stier, Michael P.

2012-01-01

The Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion covers approximately 129,617 km2 (50,045 mi2) within southern and eastern Utah, western Colorado, and the extreme northern part of Arizona (fig. 1). The terrain of this ecoregion is characterized by broad plateaus, ancient volcanoes, and deeply dissected canyons (Booth and others, 1999; fig. 2). The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the Wyoming Basin and Southern Rockies Ecoregions in Colorado and on the northwest by the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Ecoregion in northern and central Utah. To the south, the ecoregion borders the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion, which has a higher elevation and more grasslands than the Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997).

HIGH UINTAS PRIMITIVE AREA, UTAH.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crittenden, Max D.; Sheridan, Michael J.

1984-01-01

Mineral surveys in the High Uintas Primitive Area, Utah and the additions subsequently proposed concluded that the area has little promise for mineral resources. Of the areas around the fringes, a strip along the north flank fault can be classed as having probable energy-resource potential for oil and gas. The oil and gas potential could be tested by additional seismic studies followed by drilling. Much of the necessary information probably could be obtained without drilling within the primitive area itself.

An Archeological Overview and Management Plan for the Green River Launch Complex.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-03-29

2-4). The trappers and traders who entered the Uinta Basin after 1800 had little or no influence on the social and economic structure of the Ute...present town of Whiterocks, Utah, in the northern Uinta Basin . In 1836, Wakara (known as Chief Walker) a powerful Ute leader, rose to power by stealing...determined the Uinta Basin was unsuitable for Mormon use, President Lincoln, by Executive Order in 1861, set aside the Uinta Reservation. Much of the

Deployment Area Selection and Land Withdrawal/Acquisition. M-X/MPS (M-X/Multiple Protective Shelter) Environmental Technical Report. Wilderness/Natural Areas.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-02

data from a well-watered heterogeneous area in the High Uintas (Stankey, 1973) as compared to the majority of the arid Great Basin wilderness resources...Jarbidge in the Humboldt National Forest in northeastern Nevada, and Lone Peak in the Uinta and Wasatch National Forest of central Utah. These areas...from a comprehensive study of the Great Basin (Bostick et al., 1975). Designated National - Natural Landmarks on the Registery in Nevada and Utah are

Preliminary Stratigraphic Cross Sections of Oil Shale in the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dyni, John R.

2008-01-01

Oil shale units in the Eocene Green River Formation are shown on two east-west stratigraphic sections across the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Several units have potential value for recovery of shale oil, especially the Mahogany oil shale zone, which is a high grade oil shale that can be traced across most of the Uinta Basin and into the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado. Many thin medium to high grade oil shale beds above the Mahogany zone can also be traced for many miles across the basin. Several units below the Mahogany that have slow velocities on sonic logs may be low grade oil shale. These may have value as a source for shale gas.

Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Uinta-Piceance Province of Colorado and Utah, 2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2002-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the UintaPiceance Province of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah (fig. 1). The assessment of the Uinta-Piceance Province is geology based and uses the Total Petroleum System concept. The geologic elements of Total Petroleum Systems include hydrocarbon source rocks (source rock maturation, hydrocarbon generation and migration), reservoir rocks (sequence stratigraphy, petrophysical properties), and hydrocarbon traps (trap formation and timing). Using this geologic framework, the USGS defined five Total Petroleum Systems and 20 Assessment Units within these Total Petroleum Systems, and quantitatively estimated the undiscovered oil and gas resources within each Assessment Unit (table 1).

Reconnaissance for uraniferous rocks in northwestern Colorado, southwestern Wyoming, and northeastern Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beroni, E.P.; McKeown, F.A.

1952-01-01

Previous discoveries and studies of radioactive lignites of Tertiary age in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming led the Geological Survey in 1950 to do reconnaissance in the Green River and Uinta Basin of Wyoming and Utah, where similar lignites were believed to be present. Because of the common association of uranium with copper deposits and the presence of such deposits in the Uinta Basin, several areas containing copper-uranium minerals were also examined. No deposits commercially exploitable under present conditions were found. Samples of coal from the Bear River formation at Sage, Wyo., assayed 0.004 to 0.013 percent uranium in the ash; in the old Uteland copper mine in Uinta County, Utah, 0.007 to 0.017 percent uranium; in a freshwater limestone, Duchesne County, Utah, as much as 0.019 percent uranium; and in the Mesaverde formation at the Snow and Bonniebell claims near Jensen, Uintah County, Utah, 0.003 to 0.090 percent uranium. Maps were made and samples were taken at the Skull Creek carnotite deposits in Moffat County, Colo. (0.006 to 0.16 percent uranium); at the Fair-U claims in Routt County, Colo. (0.002 to 0.040 percent uranium); and at the Lucky Strike claims near Kremmling in Grand County, Colo. (0.006 to 0.018 percent uranium).

Lacustrine Basal Ages Constrain the Last Deglaciation in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munroe, Jeffrey; Laabs, Benjamin

2013-04-01

Basal radiocarbon ages from 21 high-elevation lakes limit the timing of final Pleistocene deglaciation in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah, USA. The lakes are located in glacial valleys and cirques 5 to 20 km upstream from LGM terminal moraines at elevations from 2830 to 3475 m. Many are impounded behind recessional moraines. Cores were retrieved from a floating platform with a percussion corer driven to the point of refusal. All penetrated inorganic silty clay beneath gyttja. AMS radiocarbon analyses were made on terrestrial macrofossils, daphnia ephippia, pollen concentrates, and bulk sediment retrieved from the base of each core. No radiocarbon reservoir effect was observed when bulk dates were checked against terrestrial material. Radiocarbon results were converted to calendar years using the IntCal09 calibration curve in OxCal 4.1. Given the stratigraphy observed in the cores, these calibrated basal ages are considered close limits on the timing of the local deglaciation and lake formation. The oldest three lakes have basal radiocarbon ages that calibrate to a few centuries after the Bölling/Alleröd warming, indicating that the landscape was becoming ice free at this time. These are followed by an overlapping group of five lakes with basal ages between 13.5 and 13.0 ka BP. Five more cores, from four separate lakes, have basal ages tightly clustered between 13.0 and 12.5 ka BP. Three of these lakes are dammed by moraines, suggesting glacial activity during the early part of the Younger Dryas interval. The lone kettle lake in the study yielded a basal age of 12.3 ka BP, considerably younger than the basal age of 13.9 ka BP from a nearby lake filling a bedrock basin, indicating that buried ice may have been locally stable for more than a millennium after deglaciation. The remaining seven lakes have basal ages between 12.0 and 11.0 ka BP. Four of these lakes are also dammed by moraines. These two non-overlapping clusters of basal ages for moraine-dammed lakes, with maximum probabilities ca. 12.7 and 11.3 ka BP, suggest that active glaciers were present in the Uinta Mountains during the Younger Dryas, and that Younger Dryas glacier activity was concentrated in two separate intervals.

Major Oil Plays in Utah and Vicinity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas C. Chidsey; Craig D. Morgan; Kevin McClure

2003-12-31

Utah oil fields have produced over 1.2 billion barrels (191 million m{sup 3}). However, the 13.7 million barrels (2.2 million m{sup 3}) of production in 2002 was the lowest level in over 40 years and continued the steady decline that began in the mid-1980s. The Utah Geological Survey believes this trend can be reversed by providing play portfolios for the major oil-producing provinces (Paradox Basin, Uinta Basin, and thrust belt) in Utah and adjacent areas in Colorado and Wyoming. Oil plays are geographic areas with petroleum potential caused by favorable combinations of source rock, migration paths, reservoir rock characteristics, andmore » other factors. The play portfolios will include: descriptions and maps of the major oil plays by reservoir; production and reservoir data; case-study field evaluations; locations of major oil pipelines; identification and discussion of land-use constraints; descriptions of reservoir outcrop analogs; and summaries of the state-of-the-art drilling, completion, and secondary/tertiary techniques for each play. This report covers research activities for the sixth quarter of the project (October 1 through December 31, 2003). This work included describing outcrop analogs for the Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone and Mississippian Leadville Limestone, major oil producers in the thrust belt and Paradox Basin, respectively, and analyzing best practices used in the southern Green River Formation play of the Uinta Basin. Production-scale outcrop analogs provide an excellent view of reservoir petrophysics, facies characteristics, and boundaries contributing to the overall heterogeneity of reservoir rocks. They can be used as a ''template'' for evaluation of data from conventional core, geophysical and petrophysical logs, and seismic surveys. In the Utah/Wyoming thrust belt province, the Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone produces from subsidiary closures along major ramp anticlines where the low-porosity limestone beds are extensively fractured and sealed by overlying argillaceous and non-fractured units. The best outcrop analogs for Twin Creek reservoirs are found at Devils Slide and near the town of Peoa, Utah, where fractures in dense, homogeneous non-porous limestone beds are in contact with the basal siltstone units (containing sealed fractures) of the overlying units. The shallow marine, Mississippian Leadville Limestone is a major oil and gas reservoir in the Paradox Basin of Utah and Colorado. Hydrocarbons are produced from basement-involved, northwest-trending structural traps with closure on both anticlines and faults. Excellent outcrops of Leadville-equivalent rocks are found along the south flank of the Uinta Mountains, Utah. For example, like the Leadville, the Mississippian Madison Limestone contains zones of solution breccia, fractures, and facies variations. When combined with subsurface geological and production data, these outcrop analogs can improve (1) development drilling and production strategies such as horizontal drilling, (2) reservoir-simulation models, (3) reserve calculations, and (4) design and implementation of secondary/tertiary oil recovery programs and other best practices used in the oil fields of Utah and vicinity. In the southern Green River Formation play of the Uinta Basin, optimal drilling, development, and production practices consist of: (1) owning drilling rigs and frac holding tanks; (2) perforating sandstone beds with more than 8 percent neutron porosity and stimulate with separate fracture treatments; (3) placing completed wells on primary production using artificial lift; (4) converting wells relatively soon to secondary waterflooding maintaining reservoir pressure above the bubble point to maximize oil recovery; (5) developing waterflood units using an alternating injector--producer pattern on 40-acre (16-ha) spacing; and (6) recompleting producing wells by perforating all beds that are productive in the waterflood unit. As part of technology transfer activities during this quarter, an abstract describing outcrop reservoir analogs was accepted by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, for presentation at the 2004 annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. Another abstract was submitted for consideration on basin-wide correlation of Green River Formation plays and subplays in the Uinta Basin in Utah. The project home page was updated on the Utah Geological Survey Internet web site.« less

Oil shale resources of the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2010-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed a comprehensive assessment of in-place oil in oil shales of the Eocene Green River Formation of the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah and western Colorado. The oil shale interval was subdivided into eighteen roughly time-stratigraphic intervals, and each interval was assessed for variations in gallons per ton, barrels per acre, and total barrels in each township. The Radial Basis Function extrapolation method was used to generate isopach and isoresource maps, and to calculate resources. The total inplace resource for the Uinta Basin is estimated at 1.32 trillion barrels. This is only slightly lower than the estimated 1.53 trillion barrels for the adjacent Piceance Basin, Colorado, to the east, which is thought to be the richest oil shale deposit in the world. However, the area underlain by oil shale in the Uinta Basin is much larger than that of the Piceance Basin, and the average gallons per ton and barrels per acre values for each of the assessed oil shale zones are significantly lower in the depocenter in the Uinta Basin when compared to the Piceance Basin. These relations indicate that the oil shale resources in the Uinta Basin are of lower grade and are more dispersed than the oil shale resources of the Piceance Basin.

Emissions Inventory for the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah, Winter 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moss, D.; Hall, C. F.; Mansfield, M. L.

2012-12-01

We report the results of an emissions inventory for the Uinta Basin, Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah, focusing on emissions categories that are poorly represented by existing inventories. We have also focused on wintertime emissions in general and on the winter season of 2012, in particular, in order to have an inventory that is relevant to winter ozone events in the basin. The inventory includes categories such as major and minor point sources, produced water evaporation ponds, wood stoves, mobile emissions, biogenic and agricultural emissions, land fills, etc.

Magnetic Signature of Glacial Flour in Sediments From Bear Lake, Utah/Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenbaum, J. G.; Dean, W. E.; Colman, S. M.; Reynolds, R. L.

2002-12-01

Variations in magnetic properties within an interval of Bear Lake sediments correlative with oxygen isotope stage 2 (OIS 2) and OIS 3 provide a record of glacial flour production for the Uinta Mountains. Like sediments of the same age from Upper Klamath Lake (OR), these Bear Lake sediments have high magnetic susceptibilities (MS) relative to non-glacial-age sediments and contain well-defined millennial-scale variations in magnetic properties. In contrast to glacial flour derived from volcanic rocks surrounding Upper Klamath Lake, glacial flour derived from the Uinta Mountains and deposited in Bear Lake by the Bear River has low magnetite content but high hematite content. The relatively low MS values of younger and older non-glacial-age sediments are due entirely to dilution by non-magnetic endogenic carbonate and to the effects of sulfidic alteration of detrital Fe-oxides. Analysis of samples from streams entering Bear Lake and from along the course of the Bear River demonstrates that, in comparison to other areas of the catchment, sediment derived from the Uinta Mountains is rich in hematite (high HIRM) and aluminum, and poor in magnetite (low MS) and titanium. Within the glacial-age lake sediments, there are strong positive correlations among HIRM, Al/Ti, and fine sediment grain size. MS varies inversely with theses three variables. These relations indicate that the observed millennial-scale variations in magnetic and chemical properties arise from varying proportions of two detrital components: (1) very fine-grained glacial flour derived from Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks in the Uinta Mountains and characterized by high HIRM and low MS, and (2) somewhat coarser material, characterized by higher MS and lower HIRM, derived from widespread sedimentary rocks along the course of the Bear River and around Bear Lake. Measurement of glacial flour incorporated in lake sediments can provide a continuous history of alpine glaciation, because the rate of accumulation of glacial flour probably varies closely with the areal extent of glaciation. In the absence of post-depositional alteration of magnetic minerals, magnetic measurements can provide a highly sensitive tool for assessing variations in glacial flour content if glacial and non-glacial materials have contrasting magnetic properties. For Bear Lake, the required contrast is produced by differences in bedrock underlying glaciated and unglaciated areas.

Year 1 Field Work Report: Utah Bat Monitoring Protocol

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-28

Plateau shrublands, Great Basin shrub steppe, Wasatch and Uinta montane forests, Mojave Desert and Wyoming Basin shrub steppe. A total 65, 20 x 20 km... Basin shrub steppe, Wasatch and Uinta montane forests) each harbored 20 sampling cells, while the limited size of the Mojave Desert and Wyoming Basin ...Wasatch and Uinta montane forest and Wyoming Basin shrub steppe). Site # A unique identifier between 1 and 20 within each ecoregion. UTM The

76 FR 14372 - Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Resource Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-16

... Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. Written comments should be sent to Loyal Clark, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache... open to the public. The following business will be conducted: (1) Review Forest Service project approval letter, (2) discuss travel budget, and (3) review new proposals. Persons who wish to bring related...

Yellow Canary uranium deposits, Daggett County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilmarth, Verl Richard

1953-01-01

The Yellow Canary uranium deposit is on the west side of Red Creek Canyon in the northern part of the Uinta Mountains, Daggett County, Utah. Two claims have been developed by means of an adit, three opencuts, and several hundred feet of bulldozer trenches. No uranium ore has been produced from this deposit. The deposit is in the pre-Cambrian Red Creek quartzite. This formation is composed of intercalated beds of quartzite, hornblendite, garnet schist, staurolite schist, and quartz-mica schist and is intruded by dioritic dikes. A thick unit of highly fractured white quartzite near the top of the formation contains tyuyamunite as coatings on fracture surfaces. The tyuyamunite is associated with carnotite, volborthite, iron oxides, azurite, malachite, brochantite, and hyalite. The uranium and vanadium minerals are probably alteration products of primary minerals. The uranium content of 15 samples from this property ranged from 0.000 to 0.57 percent.

Isopach and isoresource maps for oil shale deposits in the Eocene Green River Formation for the combined Uinta and Piceance Basins, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mercier, Tracey J.; Johnson, Ronald C.

2012-01-01

The in-place oil shale resources in the Eocene Green River Formation of the Piceance Basin of western Colorado and the Uinta Basin of western Colorado and eastern Utah are estimated at 1.53 trillion barrels and 1.32 trillion barrels, respectively. The oil shale strata were deposited in a single large saline lake, Lake Uinta, that covered both basins and the intervening Douglas Creek arch, an area of comparatively low rates of subsidence throughout the history of Lake Uinta. Although the Green River Formation is largely eroded for about a 20-mile area along the crest of the arch, the oil shale interval is similar in both basins, and 17 out of 18 of the assessed oil shale zones are common to both basins. Assessment maps for these 17 zones are combined so that the overall distribution of oil shale over the entire extent of Lake Uinta can be studied. The combined maps show that throughout most of the history of Lake Uinta, the richest oil shale was deposited in the depocenter in the north-central part of the Piceance Basin and in the northeast corner of the Uinta Basin where it is closest to the Piceance Basin, which is the only area of the Uinta Basin where all of the rich and lean oil shale zones, originally defined in the Piceance Basin, can be identified. Both the oil shale and saline mineral depocenter in the Piceance Basin and the richest oil shale area in the Uinta Basin were in areas with comparatively low rates of subsidence during Lake Uinta time, but both areas had low rates of clastic influx. Limiting clastic influx rather than maximizing subsidence appears to have been the most important factor in producing rich oil shale.

Mountain big sagebrush communities on the Bishop Conglomerate in the eastern Uinta Mountains

Treesearch

Sherel Goodrich; Allen Huber

2001-01-01

The Bishop Conglomerate forms broad, gently sloping pediments that include a mantle or veneer of coarse gravel and some cobble over underlying formations. These pediments cover large areas at the margins of the Uinta Mountains. Mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata var. pauciflora) communities cover rather large areas at the outer edge or lower end of these...

Assessment of Uinta Basin Oil and Natural Gas Well Pad Pneumatic Controller Emissions

EPA Science Inventory

In the fall of 2016, a field study was conducted in the Uinta Basin Utah to improve information on oil and natural gas well pad pneumatic controllers (PCs) and emission measurement methods. A total of 80 PC systems at five oil sites (supporting six wells) and three gas sites (sup...

INSTALLATION OF A 10-ELEMENT SHALLOW-BURIED ARRAY AT THE UINTA BASIN SEISMOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, VERNAL, UTAH

DTIC Science & Technology

the array are buried to a depth of approximately 200 feet. This report outlines, in some detail, the installation of a buried array at the Uinta ... Basin Seismological Observatory. Major considerations in such an undertaking included the selection of the most effective array pattern and the most

Overpressures in the Uinta Basin, Utah: Analysis using a three-dimensional basin evolution model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPherson, Brian J. O. L.; Bredehoeft, John D.

2001-04-01

High pore fluid pressures, approaching lithostatic, are observed in the deepest sections of the Uinta basin, Utah. Geologic observations and previous modeling studies suggest that the most likely cause of observed overpressures is hydrocarbon generation. We studied Uinta overpressures by developing and applying a three-dimensional, numerical model of the evolution of the basin. The model was developed from a public domain computer code, with addition of a new mesh generator that builds the basin through time, coupling the structural, thermal, and hydrodynamic evolution. Also included in the model are in situ hydrocarbon generation and multiphase migration. The modeling study affirmed oil generation as an overpressure mechanism, but also elucidated the relative roles of multiphase fluid interaction, oil density and viscosity, and sedimentary compaction. An important result is that overpressures by oil generation create conditions for rock fracturing, and associated fracture permeability may regulate or control the propensity to maintain overpressures.

Exploration for coalbed methane gains momentum in Uinta basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gloyn, Robert W.; Sommer, Steven N.

1993-01-01

A development program is planned, and at least three other companies are exploring for coalbed methane in the surrounding area. Estimates have been revised by the Utah Geological Survey for the coalbed methane potential of the southern Uinta basin. They are 8 tcf to more than the earlier estimates of 0.8-4.6 tcf.

Petroleum systems and geologic assessment of oil and gas in the Uinta-Piceance Province, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2003-01-01

Many more details about the project and about individual chapters of this report are readily available in the very readable Chapter 2 of this volume, 'The Uinta-Piceance Province-Introduction to a geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources.' Use Acrobat Reader to access the PDF for this chapter.

Critical Elements in Reservoir Rocks of Produced Fluids Nevada and Utah August 2017

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simmons, Stuart

Critical and trace element data for drill cuttings from Beowawe, Dixie Valley, and Roosevelt Hot Springs-Blundell geothermal production fields, for drill cuttings from Uinta basin producing oil-gas wells, and from outcrops in the Sevier Thermal Anomaly-Utah.

Assessment of watershed vulnerability to climate change for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forests, Utah

Treesearch

Janine Rice; Tim Bardsley; Pete Gomben; Dustin Bambrough; Stacey Weems; Sarah Leahy; Christopher Plunkett; Charles Condrat; Linda A. Joyce

2017-01-01

Watersheds on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forests provide many ecosystem services, and climate change poses a risk to these services. We developed a watershed vulnerability assessment to provide scientific information for land managers facing the challenge of managing these watersheds. Literature-based information and expert elicitation is used to...

Wyoming Basin Ecoregion: Chapter 25 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hawbaker, Todd J.

2012-01-01

The Wyoming Basin Ecoregion (Omernik 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1999) covers approximately 128,914 km2 (49,774 mi2) in Wyoming and parts of northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and southern Montana (fig. 1). The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the Northwestern Great Plains Ecoregion; on the south and east by the Southern Rockies Ecoregion; on the south by the Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion; on the south and west by the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Ecoregion; and on the north by the Middle Rockies Ecoregion and parts of the Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Ecoregion (fig. 1). The ecoregion generally consists of broad intermountain basins dominated by arid grasslands and shrublands, as well as isolated hills and low mountains that merge to the south into a dissected plateau.

78 FR 2655 - Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Utah; Ogden Travel Plan Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-14

...-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Utah; Ogden Travel Plan Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION... prepare a supplement to the Ogden Travel Plan Revision Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS). The Ogden Travel Plan Revision FSEIS evaluated six alternatives for possible travel management...

The uranium deposit at the Yellow Canary claims, Daggett County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilmarth, V.R.; Vickers, R.C.; McKeown, F.A.; Beroni, E.P.

1952-01-01

The Yellow Canary claims uranium deposit is on the west side of Red Creek Canyon in the northern part of the Uinta Mountains, Daggett County, Utah. The claims have been developed by two adits, three open cuts, and several hundred deep of bulldozer trenches. No uranium ore has been produced from this deposit. The uranium deposit at the Yellow Canary claims is in the Red Creek quartzite of pre-Cambrian age. The formation is composed of intercalated beds of quartzite, hornblendite, garnet schist, staurolite schist, and quartz-mica schist and is intruded by diorite dikes. A thick unit of highly fractured white quatrzite at the top of the formation contains tyutamunite as coatings on fracture surfaces. The tyutamunite is associated with carnotite, volborthite, iron oxides, azurite, malachite, brochantite, and hyalite. The secondary uranium and vanadium minerals are believed to be alteration products of primary minerals. The uranium content of 15 samples from this property ranged from 0.000 to 0.57 percent.

Effects of saline-wastewater injection on water quality in the Altamont-Bluebell oil and gas field, Duchesne County, Utah, 1990-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steiger, Judy I.

2007-01-01

The Altamont-Bluebell oil and gas field in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah has been an important oil and natural gas production area since the 1950s. Saline water is produced along with oil during the oil-well drilling and pumping process. The saline wastewater is disposed of by injection into wells completed in the Duchesne River Formation, Uinta Formation, and other underlying formations. There are concerns that the injected saline wastewater could migrate into the upper part of the Duchesne River and Uinta Formations and surficial deposits that are used for drinking-water supply and degrade the quality of the drinking water. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, began a program in 1990 to monitor water quality in five wells in the Altamont-Bluebell oil and gas field. By 1996, water-quality samples had been collected from 20 wells. Ten of the 20 wells were sampled yearly during 1996-2005 and analyzed for bromide, chloride, and stable isotopes. Comparison of major chemical constituents, bromide-to-chloride ratios, trend analysis, and isotope ratios were used to assess if saline wastewater is migrating into parts of the formation that are developed for drinking-water supplies. Results of four different analyses all indicate that saline wastewater injected into the lower part of the Duchesne River and Uinta Formations and underlying formations is not migrating upward into the upper parts of the formations that are used for drinking-water supplies.

Allogenic sedimentary components of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosenbaum, J.G.; Dean, W.E.; Reynolds, R.L.; Reheis, M.C.

2009-01-01

Bear Lake is a long-lived lake filling a tectonic depression between the Bear River Range to the west and the Bear River Plateau to the east, and straddling the border between Utah and Idaho. Mineralogy, elemental geochemistry, and magnetic properties provide information about variations in provenance of allogenic lithic material in last-glacial-age, quartz-rich sediment in Bear Lake. Grain-size data from the siliciclastic fraction of late-glacial to Holocene carbonate-rich sediments provide information about variations in lake level. For the quartz-rich lower unit, which was deposited while the Bear River fl owed into and out of the lake, four source areas are recognized on the basis of modern fluvial samples with contrasting properties that reflect differences in bedrock geology and in magnetite content from dust. One of these areas is underlain by hematite-rich Uinta Mountain Group rocks in the headwaters of the Bear River. Although Uinta Mountain Group rocks make up a small fraction of the catchment, hematite-rich material from this area is an important component of the lower unit. This material is interpreted to be glacial fl our. Variations in the input of glacial flour are interpreted as having caused quasi-cyclical variations in mineralogical and elemental concentrations, and in magnetic properties within the lower unit. The carbonate-rich younger unit was deposited under conditions similar to those of the modern lake, with the Bear River largely bypassing the lake. For two cores taken in more than 30 m of water, median grain sizes in this unit range from ???6 ??m to more than 30 ??m, with the coarsest grain sizes associated with beach or shallow-water deposits. Similar grain-size variations are observed as a function of water depth in the modern lake and provide the basis for interpreting the core grain-size data in terms of lake level. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

The glacial/deglacial history of sedimentation in Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosenbaum, J.G.; Heil, C.W.

2009-01-01

Bear Lake, in northeastern Utah and southern Idaho, lies in a large valley formed by an active half-graben. Bear River, the largest river in the Great Basin, enters Bear Lake Valley ???15 km north of the lake. Two 4-m-long cores provide a lake sediment record extending back ???26 cal k.y. The penetrated section can be divided into a lower unit composed of quartz-rich clastic sediments and an upper unit composed largely of endogenic carbonate. Data from modern fluvial sediments provide the basis for interpreting changes in provenance of detrital material in the lake cores. Sediments from small streams draining elevated topography on the east and west sides of the lake are characterized by abundant dolomite, high magnetic susceptibility (MS) related to eolian magnetite, and low values of hard isothermal remanent magnetization (HIRM, indicative of hematite content). In contrast, sediments from the headwaters of the Bear River in the Uinta Mountains lack carbonate and have high HIRM and low MS. Sediments from lower reaches of the Bear River contain calcite but little dolomite and have low values of MS and HIRM. These contrasts in catchment properties allow interpretation of the following sequence from variations in properties of the lake sediment: (1) ca. 26 cal ka-onset of glaciation; (2) ca. 26-20 cal ka-quasicyclical, millennial-scale variations in the concentrations of hematite-rich glacial fl our derived from the Uinta Mountains, and dolomite- and magnetite-rich material derived from the local Bear Lake catchment (reflecting variations in glacial extent); (3) ca. 20-19 cal ka-maximum content of glacial fl our; (4) ca. 19-17 cal ka-constant content of Bear River sediment but declining content of glacial fl our from the Uinta Mountains; (5) ca. 17-15.5 cal ka-decline in Bear River sediment and increase in content of sediment from the local catchment; and (6) ca. 15.5-14.5 cal ka-increase in content of endogenic calcite at the expense of detrital material. The onset of glaciation indicated in the Bear Lake record postdates the initial rise of Lake Bonneville and roughly corresponds to the Stansbury shoreline. The lake record indicates that maximum glaciation occurred as Lake Bonneville reached its maximum extent ca. 20 cal ka and that deglaciation was under way while Lake Bonneville remained at its peak. The transition from siliciclastic to carbonate sedimentation probably indicates increasingly evaporative conditions and may coincide with the climatically driven fall of Lake Bonneville from the Provo shoreline. Although lake levels fluctuated during the Younger Dryas, the Bear Lake record for this period is more consistent with drier conditions, rather than cooler, moister conditions interpreted from many studies from western North America. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Reservoir Characterization of the Lower Green River Formation, Southwest Uinta Basin, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morgan, Craig D.; Chidsey, Jr., Thomas C.; McClure, Kevin P.

The objectives of the study were to increase both primary and secondary hydrocarbon recovery through improved characterization (at the regional, unit, interwell, well, and microscopic scale) of fluvial-deltaic lacustrine reservoirs, thereby preventing premature abandonment of producing wells. The study will encourage exploration and establishment of additional water-flood units throughout the southwest region of the Uinta Basin, and other areas with production from fluvial-deltaic reservoirs.

Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Brownfield, Michael E.

2016-05-02

The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks. The Green River Formation was deposited by two large lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. These three basins contain the world’s largest in-place oil shale resources with recent estimates of 1.53 trillion, 1.33 trillion, and 1.44 trillion barrels of oil in place in the Piceance, Uinta, and Greater Green River Basins, respectively. The Uteland Butte member was deposited during an early freshwater stage of the lake in the Uinta Basin prior to deposition of the assessed oil shale intervals. This report only presents information on the early freshwater interval and overlying brackish-water interval in all three basins because these intervals are most likely to have tight oil potential. Burial histories of the three basins were reconstructed to study (1) variations in subsidence and lake development, and (2) post deposition burial that led to the development of a petroleum system in only the Uinta Basin. The Uteland Butte member is a successful tight oil play because it is thermally mature for hydrocarbon generation and contains organic-rich shale, brittle carbonate, and porous dolomite. Abnormally high pressure in parts of the Uteland Butte is also important to production. Variations in organic richness of the Uteland Butte were studied using Fischer assay analysis from oil shale assessments, and pressures were studied using drill-stem tests. Freshwater lacustrine intervals in the Piceance and Greater Green River Basins are immature for hydrocarbon generation and contain much less carbonate than the Uteland Butte member. The brackish-water interval in the Uinta Basin is thermally mature for hydrocarbon generation but is clay-rich and contains little carbonate, and thus is a poor prospect for tight oil development.

Stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Mancos Shale (upper part) and Mesaverde Group in the southern part of the Uinta and Piceance basins, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hettinger, R.D.; Kirschbaum, M.A.

2002-01-01

Cross section A–A' was constructed in support of the oil and gas assessments of the Mesaverde and Mancos/Mowry Total Petroleum Systems in the Uinta and Piceance Basins of Utah and Colorado (fig. 1) (U.S. Geological Survey Uinta-Piceance Province Assessment Team, in press). This citation is referred to henceforth as simply “USGS, in press.” The Mesaverde Total Petroleum System contains continuous gas derived primarily from carbonaceous shale and coal in the Mesaverde Group [chapter by Johnson and Roberts in USGS (in press)]. The Mancos/Mowry Total Petroleum System contains continuous gas derived primarily from marine source rocks in the Mancos and Mowry Shales [chapter by Kirschbaum in USGS (in press)]. Cross section A–A' illustrates the stratigraphy of these Upper Cretaceous rocks, emphasizing the fluvial, coal-bearing coastal plain, nearshore marine, and offshore marine strata. The cross section is presented as a hard copy in this report and as a chapter by Hettinger and Kirschbaum (USGS, in press).

Morphological variation, phylogenetic relationships, and geographic distribution of the Baenidae (Testudines), based on new specimens from the Uinta Formation (Uinta Basin), Utah (USA)

PubMed Central

Hutchison, J. Howard; Townsend, K. E. Beth; Adrian, Brent; Jager, Daniel

2017-01-01

We described newly discovered baenid specimens from the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA), in the Uinta Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah. These specimens include a partial skull and several previously undescribed postcranial elements of Baena arenosa, and numerous well-preserved shells of B. arenosa and Chisternon undatum. Baenids from the Uintan NALMA (46.5–40 Ma) are critical in that they provide valuable insight into the morphology and evolution of the diverse and speciose baenid family near the end of its extensive radiation, just prior to the disappearance of this clade from the fossil record. These Uintan specimens greatly increase the known variation in these late-surviving taxa and indicate that several characters thought to define these species should be reassessed. The partial cranium of B. arenosa, including portions of the basicranium, neurocranium, face, and lower jaw, was recently recovered from Uinta B sediments. While its morphology is consistent with known specimens of B. arenosa, we observed several distinct differences: a crescent-shaped condylus occipitalis that is concave dorsally, tuberculum basioccipitale that flare out laterally, and a distinct frontal-nasal suture. The current sample of plastral and carapacial morphology considerably expands the documented variation in the hypodigms of B. arenosa and C. undatum. Novel shell characters observed include sigmoidal extragular-humeral sulci, and small, subtriangular gular scutes. Subadult specimens reveal ontogenetic processes in both taxa, and demonstrate that diagnostic morphological differences between them were present from an early developmental age. PMID:28686718

Strontium isotopic evidence of shifting inflows to Eocene Lake Uinta in the Laramide foreland of Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, S. J.; Wiegand, B. A.; Chamberlain, C. P.

2007-12-01

Isotopic records from the Uinta basin in Utah are evidence of an evolving landscape during the early Cenozoic. Combined with studies of provenance and paleoflow, oxygen and carbon isotopic results have recently been interpreted to reflect changes in hydrology and catchment hypsometry as the basin responded to developing relief in the foreland. We now present strontium isotope data from lacustrine limestones indicating significant and rapid (< 1 my) shifts in the source of inflowing surface waters. Provenance of Eocene sediments has been used to argue that water spilling south from an overfilled Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River basin caused a highstand of the lake in the Piceance Creek basin, which in turn overtopped the Douglas Creek Arch and connected with Lake Uinta in the Uinta basin. The lake highstand was extremely productive, and resulted in the deposition of the rich "Mahogany zone" oil shales. New data shows that the 87Sr/86Sr ratio of lacustrine limestones collected in the Uinta basin is generally low (< 0.7105) for most of the Eocene, but spikes higher (to 0.7122) in samples of the Main Body of the Green River Formation near and within the Mahogany zone. We interpret this data to reflect a period of input of water from Lake Gosiute, where that lake's catchments included exposed basement that was much more radiogenic. The strontium data further supports the interpretation that intraforeland basin development in the central North American Cordillera was largely controlled by shifting drainage patterns as the landscape responded to ongoing Laramide tectonism.

Morphological variation, phylogenetic relationships, and geographic distribution of the Baenidae (Testudines), based on new specimens from the Uinta Formation (Uinta Basin), Utah (USA).

PubMed

Smith, Heather F; Hutchison, J Howard; Townsend, K E Beth; Adrian, Brent; Jager, Daniel

2017-01-01

We described newly discovered baenid specimens from the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA), in the Uinta Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah. These specimens include a partial skull and several previously undescribed postcranial elements of Baena arenosa, and numerous well-preserved shells of B. arenosa and Chisternon undatum. Baenids from the Uintan NALMA (46.5-40 Ma) are critical in that they provide valuable insight into the morphology and evolution of the diverse and speciose baenid family near the end of its extensive radiation, just prior to the disappearance of this clade from the fossil record. These Uintan specimens greatly increase the known variation in these late-surviving taxa and indicate that several characters thought to define these species should be reassessed. The partial cranium of B. arenosa, including portions of the basicranium, neurocranium, face, and lower jaw, was recently recovered from Uinta B sediments. While its morphology is consistent with known specimens of B. arenosa, we observed several distinct differences: a crescent-shaped condylus occipitalis that is concave dorsally, tuberculum basioccipitale that flare out laterally, and a distinct frontal-nasal suture. The current sample of plastral and carapacial morphology considerably expands the documented variation in the hypodigms of B. arenosa and C. undatum. Novel shell characters observed include sigmoidal extragular-humeral sulci, and small, subtriangular gular scutes. Subadult specimens reveal ontogenetic processes in both taxa, and demonstrate that diagnostic morphological differences between them were present from an early developmental age.

Land and federal mineral ownership coverage for the Uinta Basin, Wasatch Plateau and surrounding areas, northeastern Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biewick, L.H.; Green, G.A.

1999-01-01

This Arc/Info coverage contains land status and Federal and State mineral ownership for approximately 25,900 square miles in northeastern Utah. The polygon coverage (which is also provided here as a shapefile) contains three attributes of ownership information for each polygon. One attribute indicates whether the surface is State owned, privately owned, consists of Tribal and Indian lands, or, if Federally owned, which Federal agency manages the land surface. Another attribute indicates where the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) maintains full or partial subsurface mineral rights. The third attribute indicates which energy minerals, if any, are owned by the Federal govenment. This coverage is based on land management status and Federal and State mineral ownership data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration at a scale of 1:100,000. This coverage was compiled primarily to serve the USGS National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Project in the Uinta-Piceance Basin Province and the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment Project in the Colorado Plateau.

75 FR 36386 - Environmental Impacts Statements; Notice of Availability

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-25

..., Revised Draft EIS, USFS, 00, Uinta National Forest Oil and Gas Leasing, Implementation, Identify National Forest Systems Lands with Federal Mineral Rights, Wasatch, Utah, Juab, Tooele, and Sanpete Counties, UT...

76 FR 12108 - Environmental Impacts Statements; Notice of Availability

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-04

..., Uinta National Forest Oil and Gas Leasing, Implementation, Identify National Forest Systems Lands with Federal Mineral Rights, Wasatch, Utah, Juab, Tooele, and Sanpete Counties, UT, Review Period Ends: 04/04...

Natural gas accumulations in low-permeability Tertiary, and Cretaceous (Campanian and Maastrichtian) rock, Uinta Basin, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fouch, T.D.; Wandrey, C.J.; Pitman, J.K.

1992-02-01

This report characterizes Upper Cretaceous Campanian and Maastrichtian, and lower Tertiary gas-bearing rocks in the Uinta Basin with special emphasis on those units that contain gas in reservoirs that have been described as being tight. The report was prepared for the USDOE whose Western Tight Gas Sandstone Program cofunded much of this research in conjunction with the US Geological Survey's Evolution of Sedimentary Basins, and Onshore Oil and Gas Programs. (VC)

Natural gas accumulations in low-permeability Tertiary, and Cretaceous (Campanian and Maastrichtian) rock, Uinta Basin, Utah. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fouch, T.D.; Wandrey, C.J.; Pitman, J.K.

1992-02-01

This report characterizes Upper Cretaceous Campanian and Maastrichtian, and lower Tertiary gas-bearing rocks in the Uinta Basin with special emphasis on those units that contain gas in reservoirs that have been described as being tight. The report was prepared for the USDOE whose Western Tight Gas Sandstone Program cofunded much of this research in conjunction with the US Geological Survey`s Evolution of Sedimentary Basins, and Onshore Oil and Gas Programs. (VC)

Mountain Pine Beetle Dynamics and Reproductive Success in Post-Fire Lodgepole and Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northeastern Utah

PubMed Central

Lerch, Andrew P.; Pfammatter, Jesse A.

2016-01-01

Fire injury can increase tree susceptibility to some bark beetles (Curculionidae, Scolytinae), but whether wildfires can trigger outbreaks of species such as mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) is not well understood. We monitored 1173 lodgepole (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Doug.) and 599 ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa Doug. ex Law) pines for three years post-wildfire in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah in an area with locally endemic mountain pine beetle. We examined how the degree and type of fire injury influenced beetle attacks, brood production, and subsequent tree mortality, and related these to beetle population changes over time. Mountain pine beetle population levels were high the first two post-fire years in lodgepole pine, and then declined. In ponderosa pine, populations declined each year after initial post-fire sampling. Compared to trees with strip or failed attacks, mass attacks occurred on trees with greater fire injury, in both species. Overall, a higher degree of damage to crowns and boles was associated with higher attack rates in ponderosa pines, but additional injury was more likely to decrease attack rates in lodgepole pines. In lodgepole pine, attacks were initially concentrated on fire-injured trees, but during subsequent years beetles attacked substantial numbers of uninjured trees. In ponderosa pine, attacks were primarily on injured trees each year, although these stands were more heavily burned and had few uninjured trees. In total, 46% of all lodgepole and 56% of ponderosa pines underwent some degree of attack. Adult brood emergence within caged bole sections decreased with increasing bole char in lodgepole pine but increased in ponderosa pine, however these relationships did not scale to whole trees. Mountain pine beetle populations in both tree species four years post-fire were substantially lower than the year after fire, and wildfire did not result in population outbreaks. PMID:27783632

Mountain Pine Beetle Dynamics and Reproductive Success in Post-Fire Lodgepole and Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northeastern Utah.

PubMed

Lerch, Andrew P; Pfammatter, Jesse A; Bentz, Barbara J; Raffa, Kenneth F

2016-01-01

Fire injury can increase tree susceptibility to some bark beetles (Curculionidae, Scolytinae), but whether wildfires can trigger outbreaks of species such as mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) is not well understood. We monitored 1173 lodgepole (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Doug.) and 599 ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa Doug. ex Law) pines for three years post-wildfire in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah in an area with locally endemic mountain pine beetle. We examined how the degree and type of fire injury influenced beetle attacks, brood production, and subsequent tree mortality, and related these to beetle population changes over time. Mountain pine beetle population levels were high the first two post-fire years in lodgepole pine, and then declined. In ponderosa pine, populations declined each year after initial post-fire sampling. Compared to trees with strip or failed attacks, mass attacks occurred on trees with greater fire injury, in both species. Overall, a higher degree of damage to crowns and boles was associated with higher attack rates in ponderosa pines, but additional injury was more likely to decrease attack rates in lodgepole pines. In lodgepole pine, attacks were initially concentrated on fire-injured trees, but during subsequent years beetles attacked substantial numbers of uninjured trees. In ponderosa pine, attacks were primarily on injured trees each year, although these stands were more heavily burned and had few uninjured trees. In total, 46% of all lodgepole and 56% of ponderosa pines underwent some degree of attack. Adult brood emergence within caged bole sections decreased with increasing bole char in lodgepole pine but increased in ponderosa pine, however these relationships did not scale to whole trees. Mountain pine beetle populations in both tree species four years post-fire were substantially lower than the year after fire, and wildfire did not result in population outbreaks.

The extraction of bitumen from western oil sands: Volume 2. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oblad, A.G.; Dahlstrom, D.A.; Deo, M.D.

1997-11-26

The program is composed of 20 projects, of which 17 are laboratory bench or laboratory pilot scale processes or computer process simulations that are performed in existing facilities on the University of Utah campus in north-east Salt Lake City. These tasks are: (1) coupled fluidized-bed bitumen recovery and coked sand combustion; (2) water-based recovery of bitumen; (3) oil sand pyrolysis in a continuous rotary kiln reactor; (4) oil sand pyrolysis in a large diameter fluidized bed reactor; (5) oil sand pyrolysis in a small diameter fluidized bed reactor; (6) combustion of spent sand in a transport reactor; (7) recovery andmore » upgrading of oil sand bitumen using solvent extraction methods; (8) fixed-bed hydrotreating of Uinta Basin bitumens and bitumen-derived hydrocarbon liquids; (9) ebullieted bed hydrotreating of bitumen and bitumen derived liquids; (10) bitumen upgrading by hydropyrolysis; (11) evaluation of Utah`s major oil sand deposits for the production of asphalt, high-energy jet fuels and other specialty products; (12) characterization of the bitumens and reservoir rocks from the Uinta Basin oil sand deposits; (13) bitumen upgrading pilot plant recommendations; (14) liquid-solid separation and fine tailings thickening; (15) in-situ production of heavy oil from Uinta Basin oil sand deposits; (16) oil sand research and development group analytical facility; and (17) process economics. This volume contains reports on nine of these projects, references, and a bibliography. 351 refs., 192 figs., 65 tabs.« less

Characterization of petroleum reservoirs in the Eocene Green River Formation, Central Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morgan, C.D.; Bereskin, S.R.

2003-01-01

The oil-productive Eocene Green River Formation in the central Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah is divided into five distinct intervals. In stratigraphically ascending order these are: 1) Uteland Butte, 2) Castle Peak, 3) Travis, 4) Monument Butte, and 5) Beluga. The reservoir in the Uteland Butte interval is mainly lacustrine limestone with rare bar sandstone beds, whereas the reservoirs in the other four intervals are mainly channel and lacustrine sandstone beds. The changing depositional environments of Paleocene-Eocene Lake Uinta controlled the characteristics of each interval and the reservoir rock contained within. The Uteland Butte consists of carbonate and rare, thin, shallow-lacustrine sandstone bars deposited during the initial rise of the lake. The Castle Peak interval was deposited during a time of numerous and rapid lake-level fluctuations, which developed a simple drainage pattern across the exposed shallow and gentle shelf with each fall and rise cycle. The Travis interval records a time of active tectonism that created a steeper slope and a pronounced shelf break where thick cut-and-fill valleys developed during lake-level falls and rises. The Monument Butte interval represents a return to a gentle, shallow shelf where channel deposits are stacked in a lowstand delta plain and amalgamated into the most extensive reservoir in the central Uinta Basin. The Beluga interval represents a time of major lake expansion with fewer, less pronounced lake-level falls, resulting in isolated single-storied channel and shallow-bar sandstone deposits.

Subsurface fluid pressures from drill-stem tests, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, P.H.

2002-01-01

High fluid pressures are known to be associated with oil and gas fields in the Uinta Basin, Utah. Shut-in pressure measurements from drill-stem tests show how pressure varies with depth and by area within the basin. The data base used in this report incorporates over 2,000 pressure measurements from drill-stem tests in wells completed prior to 1985. However, the number of useful pressure measurements is considerably less, because many drill-stem tests fail to stabilize at the actual formation pressure if the permeability is low. By extracting the maximum pressure measurements recorded in a collection of wells within an area, the trend of formation pressure within that area can be approximated. Areal compilations of pressures from drill-stem tests show that overpressured rock formations occur throughout much of the northern and eastern areas of the Uinta Basin. In particular, significant overpressuring (0.5 < pressure gradient < 0.8 psi/ft) is found throughout much of the Altamont-Bluebell field at depths ranging from 10,000 to 13,000 ft, equivalent to 5,000 to 8,000 ft below sea level. Limited data indicate that the pressure gradient declines at depths greater than 13,000 ft. An underpressured zone appears to exist in the Altamont-Bluebell field at depths shallower than 5,000 ft. Throughout the eastern Uinta Basin, moderately overpressured zones (0.46 < pressure gradient < 0.5 psi/ft) are common, with local evidence of significantly overpressured zones, but pressure gradients greater than 0.6 psi/ft are rare.

Assessment of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas resources in the Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale of the Piceance Basin, Uinta-Piceance Province, Colorado and Utah, 2016

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hawkins, Sarah J.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Klett, Timothy R.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Finn, Tom M.; Gaswirth, Stephanie B.; Marra, Kristen R.; Le, Phoung A.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Pitman, Janet K.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.

2016-06-08

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a geology-based assessment of the continuous (unconventional) oil and gas resources in the Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale within the Piceance Basin of the Uinta-Piceance Province (fig. 1). The previous USGS assessment of the Mancos Shale in the Piceance Basin was completed in 2003 as part of a comprehensive assessment of the greater UintaPiceance Province (U.S. Geological Survey Uinta-Piceance Assessment Team, 2003). Since the last assessment, more than 2,000 wells have been drilled and completed in one or more intervals within the Mancos Shale of the Piceance Basin (IHS Energy Group, 2015). In addition, the USGS Energy Resources Program drilled a research core in the southern Piceance Basin that provided significant new geologic and geochemical data that were used to refine the 2003 assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas in the Mancos Shale.

Proceedings 43rd Stanford Geothermal Workshop

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simmons, Stuart; Kirby, Stefan; Verplanck, Philip

Herein we summarize the results of an investigation dealing with the concentrations and inventories of strategic, critical and valuable materials (SCVM) in produced fluids from geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs (50-250° C) in Nevada and Utah. Water samples were collected from thirty-four production wells across eight geothermal fields, the Uinta Basin oil/gas province in northeast Utah, and the Covenant oil field in southwestern Utah; additional water samples were collected from six hot springs in the Sevier Thermal Belt in southwestern Utah. Most SCVM concentrations in produced waters range from <0.1 to 100 µg/kg; the main exception is lithium, which has concentrationsmore » that range from <1000 to 25,000 ug/kg. Relatively high concentrations of gallium, germanium, scandium, selenium, and tellurium are measured too. Geothermal waters contain very low concentrations of REEs, below analytical detections limits (0.01 µg/kg), but the concentrations of lanthanum, cerium, and europium range from 0.05 to 5 µg/kg in Uinta basin waters. Among the geothermal fields, the Roosevelt Hot Spring reservoir appears to have the largest inventories of germanium and lithium, and Patua appears to have the largest inventories of gallium, scandium, selenium, and tellurium. By comparison, the Uinta basin has larger inventories of gallium. The concentrations of gallium, germanium, lithium, scandium, selenium, and tellurium in produced waters appear to be partly related to reservoir temperature and concentrations of total dissolved salts. The relatively high concentration and large inventory of lithium occurring at Roosevelt Hot Springs may be related to granitic-gneissic crystalline rocks, which host the reservoir. Analyses of calcite scales from Dixie Valley indicate enrichments in cobalt, gallium, gold, palladium, selenium and tellurium, and these metals appear to be depositing at deep levels in production wells due to boiling. Comparisons with SCVM mineral deposits suggest that brines in sedimentary basins, or derived from lacustrine evaporites, enable aqueous transport of gallium, germanium, and lithium.« less

Using 87Sr/86Sr ratios to investigate changes in stream chemistry during snowmelt in the Provo River, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hale, C. A.; Carling, G. T.; Fernandez, D. P.; Nelson, S.; Aanderud, Z.; Tingey, D. G.; Dastrup, D.

2017-12-01

Water chemistry in mountain streams is variable during spring snowmelt as shallow groundwater flow paths are activated in the watershed, introducing solutes derived from soil water. Sr isotopes and other tracers can be used to differentiate waters that have interacted with soils and dust (shallow groundwater) and bedrock (deep groundwater). To investigate processes controlling water chemistry during snowmelt, we analyzed 87Sr/86Sr ratios, Sr and other trace element concentrations in bulk snowpack, dust, soil, soil water, ephemeral channels, and river water during snowmelt runoff in the upper Provo River watershed in northern Utah, USA, over four years (2014-2017). Strontium concentrations in the river averaged 20 ppb during base flow and decreased to 10 ppb during snowmelt runoff. 87Sr/86Sr ratios were around 0.717 during base flow and decreased to 0.715 in 2014 and 0.713 in 2015 and 2016 during snowmelt, trending towards less radiogenic values of mineral dust inputs in the Uinta Mountain soils. Ephemeral channels, representing shallow flow paths with soil water inputs, had Sr concentrations between 7-20 ppb and 87Sr/86Sr ratios between 0.713-0.716. Snowpack Sr concentrations were generally <2 ppb with 87Sr/86Sr ratios between 0.710-711, similar to atmospheric dust inputs. The less radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios and lower Sr concentrations in the river during snowmelt are likely a result of activating shallow groundwater flow paths, which allows melt water to interact with shallow soils that contain accumulated dust deposits with a less radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratio. These results suggest that flow paths and atmospheric dust are important to consider when investigating variable solute loads in mountain streams.

Environmental Impact Analysis Process. Final Environmental Impact Statement Supersonic Flight Operations in the Valentine Military Operations Area

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-04

Arizona, and the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory near Vernal, Utah. The seismometer locations at Edwards AFB were on a quartz monzonite outcrop and a...sandstone and limestone section covered the seismometer array area. The array area at the Uinta Basin site consisted of fluviatile, friable, cross...ONuSU"a 00121� SUSCOMIMM oil &MMN OOllTVlCl OqMCA OSM A O&O T U.&L COal .a n od - pNOW I" ""I564-746- Congress of the ’United * atets C P*C•TO

Earthquake epicenters and fault intersections in central and southern California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdel-Gawad, M. (Principal Investigator); Silverstein, J.

1972-01-01

The author has identifed the following significant results. ERTS-1 imagery provided evidence for the existence of short transverse fault segments lodged between faults of the San Andreas system in the Coast Ranges, California. They indicate that an early episode of transverse shear has affected the Coast Ranges prior to the establishment of the present San Andreas fault. The fault has been offset by transverse faults of the Transverse Ranges. It appears feasible to identify from ERTS-1 imagery geomorphic criteria of recent fault movements. Plots of historic earthquakes in the Coast Ranges and western Transverse Ranges show clusters in areas where structures are complicated by interaction of tow active fault systems. A fault lineament apparently not previously mapped was identified in the Uinta Mountains, Utah. Part of the lineament show evidence of recent faulting which corresponds to a moderate earthquake cluster.

Highly Seasonal and Perennial Fluvial Facies: Implications for Climatic Control on the Douglas Creek and Parachute Creek Members, Green River Formation, Southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gall, Ryan D.

The early to middle Eocene Green River Formation consists of continental strata deposited in Laramide ponded basins in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. This study (1) documents fluvial and lacustrine strata from the Douglas Creek and Parachute Creek Members of the middle Green River Formation, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah, and (2) uses new interpretations of the link between climate and fluvial sedimentary expression to interpret the terrestrial evolution of early Eocene climate. The stratigraphy was analyzed via outcrops along a 10 km transect in Main Canyon on the Tavaputs Plateau, and is divided into three distinct, stratigraphically separated depositional settings: (1) the lowermost Interval 1 is dominated by amalgamated sandstone channels that contain 70-100% upper flow regime sedimentary structures. The channels are interpreted to represent fluvial deposits controlled by a highly seasonal climate, where most deposition was limited to seasonal flooding events. (2) Interval 2 is dominated by alternating siliciclastic and carbonate lacustrine deposits, interpreted as local pulsed fluvial siliciclastic input into shallow Lake Uinta, and periods of fluvial quiescence represented by littoral carbonate deposition. (3) The uppermost Interval 3 is dominated by erosively-based, trough cross bedded sandstone channels interbedded with littoral lacustrine and deltaic deposits. The Interval 3 sandstone channels are interpreted as perennial fluvial deposits with relatively little variation in annual discharge, akin to modern humid-temperate fluvial systems. The stratigraphic transition from seasonally-controlled (Interval 1) to perennial (Interval 3) fluvial deposits is interpreted to represent a fundamental shift in Eocene climate, from the peak hyperthermal regime of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) to a more stable post-EECO climate.

Mesoscale variability of the Upper Colorado River snowpack

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ling, C.-H.; Josberger, E.G.; Thorndike, A.S.

1996-01-01

In the mountainous regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin, snow course observations give local measurements of snow water equivalent, which can be used to estimate regional averages of snow conditions. We develop a statistical technique to estimate the mesoscale average snow accumulation, using 8 years of snow course observations. For each of three major snow accumulation regions in the Upper Colorado River Basin - the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Colorado, the Uinta Mountains, Utah, and the Wind River Range, Wyoming - the snow course observations yield a correlation length scale of 38 km, 46 km, and 116 km respectively. This is the scale for which the snow course data at different sites are correlated with 70 per cent correlation. This correlation of snow accumulation over large distances allows for the estimation of the snow water equivalent on a mesoscale basis. With the snow course data binned into 1/4?? latitude by 1/4?? longitude pixels, an error analysis shows the following: for no snow course data in a given pixel, the uncertainty in the water equivalent estimate reaches 50 cm; that is, the climatological variability. However, as the number of snow courses in a pixel increases the uncertainty decreases, and approaches 5-10 cm when there are five snow courses in a pixel.

Maps summarizing geohydrologic information in an area of salt-water disposal, eastern Altamount-Bluebell Petroleum Field, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Freethey, Geoffrey W.

1994-01-01

In the Altamont-Bluebell Petroleum Field within the Uinta Basin of Utah, saline oil-production water is being injected into the Duchesne River Formation. On the basis of geohydrologic information, a qualitative assessment of the possible effects of this injection indicates that fresh groundwater in certain areas of the Duchesne River formation may be more susceptible than water in other areas to becoming mixed with injected oil-production water. The reason for this possible mixing is because these areas containing the susceptible groundwater lack a thick shale layer above the disposal zone, as indicated in geophysical logs. In other areas, naturally occurring moderately saline water exists at shallow depths and may be withdrawn from water wells completed more than 200 ft below land surface. Additional geohydrologic information will need to be collected to allow investigators to make a quantitative determination of the rate of horizontal and vertical migration of injected oil-production water within and above the disposal zone.

Produced water ponds are an important source of aromatics and alcohols in Rocky Mountain oil and gas basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyman, S. N.

2017-12-01

Most of the water extracted with oil and natural gas (i.e., produced water) is disposed of by injection into the subsurface. In the arid western United States, however, a significant portion of produced water is discharged in ponds for evaporative disposal, and produced water is often stored in open ponds prior to subsurface injection. Even though they are common in the West (Utah's Uinta Basin has almost 200 ha), produced water ponds have been excluded from oil and gas emissions inventories because little information about their emission rates and speciation is available. We used flux chambers and inverse plume modeling to measure emissions of methane, C2-C11 hydrocarbons, light alcohols, carbonyls, and carbon dioxide from oil and gas produced water storage and disposal ponds in the Uinta Basin and the Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming, during 2013-2017. Methanol was the most abundant organic compound in produced water (91 ± 2% of the total volatile organic concentration; mean ± 95% confidence interval) but accounted for only 25 ± 30% of total organic compound emissions from produced water ponds. Non-methane hydrocarbons, especially C6-C9 alkanes and aromatics, accounted for the majority of emitted organics. We were able to predict emissions of individual compounds based on water concentrations, but only to within an order of magnitude. The speciation and magnitude of emissions varied strongly across facilities and was influenced by water age, the presence or absence of oil sheens, and with meteorological conditions (especially ice cover). Flux chamber measurements were lower than estimates from inverse modeling techniques.Based on our flux chamber measurements, we estimate that produced water ponds are responsible for between 3 and 9% of all non-methane organic compound emissions in the Uinta Basin (or as much as 18% if we rely on our inverse modeling results). Emissions from produced water ponds contain little methane and are more reactive (i.e., they have higher maximum incremental reactivity) than typical oil and gas-related emissions. Produced water ponds emit about 11% and 28%, respectively, of all aromatics and alcohols from the Uinta Basin oil and gas industry.

In-place oil shale resources of the Mahogany zone sorted by grade, overburden thickness and stripping ratio, Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado and Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Birdwell, Justin E.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Johnson, Ronald C.; Brownfield, Michael E.

2015-01-01

A range of geological parameters relevant to mining oil shale have been examined for the Mahogany zone of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, and Uinta Basin, Utah, using information available in the U.S. Geological Survey Oil Shale Assessment database. Basinwide discrete and cumulative distributions of resource in-place as a function of (1) oil shale grade, (2) Mahogany zone thickness, (3) overburden thickness, and (4) stripping ratio (overburden divided by zone thickness) were determined for both basins on a per-acre basis, and a resource map showing the areal distribution of these properties was generated. Estimates of how much of the Mahogany zone resource meets various combinations of these parameters were also determined. Of the 191.7 billion barrels of Mahogany zone oil in-place in the Piceance Basin, 32.3 percent (61.8 billion barrels) is associated with oil shale yielding at least 25 gallons of oil per ton (GPT) of rock processed, is covered by overburden 1,000 feet thick or less, and has a stripping ratio of less than 10. In the Uinta Basin, 14.0 percent (29.9 billion barrels) of the 214.5 billion barrels of Mahogany zone oil in-place meets the same overburden and stripping ratio criteria but only for the lower grade cutoff of 15 GPT.

Kerogen maturation data in the Uinta Basin, Utah, USA, constrain predictions of natural hydrocarbon seepage into the atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansfield, Marc L.

2014-03-01

Natural seepage of methane from the lithosphere to the atmosphere occurs in regions with large natural gas deposits. According to some authors, it accounts for roughly 5% of the global methane budget. I explore a new approach to estimate methane fluxes based on the maturation of kerogen, which is the hydrocarbon polymer present in petroleum source rocks and whose decomposition leads to the formation of oil and natural gas. The temporal change in the atomic H/C ratio of kerogen lets us estimate the total carbon mass released by it in the form of oil and natural gas. Then the time interval of active kerogen decomposition lets us estimate the average annual formation rate of oil and natural gas in any given petroleum system, which I demonstrate here using the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah as an example. Obviously, this is an upper bound to the average annual rate at which natural gas seeps into the atmosphere. After adjusting for biooxidation of natural gas, I conclude that the average annual seepage rate in the Uinta Basin is not greater than (3100 ± 900) tonne yr-1. This is (0.5 ± 0.15)% of the total flux of methane into the atmosphere over the Basin, as measured during aircraft flights. I speculate about the difference between the regional 0.5% and the global 5% estimates.

Hydrocarbon and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes from Natural Gas Well Pad Soils and Surrounding Soils in Eastern Utah.

PubMed

Lyman, Seth N; Watkins, Cody; Jones, Colleen P; Mansfield, Marc L; McKinley, Michael; Kenney, Donna; Evans, Jordan

2017-10-17

We measured fluxes of methane, nonmethane hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide from natural gas well pad soils and from nearby undisturbed soils in eastern Utah. Methane fluxes varied from less than zero to more than 38 g m -2 h -1 . Fluxes from well pad soils were almost always greater than from undisturbed soils. Fluxes were greater from locations with higher concentrations of total combustible gas in soil and were inversely correlated with distance from well heads. Several lines of evidence show that the majority of emission fluxes (about 70%) were primarily due to subsurface sources of raw gas that migrated to the atmosphere, with the remainder likely caused primarily by re-emission of spilled liquid hydrocarbons. Total hydrocarbon fluxes during summer were only 39 (16, 97)% as high as during winter, likely because soil bacteria consumed the majority of hydrocarbons during summer months. We estimate that natural gas well pad soils account for 4.6 × 10 -4 (1.6 × 10 -4 , 1.6 × 10 -3 )% of total emissions of hydrocarbons from the oil and gas industry in Utah's Uinta Basin. Our undisturbed soil flux measurements were not adequate to quantify rates of natural hydrocarbon seepage in the Uinta Basin.

Station Magnitude Bias - Its Determination, Causes, and Effects

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-04-29

TSK Tsukuba, Honshu, Japan TUC (W) Tucson, Arizona TUL (W) Tulsa, Oklahoma TVO Taravao, French Polynesia UBO* Uinta Basin , Utah VAH Vaihoa...8217 structures such as the western US, and lowest in stable regions such as shields and deep ocean basins . High attenuation further appears to be well

MAGNITUDE STUDIES CONDUCTED UNDER PROJECTS VT/5054 AND VT/5055.

DTIC Science & Technology

statistical model for Blue Mountains Seismological Observatory, Cumberland Plateau Seismological Observatory, Tonto Forest Seismological Observatory, Uinta ... Basin Seismological Observatory, and Wichita Mountains Seismological Observatory. Azimuthal dependence of station correction is not established at any of

The Mid-Cretaceous Frontier Formation near the Moxa Arch, southwestern Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mereweather, E.A.; Blackmon, P.D.; Webb, J.C.

1984-01-01

The Frontier Formation in the Green River Basin of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, consists of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, and minor conglomerate, coal, and bentonite. These strata were deposited in several marine and nonmarine environments during early Late Cretaceous time. At north-trending outcrops along the eastern edge of the overthrust belt, the Frontier is of Cenomanian, Turonian, and early Coniacian age, and commonly is about 610 m (2,000 ft) thick. The formation in that area conformably overlies the Lower Cretaceous Aspen Shale and is divided into the following members, in ascending order: Chalk Creek, Coalville, Allen Hollow, Oyster Ridge Sandstone, and Dry Hollow. In west-trending outcrops on the northern flank of the Uinta Mountains in Utah, the Frontier is middle and late Turonian, and is about 60 m (200 ft) thick. These strata disconformably overlie the Lower Cretaceous Mowry Shale. In boreholes on the Moxa arch, the upper part of the Frontier is of middle Turonian to early Coniacian age and unconformably overlies the lower part of the formation, which is early Cenomanian at the south end and probably Cenomanian to early Turonian at the north end. The Frontier on the arch thickens northward from less than 100 m (328 ft) to more than 300 m (984 ft) and conformably overlies the Mowry. The marine and nonmarine Frontier near the Uinta Mountains, marine and mnmarine beds in the upper part of the formation on the Moxa arch and the largely nonmarine Dry Hollow Member at the top of the Frontier in the overthrust belt are similar in age. Older strata in the formation, which are represented by the disconformable basal contact of the Frontier near the Uinta Mountains, thicken northward along the Moxa arch and westward between the arch and the overthrust belt. The large changes in thickness of the Frontier in the Green River Basin were caused mainly by differential uplift and truncation of the lower part of the formation during the early to middle Turonian and by the shoreward addition of progressively younger sandstone units at the top of the formation during the late Turonian and early Coniacian. The sandstone in cores of the Frontier, from boreholes on the Moxa arch and the northern plunge of the Rock Springs uplift, consists of very fine grained and fine-grained litharenites and sublitharenites that were deposited in deltaic and shallow-water marine environments. These rocks consist mainly of quartz, chert, rock fragments, mixed-layer illite-smectite, mica-illite, and chlorite. Samples of the sandstone have porosities of 4.7 to 23.0 percent and permeabilities of 0.14 to 6.80 millidarcies, and seem to represent poor to fair reservoir beds for oil and gas. The shale in cores of the Frontier Formation and the overlying basal Hilliard Shale, from the Moxa arch, Rock Springs uplift, and overthrust belt, was deposited in deltaic and offshore-marine environments. Samples of the shale are composed largely of quartz, micaillite, mixed-layer illite-smectite, kaolin, and chlorite. They also contain from 0.27 to 4.42 percent organic carbon, in humic and sapropelic organic matter. Most of the sampled shale units are thermally mature, in terms of oil generation, and a few probably are source rocks for oil and gas.

Tree-ring based reconstructions of interannual to decadal scale precipitation variability for northeastern Utah since 1226 A.D.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gray, S.T.; Jackson, S.T.; Betancourt, J.L.

2004-01-01

Samples from 107 pin??on pines (Pinus edulis) at four sites were used to develop a proxy record of annual (June to June) precipitation spanning the 1226 to 2001 AD interval for the Uinta Basin Watershed of northeastern Utah. The reconstruction reveals significant precipitation variability at interannual to decadal scales. Single-year dry events before the instrumental period tended to be more severe than those after 1900. In general, decadal scale dry events were longer and more severe prior to 1900. In particular, dry events in the late 13th, 16th, and 18th Centuries surpass the magnitude and duration of droughts seen in the Uinta Basin after 1900. The last four decades of the 20th Century also represent one of the wettest periods in the reconstruction. The proxy record indicates that the instrumental record (approximately 1900 to the Present) underestimates the potential frequency and severity of severe, sustained droughts in this area, while over representing the prominence of wet episodes. In the longer record, the empirical probability of any decadal scale drought exceeding the duration of the 1954 through 1964 drought is 94 percent, while the probability for any wet event exceeding the duration of the 1965 through 1999 wet spell is only 1 percent. Hence, estimates of future water availability in the Uinta Basin and forecasts for exports to the Colorado River, based on the 1961 to 1990 and 1971 to 2000 "normal" periods, may be overly optimistic.

75 FR 65295 - Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Resource Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-22

.... 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose is to continue the....fed.us , via facsimile to 801-342- 5144. All comments, including names and addresses when provided... North, Provo, Utah 84601; 801-342-5117; [email protected]us . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The meeting is...

Organizational factors in fire prevention: roles, obstacles, and recommendations

Treesearch

John R. Christiansen; William S. Folkman; Keith W. Warner; Michael L. Woolcott

1976-01-01

Problems being encountered in implementing fire prevention programs were explored by studying the organization for fire prevention at the Fish Lake, Uinta, and Wasatch National Forests in Utah. The study focused on role congruency in fire prevention activities and on the social and organizational obstacles to effective programs. The problems identified included lack of...

Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model for Simulating Winter Ozone Formation in the Uinta Basin

EPA Science Inventory

Areas with close proximity to oil and natural gas operations in rural Utah have experienced winter ozone levels that exceed EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Through a collaborative effort, EPA Region 8 – Air Program, ORD, and OAQPS used the Commun...

Geochemistry of spring water, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kimball, Briant A.

1981-01-01

The chemical quality of water in the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, is important to the future development of the abundant oil-shale resources of the area. This report examines the observed changes in chemistry as water circulates in both shallow and deep ground-water systems. Mass-balance and mass- transfer calculations are used to define reactions that simulate the observed water chemistry in the mixed sandstone, siltstone, and carbonate lithology of the Green River Formation of Tertiary age.The mass-transfer calculations determine a reaction path particular to this system. The early dominance of calcite dissolution produces a calcium carbonate water. After calcite saturation, deeper circulation and further rock-water interaction cause the reprecipitation of calcite, the dissolution of dolomite and plagioclase, and the oxidation of pyrite; all combining to produce a calcium magnesium sodium bicarbonate sulfate water. The calculations suggest that silica concentrations are controlled by a kaolinite-Ca-montmorillonite phase boundary. Close agreement of mineral-saturation indices calculated by both an aqueous-equilibrium model and the mass-transfer model support the selection of reactions from the mass-transfer calculations.

Increased Oil Production and Reserves from Improved Completion Techniques in the Bluebell Field, Uinta Basin, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deo, M.D.; Morgan, C.D.

1999-04-28

The objective of the project is to increase oil production and reserves by the use of improved reservoir characterization and completion techniques in the Uinta Basin, Utah. To accomplish this objective, a two-year geologic and engineering characterization of the Bluebell field was conducted. The study evaluated surface and subsurface data, currently used completion techniques, and common production problems. It was determined that advanced case- and open-hole logs could be effective in determining productive beds and that stage-interval (about 500 ft [150 m] per stage) and bed-scale isolation completion techniques could result in improved well performance. In the first demonstration wellmore » (Michelle Ute well discussed in the previous technical report), dipole shear anisotropy (anisotropy) and dual-burst thermal decay time (TDT) logs were run before and isotope tracer log was run after the treatment. The logs were very helpful in characterizing the remaining hydrocarbon potential in the well. But, mechanical failure resulted in a poor recompletion and did not result in a significant improvement in the oil production from the well.« less

Predicting emissions from oil and gas operations in the Uinta Basin, Utah.

PubMed

Wilkey, Jonathan; Kelly, Kerry; Jaramillo, Isabel Cristina; Spinti, Jennifer; Ring, Terry; Hogue, Michael; Pasqualini, Donatella

2016-05-01

In this study, emissions of ozone precursors from oil and gas operations in Utah's Uinta Basin are predicted (with uncertainty estimates) from 2015-2019 using a Monte-Carlo model of (a) drilling and production activity, and (b) emission factors. Cross-validation tests against actual drilling and production data from 2010-2014 show that the model can accurately predict both types of activities, returning median results that are within 5% of actual values for drilling, 0.1% for oil production, and 4% for gas production. A variety of one-time (drilling) and ongoing (oil and gas production) emission factors for greenhouse gases, methane, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are applied to the predicted oil and gas operations. Based on the range of emission factor values reported in the literature, emissions from well completions are the most significant source of emissions, followed by gas transmission and production. We estimate that the annual average VOC emissions rate for the oil and gas industry over the 2010-2015 time period was 44.2E+06 (mean) ± 12.8E+06 (standard deviation) kg VOCs per year (with all applicable emissions reductions). On the same basis, over the 2015-2019 period annual average VOC emissions from oil and gas operations are expected to drop 45% to 24.2E+06 ± 3.43E+06 kg VOCs per year, due to decreases in drilling activity and tighter emission standards. This study improves upon previous methods for estimating emissions of ozone precursors from oil and gas operations in Utah's Uinta Basin by tracking one-time and ongoing emission events on a well-by-well basis. The proposed method has proven highly accurate at predicting drilling and production activity and includes uncertainty estimates to describe the range of potential emissions inventory outcomes. If similar input data are available in other oil and gas producing regions, then the method developed here could be applied to those regions as well.

Agriculture causes nitrate fertilization of remote alpine lakes

PubMed Central

Hundey, E. J.; Russell, S. D.; Longstaffe, F. J.; Moser, K. A.

2016-01-01

Humans have altered Earth's nitrogen cycle so dramatically that reactive nitrogen (Nr) has doubled. This has increased Nr in aquatic ecosystems, which can lead to reduced water quality and ecosystem health. Apportioning sources of Nr to specific ecosystems, however, continues to be challenging, despite this knowledge being critical for mitigation and protection of water resources. Here we use Δ17O, δ18O and δ15N from Uinta Mountain (Utah, USA) snow, inflow and lake nitrate in combination with a Bayesian-based stable isotope mixing model, to show that at least 70% of nitrates in aquatic systems are anthropogenic and arrive via the atmosphere. Moreover, agricultural activities, specifically nitrate- and ammonium-based fertilizer use, are contributing most (∼60%) Nr, and data from other North American alpine lakes suggest this is a widespread phenomenon. Our findings offer a pathway towards more effective mitigation, but point to challenges in balancing food production with protection of important water resources. PMID:26853267

Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, R.C.; Mercier, T.J.; Brownfield, M.E.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently (2011) completed an assessment of in-place oil shale resources, regardless of grade, in the Eocene Green River Formation of the Greater Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, and northeastern Utah. Green River Formation oil shale also is present in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado and in the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah and western Colorado, and the results of these assessments are published separately. No attempt was made to estimate the amount of oil that is economically recoverable because there has not yet been an economic method developed to recover the oil from Green River Formation oil shale.

Assessment of groundwater/surface-water interaction and simulation of potential streamflow depletion induced by groundwater withdrawal, Uinta River near Roosevelt, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lambert, P.M.; Marston, T.; Kimball, B.A.; Stolp, B.J.

2011-01-01

Roosevelt City, Utah, asserts a need for an additional supply of water to meet municipal demands and has identified a potential location for additional groundwater development at the Sprouse well field near the West Channel of the Uinta River. Groundwater is commonly hydraulically linked to surface water and, under some conditions, the pumpage of groundwater can deplete water in streams and other water bodies. In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Roosevelt City, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, and the Ute Indian Tribe, began a study to improve understanding of the local interconnection between groundwater and surface water and to assess the potential for streamflow depletion from future groundwater withdrawals at a potential Roosevelt City development location—the Sprouse well field near the West Channel of the Uinta River.In the study, streamflow gains and losses at the river/aquifer boundary near the well field and changes in those conditions over time were assessed through (1) synoptic measurement of discharge in the stream at multiple sites using tracer-dilution methods, (2) periodic measurement of the vertical hydraulic gradient across the streambed, and (3) continuous measurement of stream and streambed water temperature using heat as a tracer of flow across the streambed. Although some contradictions among the results of the three assessment methods were observed, results of the approaches generally indicated (1) losing streamflow conditions on the West Channel of the Uinta River north of and upstream from the Sprouse well field within the study area, (2) gaining streamflow conditions south of and downstream from the well field, and (3) some seasonal changes in those conditions that correspond with seasonal changes in stream stage and local water-table altitudes.A numerical groundwater flow model was developed on the basis of previously reported observations and observations made during this study, and was used to estimate potential streamflow depletion that might result from future groundwater withdrawals at the Sprouse well field. The model incorporates concepts of transient groundwater flow conditions including fluctuations in groundwater levels and storage, and the distribution of and temporal variations in gains to and losses from streamflow in the West Channel of the Uinta River near the Sprouse well field. Two predictive model simulations incorporated additional future discharge from the Sprouse well field totaling 325 acre-feet annually and biennially during summer months. Results of the predictive model simulations indicate that the water withdrawn by the additional pumping was derived initially from aquifer storage and then, with time, predominantly from streamflow depletion. By the 10th year of the predictive simulation incorporating annual summer pumping from an additional public-supply well in the Sprouse well field, the simulation results indicate that 89 percent of a future annual 325 acre-feet of discharge is derived from depletion of streamflow in the West Channel of the Uinta River. A similar result was observed in a predictive model simulating the same discharge rate but with the new well being pumped every other year.

Predicting Air Quality Impacts Associated with Oil and Gas Development in the Uinta Basin Using EPA’s Photochemical Air Quality Model

EPA Science Inventory

Rural areas with close proximity to oil and natural gas operations in Utah have experienced winter ozone levels that exceed EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Through a collaborative effort, EPA Region 8 – Air Program, ORD, and OAQPS used the Commun...

Trout Creek 1999 Burn

Treesearch

Sherel Goodrich

2008-01-01

A small prescribed fire near the mouth of Trout Creek in Strawberry Valley, Wasatch County, Utah, on the Uinta National Forest provided an opportunity to compare production and vascular plant composition in unburned and burned areas. At four years post burn, production of herbaceous plants was about four times greater in the burned area than in the unburned area. Most...

Thermal maturity map of the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Uintah Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nuccio, Vito F.; Johnson, Ronald C.

1986-01-01

The ability of rock to generate oil and gas is directly related to the type and quantity of kerogen and to its thermal maturity; therefore, thermal maturity is a commonly used tool for oil and gas exploration.  The purpose of this study ws to provide a thermal-maturity map for the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group in the eastern part of the Uinta Basin.  Prior to this study, thermal-maturity data were not available for the Uinta Basin.  This study uses coal rank to show the thermal maturity of the associated rocks.  The map was prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy under its western gas sands project.

Three Mountain Areas in Southwestern Wyoming.

DTIC Science & Technology

purpose of this report the areas are called the Wyoming-Salt River Range Area, the Wind River Range Area, and the Uinta Range Area. These mountain...ranges enclose the Upper Green River and Bridger Basins , high plateau basins with a general elevation of 6,500 to 7,500 feet.

Elevated Wintertime Ozone in Utah's Uinta Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, R. S.; Moore, K. D.; Hill, S.; Harper, K.

2011-12-01

Seemingly anomalous elevated wintertime ozone (O3) levels were first observed in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin (UGRB) in 2005 and have been recorded most in subsequent winters. While research continues, it has been hypothesized that the unacceptable levels are a unique combination of stagnant meteorology, enhanced insolation due to relatively high elevations and snow increased albedo, and abundant precursor sources owing to the region's recent rapid expansion of oil and gas exploration and production. The UGRB area has over 4,700 recorded gas/oil wells and sits mostly in rural Sublette County which has an estimated population of 7,925, an area of 12,644 km2, and a basin floor elevation around 2200 m asl, surrounded on three sides with mountains up to 4,200 km asl. Similarly, the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah is a rural area prone to frequent low-level wintertime inversion episodes and persistent snow cover, with an expanding economy significantly based on gas and oil development and production (approximately 11,500 wells, with an estimated 17,000 more planned in the future years). The Basin lies primarily in Duchesne and Uintah Counties which have a combined population of approximately 51,200 and an area of about 19,982 km2. The floor of the Basin has a typical elevation around 1,560 m asl and is surrounded by mountains up to 4,120 m asl. Ambient measurements at four sites in the winter of 2009-2010 found many instances of ozone concentrations well above the current U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS; 75 ppb, 8-hr average, 4th highest value). To more fully characterize the behavior and geographical extent of the Uinta Basin's wintertime O3 issue, the Uintah Impact Mitigation Special Service District (UIMSSD) funded a study which included deploying 10 portable O3 monitors (2B Technologies, Inc., Model 205, Dual Beam) throughout the Basin. Furthermore, cooperative partners including the USEPA, BLM, UDAQ, NPS, and Golder Associates provided access to an additional six monitoring locations within the Basin. The sites were operated from late December 2010 through mid-March 2011. Several stagnant, inversion episodes and associated periods of Basin-wide elevated ozone were captured. The highest 1-hr O3 concentration observed was 149.0 ppb, with 12 of the total 16 sites recording 1-hr values greater than 100 ppb. Of the 16 sites, only four were found not to exceed the current NAAQS regulation. The highest 8-hr averaged concentration recorded was 139.1 ppb. However, the U.S. standards specify that an area is regulated at the 4th highest values and the maximum value under this criterion during the observed winter period was 121.6 ppb. Two sites exceeded the NAAQS 25 days over the three month observation period, while five other locations exceed the NAAQS between 18 and 22 times. The sites with the highest O3 concentrations and the greatest number of daily exceedances were generally associated with the highest density of known oil and/or gas well locations. The sites with the fewest number of exceedances were at higher elevations or geographically peripheral locations.

Effects of the Laramide Structures on the Regional Distribution of Tight-Gas Sandstone in the Upper Mesaverde Group, Uinta Basin, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitaula, R. P.; Aschoff, J.

2013-12-01

Regional-scale sequence stratigraphic correlation, well log analysis, syntectonic unconformity mapping, isopach maps, and depositional environment maps of the upper Mesaverde Group (UMG) in Uinta basin, Utah suggest higher accommodation in northeastern part (Natural Buttes area) and local development of lacustrine facies due to increased subsidence caused by uplift of San Rafael Swell (SRS) in southern and Uinta Uplift in northern parts. Recently discovered lacustrine facies in Natural Buttes area are completely different than the dominant fluvial facies in outcrops along Book Cliffs and could have implications for significant amount of tight-gas sand production from this area. Data used for sequence stratigraphic correlation, isopach maps and depositional environmental maps include > 100 well logs, 20 stratigraphic profiles, 35 sandstone thin sections and 10 outcrop-based gamma ray profiles. Seven 4th order depositional sequences (~0.5 my duration) are identified and correlated within UMG. Correlation was constructed using a combination of fluvial facies and stacking patterns in outcrops, chert-pebble conglomerates and tidally influenced strata. These surfaces were extrapolated into subsurface by matching GR profiles. GR well logs and core log of Natural Buttes area show intervals of coarsening upward patterns suggesting possible lacustrine intervals that might contain high TOC. Locally, younger sequences are completely truncated across SRS whereas older sequences are truncated and thinned toward SRS. The cycles of truncation and thinning represent phases of SRS uplift. Thinning possibly related with the Uinta Uplift is also observed in northwestern part. Paleocurrents are consistent with interpretation of periodic segmentation and deflection of sedimentation. Regional paleocurrents are generally E-NE-directed in Sequences 1-4, and N-directed in Sequences 5-7. From isopach maps and paleocurrent direction it can be interpreted that uplift of SRS changed route of sediment supply from west to southwest. Locally, paleocurrents are highly variable near SRS further suggesting UMG basin-fill was partitioned by uplift of SRS. Sandstone composition analysis also suggests the uplift of SRS causing the variation of source rocks in upper sequences than the lower sequences. In conclusion, we suggest that Uinta basin was episodically partitioned during the deposition of UMG due to uplift of Laramide structures in the basin and accommodation was localized in northeastern part. Understanding of structural controls on accommodation, sedimentation patterns and depositional environments will aid prediction of the best-producing gas reservoirs.

Ground water in Utah's densely populated Wasatch Front area - The challenge and the choices

USGS Publications Warehouse

Price, Don

1985-01-01

Utah's Wasatch Front area comprises about 4,000 square miles in the north-central part of the State. I n 1980, the area had a population of more than 1.1 million, or about 77 percent of Utah's total population. It contains several large cities, including Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Provo, and is commonly called Utah's urban corridor.Most of the water supply for the Wasatch Front area comes from streams that originate in the Wasatch Range and nearby Uinta Mountains; however, ground water has played an important role in the economic growth of the area. The principal source of ground water is the unconsolidated fill (sedimentary deposits) in the valleys of the Wasatch Front area northern Juab, Utah, Goshen, and Salt Lake Valleys; the East Shore area (a valley area east of the Great Salt Lake), and the Bear River Bay area. Maximum saturated thickness of the fill in the principal ground-water reservoirs in these valleys exceeds 6,000 feet, and the estimated volume of water that can be withdrawn from just the upper 100 feet of the saturated fill is about 8 million acre-feet. In most places the water is fresh, containing less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids; in much of the Bear River Bay area and most of Goshen Valley (and locally in the other valleys), the water is slightly to moderately saline, with 1,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids.The principal ground-water reservoirs receive recharge at an annual rate that is estimated to exceed 1 million acre-feet chiefly as seepage from consolidated rocks in the adjacent mountains from canals, ditches, and irrigated land, directly from precipitation, and from streams. Discharge during 1980 (which was chiefly from springs, seepage to streams, evapotranspiration, and withdrawal by wells) was estimated to be about 1.1 million acre-feet. Withdrawal from wells, which began within a few years after the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, and had increased to about 320,000 acre-feet during 1979. Additional withdrawals from wells may cause water levels to decline, possibly leading to such problems as conflicts among water-right owners, increased pumping costs, land subsidence, and deterioration of ground-water quality. Some of these problems cannot be avoided if the principal ground-water reservoirs are to be fully used; however, management practices such as artificial ground-water recharge in intensivelypumped areas may help to alleviate those problems.

77 FR 75186 - Notice of Closure, Target Shooting Public Safety Closure on the Lake Mountains in Utah County, UT

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-19

... Closure, Target Shooting Public Safety Closure on the Lake Mountains in Utah County, UT AGENCY: Bureau of... Lake Mountains in Utah County, Utah, to recreational target shooting to protect public safety. This... shooting closure within the described area will remain in effect no longer than two years from December 19...

Constructing a Baseline Model of Alpine Wetlands of the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matyjasik, M.; Ford, R. L.; Bartholomew, L. M.; Welsh, S. B.; Hernandez, M.; Koerner, D.; Muir, M.

2008-12-01

Alpine wetlands of the Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah, contain a variety of groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Unlike their counterparts in other areas of the Rocky Mountains, these systems have been relatively unstudied. The Reader Lakes area on the southern slope of the range was selected for detailed study because of its variety of wetland plant communities, homogenous bedrock geology, and minimal human impact. The primary goal of this interdisciplinary study is to establish the functional links between the geomorphology and hydrogeology of these high mountain wetlands and their constituent plant communities. In addition to traditional field studies and water chemistry, geospatial technologies are being used to organize and analyze both field data (water chemistry and wetland vegetation) and archived multispectral imagery (2006 NAIP images). The hydrology of these wetlands is dominated by groundwater discharge and their surface is dominated by string-and-flark morphology of various spatial scales, making these montane wetlands classic patterned fens. The drainage basin is organized into a series of large-scale stair-stepping wetlands, bounded by glacial moraines at their lower end. Wetlands are compartmentalized by a series of large strings (roughly perpendicular to the axial stream) and flarks. This pattern may be related to small ridges on the underlying ground moraine and possibly modified by beaver activity along the axial stream. Small-scale patterning occurs along the margins of the wetlands and in sloping-fen settings. The smaller-scale strings and flarks form a complex; self-regulating system in which water retention is enhanced and surface flow is minimized. Major plant communities have been identified within the wetlands for example: a Salix planifolia community associated with the peaty strings; Carex aquatilis, Carex limosa, and Eriophorum angustifolium communities associated with flarks; as well as a Sphagnum sp.- rich hummocky transition zone between wetland and non-wetland areas. On-going analyses of water-chemistry data will be used to identify discrete water sources and to characterize the degree of horizontal and vertical water mixing within the system, as well as to help identify the biochemical requirements of the different plant communities. Results indicate that the chemical composition of the main creek reflects the accumulative effect that the peaty flarks have on the creek as it passes through the wetland system, with pH overall decreasing from 7.3 to 7.0, dissolved oxygen decreasing from 9400 to 8400 micrograms per liter and total dissolved solids increasing from 9 mg/L to 13 mg/L. String ground water is characterized by relatively high pH (ranging from 6.0 to 7.1), high oxidizing-reducing potential (ORP) (ranging from 50 mV to 180 mV), high dissolved oxygen (from 2500 μg/L to 9600 μg /L) while flark ground water has relatively lower pH (5.6 to 6.8), low oxidizing reducing potential (ORP) (ranging from -66 mV to 150 mV), low dissolved oxygen (from 900 μg /L to 9000 μg /L).

Nahcolite and halite deposition through time during the saline mineral phase of Eocene Lake Uinta, Piceance Basin, western Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Brownfield, Michael E.

2013-01-01

Halite and the sodium bicarbonate mineral nahcolite were deposited during the saline phase of Eocene Lake Uinta in the Piceance Basin, western Colorado. Variations in the area of saline mineral deposition through time were interpreted from studies of core and outcrop. Saline minerals were extensively leached by groundwater, so the original extent of saline deposition was estimated from the distribution of empty vugs and collapse breccias. Vugs and breccias strongly influence groundwater movement, so determining where leaching has occurred is an important consideration for in-situ oil shale extraction methods currently being developed. Lake Uinta formed when two smaller fresh water lakes, one in the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah and the other in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, expanded and coalesced across the Douglas Creek arch, an area of comparatively low subsidence rates. Salinity increased shortly after this expansion, but saline mineral deposition did not begin until later, after a period of prolonged infilling created broad lake-margin shelves and a comparatively small deep central lake area. These shelves probably played a critical role in brine evolution. A progression from disseminated nahcolite and nahcolite aggregates to bedded nahcolite and ultimately to bedded nahcolite and halite was deposited in this deep lake area during the early stages of saline deposition along with rich oil shale that commonly shows signs of slumping and lateral transport. The area of saline mineral and rich oil shale deposition subsequently expanded, in part due to infilling of the compact deep area, and in part because of an increase in water flow into Lake Uinta, possibly due to outflow from Lake Gosiute to the north. Finally, as Lake Uinta in the Piceance Basin was progressively filled from north to south by volcano-clastic sediment, the saline depocenter was pushed progressively southward, eventually covering much of the areas that had previously been marginal shelves. A saline depocenter formed in the eastern Uinta Basin during this progradation, and saline minerals were deposited in both basins for a time. Ultimately, the saline depocenter in the Piceance Basin was completely filled in and saline mineral deposition shifted entirely into the Uinta Basin.

Survey of Rural Areas in the Western United States with the Potential to form Winter Ozone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, C. F.; Mansfield, M. L.

2012-12-01

Both the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah and the Upper Green River Basin of Western Wyoming are prone to winter ozone events. Ozone in both basins is believed to require a specific set of meteorological phenomena, namely, snow cover and persistent thermal inversions. It is also believed that the primary source of ozone precursors in both basins is the production of oil and/or natural gas. We have conducted a survey of many basins and valleys in the West United States in order to identify regions having meteorology similar to either the Uinta or the Upper Green River Basins, but also having dissimilar industrial activity. Ozone monitoring in such regions may help us better understand the role of oil and gas emissions in the winter ozone phenomenon.

New constraints on Neogene uplift of the northern Colorado Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Wijk, J. W.; Raschilla, R.

2013-12-01

The Late Cretaceous Uinta Basin is located in northeastern Utah within the northern most portion of the Colorado Plateau. The basin's uplift and subsidence history and thermal evolution have impacted the maturity of source beds in the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation. Using measured data of the petroleum system of the Uinta Basin, we were able to constrain timing and amplitude of uplift of the northern Colorado Plateau. We used sixty wells in a basin modeling study of the Uinta Basin's thermal structure, tectonic history and petroleum system. The wells reached into basement, and four wells provided vitrinite reflectance measurements. Vitrinite reflectance is a measurement of the percentage of reflected light from a polished vitrinite sample. The percentage of reflected light is related to the temperature conditions the sample experienced during burial, and vitrinite reflectance is a maturity indicator that covers a broad temperature range from diagenesis through the latest stages of catagenesis and records the maximum temperature a rock experiences during its burial history All models were calibrated to measured data, including vitrinite reflectance and transformation ratios from Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The models predict that the heat flow ranges from 65 mW/m2 to 45 mW/m2 from south to north in the study area. Additionally, model calibration provides a means for estimating the amount of uplift and erosion in the Uinta Basin. Uplift predicted for the Uinta Basin ranges from ~2050 m to ~2200 m and started in the Late Miocene. Our models also predicted the maturity of the rich oil shales of the Parachute Creek Member.

Coordinated fee structure for developed recreation sites on the Ashley, Uinta, and Wasatch-Cache National Forests

Treesearch

Brent H. McBeth

1995-01-01

A joint effort between three National Forests in northern Utah was begun to provide a uniform process for establishing fees at developed recreation sites, based upon the "cost approach" method. This method can be adapted for other National Forest and District use and can be modified to reflect "comparable fees" and updated periodically to meet local...

Assessment of aspen ecosystem vulnerability to climate change for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forests, Utah

Treesearch

Janine Rice; Tim Bardsley; Pete Gomben; Dustin Bambrough; Stacey Weems; Allen Huber; Linda A. Joyce

2017-01-01

Aspen ecosystems are valued because they add biodiversity and ecological value to the landscape. They provide rich and productive habitats and increase aesthetic value. Climate change poses the risk of altering and disrupting these ecosystems, and it may worsen the effects of non-climate stressors. To provide scientific information for land managers facing the...

Origin of the Uinta recess, Sevier fold thrust belt, Utah: influence of basin architecture on fold thrust belt geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsen, Timothy; Marshak, Stephen

1999-11-01

Structural trends in the Sevier fold-thrust belt define a pronounced concave-to-the-foreland map-view curve, the Uinta recess, in north-central Utah. This recess separates two convex-to-the-foreland curves, the Provo salient on the south and the Wyoming salient on the north. The two limbs of the recess comprise transverse zones (fault zones at a high-angle to the regional trend of the orogen) that border the flanks of the east-west-trending Uinta/Cottonwood arch. Our structural analysis indicates that the transverse zones formed during the Sevier orogeny, and that they differ markedly from each other in structural style. The Charleston transverse zone (CTZ), on the south side of the arch, initiated as a complex sinistral strike-slip fault system that defines the abrupt northern boundary of the Provo salient. The Mount Raymond transverse zone (MRTZ), on the north side of the arch, represents the region in which the southeast-verging southern limb of the gently curving Wyoming salient was tilted northwards during the Laramide phase of uplift of the Uinta/Cottonwood arch. In effect, the MRTZ represents an oblique cross section through a thrust belt. The contrasting architecture of these transverse zones demonstrates how pre-deformation basin geometry influences the geometry of a fold-thrust belt. Analysis of isopach maps indicates that, at the time the Sevier fold-thrust belt formed, the area just north of the present site of the Uinta/Cottonwood arch was a basement high, with a gently dipping north flank, and a steeply dipping south flank. Thus, predeformational sediment thickened abruptly to the south of the high and thickened gradually to the north of the high. As illustrated by sandbox models, the distance that a fold-thrust belt propagates into the foreland depends on the thickness of the sedimentary layer being deformed, so the shape of the salient mimics the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the sedimentary basin. Where basins taper gradually along strike, the thrust belt curves gently, but where basins taper abruptly along strike, the thrust belt curves so tightly that it disarticulates and becomes bounded laterally by a strike-slip accommodation zone. The geometry of the Uinta recess provides a field example of this concept. Differential movement of Sevier thrusts led to formation of gradually curving thrusts on the north side of the high, because of the gradual slope of the high's north flank, but led to the along-strike disarticulation of thrusts on the south side of the high, because of the steep slope of the high's south flank. In effect, therefore, thrust belt map-view geometry provides insight into predeformational basin geometry.

Environmental Assessment (EA): Proposed Emergency Power Unit Overhaul Complex at Little Mountain Test Annex, Utah

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-14

NUMBER FA8201-09-D-0002 Overhaul Complex at Little Mountain Test Annex, Utah 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S...AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER Streamline Consulting, LLC 1713 N. Sweetwater Lane Farmington, Utah 84025...Hill Air Force Base (AFB) proposes to construct a new emergency power unit overhaul complex at Little Mountain Test Annex, Utah . Buildings 2005

Geotechnical Properties of Oil Shale Retorted by the PARAHO and TOSCO Processes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-11-01

literature search was restricted to the Green River formation of oil shale in the tri-state area of Colorado (Piceance Basin ), Utah ( Uinta Basin ), and...it is preheated by combustion gases as it travels downward by gravity. Air and recycling gas are injected at midheight and are burned, bringing the oil ...REFERENCES..................................38 TABLES 1-5 APPENDIX A: OIL SHALE RETORTING PROCESSES................Al Tosco Process Gas Combustion

Gas, Water, and Oil Production from the Wasatch Formation, Greater Natural Buttes Field, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Philip H.; Hoffman, Eric L.

2009-01-01

Gas, oil, and water production data were compiled from 38 wells with production commencing during the 1980s from the Wasatch Formation in the Greater Natural Buttes field, Uinta Basin, Utah. This study is one of a series of reports examining fluid production from tight gas reservoirs, which are characterized by low permeability, low porosity, and the presence of clay minerals in pore space. The general ranges of production rates after 2 years are 100-1,000 mscf/day for gas, 0.35-3.4 barrel per day for oil, and less than 1 barrel per day for water. The water:gas ratio ranges from 0.1 to10 barrel per million standard cubic feet, indicating that free water is produced along with water dissolved in gas in the reservoir. The oil:gas ratios are typical of a wet gas system. Neither gas nor water rates show dependence upon the number of perforations, although for low gas-flow rates there is some dependence upon the number of sandstone intervals that were perforated. Over a 5-year time span, gas and water may either increase or decrease in a given well, but the changes in production rate do not exhibit any dependence upon well proximity or well location.

Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 20 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Soulard, Christopher E.

2012-01-01

This chapter has been modified from original material published in Soulard (2006), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5288). The Central Basin and Range Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) encompasses approximately 343,169 km² (132,498 mi2) of land bordered on the west by the Sierra Nevada Ecoregion, on the east by the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Ecoregion, on the north by the Northern Basin and Range and the Snake River Basin Ecoregions, and on the south by the Mojave Basin and Range and the Colorado Plateaus Ecoregions (fig. 1). Most of the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion is located in Nevada (65.4 percent) and Utah (25.1 percent), but small segments are also located in Idaho (5.6 percent), California (3.7 percent), and Oregon (0.2 percent). Basin-and-range topography characterizes the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: wide desert valleys are bordered by parallel mountain ranges generally oriented northsouth. There are more than 33 peaks within the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion that have summits higher than 3,000 m (10,000 ft), but valleys in the ecoregion are also high, most having elevations above 1,200 m (4,000 ft) (Grayson, 1993).

Patterns of LGM precipitation in the U.S. Rocky Mountains: results from regional application of a glacier mass/energy balance and flow model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonard, E. M.; Laabs, B. J.; Refsnider, K. A.; Plummer, M. A.; Jacobsen, R. E.; Wollenberg, J. A.

2010-12-01

Global climate model (GCM) simulations of the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the western United States predict changes in atmospheric circulation and storm tracks that would have resulted in significantly less-than-modern precipitation in the Northwest and northern Rockies, and significantly more-than-modern precipitation in the Southwest and southern Rockies. Model simulations also suggest that late Pleistocene pluvial lakes in the intermontane West may have modified local moisture regimes in areas immediately downwind. In this study, we present results of the application of a coupled energy/mass balance and glacier-flow model (Plummer and Phillips, 2003) to reconstructed paleoglaciers in Rocky Mountains of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming to assess the changes from modern climate that would have been necessary to sustain each glacier in mass-balance equilibrium at its LGM extent. Results demonstrate that strong west-to-east and north-to-south gradients in LGM precipitation, relative to present, would be required if a uniform LGM temperature depression with respect to modern is assumed across the region. At an assumed 7oC temperature depression, approximately modern precipitation would have been necessary to support LGM glaciation in the Colorado Front Range, significantly less than modern precipitation to support glaciation in the Teton Range, and almost twice modern precipitation to sustain glaciers in the Wasatch and Uinta ranges of Utah and the New Mexico Sangre de Cristo Range. The observed west-to-east (Utah-to-Colorado) LGM moisture gradient is consistent with precipitation enhancement from pluvial Lake Bonneville, decreasing with distance downwind from the lake. The north-to-south (Wyoming-to-New Mexico) LGM moisture gradient is consistent with a southward LGM displacement of the mean winter storm track associated with the winter position of the Pacific Jet Stream across the western U.S. Our analysis of paleoglacier extents in the Rocky Mountain region supports the results of GCM simulations of western U.S. precipitation distribution during the LGM, and suggests that this approach provides a practical means of testing such hypotheses about large-scale paleoclimate patterns. Finally, we note that most GCM results indicate greater LGM temperature depression in the northern and eastern portions of the study region than in its southern and western portions - which would necessitate LGM precipitation differences even greater than those determined based on an assumed uniform temperature depression.

Hydrology and simulation of ground-water flow in Kamas Valley, Summit County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brooks, L.E.; Stolp, B.J.; Spangler, L.E.

2003-01-01

Kamas Valley, Utah, is located about 50 miles east of Salt Lake City and is undergoing residential development. The increasing number of wells and septic systems raised concerns of water managers and prompted this hydrologic study. About 350,000 acre-feet per year of surface water flows through Kamas Valley in the Weber River, Beaver Creek, and Provo River, which originate in the Uinta Mountains east of the study area. The ground-water system in this area consists of water in unconsolidated deposits and consolidated rock; water budgets indicate very little interaction between consolidated rock and unconsolidated deposits. Most recharge to consolidated rock occurs at higher altitudes in the mountains and discharges to streams and springs upgradient of Kamas Valley. About 38,000 acre-feet per year of water flows through the unconsolidated deposits in Kamas Valley. Most recharge is from irrigation and seepage from major streams; most discharge is to Beaver Creek in the middle part of the valley. Long-term water-level fluctuations range from about 3 to 17 feet. Seasonal fluctuations exceed 50 feet. Transmissivity varies over four orders of magnitude in both the unconsolidated deposits and consolidated rock and is typically 1,000 to 10,000 feet squared per day in unconsolidated deposits and 100 feet squared per day in consolidated rock as determined from specific capacity. Water samples collected from wells, streams, and springs had nitrate plus nitrite concentrations (as N) substantially less than 10 mg/L. Total and fecal coliform bacteria were detected in some surface-water samples and probably originate from livestock. Septic systems do not appear to be degrading water quality. A numerical ground-water flow model developed to test the conceptual understanding of the ground-water system adequately simulates water levels and flow in the unconsolidated deposits. Analyses of model fit and sensitivity were used to refine the conceptual and numerical models.

Falconry

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

F34 S638 1989) Note: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. 507. Smith, Dwight G. Breeding ecology of raptors in the eastern Great Basin of...more chance at survival for the cloud runners." Smithsonian. 21(1): 88-100, April 1990. 315. Mosher, James A. "Raptors of the Uinta National Forest...Utah." Great Basin Naturalist. 38: 438-46, December 1978. 316. Mueller, Helmut C. "Prey selection in the American kestrel." Americai Naturalist. 111

Indentifying environmental features for land management decisions. [Uinta Basin, Davis County foothills, and Farmington Bay in Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The wetlands and water-related land use in the Uinta Basin were classified and mapped using photointerpretation of U-2 infrared photography and digital LANDSAT data. The digital maps were used to augment photointerpretations. A highly effective diagnostic tool emerged when the LANDSAT digital print was photoreduced to a film positive at the same scale as the U-2 film and overlain on the U-2 color film. As a result of this merging technique, cover types can be identified more accurately and probablistic statements can be made about the relative amounts of water being consumed in one pasture vs. another. The hazards to urban development on sensitive and unstable land in the foothills of Davis County were studied using NASA U-2 photography. Shoreline fluctuations were mapped in the Farmington Bay using LANDSAT digital data.

Geomorphology of the north flank of the Uinta Mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradley, W.H.

1936-01-01

beds now form hogbacks ranked along the sides of the fold. In places large faults, approximating the regional strike, cut these steeply inclined beds. Gently warped Tertiary sediments, mostly of Eocene age, fill the large Green River Basin, which lies north of the range, to a depth of several thousand feet and lap up on the flanks of the mountains, from which they were chiefly derived.

U.S. Geological Survey ground-water studies in Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, Joseph S.

1988-01-01

Ground water is an important natural resource in Utah. In the basins west of the Wasatch Front, and in many other parts of Utah, ground water is the primary source of water. In many of the basins of the western desert and in parts of the Colorado Plateau, ground water is the only reliable source of water. Along the Wasatch Front to the north and south of Salt Lake City, in the Uinta Basin, and in the Sevier River drainage, surface water is the primary source of water. Ground-water sources supply about 20 percent of all water used in Utah and about 63 percent of the water for public supply. Of the total amount of ground water used, 44 percent is for irrigation, 35 percent is for public supply, 11 percent is for industry, 5 percent is for rural domestic supplies, and 5 percent is for livestock. The major issues related to ground water in Utah are: -Development of additional ground-water supplies while protecting existing water rights and minimizing effects on water levels, water quality, and streamflow, and-Protection of ground-water resources from contamination by pollutants from various types of land-use and waste-disposal practices.

Marine and nonmarine gas-bearing rocks in Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk and Neslen Formations, eastern Uinta Basin, Utah: sedimentology, diagenesis, and source rock potential

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pitman, Janet K.; Franczyk, K.J.; Anders, D.E.

1987-01-01

Thermogenic gas was generated from interbedded humic-rich source rocks. The geometry and distribution of hydrocarbon source and reservoir rocks are controlled by depositional environment. The rate of hydrocarbon generation decreased from the late Miocene to the present, owing to widespread cooling that occurred in response to regional uplift and erosion associated with the development of the Colorado Plateau. -from Authors

The First 75 Years: History of Hydraulics Engineering at the Waterways Experiment Station

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

Report, 10-12. Gilsonite is a variety of asphalt that occurs in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah. Haydite is an expanded shale or clay...River Fish Mitigation: Gas Abatement." 76. John George i11terview. 77. "SCT Completes Mainstem Project Ranking," Columbia Basin Bulletin: Weekly...view of the Mississippi Basin Model looking toward the Gulf of Mexico. (Ohio River Basin in lower right foreground; Atchafalaya Basin in extreme

Multivariate Regression Analysis of Winter Ozone Events in the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansfield, M. L.

2012-12-01

I report on a regression analysis of a number of variables that are involved in the formation of winter ozone in the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah. One goal of the analysis is to develop a mathematical model capable of predicting the daily maximum ozone concentration from values of a number of independent variables. The dependent variable is the daily maximum ozone concentration at a particular site in the basin. Independent variables are (1) daily lapse rate, (2) daily "basin temperature" (defined below), (3) snow cover, (4) midday solar zenith angle, (5) monthly oil production, (6) monthly gas production, and (7) the number of days since the beginning of a multi-day inversion event. Daily maximum temperature and daily snow cover data are available at ten or fifteen different sites throughout the basin. The daily lapse rate is defined operationally as the slope of the linear least-squares fit to the temperature-altitude plot, and the "basin temperature" is defined as the value assumed by the same least-squares line at an altitude of 1400 m. A multi-day inversion event is defined as a set of consecutive days for which the lapse rate remains positive. The standard deviation in the accuracy of the model is about 10 ppb. The model has been combined with historical climate and oil & gas production data to estimate historical ozone levels.

CORE-BASED INTEGRATED SEDIMENTOLOGIC, STRATIGRAPHIC, AND GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE OIL SHALE BEARING GREEN RIVER FORMATION, UINTA BASIN, UTAH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lauren P. Birgenheier; Michael D. Vanden Berg,

An integrated detailed sedimentologic, stratigraphic, and geochemical study of Utah's Green River Formation has found that Lake Uinta evolved in three phases (1) a freshwater rising lake phase below the Mahogany zone, (2) an anoxic deep lake phase above the base of the Mahogany zone and (3) a hypersaline lake phase within the middle and upper R-8. This long term lake evolution was driven by tectonic basin development and the balance of sediment and water fill with the neighboring basins, as postulated by models developed from the Greater Green River Basin by Carroll and Bohacs (1999). Early Eocene abrupt global-warmingmore » events may have had significant control on deposition through the amount of sediment production and deposition rates, such that lean zones below the Mahogany zone record hyperthermal events and rich zones record periods between hyperthermals. This type of climatic control on short-term and long-term lake evolution and deposition has been previously overlooked. This geologic history contains key points relevant to oil shale development and engineering design including: (1) Stratigraphic changes in oil shale quality and composition are systematic and can be related to spatial and temporal changes in the depositional environment and basin dynamics. (2) The inorganic mineral matrix of oil shale units changes significantly from clay mineral/dolomite dominated to calcite above the base of the Mahogany zone. This variation may result in significant differences in pyrolysis products and geomechanical properties relevant to development and should be incorporated into engineering experiments. (3) This study includes a region in the Uinta Basin that would be highly prospective for application of in-situ production techniques. Stratigraphic targets for in-situ recovery techniques should extend above and below the Mahogany zone and include the upper R-6 and lower R-8.« less

40 CFR 81.345 - Utah.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... area of Utah County that lies west of the Wasatch Mountain Range (and this includes the Cities of Provo... Weber County that lies west of the Wasatch Mountain Range with an eastern boundary for Weber County to... within Utah: Township 15 North Range 1 East; Township 14 North Range 1 East; Township 13 North Range 1...

40 CFR 81.345 - Utah.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... area of Utah County that lies west of the Wasatch Mountain Range (and this includes the Cities of Provo... Weber County that lies west of the Wasatch Mountain Range with an eastern boundary for Weber County to... within Utah: Township 15 North Range 1 East; Township 14 North Range 1 East; Township 13 North Range 1...

Characterization of Petroleum Residue in the Entrada Sandstone, Colorado National Monument

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lillis, Paul G.; King, J. David

2007-01-01

Introduction As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) petroleum resource assessment of the Uinta-Piceance Province, Colorado and Utah, in 2000 (USGS Uinta-Piceance Assessment Team, 2003), some 170 oils, oil stains, and oil seeps were geochemically characterized and divided into genetic types (Lillis and others, 2003). Recognized oil types include Minturn, Phosphoria, Grassy Trail Creek, Mancos, Mesaverde, and Green River. Subsequent to that study, the existence and general locality of petroleum residue in the Middle Jurassic Entrada Sandstone in Colorado National Monument (CNM) was brought to the attention of the authors (Scott and others, 2001). Because the analysis of such non-commercial petroleum deposits commonly yields valuable regional resource-trend information, we collected and characterized the reported CNM petroleum residue and compared the results with identified oil types in the Uinta-Piceance Province. Three samples of Entrada Sandstone with petroleum residue were collected near Little Park Road along the south edge of the CNM in sec.20, T.12S., R.101W. The approximate extent of the petroleum staining was determined by field testing with solvent, and the stains appear to be restricted to the upper part of the 'board beds' unit (informal name, Scott and others, 2001) of the Entrada Sandstone between the two fault traces of the Glade Park fault.

Increased oil production and reserves from improved completion techniques in the Bluebell field, Uinta Basin, Utah. Tenth quarterly technical progress report, January 1, 1996--March 31, 1996. Revised

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allison, M.L.

1996-05-13

The objective of this project is to increase oil production and reserves in the Uinta Basin by demonstrating improved completion techniques. Low productivity of Uinta Basin will is caused by gross production intervals of several thousand feet that contain perforated thief zones, water-bearing zones, and unperforated oil- bearing intervals. Geologic and engineering characterization and computer simulation of the Green River and Wasatch Formations in the Bluefell field will determine reservoir heterogeneities related to fractures and depositional trends. This will be followed by techniques based on the reservoir characterization. Transfer of the project results will be an ongoing component of themore » project. Data (net pay thickness, porosity, and water saturation) of more than 100 individuals beds in he lower Green River and Wasatch Formations were used to generate geostatistical realization (numerical- representation) of the reservoir properties. The data set was derived from the Michelle Ute and Malnar Pike demonstration wells and 22 other wells in a 20 (52 km{sup 2}) square-mile area. Beds were studied independently of each other. Principles of sequential Gaussian simulations were used to generate geostatistical realizations of the beds.« less

The effect of drainage reorganization on paleoaltimetry studies: An example from the Paleogene Laramide foreland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Steven J.; Wiegand, Bettina A.; Carroll, Alan R.; Chamberlain, C. Page

2008-11-01

Using multiple isotope systems, we examine the complex effects of drainage reorganization in the Laramide Foreland in the context of stable isotope paleoaltimetry. Strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopic data from lacustrine carbonates formed in the southwestern Uinta Basin, Utah between the Late Cretaceous and late Middle Eocene reveal a two stage expansion in the drainage basin of Lake Uinta beginning at ~ 53 Ma culminating in the Mahogany highstand at 48.6 Ma. A marked increase in 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios of samples from the Main Body of the Green River Formation is interpreted as the result of water overflowing the Greater Green River Basin in Wyoming and entering Lake Uinta from the east via the Piceance Creek Basin of northwestern Colorado. This large new source of water caused a rapid expansion of Lake Uinta and was accompanied by a significant and rapid increase in the O isotope record of carbonate samples by ~ 6‰. The periodic overspilling of Lake Gosiute probably became continuous at ~ 49 Ma, when the lake captured low- δ18O water from the Challis and Absaroka Volcanic Fields to the north. However, evaporation in the Greater Green River and Piceance Creek Basins meant that the waters entering Lake Uinta were still enriched in 18O. By ~ 46 Ma, inflows from the Greater Green River Basin ceased, resulting in a lowstand of Lake Uinta and the deposition of bedded evaporites in the Saline Facies of the Green River Formation. We thus show that basin development and lake hydrology in the Laramide foreland were characterized by large-scale changes in Cordilleran drainage patterns, capable of confounding paleoaltimetry studies premised on too few isotopic systems, samples or localities. In the case of the North American Cordillera of the Paleogene, we further demonstrate the likelihood that (1) topographic evolution of distal source areas strongly influenced the isotopic records of intraforeland basins and (2) a pattern of drainage integration between the hinterland and foreland may correlate in space and time with the southward sweep of hinterland magmatism.

Random forests for classification in ecology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cutler, D.R.; Edwards, T.C.; Beard, K.H.; Cutler, A.; Hess, K.T.; Gibson, J.; Lawler, J.J.

2007-01-01

Classification procedures are some of the most widely used statistical methods in ecology. Random forests (RF) is a new and powerful statistical classifier that is well established in other disciplines but is relatively unknown in ecology. Advantages of RF compared to other statistical classifiers include (1) very high classification accuracy; (2) a novel method of determining variable importance; (3) ability to model complex interactions among predictor variables; (4) flexibility to perform several types of statistical data analysis, including regression, classification, survival analysis, and unsupervised learning; and (5) an algorithm for imputing missing values. We compared the accuracies of RF and four other commonly used statistical classifiers using data on invasive plant species presence in Lava Beds National Monument, California, USA, rare lichen species presence in the Pacific Northwest, USA, and nest sites for cavity nesting birds in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA. We observed high classification accuracy in all applications as measured by cross-validation and, in the case of the lichen data, by independent test data, when comparing RF to other common classification methods. We also observed that the variables that RF identified as most important for classifying invasive plant species coincided with expectations based on the literature. ?? 2007 by the Ecological Society of America.

The Noble Gas Record of Gas-Water Phase Interaction in the Tight-Gas-Sand Reservoirs of the Rocky Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballentine, C. J.; Zhou, Z.; Harris, N. B.

2015-12-01

The mass of hydrocarbons that have migrated through tight-gas-sandstone systems before the permeability reduces to trap the hydrocarbon gases provides critical information in the hydrocarbon potential analysis of a basin. The noble gas content (Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) of the groundwater has a unique isotopic and elemental composition. As gas migrates through the water column, the groundwater-derived noble gases partition into the hydrocarbon phase. Determination of the noble gases in the produced hydrocarbon phase then provides a record of the type of interaction (simple phase equilibrium or open system Rayleigh fractionation). The tight-gas-sand reservoirs of the Rocky Mountains represent one of the most significant gas resources in the United States. The producing reservoirs are generally developed in low permeability (averaging <0.1mD) Upper Cretaceous fluvial to marginal marine sandstones and commonly form isolated overpressured reservoir bodies encased in even lower permeability muddy sediments. We present noble gas data from producing fields in the Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming; the the Piceance Basin, Colorado; and in the Uinta Basin, Utah. The data is consistent from all three basins. We show how in each basin the noble gases record open system gas migration through a water column at maximum basin burial. The data within an open system model indicates that the gas now in-place represents the last ~10% of hydrocarbon gas to have passed through the water column, most likely prior to permeability closedown.

40 CFR 81.345 - Utah.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Wasatch Mountain Range (and this includes the Cities of Provo and Orem) with an eastern boundary for Utah.../Attainment Nonattainment. The area of Weber County that lies west of the Wasatch Mountain Range with an... of the Wasatch Mountain Range (and this includes the Cities of Provo and Orem) with an eastern...

Aviation Turbine Fuels from Tar Sands Bitumen and Heavy Oils. Part 2. Laboratory Sample Production.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-01

tar sand bitumen from West Central Kentucky; and Sunnyside tar sand bitumen from the Uinta Basin , Utah. Each of the feedstocks had unique...fuel and about 50 volume percent heavy gas oil (600-1000°F). The Westken bitumen was overall the heaviest of the four feedstocks evaluated. K factors...was 40 weight percent and about 20 weight percent in the total crude. 3. San Ardo Heavy oil The San Ardo field is located in the Coastal basin of the

AVIRIS data calibration information: Wasatch Mountains and Park City region, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Clark, Roger N.; Livo, K. Eric; McDougal, Robert R.; Kokaly, Raymond F.

2002-01-01

This report contains information regarding the reflectance calibration of spectroscopic imagery acquired over the Wasatch Mountains and Park City region, Utah, by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) sensor on August 5, 1998. This information was used by the USGS Spectroscopy Laboratory to calibrate the Park City AVIRIS imagery to unitless reflectance prior to spectral analysis.  The Utah AVIRIS data were analyzed as a part of the USEPA-USGS Utah Abandoned Mine Lands Imaging Spectroscopy Project.

Faults, Fractures, and Lineaments in the Mineral Mountains, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joe Moore

This submission includes a shapefile of the Opal Mound Fault, and multiple datasets of lineaments mapped in the Mineral Mountains which overlook the Utah FORGE site, hyperlinked to rose diagrams in a polygon grid shapefile.

Field guide to geologic excursions in southwestern Utah and adjacent areas of Arizona and Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lund, William R.; Lund, William R.

2002-01-01

This field guide contains road logs for field trips planned in conjunction with the 2002 Rocky Mountain Section meeting of the Geological Society of America held at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah. There are a total of eight field trips, covering various locations and topics in southwestern Utah and adjacent areas of Arizona and Nevada. In addition, the field guide contains a road log for a set of Geological Engineering Field Camp Exercises run annually by the University of Missouri at Rolla in and around Cedar City. Two of the field trips address structural aspects of the geology in southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona; two trips deal with ground water in the region; and along with the Field Camp Exercises, one trip, to the Grand Staircase, is designed specifically for educators. The remaining trips examine the volcanology and mineral resources of a large area in and around the Tusher Mountains in Utah; marine and brackish water strata in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; and the Pine Valley Mountains, which are cored by what may be the largest known laccolith in the world. The "Three Corners" area of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada is home to truly world-class geology, and I am confident that all of the 2002 Rocky Mountain Section meeting attendees will find a field trip suited to their interests.

Aeromagnetic maps of the Uinta and Piceance Basins and vicinity, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grauch, V.J.S.; Plesha, Joseph L.

1989-01-01

In order to understand the evolution of sedimentary basins, it is important to understand their tectonic setting. In a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study of the Uinta and Piceance basins in Utah and Colorado, this understanding is approached through characterization of subsurface structure and lithology of a large region encompassing the basins. An important tool for interpreting these subsurface features is aeromagnetic data. Aeromagnetic anomalies represent variations in the strength and direction of the Earth's magnetic field that are produced by rocks containing a significant number of magnetic minerals (commonly magnetite). The shape and magnitude of an anomaly produced by one body of rock are complexly related to the amount of magnetic minerals present, the magnetic properties of those minerals (determined by a number of factors, including the history of the rock), and the shape of the rock body. In the study area, only crystalline basement rocks and volcanic rocks are likely to contain enough magnetic minerals to produce anomalies; sedimentary rocks and metasediments are generally so poor in magnetic minerals that their magnetic effects cannot be detected by the types of surveys presented in this report. Patterns of anomalies on aeromagnetic maps can reveal not only lithologic differences related to magnetite content, but structural features as well, such as faults that have juxtaposed crystalline rocks against sedimentary rocks, and upwarps of crystalline basement underlying sedimentary sequences. Tectonic features of regional extent may not become apparent until a number of aeromagnetic surveys have been compiled and plotted at the same scale. Commonly the compilation involves piecing together data from surveys that were flown at different times and have widely disparate flight specifications and data reduction procedures. The data may be compiled into a composite map, where all the pieces are plotted onto one map without regard to the differences in flight elevation and datum, or they may be compiled into a merged map, where all survey data are analytically reduced to a common flight elevation and datum, and then digitally merged at the survey boundaries. The composite map retains the original resolution of all survey data, but computer methods to enhance or model regional features crossing the survey boundaries cannot be applied. On the other hand, these computer methods can be applied to the merged data, but the resolution of the data may be somewhat diminished. This report presents both composite and merged aeromagnetic maps for a large region that includes the Uinta Basin in Utah and the Piceance basin in Colorado (fig. 1).

Discussion on a Potential DJ Basin Pneumatic Controller ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

ORD NRMRL and Region 8 collaborators are conducting emission measurements and method development studies on pneumatic controllers (PCs) in the Uintah Basin, Utah (and potentially in Colorado), in cooperation with Oil and Natural gas (ONG) operators. ONG operations use PCs for production process control and safety functions. PCs emit gas to the atmosphere as they operate and sometimes they malfunction and emit more than they are supposed to. Because of the very large number of PCs in use, these devices contribute significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. There is considerable uncertainty in levels of real-world PC emissions and measurement methods for PCs are somewhat underdeveloped. In collaboration with EPA R8, the State of Colorado, (and industry participants in Step 2), ORD NRMRL is evaluating a potential follow-on research effort to the Uinta Basin Pneumatic Controller (PC) Study. The Uinta PC Study is described in a recent APPCD Research Highlight (attached )with results summarized in “Assessment of Uinta Basin Oil and Natural Gas Well Pad Pneumatic Controller Emissions”, E. Thoma et al., Journal of Environmental Protection, 8, 394-415, (2017). doi: 10.4236/jep.2017.84029; at (http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=75669). This RAP research was funded by an EPA R8 RARE and ACE Task EM 1.2 (next gen. emissions measurements). For both technical and programmatic reasons, we seek to

M-X Environmental Technical Report. Environmental Characteristics of Alternative Designated Deployment Areas, Wilderness and Significant Natural Areas.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-22

National Forest in northeastern Nevada, and Lone Peak in the Uinta and Wasatch National Forest of central Utah. Each of these areas is more than 60 miles...natural landmarks was obtained from a compre- hensive study of the Great Basin (Bostick et al., 1975) and updated with information from DNL and Nevada...Montains~ 0 ALM :Battle Mtns) 35rks 42.000 .4% 53 I-- Iee -A~IMI Ditrc 10- - - 57 Se"lpeSes - - --- se Midle Img ie. Sle on. - --- 122 Gas . Fairvie

Geology and geomorphology of Bear Lake Valley and upper Bear River, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reheis, M.C.; Laabs, B.J.C.; Kaufman, D.S.

2009-01-01

Bear Lake, on the Idaho-Utah border, lies in a fault-bounded valley through which the Bear River flows en route to the Great Salt Lake. Surficial deposits in the Bear Lake drainage basin provide a geologic context for interpretation of cores from Bear Lake deposits. In addition to groundwater discharge, Bear Lake received water and sediment from its own small drainage basin and sometimes from the Bear River and its glaciated headwaters. The lake basin interacts with the river in complex ways that are modulated by climatically induced lake-level changes, by the distribution of active Quaternary faults, and by the migration of the river across its fluvial fan north of the present lake. The upper Bear River flows northward for ???150 km from its headwaters in the northwestern Uinta Mountains, generally following the strike of regional Laramide and late Cenozoic structures. These structures likely also control the flow paths of groundwater that feeds Bear Lake, and groundwater-fed streams are the largest source of water when the lake is isolated from the Bear River. The present configuration of the Bear River with respect to Bear Lake Valley may not have been established until the late Pliocene. The absence of Uinta Range-derived quartzites in fluvial gravel on the crest of the Bear Lake Plateau east of Bear Lake suggests that the present headwaters were not part of the drainage basin in the late Tertiary. Newly mapped glacial deposits in the Bear River Range west of Bear Lake indicate several advances of valley glaciers that were probably coeval with glaciations in the Uinta Mountains. Much of the meltwater from these glaciers may have reached Bear Lake via groundwater pathways through infiltration in the karst terrain of the Bear River Range. At times during the Pleistocene, the Bear River flowed into Bear Lake and water level rose to the valley threshold at Nounan narrows. This threshold has been modified by aggradation, downcutting, and tectonics. Maximum lake levels have decreased from as high as 1830 m to 1806 m above sea level since the early Pleistocene due to episodic downcutting by the Bear River. The oldest exposed lacustrine sediments in Bear Lake Valley are probably of Pliocene age. Several high-lake phases during the early and middle Pleistocene were separated by episodes of fluvial incision. Threshold incision was not constant, however, because lake highstands of as much as 8 m above bedrock threshold level resulted from aggradation and possibly landsliding at least twice during the late-middle and late Pleistocene. Abandoned stream channels within the low-lying, fault-bounded region between Bear Lake and the modern Bear River show that Bear River progressively shifted northward during the Holocene. Several factors including faulting, location of the fluvial fan, and channel migration across the fluvial fan probably interacted to produce these changes in channel position. Late Quaternary slip rates on the east Bear Lake fault zone are estimated by using the water-level history of Bear Lake, assuming little or no displacement on dated deposits on the west side of the valley. Uplifted lacustrine deposits representing Pliocene to middle Pleistocene highstands of Bear Lake on the footwall block of the east Bear Lake fault zone provide dramatic evidence of long-term slip. Slip rates during the late Pleistocene increased from north to south along the east Bear Lake fault zone, consistent with the tectonic geomorphology. In addition, slip rates on the southern section of the fault zone have apparently decreased over the past 50 k.y. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Preliminary isostatic residual gravity map of the Newfoundland Mountains 30' by 60' quadrangle and east part of the Wells 30' by 60' quadrangle, Box Elder County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, Victoria; Athens, N.D.; Churchel, B.A.; Willis, H.; Knepprath, N.E.; Rosario, Jose J.; Roza, J.; Kraushaar, S.M.; Hardwick, C.L.

2013-01-01

A new isostatic residual gravity map of the Newfoundland Mountains and east of the Wells 30×60 quadrangles of Utah is based on compilation of preexisting data and new data collected by the Utah and U.S. Geological Surveys. Pronounced gravity lows occur over Grouse Creek Valley and locally beneath the Great Salt Lake Desert, indicating significant thickness of low-density Tertiary sedimentary rocks and deposits. Gravity highs coincide with exposures of dense pre-Cenozoic rocks in the Newfoundland, Silver Island, and Little Pigeon Mountains. Gravity values measured on pre-Tertiary basement to the north in the Bovine and Hogup Mountains are as much as 10mGal lower. Steep, linear gravity gradients may define basin-bounding faults concealed along the margins of the Newfoundland, Silver Island, and Little Pigeon Mountains, Lemay Island and the Pilot Range.

Discrimination of Earthquakes and Explosions at Regional Distances Using Complexity

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-17

and Bennett and Murphy (1986) present several NTS explosion and near-NTS earthquake signals as recorded at single elements of the Tonto Forest, Uinta ... Basin , and Blue Mountain Vela Array Observatories (TFO, UBO, and BMO). As they point out, the S/N for Pn is poor (These authors therefore rested their

Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources—Southern Rocky Mountain Basins: Chapter M in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Merrill, Matthew D.; Drake, Ronald M.; Buursink, Marc L.; Craddock, William H.; East, Joseph A.; Slucher, Ernie R.; Warwick, Peter D.; Brennan, Sean T.; Blondes, Madalyn S.; Freeman, Philip A.; Cahan, Steven M.; DeVera, Christina A.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Warwick, Peter D.; Corum, Margo D.

2016-06-02

The U.S. Geological Survey has completed an assessment of the potential geologic carbon dioxide storage resources in the onshore areas of the United States. To provide geological context and input data sources for the resources numbers, framework documents are being prepared for all areas that were investigated as part of the national assessment. This report, chapter M, is the geologic framework document for the Uinta and Piceance, San Juan, Paradox, Raton, Eastern Great, and Black Mesa Basins, and subbasins therein of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. In addition to a summary of the geology and petroleum resources of studied basins, the individual storage assessment units (SAUs) within the basins are described and explanations for their selection are presented. Although appendixes in the national assessment publications include the input values used to calculate the available storage resource, this framework document provides only the context and source of the input values selected by the assessment geologists. Spatial-data files of the boundaries for the SAUs, and the well-penetration density of known well bores that penetrate the SAU seal, are available for download with the release of this report.

1,000 Years of Climatic Variability in the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tingstad, A. H.; MacDonald, G. M.

2008-12-01

The Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) is an essential water resource region in the United States. Seven western U.S. states, including water-hungry California, depend on water originating in the UCRB to support rising populations, agriculture, and infrastructure. Predictions that drought and depletion of water resources will intensify in the next several decades due to human-induced climate warming makes it essential that the natural patterns and causes of drought in the UCRB are understood. In particular, droughts that occurred during the Medieval Period (~ A.D. 900-1200) are of interest because temperatures are known to have been elevated during this time. We present a new 1,000-year tree-ring reconstruction for part of the UCRB using Pinus edulis (two-needle Pinyon) samples from northeastern Utah. We evaluate variability in the summer (JJA) and annual Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for the Uinta Mountains region, and use wavelet and other analyses to determine the importance of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in determining the timing and duration of droughts in the region. We conclude that while intense droughts did occur during the Medieval Period and throughout the record, water shortages may not be spatially and temporally uniform throughout the UCRB and the western U.S.

Erigeron mancus elevational density gradient as a baseline to detect future climate change in LaSal Mountain habitats

Treesearch

James F. Fowler; Barb Smith

2010-01-01

The LaSal daisy, Erigeron mancus, is endemic to timberline and alpine habitats of the LaSal Mountains in Utah (Nesom 2006)(Fig. 1), an insular, laccolithic mountain range on the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah (Blakey and Ranney 2008). Erigeron mancus occurs in alpine herbaceous communities from timberline to the crestline of the Middle Group of the LaSals (Smith...

Erigeron mancus (Asteraceae) density as a baseline to detect future climate change in La Sal Mountain habitats

Treesearch

James F. Fowler; Barb Smith

2010-01-01

The La Sal Daisy, Erigeron mancus Rydb., is endemic to timberline and alpine habitats of the La Sal Mountains in Utah, an insular, laccolithic mountain range on the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah. It occurs in alpine herbaceous communities from timberline to the crestline of the La Sals. Our primary goal in this study was to measure basic population biology...

Oil shale and nahcolite resources of the Piceance Basin, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2010-01-01

This report presents an in-place assessment of the oil shale and nahcolite resources of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado. The Piceance Basin is one of three large structural and sedimentary basins that contain vast amounts of oil shale resources in the Green River Formation of Eocene age. The other two basins, the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah and westernmost Colorado, and the Greater Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, and northeastern Utah also contain large resources of oil shale in the Green River Formation, and these two basins will be assessed separately. Estimated in-place oil is about 1.5 trillion barrels, based on Fischer a ssay results from boreholes drilled to evaluate oil shale, making it the largest oil shale deposit in the world. The estimated in-place nahcolite resource is about 43.3 billion short tons.

Simulated Impact of Climate Change on Fremont Native American Maize Farming in Utah at the MCA-LIA Transition, ca. 12-14th c. CE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, M. J.; MacDonald, G. M.

2016-12-01

We present the results of a computational crop modeling experiment for ancient Fremont Native American Zea mays farming in the Uinta Basin, Utah, at the Medieval Climate Anomaly to Little Ice Age (MCA-LIA) transition, ca. 850-1450 CE. This period coincides with the rapid disappearance of complex Native American cultures from the American Southwest. The crop model (the Environment Policy Impact Calculator, EPIC) was driven by statistically downscaled precipitation, temperature and shortwave radiative flux from the Community Earth System Model Last Millennium Ensemble (CESM LME). We found that maize yield responded to changes in the model-reconstructed temperature and precipitation; and periods of reduced maize yields corresponded to the abandonment of higher elevation Fremont 14C-dated archaeological sites. EPIC produces good agreement between modeled and historically reported maize yields for the 19th century.

Executive Summary of the Cloud Impacts on DoD Operations and Systems - 1988 Workshop (CIDOS - 88)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

over the Great Salt Lake Basin - an example of the complexity of satellite cloud detection. The image is photography #358 from the Large Format...over the Wasatch Range, east of the Great Salt Lake, and over the southern escarpment of the Uinta Mountains (lop right corner). The simple threshold

Methodological Preliminaries to the Development of an Expert System for Aerial Photo Interpretation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

Region prl.7.2 Colorado Plateaus Province prl.7.2.1 High Plateaus of Utah Region prl.7.2.2 Uinta Basin Region prl.7.2.3 Canyon Lands Region prI.7.2.4...have a flat to undulating basin --does it?). If a majority of the questions generate negative answers some other hypothesis is sought. % (13) All...rf2.2 Lineaments rf2.3 Troughs -f2.4 Joints f2.5 Escarpments rf2.6 Gorges rfZ.7 Folds Rock Forms 3 Domes Rock Forms 4 Canyons Rock Forms 5 Basins

MX Siting Investigation. Preliminary Biological and Cultural Resources Inventory and Environmental Evaluation of the Proposed Operational Base Sites in Coyote Spring Valley and the Milford-Beryl Area.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-20

There are no croplands within the study area. Oil and gas leases are widely scattered in the area, and deep tests are currently being drilled. There...sightings from Uinta Basin in 1972 and 1975, from New Green River, Utah, in 1976, and from Rich and Emery counties in 1977 and 1978. The primary prey...located in a transitional area between the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert, and it contains vegeta- tion representative of both regions. Plant and

Preliminary isostatic residual gravity map of the Tremonton 30' x 60' quadrangle, Box Elder and Cache Counties, Utah, and Franklin and Oneida Counties, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, Victoria; Oaks, R.Q.; Willis, H.; Hiscock, A.I.; Chuchel, Bruce A.; Rosario, Jose J.; Hardwick, C.L.

2014-01-01

A new isostatic residual gravity map of the Tremonton 30' x 60' quadrangle of Utah is based on compilation of preexisting data and new data collected by the Utah and U.S. Geological Surveys. Pronounced gravity lows occur over North Bay, northwest of Brigham City, and Malad and Blue Creek Valleys, indicating significant thickness of low-density Tertiary sedimentary rocks and deposits. Gravity highs coincide with exposures of dense pre-Cenozoic rocks in the Promontory, Clarkston, and Wellsville Mountains. The highest gravity values are located in southern Curlew Valley and may be produced in part by deeper crustal density variations or crustal thinning. Steep, linear gravity gradients coincide with Quaternary faults bounding the Wellsville and Clarkston Mountains. Steep gradients also coincide with the margins of the Promontory Mountains, Little Mountain, West Hills, and the eastern margin of the North Promontory Mountains and may define concealed basin-bounding faults.

Hydrology of Northern Utah Valley, Utah County, Utah, 1975-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cederberg, Jay R.; Gardner, Philip M.; Thiros, Susan A.

2009-01-01

The ground-water resources of northern Utah Valley, Utah, were assessed during 2003-05 to describe and quantify components of the hydrologic system, determine a hydrologic budget for the basin-fill aquifer, and evaluate changes to the system relative to previous studies. Northern Utah Valley is a horst and graben structure with ground water occurring in both the mountain-block uplands surrounding the valley and in the unconsolidated basin-fill sediments. The principal aquifer in northern Utah Valley occurs in the unconsolidated basin-fill deposits where a deeper unconfined aquifer occurs near the mountain front and laterally grades into multiple confined aquifers near the center of the valley. Sources of water to the basin-fill aquifers occur predominantly as either infiltration of streamflow at or near the interface of the mountain front and valley or as subsurface inflow from the adjacent mountain blocks. Sources of water to the basin-fill aquifers were estimated to average 153,000 (+/- 31,500) acre-feet annually during 1975-2004 with subsurface inflow and infiltration of streamflow being the predominant sources. Discharge from the basin-fill aquifers occurs in the valley lowlands as flow to waterways, drains, ditches, springs, as diffuse seepage, and as discharge from flowing and pumping wells. Ground-water discharge from the basin-fill aquifers during 1975-2004 was estimated to average 166,700 (+/- 25,900) acre-feet/year where discharge to wells for consumptive use and discharge to waterways, drains, ditches, and springs were the principal sources. Measured water levels in wells in northern Utah Valley declined an average of 22 feet from 1981 to 2004. Water-level declines are consistent with a severe regional drought beginning in 1999 and continuing through 2004. Water samples were collected from 36 wells and springs throughout the study area along expected flowpaths. Water samples collected from 34 wells were analyzed for dissolved major ions, nutrients, and stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. Water samples from all 36 wells were analyzed for dissolved-gas concentration including noble gases and tritium/helium-3. Within the basin fill, dissolved-solids concentration generally increases with distance along flowpaths from recharge areas, and shallower flowpaths tend to have higher concentrations than deeper flowpaths. Nitrate concentrations generally are at or below natural background levels. Dissolved-gas recharge temperature data support the conceptual model of the basin-fill aquifers and highlight complexities of recharge patterns in different parts of the valley. Dissolved-gas data indicate that the highest elevation recharge sources for the basin-fill aquifer are subsurface inflow derived from recharge in the adjacent mountain block between the mouths of American Fork and Provo Canyons. Apparent ground-water ages in the basin-fill aquifer, as calculated using tritium/helium-3 data, range from 2 to more than 50 years. The youngest waters in the valley occur near the mountain fronts with apparent ages generally increasing near the valley lowlands and discharge area around Utah Lake. Flowpaths are controlled by aquifer properties and the location of the predominant recharge sources, including subsurface inflow and recharge along the mountain front. Subsurface inflow is distributed over a larger area across the interface of the subsurface mountain block and basin-fill deposits. Subsurface inflow occurs at a depth deeper than that at which mountain-front recharge occurs. Recharge along the mountain front is often localized and focused over areas where streams and creeks enter the valley, and recharge is enhanced by the associated irrigation canals.

Crew Earth Observations over Utah taken during Expedition 12

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-10-14

ISS012-E-05172 (14 October 2005) --- Navajo Mountain, Utah is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 12 crewmember on the international space station. According to scientists, the Colorado Plateau of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah is characterized by mostly flat-lying sedimentary layers that record paleoclimate extremes ranging from oceans to widespread deserts over the last 1.8 billion years. Navajo Mountain is formed by a dome-shaped body of igneous rock (called a laccolith by geologists), one of several in southeast Utah that intrude and uplift the surrounding sedimentary layers of the Plateau. This oblique image highlights Navajo Mountain in the center of the image, surrounded by light red-brown Navajo Sandstone (also visible in canyons at bottom of image). Scientists believe the peak of Navajo Mountain, at approximately 3148 meters (10,388 feet) elevation, is comprised of uplifted Dakota Sandstone deposited during the Cretaceous Period. The establishment of Rainbow Bridge National Monument (1910), and the filling of Glen Canyon by Lake Powell in 1963 (upper right), have facilitated tourism and aesthetic appreciation of this previously remote region. Access to Navajo Mountain is still regulated by the sovereign Navajo Nation, and the process of permitting is required to hike in the region.

The Bear River Fault Zone, Wyoming and Utah: Complex Ruptures on a Young Normal Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, D. P.; Hecker, S.; Haproff, P.; Beukelman, G.; Erickson, B.

2012-12-01

The Bear River fault zone (BRFZ), a set of normal fault scarps located in the Rocky Mountains at the eastern margin of Basin and Range extension, is a rare example of a nascent surface-rupturing fault. Paleoseismic investigations (West, 1994; this study) indicate that the entire neotectonic history of the BRFZ may consist of two large surface-faulting events in the late Holocene. We have estimated a maximum per-event vertical displacement of 6-6.5 m at the south end of the fault where it abuts the north flank of the east-west-trending Uinta Mountains. However, large hanging-wall depressions resulting from back rotation, which front scarps that locally exceed 15 m in height, are prevalent along the main trace, obscuring the net displacement and its along-strike distribution. The modest length (~35 km) of the BRFZ indicates ruptures with a large displacement-to-length ratio, which implies earthquakes with a high static stress drop. The BRFZ is one of several immature (low cumulative displacement) normal faults in the Rocky Mountain region that appear to produce high-stress drop earthquakes. West (1992) interpreted the BRFZ as an extensionally reactivated ramp of the late Cretaceous-early Tertiary Hogsback thrust. LiDAR data on the southern section of the fault and Google Earth imagery show that these young ruptures are more extensive than currently mapped, with newly identified large (>10m) antithetic scarps and footwall graben. The scarps of the BRFZ extend across a 2.5-5.0 km-wide zone, making this the widest and most complex Holocene surface rupture in the Intermountain West. The broad distribution of Late Holocene scarps is consistent with reactivation of shallow bedrock structures but the overall geometry of the BRFZ at depth and its extent into the seismogenic zone are uncertain.

Mineral resources of the San Rafael Swell Wilderness Study Areas, including Muddy Creek, Crack Canyon, San Rafael Reef, Mexican Mountain, and Sids Mountain Wilderness Study Areas, Emery County, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartsch-Winkler, S.; Dickerson, R.P.; Barton, H.W.

1990-09-01

This paper reports on the San Rafael Swell Wilderness Study areas, which includes the Muddy Creek, Crack Canyon, San Rafael Reef, Mexican Mountain, and Sids Mountain Wilderness Study Areas, in Emery County, south-central Utah. Within and near the Crack Canyon Wilderness Study Area are identified subeconomic uranium and vanadium resources. Within the Carmel Formation are inferred subeconomic resources of gypsum in the Muddy Creek, San Rafael Reef, and Sids Mountain Wilderness Study Areas. Other commodities evaluated include geothermal energy, gypsum, limestone, oil and gas, sand and gravel, sandstone, semiprecious gemstones, sulfur petrified wood, and tar sand.

Geologic setting and characteristic of mineral deposits in the central Wasatch Mountains, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

John, David A.

1997-01-01

Base- and precious-metal deposits in the central Wasatch Mountains southeast of Salt Lake City were mined for more than 100 years beginning in 1868. Deposits present in the Park City, Little Cottonwood, and Big Cottonwood mining districts include Ag-Pb-Zn ± Cu ± Au replacement and veins, a low-grade porphyry Cu-Au deposit, Cu-bearing skarns, a quartz monzonite-type (low F) porphyry Mo deposit, and high sulfidation (quartz-alunite) Au deposits. Most production came from polymetallic replacement and vein deposits in the Park City mining district, which has a recorded production of more than 1.4 million oz Au , 253 million oz Ag, 2.7 billion lbs Pb, 1.5 billion lbs Zn, and 129 million lbs Cu from 1872 to 1978. Production in the Little and Big Cottonwood districts, mostly from Pb-Ag replacement deposits, was much smaller. Most mineral deposits in the central Wasatch Mountains are genetically related to the Wasatch igneous belt, a series of high-K calc-alkaline stocks and cogenetic volcanic rocks that formed about 41(?) to 30 Ma. The mineral deposits mostly formed near the end of magmatic activity between about 36 to 31.4 Ma. A subeconomic porphyry Mo deposit in the Little Cottonwood stock is notably younger having formed about 26 to 23.5 Ma. The intrusive rocks were emplaced mostly along the westward extension of the west-trending Uinta arch during a period of NW-SE-directed extension, and much of the mineralization in the Park City district controlled by ENE-striking normal faults. About 15 degrees of eastward tilting of the central Wasatch Mountains during Late Cenozoic Basin and Range extension has resulted in progressively deeper levels of exposure from <1 km on the east to about 11 km on the west and in profound variations in the types of minerals deposits exposed in different parts of the range. Most deposits formed at paleodepths ≤5 km, and the most productive deposits in the Park City district formed at depths of 1 to 2 km. The prophyry Mo deposit in the Little Cottonwood stock formed at greater depths of about 6 km.

Volatile organic compound emissions from the oil and natural gas industry in the Uinta Basin, Utah: point sources compared to ambient air composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warneke, C.; Geiger, F.; Edwards, P. M.; Dube, W.; Pétron, G.; Kofler, J.; Zahn, A.; Brown, S. S.; Graus, M.; Gilman, J.; Lerner, B.; Peischl, J.; Ryerson, T. B.; de Gouw, J. A.; Roberts, J. M.

2014-05-01

The emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with oil and natural gas production in the Uinta Basin, Utah were measured at a ground site in Horse Pool and from a NOAA mobile laboratory with PTR-MS instruments. The VOC compositions in the vicinity of individual gas and oil wells and other point sources such as evaporation ponds, compressor stations and injection wells are compared to the measurements at Horse Pool. High mixing ratios of aromatics, alkanes, cycloalkanes and methanol were observed for extended periods of time and short-term spikes caused by local point sources. The mixing ratios during the time the mobile laboratory spent on the well pads were averaged. High mixing ratios were found close to all point sources, but gas wells using dry-gas collection, which means dehydration happens at the well, were clearly associated with higher mixing ratios than other wells. Another large source was the flowback pond near a recently hydraulically re-fractured gas well. The comparison of the VOC composition of the emissions from the oil and natural gas wells showed that wet gas collection wells compared well with the majority of the data at Horse Pool and that oil wells compared well with the rest of the ground site data. Oil wells on average emit heavier compounds than gas wells. The mobile laboratory measurements confirm the results from an emissions inventory: the main VOC source categories from individual point sources are dehydrators, oil and condensate tank flashing and pneumatic devices and pumps. Raw natural gas is emitted from the pneumatic devices and pumps and heavier VOC mixes from the tank flashings.

Channel migration of the White River in the eastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jurado, Antonio; Fields, Fred K.

1978-01-01

The White River is the largest stream in the southeastern part of the Uinta Basin in Utah and Colorado. This map shows the changes that have occurred in the location of the main channel of the river from 1936 to 1974. The map indicated that certain reaches of the river are subject to different rates of channel migration. Also shown is the boundary of the flood plain, which is mapped at the point of abrupt break in slope. This map documents the position of the river channel prior to any withdrawals of water or alteration of the flow characteristics of the white river that may occur in order to meet water requirements principally associated with the proposed oil-shale industry or other development in the area.The channel locations were determined from aerial photographs taken at four different time periods for the following Federal agencies: In 1936, U.S. Soil Conservation Services; 1953, U.S. Corps of Engineers; 1965, U.S. Geological Survey; and in 1974, U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The 1936 delineation, which is actually based upon photographs that were taken in 1936 and 1937, was made by projection of the original photographs on a base map that was prepared from 1:24,000 scale topographic maps. The 1953, 1965, and 1974 delineations were produced from stereographic models. The 1965 delineation was compiled from photographs that were taken during 1962-65. The delineation is labeled as 1965 for simplicity, however, because the photographs for 1965 cover about 60 percent of the study read of the river, and because no changed were discernable in those areas of repetitive photographic coverage.

Astronomical pacing of ecosystem function in the Green River Formation of Utah and Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Keuren, M. A.; Whiteside, J. H.; Eglinton, T. I.

2008-12-01

Part of one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, the Green River Formation of the Uinta and Piceance Creek basins of Utah and Colorado, formed in a huge Eocene lake system during the warmest, most equable period in recent Earth history. Despite the unit's great potential economic importance and correspondingly large number of geochemical analyses and the preeminent role of these strata in Milankovitch theory (Bradley, 1929), there are surprisingly few systematic studies of the geochemistry of the characteristic permeating cyclicity. Here, we report multiple proxies of lacustrine ecosystem dynamics including oil shale yields, sedimentary facies, carbon and nitrogen isotopes, and molecule-level carbon isotopes from the most oil-rich parts (including the Mahogany oil shale zone) from a series of cores and outcrops in a transect across the Uinta and Piceance Creek basins spanning ~500 m stratigraphically and 3.2 m.y. temporally. Our initial results show covariation in sedimentary facies, oil shale yield, TOC, C/N ratios, and δ13Corg in the expected Milankovitch periodicities, although significant lateral and vertical changes in accumulation make the relative spectral power in the precessional range rather weak. There are, however, differences in the mode of response with oil shale yield, TOC, and sedimentary facies showing more power in the precessional range, while C/N ratios track the 100 ky cycle. C/N ratios tend to be high through multiple precessional cycles dominated by kerogen derived from microbial organic matter suggesting persistent anoxia and a large resulting pool of hypolimnetic ammonium. This pool was eliminated during low lake stands and C/N values then fluctuate through several precession controlled steps. The δ13Corg record, while showing a signal coherent with that of other proxies, has a rather complicated relationship with other proxies, the analysis of which is in its early stages. Molecule-level δ13Corg analysis of n-alkanes suggests mixing of carbon from different sources of varying isotopic composition, and presents a dramatically different pattern from that seen in published studies of the saline facies of the formation. Based on our results, the Milankovitch cyclostratigraphy of these cores in concert with that from the rest of the Uinta and Piceance basin sections, can provide a basis for a time scale for continental environments and pivotal mammalian evolution during the hot-house Eocene.

Quantifying wintertime boundary layer ozone production from frequent profile measurements in the Uinta Basin, UT, oil and gas region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnell, Russell C.; Johnson, Bryan J.; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Cullis, Patrick; Sterling, Chance; Hall, Emrys; Jordan, Allen; Helmig, Detlev; Petron, Gabrielle; Ahmadov, Ravan; Wendell, James; Albee, Robert; Boylan, Patrick; Thompson, Chelsea R.; Evans, Jason; Hueber, Jacques; Curtis, Abigale J.; Park, Jeong-Hoo

2016-09-01

As part of the Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study, January-February 2013, we conducted 937 tethered balloon-borne ozone vertical and temperature profiles from three sites in the Uinta Basin, Utah (UB). Emissions from oil and gas operations combined with snow cover were favorable for producing high ozone-mixing ratios in the surface layer during stagnant and cold-pool episodes. The highly resolved profiles documented the development of approximately week-long ozone production episodes building from regional backgrounds of 40 ppbv to >165 ppbv within a shallow cold pool up to 200 m in depth. Beginning in midmorning, ozone-mixing ratios increased uniformly through the cold pool layer at rates of 5-12 ppbv/h. During ozone events, there was a strong diurnal cycle with each succeeding day accumulating 4-8 ppbv greater than the previous day. The top of the elevated ozone production layer was nearly uniform in altitude across the UB independent of topography. Above the ozone production layer, mixing ratios decreased with height to 400 m above ground level where they approached regional background levels. Rapid clean-out of ozone-rich air occurred within a day when frontal systems brought in fresh air. Solar heating and basin topography led to a diurnal flow pattern in which daytime upslope winds distributed ozone precursors and ozone in the Basin. NOx-rich plumes from a coal-fired power plant in the eastern sector of the Basin did not appear to mix down into the cold pool during this field study.

Letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about potentially adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Feb. 23, 2016: added letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

Investigating potential effects of heli-skiing on golden eagles in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah

Treesearch

Teryl G. Grubb; David K. Delaney; William W. Bowerman

2007-01-01

Implementing further research was beyond the scope of the U.S. Forest Service's 2004 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and 2005 Wasatch Powderbird Guides (WPG) Special Use Permit Renewal process for heli-skiing in the Tri-Canyon Area in the Wasatch Mountains, just east of Salt Lake City, Utah. However, in their Record of Decision the Wasaatch-Cache (WCNF...

Landscape analysis: Theoretical considerations and practical needs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Godfrey, A.E.; Cleaves, E.T.

1991-01-01

Numerous systems of land classification have been proposed. Most have led directly to or have been driven by an author's philosophy of earth-forming processes. However, the practical need of classifying land for planning and management purposes requires that a system lead to predictions of the results of management activities. We propose a landscape classification system composed of 11 units, from realm (a continental mass) to feature (a splash impression). The classification concerns physical aspects rather than economic or social factors; and aims to merge land inventory with dynamic processes. Landscape units are organized using a hierarchical system so that information may be assembled and communicated at different levels of scale and abstraction. Our classification uses a geomorphic systems approach that emphasizes the geologic-geomorphic attributes of the units. Realm, major division, province, and section are formulated by subdividing large units into smaller ones. For the larger units we have followed Fenneman's delineations, which are well established in the North American literature. Areas and districts are aggregated into regions and regions into sections. Units smaller than areas have, in practice, been subdivided into zones and smaller units if required. We developed the theoretical framework embodied in this classification from practical applications aimed at land use planning and land management in Maryland (eastern Piedmont Province near Baltimore) and Utah (eastern Uinta Mountains). ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Reclamation of the Wahsatch gathering system pipeline in southwestern Wyoming and northeastern Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strickland, D.; Dern, G.; Johnson, G.

1996-12-31

The Union Pacific Resources Company (UPRC) constructed a 40.4 mile pipeline in 1993 in Summit and Rich Countries, Utah and Uinta County, Wyoming. The pipeline collects and delivers natural gas from six existing wells to the Whitney Canyon Processing Plant north of Evanston, Wyoming. We describe reclamation of the pipeline, the cooperation received from landowners along the right-of-way, and mitigation measures implemented by UPRC to minimize impacts to wildlife. The reclamation procedure combines a 2 step topsoil separation, mulching with natural vegetation, native seed mixes, and measures designed to reduce the visual impacts of the pipeline. Topsoil is separated intomore » the top 4 inches of soil material, when present. The resulting top dressing is rich in native seed and rhizomes allowing a reduced seeding rate. The borders of the right-of-way are mowed in a curvilinear pattern to reduce the straight line effects of landowner cooperation on revegetation. Specifically, following 2 years of monitoring, significant differences in plant cover (0.01« less

Earthquake Clustering on the Bear River Fault—Influence of Preexisting Structure on the Rupture Behavior of a New Normal Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hecker, S.; Schwartz, D. P.

2017-12-01

The Bear River normal fault is located on the eastern margin of basin and range extension in the Rocky Mountains of Utah and Wyoming. Interpretation of paleoseismic data from three sites supports the conclusion of an earlier study (West, 1993) that the fault, which appears to have reactivated a thrust ramp in the Sevier orogenic belt, first ruptured to the surface in the late Holocene. Our observations provide evidence and additional age control for two previously identified large earthquakes ( 4500 and 3000 yr B.P.) and for a newly recognized earthquake that occurred c. 200-300 yr B.P. (after development of a topsoil above a deposit with a date of A.D. 1630 and before the beginning of the historical period in 1850). These earthquakes, which were likely high-stress-drop events, cumulatively produced about 6-8 m of net vertical displacement on a zone 40 km long and up to 5 km wide. The complexity and evolution of rupture at the south end of the fault, mapped in detail using airborne lidar imagery, is strongly influenced by interaction with the Uinta arch, an east-west-trending (orthogonal) basement-cored uplift. The relatively rapid flurry of strain release and high slip rate ( 2 mm/yr), which make the Bear River fault one of the most active in the Basin and Range, occurred in a region of low crustal extension (geodetic velocity of <1 mm/yr relative to North America). We postulate that this behavior, which is a clear example of nonuniform strain release (Wallace, 1987), is a consequence of mechanical buttressing of the nascent Bear River fault against and below the strong Uinta arch. This may have implications for the earthquake behavior of other immature faults affected by structural or geometric impediments. In addition, the sudden initiation of faulting in an area of no prior late Cenozoic extension has implications for the size of background earthquakes (M>7) that should be considered for seismic hazard analysis.

40Ar/39Ar Temporal Constraints on Eocene Uplift, Subsidence, and Paleohydrology in the Laramide Foreland, Western U. S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, M. E.; Carroll, A. R.; Singer, B. S.

2004-12-01

Due to their sensitivity to relatively subtle changes in regional drainage patterns, Eocene lake deposits of the Green River Formation offer a unique and richly detailed record of landscape modification caused by orogenic processes in the broken foreland of the western U. S. Recently obtained 40Ar/39Ar age determinations for 22 interbedded tephras provide excellent temporal resolution of this record, and enable inter-basin correlations at an unprecedented level of precision (approaching 2σ uncertainties of ± k.y.). Green River Formation strata span an interval of ~8 m.y., beginning and ending with freshwater fluvial-lacustrine deposits. Two episodes of regional basin closure and evaporite deposition, each lasting ˜1-2 m.y., coincide with evidence for active Laramide faulting at basin margins and increased rates of sediment accumulation. Evaporite deposition therefore appears to have been principally caused by enhanced uplift of basin sills rather than increased aridity. Regional stratigraphic relations, facies types, and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology permit deduction of the following paleodrainage history: 1) > ˜51.3 Ma: Fluvial-lacustrine deposition occurred in greater Green River, Piceance Creek and Uinta basins. The onset of lacustrine deposition is not well-dated due to a paucity of tephras. 2) ˜51.3-49.7 Ma: The greater Green River and Piceance Creek basins both became terminal sinks that received overflow from neighboring freshwater basins. Coarse clastic basin-marginal alluvial strata, cross-cutting fault relations, and pronounced differential subsidence in both basins indicate active uplift of the Uinta Mountains and surrounding ranges. 3) ˜49.7-49.1 Ma: Lake Gosiute expanded in extent, coincident with an influx of water and sediment derived from volcanic centers to the north. Episodic overflow over the eastern Uinta uplift flushed dissolved solutes southward, freshening Lake Gosiute while evaporite deposition continued in Lake Uinta. 4) ˜49.1-48.4 Ma: Fresh water spilled consistently from Lake Gosiute into an expanding Lake Uinta. The saline, organic-rich Mahoghany zone of the Parachute Creek Member was deposited over an interval of 0.6 ± 0.3 m.y. coincident with deposition of the freshwater upper LaClede bed of the Laney Member and alluvial Bridger Formation in the greater Green River Basin. 5) ˜48.4-46.3: Fluvial volcaniclastic sediments progressively filled the greater Green River and Piceance Creek basins. Alluvial and freshwater lacustrine deposition dominated both basins. Saline lake deposition continued unabated in the Uinta Basin. 6) ˜46.3-45.0 Ma: Lake Uinta, limited to the western Uinta Basin, became hydrologic closed as evidenced by bedded evaporite deposition. The change to evaporite deposition coincided with an increase in differential subsidence, reflecting a renewal of tectonic deformation. The up-section disappearance of west-directed volcaniclastic input into the eastern Uinta Basin at ˜46.3 Ma suggests that drainage diversion may also have contributed to hydrologic closure. 7) Following ˜45.0 Ma, Lake Uinta returned to fluvial-lacustrine deposition and was subsequently filled with alluvial deposits.

Evidence of Regional Warming during the 20th Century in Alpine and Subalpine Lakes in the Western United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porinchu, D.; Reinemann, S.; Potito, A.; Moser, K.; MacDonald, G.; Munroe, J.; Mark, B.; Box, J.

2007-12-01

Subfossil midge analyses have been used to develop high-resolution (sub-decadal) reconstructions of 20th century temperature change in the Sierra Nevada, CA with success. Expansion of this earlier work to additional sites in the western United States suggests that a widespread increase in lake water temperatures has occurred in this region during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Inference models for summer surface water temperature (SSWT) were developed combining midge abundance data from 56 lakes in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, with subfossil midge remains from the Uinta Mountains, UT. The newly merged Sierra Nevada-Uinta Mountains calibration set contains a greater diversity of chironomid assemblages and spans a wider SSWT range than the previously published Sierra Nevada calibration set. The lakes in the merged calibration set spanned elevation, depth, and SSWT temperature ranges of 900 m, 12.7 m, and 11.3 °C, respectively. A robust inference model for SSWT (3-component WA-PLS), based on 90 lakes, had a high coefficient of determination (r2jack = 0.66) and a low RMSEP (1.4 °C). The midge-based SSWT inference model was applied to subfossil chironomid remains extracted from well-dated sediment sequences recovered from alpine and subalpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada, CA, Snake Range, NV and Uinta Mountains, UT. A close correspondence exists between the chironomid-inferred temperature profiles for the 20th and 21st centuries and mean July or summer temperatures measured at nearby meteorological stations. Application of this midge-based SSWT inference model to other intact, late Quaternary sedimentary sequences found in subalpine and alpine lakes in the Great Basin will help resolve the impact of late Quaternary and recent climate change in this region, improve our understanding of regional climate and aquatic ecosystem variability, and can be used to monitor the effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems and establish 'baseline' conditions against which future biotic changes can be compared.

Base of moderately saline ground water in the Uinta Basin, Utah, with an introductory section describing the methods used in determining its position

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howells, Lewis; Longson, M.S.; Hunt, Gilbert L.

1987-01-01

The base of the moderately saline water (water that contains from 3,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids) was mapped by using available water-quality data and by determining formation-water resistivities from geophysical well logs based on the resistivity-porosity, spontaneous potential, and resistivity-ratio methods. The contour map developed from these data showed a mound of very saline and briny water, mostly of sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate type, in most of that part of the Uinta Basin that is underlain by either the Green River or Wasatch Formations. Along its northern edge, the mound rises steeply from below sea level to within 2,000 feet of the land surface and, locally, to land surface. Along its southern edge, the mound rises less steeply and is more complex in outline. This body of very saline to briny water may be a lens; many wells or test holes drilled within the area underlain by the mound re-entered fresh to moderately saline water at depths of 8,000 to 15,000 feet below lam surface.

Basal area growth for aspen suckers under simulated browsing on Cedar Mountain, southern Utah, western United States of America

Treesearch

K. Tshireletso; J. C. Malechek; D. L. Bartos

2010-01-01

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of season and intensity of clipping using simulated browsing on suckers' (Populus tremulaides Michx.) basal area growth on Cedar Mountain, Southern Utah, Western United States of America. Three randomly selected stands measuring 70 m x 70 m were clear-felled in mid-July, 2005, and fenced. Simulated browsing...

A tree-ring based reconstruction of Logan River streamflow, northern Utah

Treesearch

Eric B. Allen; Tammy M. Rittenour; R. Justin DeRose; Matthew F. Bekker; Roger Kjelgren; Brendan M. Buckley

2013-01-01

We created six new tree-ring chronologies in northern Utah, which were used with preexisting chronologies from Utah and western Wyoming to reconstruct mean annual flow for the Logan River, the largest tributary of the regionally important Bear River. Two reconstruction models were developed, a ''Local'' model that incorporated two Rocky Mountain...

Oil shale resources in the Eocene Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed a comprehensive assessment of in-place oil in oil shales in the Eocene Green River in the Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. This CD-ROM includes reports, data, and an ArcGIS project describing the assessment. A database was compiled that includes about 47,000 Fischer assays from 186 core holes and 240 rotary drill holes. Most of the oil yield data were analyzed by the former U.S. Bureau of Mines oil shale laboratory in Laramie, Wyoming, and some analyses were made by private laboratories. Location data for 971 Wyoming oil-shale drill holes are listed in a spreadsheet and included in the CD-ROM. Total in-place resources for the three assessed units in the Green River Formation are: (1) Tipton Shale Member, 362,816 million barrels of oil (MMBO), (2) Wilkins Peak Member, 704,991 MMBO, and (3) LaClede Bed of the Laney Member, 377,184 MMBO, for a total of 1.44 trillion barrels of oil in place. This compares with estimated in-place resources for the Piceance Basin of Colorado of 1.53 trillion barrels and estimated in-place resources for the Uinta Basin of Utah and Colorado of 1.32 trillion barrels.

Spatial Distribution of Ozone Precursors in the Uinta Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangum, C. D.; Lyman, S. N.

2012-12-01

Wintertime ozone mixing ratios in the Uinta Basin of Utah exceeding the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards measured during 2010 and 2011 led to a large campaign carried out in 2012 that included a study of the spatial distribution of ozone precursors in the Basin. In this study, speciated hydrocarbon mixing ratios (compounds with 6-11 carbon atoms) were measure at 10 sites around the Uinta Basin with Radiello passive samplers, and NO2, NO, and NOx (NO2 + NO) mixing ratios were measured at 16 sites with Ogawa passive sampler and active sampling instruments. Analysis of the Radiello passive samplers was carried out by CS2 desorption and analyzed on a Shimadzu QP-2010 GCMS. Analysis of the Ogawa passive samplers was done via 18.2 megohm water extraction and analyzed with a Dionex ICS-3000 ion chromatography system. February average hydrocarbon mixing ratios were highest in the area of maximum gas production (64.5 ppb as C3), lower in areas of oil production (24.3-30.0 ppb as C3), and lowest in urban areas and on the Basin rim (1.7-17.0 ppb as C3). February average for NOx was highest in the most densely populated urban area, Vernal (11.2 ppb), lower in in the area of maximum gas production (6.1 ppb), and lower still in areas of oil production and on the Basin Rim (0.6-2.7 ppb). Hydrocarbon speciation showed significant differences in spatial distribution around the Basin. Higher mixing ratios of toluene and other aromatics were much more prevalent in gas producing areas than oil producing areas. Similar mixing ratios of straight-chain alkane were observed in both areas. Higher mixing ratios of cycloalkanes were slightly more prevalent in gas producing than oil producing areas.

Nutrient, suspended-sediment, and total suspended-solids data for surface water in the Great Salt Lake basins study unit, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, 1980-95

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hadley, Heidi K.

2000-01-01

Selected nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrient), suspended-sediment and total suspended-solids surface-water data were compiled from January 1980 through December 1995 within the Great Salt Lake Basins National Water-Quality Assessment study unit, which extends from southeastern Idaho to west-central Utah and from Great Salt Lake to the Wasatch and western Uinta Mountains. The data were retrieved from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System and the State of Utah, Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality database. The Division of Water Quality database includes data that are submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency STOrage and RETrieval system. Water-quality data included in this report were selected for surface-water sites (rivers, streams, and canals) that had three or more nutrient, suspended-sediment, or total suspended-solids analyses. Also, 33 percent or more of the measurements at a site had to include discharge, and, for non-U.S. Geological Survey sites, there had to be 2 or more years of data. Ancillary data for parameters such as water temperature, pH, specific conductance, streamflow (discharge), dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, alkalinity, and turbidity also were compiled, as available. The compiled nutrient database contains 13,511 samples from 191 selected sites. The compiled suspended-sediment and total suspended-solids database contains 11,642 samples from 142 selected sites. For the nutrient database, the median (50th percentile) sample period for individual sites is 6 years, and the 75th percentile is 14 years. The median number of samples per site is 52 and the 75th percentile is 110 samples. For the suspended-sediment and total suspended-solids database, the median sample period for individual sites is 9 years, and the 75th percentile is 14 years. The median number of samples per site is 76 and the 75th percentile is 120 samples. The compiled historical data are being used in the basinwide sampling strategy to characterize the broad-scale geographic and seasonal water-quality conditions in relation to major contaminant sources and background conditions. Data for this report are stored on a compact disc.

Estimated dissolved-solids loads and trends at selected streams in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah, Water Years 1989–2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thiros, Susan A.

2017-03-23

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, studied trends in dissolved-solids loads at selected sites in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah. The Uinta Basin study area includes the Duchesne River Basin and the Middle Green River Basin in Utah from below Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the town of Green River.Annual dissolved-solids loads for water years (WY) 1989 through 2013 were estimated for 16 gaging stations in the study area using streamflow and water-quality data from the USGS National Water Information System database. Eight gaging stations that monitored catchments with limited or no agricultural land use (natural subbasins) were used to assess loads from natural sources. Four gaging stations that monitored catchments with agricultural land in the Duchesne River Basin were used to assess loads from agricultural sources. Four other gaging stations were included in the dissolved-solids load and trend analysis to help assess the effects of agricultural areas that drain to the Green River in the Uinta Basin, but outside of the Duchesne River Basin.Estimated mean annual dissolved-solids loads for WY 1989–2013 ranged from 1,520 tons at Lake Fork River above Moon Lake, near Mountain Home, Utah (UT), to 1,760,000 tons at Green River near Green River, UT. The flow-normalized loads at gaging stations upstream of agricultural activities showed no trend or a relatively small change. The largest net change in modeled flow-normalized load was -352,000 tons (a 17.8-percent decrease) at Green River near Green River, UT.Annual streamflow and modeled dissolved-solids loads at the gaging stations were balanced between upstream and downstream sites to determine how much water and dissolved solids were transported to the Duchesne River and a section of the Green River, and how much was picked up in each drainage area. Mass-balance calculations of WY 1989–2013 mean annual dissolved-solids loads at the studied sites show that Green River near Jensen, UT, accounts for 64 percent of the load in the river at Green River, UT, while the Duchesne River and White River contribute 10 and 13 percent, respectively.Annual streamflow and modeled dissolved-solids loads at the gaging stations were balanced between upstream and downstream sites to determine how much water and dissolved solids were transported to the Duchesne River and a section of the Green River, and how much was picked up in each drainage area. Mass-balance calculations of WY 1989–2013 mean annual dissolved-solids loads at the studied sites show that Green River near Jensen, UT, accounts for 64 percent of the load in the river at Green River, UT, while the Duchesne River and White River contribute 10 and 13 percent, respectively.The flow-normalized dissolved-solids loads estimated at Duchesne River near Randlett, UT, and White River near Watson, UT, decreased by 68,000 and 55,300 tons, or 27.8 and 20.8 percent respectively, when comparing 1989 to 2013. The drainage basins for both rivers have undergone salinity-control projects since the early 1980s to reduce the dissolved-solids load entering the Colorado River. Approximately 19 percent of the net change in flow-normalized load at Green River at Green River, UT, is from changes in load modeled at Duchesne River near Randlett, UT, and 16 percent from changes in load modeled at White River near Watson, UT. The net change in flow-normalized load estimated at Green River near Greendale, UT, for WY 1989–2013 accounts for about 45 percent of the net change estimated at Green River at Green River, UT.Mass-balance calculations of WY 1989–2013 mean annual dissolved-solids loads at the studied sites in the Duchesne River Basin show that 75,400 tons or 44 percent of the load at the Duchesne River near Randlett, UT, gaging station was not accounted for at any of the upstream gages. Most of this unmonitored load is derived from tributary inflow, groundwater discharge, unconsumed irrigation water, and irrigation tail water.A mass balance of WY 1989–2013 flow-normalized loads estimated at sites in the Duchesne River Basin indicates that the flow-normalized load of unmonitored inflow to the Duchesne River between the Myton and Randlett gaging stations decreased by 38 percent. The total net decrease in flow-normalized load calculated for unmonitored inflow in the drainage basin accounts for 94 percent of the decrease in WY 1989–2013 flow-normalized load modeled at the Duchesne River near Randlett, UT, gaging station. Irrigation improvements in the drainage basin have likely contributed to the decrease in flow-normalized load.Reductions in dissolved-solids load estimated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) from on- and off-farm improvements in the Uinta Basin totaled about 135,000 tons in 2013 (81,900 tons from on-farm improvements and 53,300 tons from off-farm improvements). The reduction in dissolved-solids load resulting from on- and off-farm improvements facilitated by the NRCS and Reclamation in the Price River Basin from 1989 to 2013 was estimated to be 64,800 tons.The amount of sprinkler-irrigated land mapped in the drainage area or subbasin area for a gaging station was used to estimate the reduction in load resulting from the conversion from flood to sprinkler irrigation. Sprinkler-irrigated land mapped in the Uinta Basin totaled 109,630 acres in 2012. Assuming conversion to wheel-line sprinklers, a reduction in dissolved-solids load in the Uinta Basin of 95,800 tons in 2012 was calculated using the sprinkler-irrigation acreage and a pre-salinity-control project dissolved-solids yield of 1.04 tons per acre.A reduction of 72,800 tons in dissolved-solids load from irrigation improvements was determined from sprinkler-irrigated lands in the Ashley Valley and Jensen, Pelican Lake, and Pleasant Valley areas (mapped in 2012); and in the Price River Basin (mapped in 2011). This decrease in dissolved-solids load is 8,800 tons more than the decrease in unmonitored flow-normalized dissolved-solids load (-64,000 tons) determined for the Green River between the Jensen and Green River gaging stations.The net WY 1989–2013 change in flow-normalized dissolved-solids load at the Duchesne River near Randlett, UT, and the Green River between the Jensen and Green River, UT, gaging stations determined from mass-balance calculations was compared to reported reductions in dissolved-solids load from on- and off-farm improvements and estimated reductions in load determined from mapped sprinkler-irrigated areas in the Duchesne River Basin and the area draining to the Green River between the Jensen and Green River gaging stations. The combined NRCS and Reclamation estimates of reduction in dissolved-solids load from on- and off-farm improvements in the study area (200,000 tons) is more than the reduction in load estimated using the acreage with sprinkler improvements (136,000 tons) or the mass-balance of flow-normalized load (132,000 tons).

Use of reflectance spectra of native plant species for interpreting airborne multispectral scanner data in the East Tintic Mountains, Utah.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Milton, N.M.

1983-01-01

Analysis of in situ reflectance spectra of native vegetation was used to interpret airborne MSS data. Representative spectra from three plant species in the E Tintic Mountains, Utah, were used to interpret the color components on a color ratio composite image made from MSS data in the visible and near-infrared regions. A map of plant communities was made from the color ratio composite image and field checked. -from Author

Climate during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Wasatch Mountains Inferred from Glacier Mass-Balance and Ice-Flow Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bash, E. A.; Laabs, B. J.

2006-12-01

The Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah contained numerous valley glaciers east and immediately downwind of Lake Bonneville during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). While the extent and chronology of glaciation in the Wasatch Mountains and the rise and fall of Lake Bonneville are becoming increasingly well understood, inferences of climatic conditions during the LGM for this area and elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Basin have yielded a wide range of temperature depression estimates. For example, previous estimates of temperature depression based on glacier and lake reconstructions in this region generally range from 7° to 9° C colder than modern. Glacier modeling studies for Little Cottonwood Canyon (northern Wasatch Mountains) suggest that such temperature depressions would have been accompanied by precipitation increases of about 3 to 1x modern, respectively (McCoy and Williams, 1985; Laabs et al., 2006). However, interpretations of other proxies suggest that temperature depression in this area may have been significantly greater, up to 13° C (e.g., Kaufman 2003), which would likely have been accompanied by less precipitation than modern. To address this issue, we reconstructed ice extent in the American Fork Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains and applied glacier modeling methods of Plummer and Phillips (2003) to infer climatic conditions during the LGM. Field mapping indicates that glaciers occupied an area of more than 20 km2 in the canyon and reached maximum lengths of about 9 km. To link ice extent to climatic changes, a physically based, two- dimensional numerical model of glacier mass balance and ice flow was applied to these valleys. The modeling approach allows the combined effects of temperature, precipitation and solar radiation on net mass balance of a drainage basin to be explored. Results of model experiments indicate that a temperature depression of less than 9° C in the American Fork Canyon would have been accompanied by greater precipitation than modern, whereas greater temperature depressions would have required less-than-modern precipitation to sustain glaciers in the Wasatch Mountains. Without independent estimates of either temperature or precipitation for the LGM, model results do not provide a unique combination of these two variables based on simulated ice extent. However, the reconstructed pattern of glaciation in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains indicates a sharp westward decline in glacier equilibrium- line altitudes in valleys immediately downwind of Lake Bonneville (Munroe et al, 2006), which suggests that precipitation in the Wasatch Mountains was enhanced during the LGM. Therefore, model results can be used to set limits on the temperature and precipitation. We estimate that, if temperatures during the LGM were 6° to 8° C less than modern, precipitation was 3 to 1.5x modern. Such precipitation increases would reflect the importance of Lake Bonneville as a moisture source for valleys in the Wasatch Mountains, as suggested by previous studies.

Major Oil Plays In Utah And Vicinity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas Chidsey

2007-12-31

Utah oil fields have produced over 1.33 billion barrels (211 million m{sup 3}) of oil and hold 256 million barrels (40.7 million m{sup 3}) of proved reserves. The 13.7 million barrels (2.2 million m3) of production in 2002 was the lowest level in over 40 years and continued the steady decline that began in the mid-1980s. However, in late 2005 oil production increased, due, in part, to the discovery of Covenant field in the central Utah Navajo Sandstone thrust belt ('Hingeline') play, and to increased development drilling in the central Uinta Basin, reversing the decline that began in the mid-1980s.more » The Utah Geological Survey believes providing play portfolios for the major oil-producing provinces (Paradox Basin, Uinta Basin, and thrust belt) in Utah and adjacent areas in Colorado and Wyoming can continue this new upward production trend. Oil plays are geographic areas with petroleum potential caused by favorable combinations of source rock, migration paths, reservoir rock characteristics, and other factors. The play portfolios include descriptions and maps of the major oil plays by reservoir; production and reservoir data; case-study field evaluations; locations of major oil pipelines; identification and discussion of land-use constraints; descriptions of reservoir outcrop analogs; and summaries of the state-of-the-art drilling, completion, and secondary/tertiary recovery techniques for each play. The most prolific oil reservoir in the Utah/Wyoming thrust belt province is the eolian, Jurassic Nugget Sandstone, having produced over 288 million barrels (46 million m{sup 3}) of oil and 5.1 trillion cubic feet (145 billion m{sup 3}) of gas. Traps form on discrete subsidiary closures along major ramp anticlines where the depositionally heterogeneous Nugget is also extensively fractured. Hydrocarbons in Nugget reservoirs were generated from subthrust Cretaceous source rocks. The seals for the producing horizons are overlying argillaceous and gypsiferous beds in the Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone, or a low-permeability zone at the top of the Nugget. The Nugget Sandstone thrust belt play is divided into three subplays: (1) Absaroka thrust - Mesozoic-cored shallow structures, (2) Absaroka thrust - Mesozoic-cored deep structures, and (3) Absaroka thrust - Paleozoic-cored shallow structures. Both of the Mesozoic-cored structures subplays represent a linear, hanging wall, ramp anticline parallel to the leading edge of the Absaroka thrust. Fields in the shallow Mesozoic subplay produce crude oil and associated gas; fields in the deep subplay produce retrograde condensate. The Paleozoic-cored structures subplay is located immediately west of the Mesozoic-cored structures subplays. It represents a very continuous and linear, hanging wall, ramp anticline where the Nugget is truncated against a thrust splay. Fields in this subplay produce nonassociated gas and condensate. Traps in these subplays consist of long, narrow, doubly plunging anticlines. Prospective drilling targets are delineated using high-quality, two-dimensional and three-dimensional seismic data, forward modeling/visualization tools, and other state-of-the-art techniques. Future Nugget Sandstone exploration could focus on more structurally complex and subtle, thrust-related traps. Nugget structures may be present beneath the leading edge of the Hogsback thrust and North Flank fault of the Uinta uplift. The Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone play in the Utah/Wyoming thrust belt province has produced over 15 million barrels (2.4 million m{sup 3}) of oil and 93 billion cubic feet (2.6 billion m{sup 3}) of gas. Traps form on discrete subsidiary closures along major ramp anticlines where the low-porosity Twin Creek is extensively fractured. Hydrocarbons in Twin Creek reservoirs were generated from subthrust Cretaceous source rocks. The seals for the producing horizons are overlying argillaceous and clastic beds, and non-fractured units within the Twin Creek. The Twin Creek Limestone thrust belt play is divided into two subplays: (1) Absaroka thrust-Mesozoic-cored structures and (2) Absaroka thrust - Paleozoic-cored structures. The Mesozoic-cored structures subplay represents a linear, hanging wall, ramp anticline parallel to the leading edge of the Absaroka thrust. Fields in this subplay produce crude oil and associated gas. The Paleozoic-cored structures subplay is located immediately west of the Mesozoic-cored structures subplay. It represents a very continuous and linear, hanging wall, ramp anticline where the Twin Creek is truncated against a thrust splay. Fields in this subplay produce nonassociated gas and condensate. Traps in both subplays consist of long, narrow, doubly plunging anticlines.« less

Three-dimensional numerical model of ground-water flow in northern Utah Valley, Utah County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gardner, Philip M.

2009-01-01

A three-dimensional, finite-difference, numerical model was developed to simulate ground-water flow in northern Utah Valley, Utah. The model includes expanded areal boundaries as compared to a previous ground-water flow model of the valley and incorporates more than 20 years of additional hydrologic data. The model boundary was generally expanded to include the bedrock in the surrounding mountain block as far as the surface-water divide. New wells have been drilled in basin-fill deposits near the consolidated-rock boundary. Simulating the hydrologic conditions within the bedrock allows for improved simulation of the effect of withdrawal from these wells. The inclusion of bedrock also allowed for the use of a recharge model that provided an alternative method for spatially distributing areal recharge over the mountains.The model was calibrated to steady- and transient-state conditions. The steady-state simulation was developed and calibrated by using hydrologic data that represented average conditions for 1947. The transient-state simulation was developed and calibrated by using hydrologic data collected from 1947 to 2004. Areally, the model grid is 79 rows by 70 columns, with variable cell size. Cells throughout most of the model domain represent 0.3 mile on each side. The largest cells are rectangular with dimensions of about 0.3 by 0.6 mile. The largest cells represent the mountain block on the eastern edge of the model domain where the least hydrologic data are available. Vertically, the aquifer system is divided into 4 layers which incorporate 11 hydrogeologic units. The model simulates recharge to the ground-water flow system as (1) infiltration of precipitation over the mountain block, (2) infiltration of precipitation over the valley floor, (3) infiltration of unconsumed irrigation water from fields, lawns, and gardens, (4) seepage from streams and canals, and (5) subsurface inflow from Cedar Valley. Discharge of ground water is simulated by the model to (1) flowing and pumping wells, (2) drains and springs, (3) evapotranspiration, (4) Utah Lake, (5) the Jordan River and mountain streams, and (6) Salt Lake Valley by subsurface outflow through the Jordan Narrows.During steady-state calibration, variables were adjusted within probable ranges to minimize differences between model-computed and measured water levels as well as between model-computed and independently estimated flows that include: recharge by seepage from individual streams and canals, discharge by seepage to individual streams and the Jordan River, discharge to Utah Lake, discharge to drains and springs, discharge by evapotranspiration, and subsurface flows into and out of northern Utah Valley from Cedar Valley and to Salt Lake Valley, respectively. The transient-state simulation was calibrated to measured water levels and water-level changes with consideration given to annual changes in the flows listed above.

Research into Surface Wave Phenomena in Sedimentary Basins.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-31

150 km of the southerly extension of the Overthrust Belt, 350 km of the Green River Basin paralleling the Uinta Mountains and 150 km across the Front...WEIDLINGER ASSOCIATES O300 SAND HiLL ROAD BUILDING 4, SUITE 245 MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 9462 RESEARCH INTO SURFACE WAVE PHENOMENA IN SEDIMENTARY BASINS BY...PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025 ! I RESEARCH INTO SURFACE WAVE PHENOMENA IN SEDIMENTARY BASINS I Dy G.L. Wojcik J. Isenberg F. Ma E. Richardson Prepared for

Aeromagnetic map of northwest Utah and adjacent parts of Nevada and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, Victoria

2016-01-01

Two aeromagnetic surveys were flown to promote further understanding of the geology and structure in northwest Utah and adjacent parts of Nevada and Idaho by serving as a basis for geophysical interpretations and by supporting geological mapping, water and mineral resource investigations, and other topical studies. Although this area is in general sparsely populated, (except for cities and towns along the Wasatch Front such as Ogden and Brigham City), it encompasses metamorphic core complexes in the Grouse Creek and Raft River Mountains (figure 1) of interest to earth scientists studying Cenozoic extension. The region was shaken in 1909 and 1934 by M6+ earthquakes east of the Hansel Mountains (Doser, 1989; Arabasz and others, 1994); damage from the 1934 earthquake occurred as far east as Logan, Utah (http:// www.seis.utah.edu/lqthreat/nehrp_htm/1934hans/n1934ha1. shtml#urbse). The presence of Quaternary shield volcanoes and bimodal Pleistocene volcanism in Curlew Valley (Miller and others, 1995; Felger and others, 2016) as well as relatively high temperature gradients encountered in the Indian Cove drillhole in the north arm of Great Salt Lake (Blackett and others, 2014) may indicate some potential for geothermal energy development in the area (Miller and others, 1995). The area also hosts four significant mining districts, in the northern Pilot Range, the Goose Creek Mountains in the northwest corner of the map, the southern end of the Promontory Mountains, and the southwest part of the Raft River Mountains, although production notably waned after World War II (Doelling, 1980). Other prospects of interest include those in the southern Grouse Creek Mountains, Silver Island, and the northern Newfoundland Mountains.Large areas of northwest Utah are covered by young, surficial deposits or by Great Salt Lake or are down-dropped into deep Cenozoic basins, making extrapolation of bedrock geology from widely spaced exposures difficult or tenuous (figure 1). Local spatial variations in the Earth's magnetic field (evident as anomalies on aeromagnetic maps) reflect the distribution of magnetic minerals, primarily magnetite, in the underlying rocks. In many cases the volume content of magnetic minerals can be related to rock type, and abrupt spatial changes in the amount of magnetic minerals commonly mark lithologic or structural boundaries. Magnetic data reflect magnetization variations within the crust and are well suited for mapping the distribution of mafic igneous rocks, although felsic igneous rocks, some mineralized zones, and other rock types also can produce measurable magnetic anomalies. For these reasons, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Utah Geological Survey (UGS) contracted for the collection of aeromagnetic data in this area.

Salt Lake City, Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Salt Lake City, Utah, will host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The city is located on the southeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake and sits to the west of the Wasatch Mountains, which rise more than 3,500 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level. The city was first settled in 1847 by pioneers seeking relief from religious persecution. Today Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, is home to more than 170,000 residents. This true-color image of Salt Lake City was acquired by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), flying aboard Landsat 7, on May 26, 2000. The southeastern tip of the Great Salt Lake is visible in the upper left of the image. The furrowed green and brown landscape running north-south is a portion of the Wasatch Mountains, some of which are snow-capped (white pixels). The greyish pixels in the center of the image show the developed areas of the city. A number of water reservoirs can be seen east of the mountain range. Salt Lake City International Airport is visible on the northwestern edge of the city. About 20 miles south of the airport is the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine (tan pixels), the world's largest open pit excavation. See also this MODIS image of Utah. Image courtesy NASA Landsat7 Science Team and USGS Eros Data Center

Roosevelt Hot Springs, Utah FORGE Observation Well Data

DOE Data Explorer

Nash, Greg

2018-02-22

This archive contains temperature data for Roosevelt Hot Springs observation wells OH-1, OH-4, OH-5 and OH-7. There are also mud logs for OH-4. These are old datasets obtained from Rocky Mountain Power for use in the Utah FORGE project.

Morphological variation and zoogeography of racers (Coluber constrictor) in the central Rocky Mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Corn, Paul Stephen; Bury, R. Bruce

1986-01-01

We examined 63 specimens of Coluber constrictor from Colorado and Utah using eight external morphological characters that have been used to distinguish C. c. mormon from C. c. flaviventris. We grouped the snakes into three Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU's) in a transect across the Rocky Mountains: the eastern Front Range foothills in Colorado; the inter-mountain region (western slope of Colorado and northeastern Utah); and the western foothills of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. Statistically significant variation among the OTU's was discovered for ration of tail length to total length, number of central and subcaudal scales, and number of dentary teeth. However, variation is clinal with nearly complete overlap from one end f the transect to the other for each character, suggesting a wide zone of intergradiation in the inter-mountain region. We do not believe reported differences in reproductive parameters between Great Plains and Great Basin racers are sufficient grounds for recognition of species, because clutch size is both geographically variable and dependent on the environment. The distribution of C. constrictor is similar to that of other reptiles with transmontane distributions in the western United States, and we suggest two possible routes of dispersal across the Continental Divide in southwestern Wyoming. Thus, elevation of C. c. mormon to species status is not supported by morphological, reproductive, or zoogeographic evidence.

Comparison of wintertime asphalt and concrete pavement surface temperatures on U.S. Route 40 near Heber, Utah.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-06-01

Asphalt and concrete pavement surface temperatures were compared at a location on U.S. Route 40 in : northern Utah where asphalt and concrete meet end to end at the base of the mountain pass. An environmental : sensor station was installed to facilit...

A 40,000-year woodrat-midden record of vegetational and biogeographical dynamics in north-eastern Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jackson, Stephen T.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Lyford, Mark E.; Gray, Stephen T.; Rylander, Kate Aasen

2005-01-01

Aim A conspicuous climatic and biogeographical transition occurs at 40-45° N in western North America. This pivot point marks a north–south opposition of wet and dry conditions at interannual and decadal time-scales, as well as the northern and southern limits of many dominant western plant species. Palaeoecologists have yet to focus on past climatic and biotic shifts along this transition, in part because it requires comparisons across dissimilar records [i.e. pollen from lacustrine sediments to the north and plant macrofossils from woodrat (Neotoma) middens to the south]. To overcome these limitations, we are extending the woodrat-midden record northward into the lowlands of the central Rocky Mountains.Location Woodrat middens were collected from crevices and rock shelters on south-facing slopes of Dutch John Mountain (2000-2200 m, 40°57′ N, 109°25′ W), situated on the eastern flanks of the Uinta Mountains in north-eastern Utah. The site is near the regional limits for Pinus ponderosa, P. edulis, P. contorta, Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intricatus, Abies concolor, Ephedra viridis and other important western species.Methods We analysed pollen and plant macrofossils from the 40,000-year midden sequence. The middens represent brief, depositional episodes (mostly years to decades). Four middens represent the early to full-glacial period (40,000–18,000 cal-yr bp), eight middens are from the late-glacial/early Holocene transition (13,500–9000 cal yr bp), and 33 middens span the mid-to-late Holocene (last 7500 years). Temporal density of our Holocene middens (one every c. 210 years) is comparable with typical Holocene pollen sequences from lake sediments.Results Early to full-glacial assemblages are characterized by low diversity and occurrence of montane conifers (Picea pungens, Pseudotsuga menziesii, P. flexilis, Juniperus communis) absent from the site today. Diversity increases in the late-glacial samples with the addition of J. scopulorum, J. horizontalis, C. montanus, C. ledifolius var. intricatus and mesic understory species. The coniferous trees and J. communis declined and J. osteosperma appeared during the late-glacial/Holocene transition. Juniperus osteosperma populations have occupied the site throughout the Holocene. Pinus ponderosa was established by 7500 cal-yr bp, and has occurred at least locally ever since. Montane conifers and J. horizontalis persisted until c. 5500 cal-yr bp. The signature events of the late Holocene were the invasions of P. edulis and Ephedra viridis and establishment of pinyon–juniper woodland in the last 800 years.Main conclusions The Dutch John Mountain midden record adds to an emerging picture in which mid-elevation conifers (P. flexilis, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Picea pungens, J. scopulorum, J. communis) dominated vegetation over a wide area of the Colorado Plateau and adjacent Rocky Mountains. Rather than being fragmented, as often assumed in phylogeographical studies, these species had broader and more-connected distributions than they do in the region today. Paradoxically, subalpine conifers (Picea engelmannii, A. lasiocarpa) occurred at higher elevations to the south, possibly representing declining precipitation from south to north owing to southward displacement of the polar jet stream. The Dutch John Mountain record displays a series of extinction and invasion events. Most of the extinctions were local in scale; nearly all constituents of fossil midden assemblages occur within a few kilometres of Dutch John Mountain, and some occur at least locally on its slopes. The sole exception is J. horizontalis, which is regionally extinct. In contrast to extinctions, Holocene invasions were regional in scale; J. osteosperma, P. ponderosa, P. edulis and Ephedra viridis immigrated from glacial-age source populations far to the south.

Models, data available, and data requirements for estimating the effects of injecting saltwater into disposal wells in the greater Altamont-Bluebell oil and gas field, northern Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Freethey, Geoffrey W.

1988-01-01

Permits for disposing of salty oil-production water have been issued for 19 wells in the Greater Altamont-Bluebell field. During 1986 more than 500 million gallons of production water were injected into the Duchesne River, Uinta, and Green River Formations through 18 of these wells. The physical and chemical effects of injecting this water into aquifers containing potable water are poorly understood. Interfingering and the structural configuration of these formations add complexity to the description of the geometry and hydrogeology of the ground-water system.A preliminary assessment of the problem indicates that numerical modeling may offer a method of determining the effects of injection. Modeling possibilities include variable-density, three-dimensional flow, sectionaltransport, and areal-transport models. Data needed to develop these models can be derived from a synthesis of geologic, hydrologic, and hydrochemical data already available in the files of State and Federal agencies, oil companies, and private companies. Results from each modeling phase would contribute information for implementing the following phase. The result will be a better understanding of how water moves naturally through the groundwater system, the extent of alterations of both vertical and horizontal flow near the disposal wells, and an overall concept of the effects of deep injection on near-surface aquifers.

Production of NOx and other precursors of ozone formation in the Uinta Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, E.; Lyman, S. N.; Martin, R. S.; Anderson, R.

2012-12-01

The Uinta Basin, located in northeastern Utah, sometimes experiences ozone mixing ratios greater than the EPA NAAQS during specific meteorological conditions that include a combination of snow cover and inversion. We monitored ozone and some of its precursors, including NO, NO2, NOx (NO + NO2), and NOy (sum of reactive nitrogen species), at two sites (Roosevelt and Horse Pool). The Roosevelt site is in a city of about 6,000 people, and the Horse Pool site is in an area of intensive oil and gas production. In February and March 2012, NO, NO2, and NOy mixing ratios were 0.5 ± 0.8, 5.2 ± 2.6, and 6.5 ± 3.9 ppb at Roosevelt and 0 ± 1.3, 2.8 ± 2.7, and 4.1 ± 4.4 ppb at Horse Pool, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). NO, NO2, and NOx were measured at 7 other sites around the Basin by other entities. The spatial and temporal patterns in NOx and NOy indicate the dominance of local source influences on observed mixing ratios. NOx at urban sites and in oil and gas production areas appeared strongly influenced by traffic patterns. At some sites, wind direction analysis and air trajectory analysis indicated that areas of oil and gas production are significant sources of NOx, though pinpointing individual NOx sources proved difficult.

Paleomagnetism and environmental magnetism of GLAD800 sediment cores from Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heil, C.W.; King, J.W.; Rosenbaum, J.G.; Reynolds, R.L.; Colman, Steven M.

2009-01-01

A ???220,000-year record recovered in a 120-m-long sediment core from Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho, provides an opportunity to reconstruct climate change in the Great Basin and compare it with global climate records. Paleomagnetic data exhibit a geomagnetic feature that possibly occurred during the Laschamp excursion (ca. 40 ka). Although the feature does not exhibit excursional behavior (???40?? departure from the expected value), it might provide an additional age constraint for the sequence. Temporal changes in salinity, which are likely related to changes in freshwater input (mainly through the Bear River) or evaporation, are indicated by variations in mineral magnetic properties. These changes are represented by intervals with preserved detrital Fe-oxide minerals and with varying degrees of diagenetic alteration, including sulfidization. On the basis of these changes, the Bear Lake sequence is divided into seven mineral magnetic zones. The differing magnetic mineralogies among these zones reflect changes in deposition, preservation, and formation of magnetic phases related to factors such as lake level, river input, and water chemistry. The occurrence of greigite and pyrite in the lake sediments corresponds to periods of higher salinity. Pyrite is most abundant in intervals of highest salinity, suggesting that the extent of sulfidization is limited by the availability of SO42-. During MIS 2 (zone II), Bear Lake transgressed to capture the Bear River, resulting in deposition of glacially derived hematite-rich detritus from the Uinta Mountains. Millennial-scale variations in the hematite content of Bear Lake sediments during the last glacial maximum (zone II) resemble Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) oscillations and Heinrich events (within dating uncertainties), suggesting that the influence of millennial-scale climate oscillations can extend beyond the North Atlantic and influence climate of the Great Basin. The magnetic mineralogy of zones IV-VII (MIS 5, 6, and 7) indicates varying degrees of post-depositional alteration between cold and warm substages, with greigite forming in fresher conditions and pyrite in the more saline conditions. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Section of Morgan formation, Pennsylvanian, at Split Mountain in Dinosaur National Monument, Uintah County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCann, Franklin T.; Raman, Norman D.; Henbest, Lloyd G.

1946-01-01

Extension of the oil pool in the Weber sandstone (Pennsylvanian), in the Rangely oil field, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, subsequent to the completion of the filed work on which Preliminary Chart 16 is based, has stimulated special interest in the beds beneath that sandstone as potential oil reservoirs. In compliance with the demand for additional information concerning these beds, a detailed description of the sequence immediately underlying the Weber sandstone at Split Mountain, Utah, is here given. That part of Split Mountain where the section was measured is approximately 35 airline miles northwest of the town of Rangely. The section itself is shown graphically and somewhat generalized in column 8, sheet 2, Preliminary Chart 16. A more detailed graphic section is presented in the accompanying column section.

Utah: Salt Lake Region

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-05-15

... scheduled events are at city (indoor) locations, and five in mountain (outdoor) facilities. All ten can be found within the area contained ... Lake City is surrounded by mountains including the Wasatch Range to the east, and the temperature difference between the Great Salt Lake ...

Methods and basic data from mass-loading studies in American Fork, October 1999, and Mary Ellen Gulch, Utah, September 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kimball, Briant A.; Runkel, Robert L.; Gerner, Linda J.

2009-01-01

Land-management agencies are faced with decisions about remediation in streams affected by mine drainage. In support of the U. S. Forest Service, for the Uinta National Forest, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted mass-loading studies in American Fork and Mary Ellen Gulch, Utah. Synoptic samples were collected along a 10,000-meter study reach in American Fork and 4,500-meter reach in Mary Ellen Gulch. Tracer-injection methods were combined with synoptic sampling methods to evaluate discharge and mass loading. This data-series report gives the results of the chemical analyses of these samples and provides the equations used to calculate discharge from tracer concentrations and loads from discharge and concentrations of the constituents. The detailed information from these studies will facilitate the preparation of interpretive reports and discussions with stakeholder groups. Data presented include detailed locations of the sampling sites, results of chemical analyses, and graphs of mass-loading profiles for major and trace elements in American Fork and Mary Ellen Gulch. Ultrafiltration was used to define filtered concentrations and total-recoverable concentrations were measured on unfiltered samples.

Big sagebrush response to one-way and two-way chaining in Southeastern Utah

Treesearch

John A. Fairchild; James N. Davis; Jack D. Brotherson

2005-01-01

A decadent, mixed stand of Wyoming big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata wyomingensis, and mountain big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata vaseyana, located north of Cisco, Utah, was subjected to one-way and two-way chaining treatments in November 1987. The effect of the treatments on plant community characteristics and shrub vigor was...

A Web-Based Resource for Investigating Environmental Change: The Emigrant Pass Observatory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Michael G.; Chapman, David S.

2012-01-01

We present a user-friendly, data-driven Web site (http://thermal.gg.utah.edu/facilities/epo/) for a geothermal, climate change observatory that is educational for the general public, students, and researchers alike. The Emigrant Pass Observatory (EPO), located in the Grouse Creek Mountains in northwestern Utah, gathers both meteorological data…

49 CFR 71.9 - Boundary line between mountain and Pacific zones.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... the Salmon River; thence westerly along the main channel of the Salmon River to the Idaho-Oregon... City of West Wendover, Nevada. Then westward along the northern, western, and southern boundaries of the City of West Wendover back to the Utah-Nevada boundary. Then southerly along the Utah-Nevada...

Bluebell Field, Uinta Basin: reservoir characterization for improved well completion and oil recovery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Montgomery, S.L.; Morgan, C.D.

1998-01-01

Bluefield Field is the largest oil-producing area in the Unita basin of northern Utah. The field inclucdes over 300 wells and has produced 137 Mbbl oil and 177 bcf gas from fractured Paleocene-Eocene lacustrine and fluvial deposits of the Green River and Wasatch (Colton) formations. Oil and gas are produced at depths of 10 500-13 000 ft (3330-3940 m), with the most prolific reservoirs existing in over-pressured sandstones of the Colton Formation and the underlying Flagstaff Member of the lower Green River Formation. Despite a number of high-recovery wells (1-3 MMbbl), overall field recovery remains low, less than 10% original oil in place. This low recovery rate is interpreted to be at least partly a result of completion practices. Typically, 40-120 beds are perforated and stimulated with acid (no proppant) over intervals of up to 3000 ft (900 m). Little or no evaluation of individual beds is performed, preventing identification of good-quality reservoir zones, water-producing zones, and thief zones. As a result, detailed understanding of Bluebell reservoirs historically has been poor, inhibiting any improvements in recovery strategies. A recent project undertaken in Bluebell field as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Class 1 (fluvial-deltaic reservoir) Oil Demonstration program has focused considerable effort on reservoir characterization. This effort has involved interdisciplinary analysis of core, log, fracture, geostatistical, production, and other data. Much valuable new information on reservoir character has resulted, with important implications for completion techniques and recovery expectations. Such data should have excellent applicability to other producing areas in the Uinta Basin withi reservoirs in similar lacustrine and related deposits.Bluebell field is the largest oil-producing area in the Uinta basin of northern Utah. The field includes over 300 wells and has produced 137 MMbbl oil and 177 bcf gas from fractured Paleocene-Eocene lacustrine and fluvial deposits of the Green River and Wasatch (Colton) formations. Oil and gas are produced at depths of 10,500-13,000 ft (3330-3940 m), with the most prolific reservoirs existing in over-pressured sandstones of the Colton Formation and the underlying Flagstaff Member of the lower Green River Formation. Despite a number of high-recovery wells (1-3 MMbbl), overall field recovery remains low, less than 10% original oil in place. This low recovery rate is interpreted to be at least partly a result of completion practices. Typically, 40-120 beds are perforated and stimulated with acid (no proppant) over intervals of up to 3000 ft (900 m). Little or no evaluation of individual beds is performed, preventing identification of good-quality reservoir zones, water-producing zones, and thief zones. As a result, detailed understanding of Bluebell reservoirs historically has been poor, inhibiting any improvements in recovery strategies. A recent project undertaken in Bluebell field as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Class 1 (fluvial-deltaic reservoir) Oil Demonstration program has focused considerable effort on reservoir characterization. This effort has involved interdisciplinary analysis of core, log, fracture, geostatistical, production, and other data. Much valuable new information on reservoir character has resulted, with important implications for completion techniques and recovery expectations. Such data should have excellent applicability to other producing areas in the Uinta basin with reservoirs in similar lacustrine and related deposits.

Review of water demand and water utilization studies for the Provo River drainage basin, and review of a study of the effects of the proposed Jordanelle Reservoir on seepage to underground mines, Bonneville unit of the central Utah project

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waddell, K.M.; Freethey, G.W.; Susong, D.D.; Pyper, G.E.

1991-01-01

Problem: Questions have been raised concerning the adequacy of available water to fulfill the needs of storage, exchanges, diversions, and instream flows, pursuant to existing water rights in the Provo River drainage basin part of the Bonneville Unit. Also, concern has been expressed about the potential for seepage of water from Jordanelle Reservoir to underground mines. The Utah Congressional Delegation requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) review the results of analyses performed by and for the USBR.Purpose and Scope: The purpose of this report is to present the results of the USGS review of (1) the hydrologic data, techniques, and model used by the USBR in their hydrologic analyses of the Provo River drainage basin and (2) the results of a study of the potential for seepage from the Jordanelle Reservoir to nearby underground mines.The USGS reviewed USBR-supplied water demands, water utilization studies, and models of seepage from Jordanelle Reservoir. The USBR estimated that about 90 percent of the water supply for Jordanelle Reservoir will be water from Strawberry Reservoir exchanged for water from the Provo River stored in Utah Lake. If the Utah State Engineer allows the USBR to claim an estimated 19,700 acre-feet of return flows from the CUP, only about 77 percent of the supply would be derived from exchange of existing water rights in Utah Lake. The USGS assumed that planned importations of water from the Uinta Basin will be available and deliverable to fulfill the proposed exchanges.Water rights and demands are important for determining water availability. The USGS did not conduct an independent review of water rights and demands. The USSR and Utah Division of Water Rights use different methods in some areas for determining stress on the system based on past records. The USSR used "historical observed diversions" and the Utah Division of Water Rights use "diversion entitlements", which may not be equal to the historical diversions. The USGS based its review upon water demands used by the USSR. The Utah Division of Water Rights has responsibility for granting and enforcing water rights, and the final decisions on how the rights will be adjudicated lies with the Utah Division of Water Rights and with the courts. The USGS review did not consider the draft water distribution plan for the Utah Lake drainage basin proposed by the Utah State Engineer (written commun., October 15,1991). This plan, when finalized, may have an effect on water availability to the CUP.

Effects of thinning on temperature dynamics and mountain pine beetle activity in a lodgepole pine stand

Treesearch

Dale L. Bartos; Gordon D. Booth

1994-01-01

Temperature measurements were made to better understand the role of microclimate on mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), activity as a result of thinning lodgepole pine stands. Sampling was done over 61 days on the north slope of the Unita Mountain Range in northeastern Utah. Principal components analysis was applied to all...

Stand development and population dynamics of curlleaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt.) woodlands in Utah's Bear River Mountains

Treesearch

Seth A. Ex; Robert DeRose; James N. Long

2011-01-01

Curlleaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt.) is a little-studied woodland tree that occurs in pure stands throughout the Intermountain West. Stand development and population dynamics of this species are poorly understood, despite their relevance to management. We describe here the development of stand age structures and population dynamics of mahogany...

Hydrology of stock-water development on the public domain of western Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Snyder, Charles T.

1963-01-01

A geologic and hydrologic reconnaissance was made on the public domain of western Utah to appraise the water resources of the area and to provide a basis for locating and developing sources of stock water. The study area includes the Bonneville, Pahvant, and Virgin Grazing Districts, in parts of Tooele, Utah, Juab, Millard, Beaver, Iron, and Washington Counties, Utah.Western Utah is in the Great Basin section of the Basin and Range physiographic province and is typified by northward-trending parallel mountain ranges, and basins of interior drainage. Precipitation ranges from 5 to 9 inches annually in most of the valleys but in some places it is as much as 15 or 16 inches and probably is considerably greater in the mountains.The valleys of western Utah have been classified in the report according to their hydrologic and topographic characteristics. The Great Salt Lake valley and the Sevier Lake valley are closed or terminal valleys having no outlet for the discharge of water except by evaporation. Such valleys are topographically closed and hydrologically undrained. Valleys tributary to these terminal valleys are topographically open valleys from which water is discharged by gravity flow to the terminal valley. Quality of ground water in the valleys of western Utah depends upon the valley type and place where the water is sampled with respect to the body of ground water in the valley fill. Quality of the water in the drained parts of the valleys is usually good whereas water in the undrained parts of the valleys may be heavily charged with dissolved mineral contaminants. Limits of tolerance for use of salt-contaminated water are cited.The adequacy of distribution of water supplies in western Utah was determined by application of the service area concept to the existing supplies. Stock-water supplies are obtained from wells, springs, and reservoirs. Most of the wells are in the valleys where water is obtained from valley fill; the depth to water ranges from a few tens of feet to several hundred feet. Ground water generally cannot be obtained in the mountains because the rocks either lack permeability or are drained.Data collected in 13 valleys, each valley forming a ground-water unit, are listed in the tables and are used to evaluate the prospects for obtaining additional water supplies.

MULTIPLE EPISODES OF IGNEOUS ACTIVITY, MINERALIZATION, AND ALTERATION IN THE WESTERN TUSHAR MOUNTAINS, UTAH.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cunningham, Charles G.; Steven, Thomas A.; Campbell, David L.; Naeser, Charles W.; Pitkin, James A.; Duval, Joseph S.

1984-01-01

The report outlines the complex history of igneous activity and associated alteration and mineralization in the western Tushar Mountains, Utah and pointss out implciations for minerals exploration. The area has been subjected to recurrent episodes of igneous intrusion, hydrothermal alteration, and mineralization, and the mineral-resource potential of the different mineralized areas is directly related to local geologic history. The mineral commodities to be expected vary from one hydrothermal system to another, and from one depth to another within any given system. Uranium and molybdenum seem likely to have the greatest economic potential, although significant concentrations of gold may also exist.

Power, Prayers, and Protection: Comb Ridge as a Case Study in Navajo Thought

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPherson, Robert S.

2010-01-01

Beginning in 2005, a five-year survey of cultural resources began to unfold in southeastern Utah along a prominent sandstone rock formation known as Comb Ridge. This visually dramatic monocline stretches a considerable distance from the southwestern corner of Blue Mountain (Abajos) in Utah to Kayenta, Arizona, approximately one hundred miles to…

Urban and community forests of the Mountain region: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Eric J. Greenfield

2010-01-01

This report details how land cover and urbanization vary within the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming by community (incorporated and census designated places), county subdivision, and county. Specifically this report provides critical urban and community forestry information for each state including human population...

Montane wetland water chemistry, Uinta Mountains, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Severson, K. S.; Matyjasik, M.; Ford, R. L.; Hernandez, M. W.; Welsh, S. B.; Summers, S.; Bartholomew, L. M.

2009-12-01

This study attempts to determine the relationship between surface and groundwater chemistry and wetland characteristics within the Reader Lakes watershed, Uinta Mountains. The dominant rock type in the study area is quartz sandstone of the Hades Pass formation, Unita Mountain Group (Middle Proterozoic). Minor amounts of interbedded arkose and illite-bearing shale are also present. Water chemistry data have been collected from more than one hundred locations during the 2008 and 2009 summer seasons. The Reader Creek watershed is approximately 9.8 km long and about 3.5 km wide in the central portion of the basin. Direct precipitation is the primary source of groundwater recharge and the area is typically covered by snow from November until May. Four distinct wetland complexes, designated as the upper, middle, lower and the sloping fen, constitute the major wetland environments in the study area. The chemistry of the melt water from the high-elevation snowfield is affected by weathering of incorporated atmospheric dust and surface rocks. Total dissolved solids in both years were between 7 and 9 mg/L. Major anions include HCO3 (averaging 4.0 mg/L), SO4 (1.3 mg/L), NO3 (0.9 mg/L), Cl (0.8 mg/L), F (0.07 mg/L), PO4 (0.03 mg/L), and Br(0.015 mg/L). Major cations include Na (1.1 mg/L), Ca (1.0 mg/L), K (0.28 mg/L), and Mg (0.15 mg/L). Groundwater concentrations in the lower meadow, as measured in piezomters, are distinctly different, with the following maximum concentrations of anions: HCO3 (36.7 mg/L), SO4 (5.0 mg/L), Cl (3.4 mg/L), NO3 (0.9 mg/L), PO4 (0.28 mg/L), F (0.23 mg/L), Br (0.12 mg/L), and cations: Ca (22 mg/L), Na (4.6 mg/L), Mg (3.4 mg/L), and K (1.8 mg/L)- with a maximum value of 83 mg/L for total dissolved solids. Waters in Reader Creek, the main trunk channel, are typically sodium-potassium and sodium -potassium bicarbonate, with some calcium-bicarbonate, mostly in the middle part of the watershed. Groundwater from springs is sodium-potassium in the upper part of the watershed, gradually changing to bicarbonate in the lower part of the watershed. The creek water also show a relatively small increase in total dissolved solids from 10 mg/L in the upper basin to 18 mg/L in the lower basin. Dissolved oxygen, potassium, and chlorides also decrease along the creek flow path, while calcium and sulfates increase. Values of pH fluctuate more along the length of the channel as the creek receives water discharging from the wetlands. An interesting geomorphic characteristic of these montane wetlands is a distinctive compartmentalization by a system of peaty flarks and strings, typically oriented perpendicular to the direction of surface-water flow. Water samples collected from piezometers contain much higher concentrations of all ions compared to surface-water samples from the flarks. It is believed that deeper portions of the peat work as highly isolated flow cells, storing water for an extended period of time, resulting in locally increased ionic concentrations. Future work will attempt to clarify and test this hypothesis.

Skiing in the Eocene Uinta Mountains? Isotopic evidence in the Green River Formation for snow melt and large mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Richard D.; Jones, Lawrence S.; Corfield, Richard M.; Cartlidge, Julie E.

1996-05-01

Isotopic analysis of lacustrine carbonates from the Eocene Green River Formation suggests that lake waters were derived partly from snow melt. This evidence for cool climates is in marked contrast to paleontological and model evidence for mild temperatures in the continental interior. Oxygen isotope ratios of carbonates frequently reach -12‰ to nearly -16‰ (Peedee belemnite), which suggests that lake waters probably had δ18O of <-13‰ (standard mean ocean water). Consideration of the evaporative 18O enrichment that typically occurs in modern large saline lakes suggests that the source waters to the Green River basin had a δ18O of <-18‰. These ratios are consistent with snow melt and are too negative to be easily accounted for by distillation in the atmosphere during heavy rainfall. The Green River lakes formed in a closed basin encircled by large mountains; this suggests that the snow melt was locally produced. The mountains surrounding the lake must have been high enough to occasionally supply significant melt water to the much lower lake. Lapse rate calculations suggest minimum altitudes of >3000 m for the mountains encircling the Green River basin.

40 CFR 147.3000 - EPA-administered program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Section 147.3000 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER PROGRAMS..., Ute Mountain Ute, and All Other New Mexico Tribes § 147.3000 EPA-administered program. (a) Contents... Mountain Ute lands in Utah and New Mexico), and all wells on other Indian lands in New Mexico is...

Biostratigraphic implications of the first Eocene land-mammal fauna from the North American coastal plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westgate, James W.

1988-11-01

A newly discovered vertebrate fossil assemblage, the Casa Blanca local fauna, comes from the Laredo Formation, Claiborne Group, of Webb County, Texas, and is the first reported Eocene land-mammal fauna from the coastal plain of North America. The mammalian fauna is correlated with the Serendipity and Candelaria local faunas of west Texas, the Uinta C faunas of the Rocky Mountains, the Santiago Formation local fauna of southern California, and the Swift Current Creek local fauna of Saskatchewan. The vertebrate-bearing deposit lies about 32 m above a horizon containing the marine gastropod Turritella cortezi, which ranges from east Texas to northeast Mexico in the lower half of the Cook Mountain and Laredo Formations and is a guide fossil to the Hurricane Lentil in the Cook Mountain Formation. Nannoplankton found in these middle Eocene formations belong to the upper half of Nannoplankton Zone I6 and allow correlation with European beds of late Lutetian to early Bartonian age.

Forest resources of the Uinta National Forest

Treesearch

Renee A. O' Brien; Dennis Collins

1997-01-01

The 883,225 acres in the Uinta National Forest encompass 552,021 acres of forest land, made up of 68 percent (377,651 acres) "timberland" and 32 percent (174,370 acres) "woodland." The other 331,204 acres of the Uinta are nonforest (fig. 1). This report discusses forest land only. In the Uinta, 7 percent of the total area and 4 percent of...

20-year study of Barn Owl (Tyto alba) reproduction in northern Utah

Treesearch

Carl D. Marti

1997-01-01

I studied reproduction of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in northern Utah from 1977 through 1996 documenting 451 nesting attempts by at least 500 individuals. The study site was a narrow valley bounded by the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. This area was formerly shrubsteppe desert, but that community is now entirely supplanted by irrigated...

Golden eagle indifference to heli-skiing and military helicopters in northern Utah

Treesearch

Teryl G. Grubb; David K. Delaney; William W. Bowerman; Michael R. Wierda

2010-01-01

In 2006-2007, during Wasatch Powderbird Guides (WPG) permit renewal for heli-skiing in the Tri-Canyon Area (TCA) of the Wasatch Mountains, Utah, USA, we recorded 303 helicopter passes between 0 m and 3,000 m (horizontal distance) near >30 individual golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in 22 nesting territories, through passive observation and active experimentation...

Best practices: the Utah Youth Suicide Study: best practices for suicide prevention through the juvenile court system.

PubMed

Gray, Doug; Dawson, Kristin L; Grey, Todd C; McMahon, William M

2011-12-01

Utah is among a group of Western Mountain states in which suicide rates among youths are consistently high. The Utah Youth Suicide Study incorporated data from every government agency in Utah, utilizing a statewide Office of the Medical Examiner. A key finding was that 63% of suicide decedents had contact with the juvenile courts. The group developed a best practices model within the juvenile court system for early mental health intervention. Significant cost savings were demonstrated. The model includes screening at-risk teenagers with the Youth Outcome Questionnaire. Treatment includes both psychiatric care and in-home behavioral intervention. Services were effectively delivered on a large scale.

Gas in the Uinta Basin, Utah - Resources in continuous accumulations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schmoker, J.W.; Fouch, T.D.; Charpentier, R.R.

1996-01-01

Continuous-type gas plays can be envisioned as large areas within which the reservoir rock is everywhere charged with gas. As part of its 1995 National Assessment of oil and gas resources, the U.S. Geological Survey identified four continuous-type gas plays in the Uinta Basin. These occur in sandstone reservoirs of the lower Tertiary Wasatch Formation (two plays) and the underlying Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group (two plays). Only the play representing the eastern part of the Wasatch Formation continuous accumulation (Natural Buttes area) has been the target of appreciable drilling activity to date. The volume of undiscovered gas estimated to be recoverable from these four plays using existing technology and development practices ranges between 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG) (95th fractile) and 11.9 TCFG (5th fractile), and averages 7.0 TCFG. However, these are geologically based resource estimates, made without direct reference to economic viability. Economic analysis indicates that only a fraction of this assessed resource could be economically found and produced at prices less than $2.00 per thousand cubic feet of gas (MCFG), based on costs that prevailed at the beginning of 1993. Production characteristics of continuous-type gas plays vary significantly from well to well. Difficulty in identifying locations with poor production characteristics in advance of drilling contributes to the unfavorable economics of some plays. The need exists for improvements in technology and geologic understanding that increase the chances of selectively drilling the more productive locations within a continuous-type play.

Assessment of Uinta Basin Oil and Natural Gas Well Pad ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In the fall of 2016, a field study was conducted in the Uinta Basin Utah to improve information on oil and natural gas well pad pneumatic controllers (PCs) and emission measurement methods. A total of 80 PC systems at five oil sites (supporting six wells) and three gas sites (supporting 12 wells) were surveyed, and emissions data were produced using a combination of measurements and engineering emission estimates. Ninety-six percent of the PCs surveyed were the low actuation frequency intermittent vent type. The overall whole gas emission rate for the study was estimated at 0.37 scfh with the majority of emissions occurring from three continuous vent PCs (1.0 scfh average) and eleven (14%) malfunctioning intermittent vent PC systems (1.6 scfh average). Oil sites employed, on average 10.3 PC systems per well compared to 1.5 for gas sites. Oil and gas sites had group average PC emission rates of 0.28 scfh and 0.67 scfh, respectively, with this difference due in part to site selection procedures. The PC system types encountered, the engineering emissions estimate approach, and comparisons to measurements are described. Survey methods included identification of malfunctioning PC systems and emission measurements with augmented high volume sampling and installed mass flow meters, each providing a somewhat different picture of emissions that are elucidated through example cases. This paper reports on an oil and natural gas well pad pneumatic controller emissions stud

Experimental forests, ranges, and watersheds in the Northern Rocky Mountains: A compendium of outdoor laboratories in Utah, Idaho, and Montana

Treesearch

Wyman C. Schmidt; Judy L. Friede

1996-01-01

This is a compendium of experimental forests, ranges, watersheds, and other outdoor laboratories, formally established by the Forest Service and Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the universities in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The purposes, histories, natural resource bases, data bases, past and current studies, locations, and who...

A Collection of Chemical, Mineralogical, and Stable Isotopic Compositional Data for Green River Oil Shale from Depositional Center Cores in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tuttle, Michele L.W.

2009-01-01

For over half a century, the U.S. Geological Survey and collaborators have conducted stratigraphic and geochemical studies on the Eocene Green River Formation, which is known to contain large oil shale resources. Many of the studies were undertaken in the 1970s during the last oil shale boom. One such study analyzed the chemistry, mineralogy, and stable isotopy of the Green River Formation in the three major depositional basins: Piceance basin, Colo.; Uinta basin, Utah; and the Green River basin, Wyo. One depositional-center core from each basin was sampled and analyzed for major, minor, and trace chemistry; mineral composition and sulfide-mineral morphology; sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon forms; and stable isotopic composition (delta34S, delta15N, delta13C, and delta18O). Many of these data were published and used to support interpretative papers (see references herein). Some bulk-chemical and carbonate-isotopic data were never published and may be useful to studies that are currently exploring topics such as future oil shale development and the climate, geography, and weathering in the Eocene Epoch. These unpublished data, together with most of the U.S. Geological Survey data already published on these samples, are tabulated in this report.

Summary: Aspen decline in the West?

Treesearch

Dennis H. Knight

2001-01-01

No other tree in the Rocky Mountain region is more highly valued for its amenities than aspen (Populus tremuloides). In Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Utah, aspen covers entire mountain slopes and plateaus, sometimes forming the landscape matrix in which other cover types occur as patches. Northward aspen occurs in patches (figure 1), forming small groves...

Characteristics of endemic-level mountain pine beetle populations in south-central Wyoming

Treesearch

Dale L. Bartos; Richard F. Schmitz

1998-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the dynamics of endemic populations of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins). In addition, we extended the geographical range of an existing data base recorded in Utah with similar data from Wyoming. This work was accomplished in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. Var.

77 FR 59985 - Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA), HCA Mountain Division Including Workers Whose Wages Were...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-01

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-81,558] Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA), HCA Mountain Division Including Workers Whose Wages Were Reported Through Mountainstar Health, Inc. Including Workers Whose Wages Were Reported Through Health Trust Utah Management Services, Inc. Cottonwood Heights, UT; Amended...

A spatially distributed energy balance snowmelt model for application in mountain basins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marks, D.; Domingo, J.; Susong, D.; Link, T.; Garen, D.

1999-01-01

Snowmelt is the principal source for soil moisture, ground-water re-charge, and stream-flow in mountainous regions of the western US, Canada, and other similar regions of the world. Information on the timing, magnitude, and contributing area of melt under variable or changing climate conditions is required for successful water and resource management. A coupled energy and mass-balance model ISNOBAL is used to simulate the development and melting of the seasonal snowcover in several mountain basins in California, Idaho, and Utah. Simulations are done over basins varying from 1 to 2500 km2, with simulation periods varying from a few days for the smallest basin, Emerald Lake watershed in California, to multiple snow seasons for the Park City area in Utah. The model is driven by topographically corrected estimates of radiation, temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation. Simulation results in all basins closely match independently measured snow water equivalent, snow depth, or runoff during both the development and depletion of the snowcover. Spatially distributed estimates of snow deposition and melt allow us to better understand the interaction between topographic structure, climate, and moisture availability in mountain basins of the western US. Application of topographically distributed models such as this will lead to improved water resource and watershed management.Snowmelt is the principal source for soil moisture, ground-water re-charge, and stream-flow in mountainous regions of the western US, Canada, and other similar regions of the world. Information on the timing, magnitude, and contributing area of melt under variable or changing climate conditions is required for successful water and resource management. A coupled energy and mass-balance model ISNOBAL is used to simulate the development and melting of the seasonal snowcover in several mountain basins in California, Idaho, and Utah. Simulations are done over basins varying from 1 to 2500 km2, with simulation periods varying from a few days for the smallest basin, Emerald Lake watershed in California, to multiple snow seasons for the Park City area in Utah. The model is driven by topographically corrected estimates of radiation, temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation. Simulation results in all basins closely match independently measured snow water equivalent, snow depth, or runoff during both the development and depletion of the snowcover. Spatially distributed estimates of snow deposition and melt allow us to better understand the interaction between topographic structure, climate, and moisture availability in mountain basins of the western US. Application of topographically distributed models such as this will lead to improved water resource and watershed management.

Flashy Water and Sediment Delivery to Fluvial Megafan andFan Delta Systems on Opposing Shorelines of an Early Eocene Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, E. R.; Plink-Bjorklund, P.

2015-12-01

Flashy delivery of water and sediment had distinct effects on the process of deposition in coeval fluvial megafan and fan delta deposits on opposing shorelines of a paleolake that occupied the Uinta Basin throughout the Eocene. The Tertiary Uinta Basin was an asymmetric continental interior basin with a steep northern margin, adjacent to the block uplift controlling basin subsidence, and a low gradient southern margin. A ~140 km wide fluvial megafan with catchments as far as ~750 km away occupied the southern margin of the lacustrine basin. Within this megafan system, fluvial deposits contain within-channel continental bioturbation and paleosol development on bar accretion surfaces that are evidence of prolonged periods of groundwater flow or channel abandonment. These are punctuated by channel fills exhibiting a suite of both high-deposition rate and upper flow regime sedimentary structures that were deposited by very rapid suspension-fallout during seasonal to episodic river flooding events. A series of small (~8 km wide) and proximally sourced fan deltas fed sediment into the steeper northern margin of the lacustrine basin. 35-50% of the deposits in the delta plain environment of these fan deltas are very sandy debris flows with as low as 5% clay and silt sized material. Detrital zircon geochronology shows that these fan deltas were tapping catchments where mostly unconsolidated Cretaceous sedimentary cover and thick Jurassic eolianites were being eroded. A combination of flashy precipitation, arid climate, catchments mantled by abundant loose sand-sized colluvium, and steep depositional gradients promoted generation of abundant very sandy (5-10% clay and silt sized material) debris flows. In this way, the Wasatch and Green River Formations in the Uinta Basin, Utah, U.S.A. gives us two very different examples of how routing flashy water and sediment delivery (associated with pulses of hyperthermal climate change during the Early Eocene) through different depositional systems produced unique processes of deposition, and also gives us an opportunity to isolate the effects of other variables (e.g. sediment caliber, system gradient, catchment size) that can modulate the flashy precipitation signal in stratigraphy.

Shocked materials from the Dutch Peak diamictite, Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoerz, F.; Bunch, T. E.; Oberbeck, V. R.

1994-01-01

Evidence of shock metamorphism in the Dutch Peak diamictite in the Sheeprock Mountains, Utah, is reported. The Dutch Peak diamictite is of Proterozoic age and is a minor part of the Dutch Peak formation. A shocked sample, specimen A250, was collected during a brief visit of the Harker Canyon area of the Sheeprock Mountains. This sample consists of equant, anhedral grains of quartz, K-feldspar, and plagioclase. The crystallographic orientation of 244 lamellae systems in 106 grains was measured. It is presently difficult to evaluate the significance of this single specimen. Without additional and substantial field work, and petrographic characterization of this formation, a number of scenarios for the presence of a shocked clast and the emplacement of the entire formation remain viable.

Radioactive Waste Streams: Waste Classification for Disposal

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-13

INL; and Fort St. Vrain, Colorado .10 In contrast to commercial reactors, naval reactors can operate without refueling for up to 20 years. 11 As of 2003...originally of the states of Arizona, Colorado , Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.61 Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming later withdrew from the Compact, leaving... Colorado , Nevada, and New Mexico as remaining Compact members.62 The Rocky Mountain Compact defines low-level waste as specifically excluding

Stand conditions associated with roundheaded pine beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) infestations in Arizona and Utah

Treesearch

Jose F. Negron; Jill L. Wilson; John A. Anhold

2000-01-01

Stand conditions associated with outbreak populations of the roundheaded pine beetle, Dendroctonus adjunctus Blandford, in ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws., forests were studied in the Pinaleno Mountains, AZ, and the Pine Valley Mountains, UT. Classification tree models to estimate the probability of infestation based on stand attributes were built for...

Glacial flour in lacustrine sediments: Records of alpine glaciation in the western U.S.A. during the last glacial interval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenbaum, J. G.; Reynolds, R. L.

2010-12-01

Sediments in Bear Lake (UT/ID) and Upper Klamath Lake (OR) contain glacial flour derived during the last glacial interval from the Uinta Mountains and the southern Cascade Range, respectively. Magnetic properties provide measures of glacial-flour content and, in concert with elemental and grain-size analyses, yield high-resolution records of glacial growth and decay. Creation and preservation of such records requires that (1) properties of glacial flour contrast with those of other sedimentary components and (2) magnetic minerals are neither formed nor destroyed after deposition. In the Bear Lake watershed, glaciers were confined to a small headwater area of the Bear River underlain by hematite-rich rocks of the Uinta Mountain Group (UMG), which are not exposed elsewhere in the catchment. Because UMG detritus is abundant only in Bear Lake sediments of glacial age, hard isothermal remanent magnetization (a measure of hematite content) provides a proxy for glacial flour. In contrast, the entire Upper Klamath Lake catchment, which lies to the east of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon, is underlain largely by basalt and basaltic andesite. Magnetic properties of fresh titanomagnetite-rich rock flour from glaciers on a composite volcano contrast sharply with those of detritus from unglaciated areas in which weathering destroyed some of the titanomagnetite. Ideally, well-dated records of the flux of glacial flour can be compared to ages of glacial features (e.g., moraines). For Upper Klamath Lake, quantitative measures of rock-flour content (from magnetic properties) and excellent chronology allow accurate calculation of flux. However, ages of glacial features are lacking and mafic volcanic rocks, which weather rapidly in this environment, are not well suited for cosmogenic exposure dating. At Bear Lake, estimates of glacial-flour content are less quantitative and chronology within the glacial interval must be interpolated from radiocarbon ages above and below the glacial-age sediments, but cosmogenic dating (by Laabs et al.) of highly resistant quartzite boulders provide ages from terminal moraines in the Bear River drainage. Glacial flour appears abruptly at ~26 cal ka in Bear Lake, whereas it is present at the base of the Upper Klamath Lake core (~37 cal ka). Both glacial flour records (1) contain millennial-scale variations (uncertainties in chronology prevent precise correlation of these features), (2) attain maxima circa 19 cal ka, and (3) rapidly decline beginning prior to 18 cal ka. At Bear Lake the age of the decline in glacial flour coincides with cosmogenic exposure ages (18.1 - 18.7 ka) of terminal moraines in the upper Bear River valley. This concurrence supports the interpretation that the maximum amount and subsequent decrease in glacial flour are indicative of maximum glacial extent and glacial retreat, respectively, and more generally that increases and decreases in rock flour in these lake sediments represent waxing and waning of glaciers. Laabs, B,J.C., et al., 2007, Chronology of the last glacial maximum in the upper Bear River basin, Utah, Arctic and Alpine Research, v. 39, p. 537 - 548.

Selected hydrologic data for Cedar Valley, Iron County, southwestern Utah, 1930-2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howells, James H.; Mason, James L.; Slaugh, Bradley A.

2001-01-01

This report presents hydrologic data collected by the U. S. Geological Survey from 1930 to 2001 with emphasis on data collected from 1997 to 2001 as part of a study of ground-water resources in Cedar Valley, Iron County, southwestern Utah (fig. 1). Data collected prior to this study are also presented to show long-term trends. Data were collected during this study in cooperation with the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District; Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources; Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality; Cedar City; and Enoch City; as part of a study to better understand the ground-water resources of Cedar Valley and to assess possible effects of increased ground-water withdrawal on water quality. Quality of ground water in Cedar Valley is variable and water suppliers need to know if additional water resources can be developed without drawing water of lower quality into public-supply wells.Cedar Valley is in central Iron County at the transitional boundary between the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces described by Hunt (1974) and covers about 570 mi2. Additional data from wells west of Cedar Valley and to the south in the vicinity of Kanarraville in the Virgin River drainage (Colorado River Basin) adjacent to the study area are included. Cedar Valley is bounded on the east by the Markagunt Plateau and Red Hills, on the southwest by the Harmony Mountains, on the west by a complex of low hills, and on the north by the Black Mountains. Altitudes in the study area range from about 5,300 ft in Mud Spring Canyon to about 10,400 ft at Blowhard Mountain to the east.

MX Siting Investigation Geotechnical Evaluation Verification Study - Pine Valley Utah. Volume I. Synthesis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-24

north-south trending alluvial basin. The Wah Wah Mountains to the east consist principally of Paleozoic limestones, dolomites , and quartzites with minor...zone of fracture along which there has been displacement. FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS - Mountains that are formed by normal faulting in which the surface...sample (ASTM D 2850-70). To conduct the test, a cylindrical specimen of soil is surrounded by a fluid in a pressure chamber and subjected to an isotropic

Respiratory health status of gilsonite workers.

PubMed

Keimig, D G; Castellan, R M; Kullman, G J; Kinsley, K B

1987-01-01

Gilsonite, a solidified hydrocarbon used in the manufacture of automotive body seam sealers, is mined only in the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah and Western Colorado. Health effects of gilsonite dust exposure have not previously been published and exposure to gilsonite dust is not regulated. To examine potential respiratory health effects associated with gilsonite dust exposures, this cross-sectional study surveyed the 100 current male employees who had been exposed to gilsonite dust at 3 existing gilsonite companies. Total dust exposures up to 28 times the nuisance dust standard were found, and 5 of 99 (5%) workers had chest radiographs consistent with pneumoconiosis of low profusion. Increased prevalences of cough and phlegm were found in workers with high-exposure jobs, but no evidence for dust-related pulmonary function impairment was noted. To prevent pulmonary health effects, we recommend reducing dust exposures for those workers in jobs currently characterized by relatively high dust exposures.

7 CFR 612.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

.... The western states area comprises Alaska, Arizona, California (east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range only), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. ...

7 CFR 612.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... The western states area comprises Alaska, Arizona, California (east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range only), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. ...

7 CFR 612.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

.... The western states area comprises Alaska, Arizona, California (east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range only), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. ...

7 CFR 612.1 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

.... The western states area comprises Alaska, Arizona, California (east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range only), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. ...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huggins, A.W.

A field research effort was conducted in the vicinity of the Tushar Mountains of southern Utah as part of the Federal-State Program in Atmospheric Modification Research involving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the State of Utah. The field study took place in February and March 1989 and emphasized the studies of supercooled liquid water evolution in winter storms and attempts to measure the effects of ground-based silver iodide cloud seeding. Results of the field effort are presented.

A comprehensive guide to fuel management practices for dry mixed conifer forests in the northwestern United States

Treesearch

Theresa B. Jain; Mike A. Battaglia; Han-Sup Han; Russell T. Graham; Christopher R. Keyes; Jeremy S. Fried; Jonathan E. Sandquist

2012-01-01

This guide describes the benefits, opportunities, and trade-offs concerning fuel treatments in the dry mixed conifer forests of northern California and the Klamath Mountains, Pacific Northwest Interior, northern and central Rocky Mountains, and Utah. Multiple interacting disturbances and diverse physical settings have created a forest mosaic with historically low- to...

Wildfire rehabilitation success with and without chaining on the Henry Mountains, Utah

Treesearch

Cristina Juran; Bruce A. Roundy; James N. Davis

2008-01-01

We sampled unchained and chained areas in 2004 and 2005 on the Henry Mountains that had been aerially seeded after the Bulldog Fire of 2003. Establishment of seeded grasses was high on unchained and chained areas although chaining increased seeded grass establishment on some sites. Western yarrow established well on unchained areas. Initially, high seedling emergence...

Mountain pine beetle dynamics and reproductive success in post-fire lodgepole and ponderosa pine forests in northeastern Utah

Treesearch

Andrew P. Lerch; Jesse A. Pfammatter; Barbara J. Bentz; Kenneth F. Raffa

2016-01-01

Fire injury can increase tree susceptibility to some bark beetles (Curculionidae, Scolytinae), but whether wildfires can trigger outbreaks of species such as mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) is not well understood. We monitored 1173 lodgepole (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Doug.) and 599 ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa Doug. ex Law) pines for three...

Mass-movement deposits in the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Mercier, Tracey J.

2015-01-01

The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in two large Eocene saline lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. Here we will discuss mass-movement deposits in just the Piceance Basin part of Lake Uinta.

Doug Benevento, Regional Administrator for EPA's Mountains & Plains (Region 8)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Region 8 administrator oversees the implementation and enforcement of the federal environmental rules and regulations in the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

76 FR 51054 - Notice of Utah's Resource Advisory Council (RAC) Conference Call Meetings on the Statewide Travel...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-17

..., 2011, from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. (Mountain Time). The entire RAC will host a conference call on the same topic on September 15, 2011, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Mountain Time). ADDRESSES: On September 8... meals are the responsibility of the participating public. Juan Palma, State Director. [FR Doc. 2011...

Ozone in remote areas of the Southern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

Robert C. Musselman; John L. Korfmacher

2014-01-01

Ozone (O3) data are sparse for remote, non-urban mountain areas of the western U.S. Ozone was monitored 2007e2011 at high elevation sites in national forests in Colorado and northeastern Utah using a portable battery-powered O3 monitor. The data suggest that many of these remote locations already have O3 concentrations that would contribute to exceedance of the current...

Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

As seen from space, the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA (41.5N, 112.5W) appears as two separate bodies of water with a narrow divider in the middle. At the turn of the century, a railroad bridge without culverts, was built across the lake and ever since, the water and salinity levels have been uneqal on either side. Fed by snowmelt from the nearby Wasatch Mountains, the lake in recent years has had record high water levels, threatening to flood the local areas.

Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

NASA Image and Video Library

1990-03-04

As seen from space, the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA (41.5N, 112.5W) appears as two separate bodies of water with a narrow divider in the middle. At the turn of the century, a railroad bridge without culverts, was built across the lake and ever since, the water and salinity levels have been uneqal on either side. Fed by snowmelt from the nearby Wasatch Mountains, the lake in recent years has had record high water levels, threatening to flood the local areas.

Verification Study - Wah Wah Valley, Utah. Volume I. Synthesis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-24

Paleozoic limestone and dolomite , with lesser amounts of Precambrian and Cambrian quartzites and phyllites. Tertiary volcanic rocks, consisting of...of fracture along which there has been gdisplacement. FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS - Mountains that are formed by normal faulting in which the surface crust...sample (ASTM D 2850-70). To conduct the test, a cylindrical specimen of soil is surrounded by a fluid in a pressure chamber and subjected to an

Environmental Assessment: Space Innovation and Development Center Schriever AFB, Colorado

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

Ptychocheilus lucius E Gunnison sage-grouse Centrocercus minimus c Humpback chub Gila cypha E Razorback sucker© Xyrauchentexanus E Uinta Basin hookless...debilis c Razorback sucker© Xyrauchen texanus E Uinta Basin hookless cactus Sclerocactus glaucus T Yellow-billed cuckoo Coccyzus americanus c GILPIN...Razorback sucker© Xyrauchen texanus E Uinta Basin hookless cactus Sclerocactus glaucus T Yellow-billed cuckoo Coccyzus americanus c MINERAL Bald

Let your fingers do the walking: A simple spectral signature model for "remote" fossil prospecting.

PubMed

Conroy, Glenn C; Emerson, Charles W; Anemone, Robert L; Townsend, K E Beth

2012-07-01

Even with the most meticulous planning, and utilizing the most experienced fossil-hunters, fossil prospecting in remote and/or extensive areas can be time-consuming, expensive, logistically challenging, and often hit or miss. While nothing can predict or guarantee with 100% assurance that fossils will be found in any particular location, any procedures or techniques that might increase the odds of success would be a major benefit to the field. Here we describe, and test, one such technique that we feel has great potential for increasing the probability of finding fossiliferous sediments - a relatively simple spectral signature model using the spatial analysis and image classification functions of ArcGIS(®)10 that creates interactive thematic land cover maps that can be used for "remote" fossil prospecting. Our test case is the extensive Eocene sediments of the Uinta Basin, Utah - a fossil prospecting area encompassing ∼1200 square kilometers. Using Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery, we "trained" the spatial analysis and image classification algorithms using the spectral signatures of known fossil localities discovered in the Uinta Basin prior to 2005 and then created interactive probability models highlighting other regions in the Basin having a high probability of containing fossiliferous sediments based on their spectral signatures. A fortuitous "post-hoc" validation of our model presented itself. Our model identified several paleontological "hotspots", regions that, while not producing any fossil localities prior to 2005, had high probabilities of being fossiliferous based on the similarities of their spectral signatures to those of previously known fossil localities. Subsequent fieldwork found fossils in all the regions predicted by the model. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model for Simulating Winter Ozone Formation in the Uinta Basin with Intensive Oil and Gas Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matichuk, R.; Tonnesen, G.; Luecken, D.; Roselle, S. J.; Napelenok, S. L.; Baker, K. R.; Gilliam, R. C.; Misenis, C.; Murphy, B.; Schwede, D. B.

2015-12-01

The western United States is an important source of domestic energy resources. One of the primary environmental impacts associated with oil and natural gas production is related to air emission releases of a number of air pollutants. Some of these pollutants are important precursors to the formation of ground-level ozone. To better understand ozone impacts and other air quality issues, photochemical air quality models are used to simulate the changes in pollutant concentrations in the atmosphere on local, regional, and national spatial scales. These models are important for air quality management because they assist in identifying source contributions to air quality problems and designing effective strategies to reduce harmful air pollutants. The success of predicting oil and natural gas air quality impacts depends on the accuracy of the input information, including emissions inventories, meteorological information, and boundary conditions. The treatment of chemical and physical processes within these models is equally important. However, given the limited amount of data collected for oil and natural gas production emissions in the past and the complex terrain and meteorological conditions in western states, the ability of these models to accurately predict pollution concentrations from these sources is uncertain. Therefore, this presentation will focus on understanding the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model's ability to predict air quality impacts associated with oil and natural gas production and its sensitivity to input uncertainties. The results will focus on winter ozone issues in the Uinta Basin, Utah and identify the factors contributing to model performance issues. The results of this study will help support future air quality model development, policy and regulatory decisions for the oil and gas sector.

Public Notice Distribution List for CAA Permits in the Mountains and Plains Region (Region 8)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Clean Air Act public notice notification list - subscription form. Currently this is for EPA Region 8 states Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, and 27 Indian Reservations

Hydrogeochemical and stream sediment special reconnaissance report for the Deep Creek Mountains, Nevada and Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qualheim, B.

1979-04-01

This report represents the results of the reconnaissance sampling of the Deep Creek Mountains of western Utah. The Deep Creek range is located in the northwest corner of the Delta NTMS 1:250,000 and the southwestern corner of the Tooele NTMS 1:250,000 sheets and covers an area of 1750 km/sup 2/. Samples collected in this study include dry and wet stream sediments and water from available streams, wells, and springs. The samples were analyzed for uranium, as well as 15 to 20 trace elements, using neutron activation techniques. In addition, field and laboratory measurements were made on the water samples. Analyticalmore » data and field measurements are presented in tabular hard copy and fiche format. Water-sample site locations, water-sample uranium concentrations, sediment-sample site locations, and sediment-sample uranium concentrations are shown on separate overlays.« less

Milford, Utah FORGE Temperature Contours at 200 m

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joe Moore

The individual shapefiles in this dataset delineate estimated temperature contours (20, 40, 60, and 80) at a depth of 200 m in the Milford, Utah FORGE area. Contours were derived from 86 geothermal, gradient, and other wells drilled in the area since the mid-1970s with depths greater than 50 m. Conductive temperature profiles for wells less than 200 m were extrapolated to determine the temperature at the desired depth. Because 11 wells in the eastern section of the study area (in and around the Mineral Mountains) are at higher elevations compared to those closer to the center of the basin,more » temperature profiles were extrapolated to a constant elevation of 200 m below the 1830 m (6000 ft) a.s.l. datum (approximate elevation of alluvial fans at the base of the Mineral Mountains) to smooth the contours across the ridges and valleys.« less

Classification and Ordination of Alpine Plant Communities, Sheep Mountain, Lemhi Country, Idaho

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-01

nivalis is widely distributed, occurring in southwestern Canada and then south through much of the western U.S. (Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973). As a ... Cronquist 1973), to be occasional to common, but never in association with Trifoliwn haydendi, a regional endemic (Brunsfeld 1981, Caicco 1983, Moseley...throughout Alaska and Canada and south along the Rocky Mountains to Utah and Colorado (Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973), and has been reported as a

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Regenhardt, C.; Dean, J.; Hancock, J.

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of the multi-drain well method in tight, lenticular formations. Although directional drilling is more costly than conventional vertical drilling, this practice could triple well production. The proposed drilling plan may be more cost efficient than drilling three separate wells with less than 320-acre spacing because it would save the costs of site surveys, rig setup, purchase of the surface lease area, and gas pipeline hookups for two additional well sites. This feasibility study was conducted on the Piceance Basin area, mainly because of the availability of geological information. The resultsmore » of this study will generally apply to other regions with tight, lenticular sand, depending upon the similarity in the total percentage of sand lenses in the area and the lens dimensions and orientations. Appendix A discusses the geology of the eastern Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, and the applicability of this study to the area. Appendix B provides calculation of expected production increase due to angle of drilling. 18 refs., 30 figs., 14 tabs.« less

Detection and mapping of mineralized areas in the Cortez-Uinta Belt, Utah-Nevada, using computer-enhanced ERTS imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowan, L. C. (Principal Investigator)

1976-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Mineralogical differences between hydrothermally altered rocks and most unaltered rocks in south central Nevada cause visible and near infrared (0.45-2.4 micron) spectral reflectance differences which can be used to discriminate broad categories of rocks in multispectral images. The most important mineralogical differences are the increased abundance of goethite, hematite, jarosite, alunite, montmorillonite, and kaolinite in the altered zones. Because of the wavelength positions and widths of the LANDSAT MSS bands, these spectral differences are not apparent in individual or color infrared composite MSS images. The technique developed to enhance these subtle spectral differences combines ratioing of the MSS bands and contrast stretching. Field evaluation of color-ratio composite shows that, after exclusion of alluvial areas, approximately 80% of the green and brown color patterns are related to hydrothermal alteration. The remaining 20% consists mainly of pink hematitic crystallized tuff and tan or red ferruginous shale and siltstone.

Adjusting Wavelet-based Multiresolution Analysis Boundary Conditions for Robust Long-term Streamflow Forecasting Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maslova, I.; Ticlavilca, A. M.; McKee, M.

2012-12-01

There has been an increased interest in wavelet-based streamflow forecasting models in recent years. Often overlooked in this approach are the circularity assumptions of the wavelet transform. We propose a novel technique for minimizing the wavelet decomposition boundary condition effect to produce long-term, up to 12 months ahead, forecasts of streamflow. A simulation study is performed to evaluate the effects of different wavelet boundary rules using synthetic and real streamflow data. A hybrid wavelet-multivariate relevance vector machine model is developed for forecasting the streamflow in real-time for Yellowstone River, Uinta Basin, Utah, USA. The inputs of the model utilize only the past monthly streamflow records. They are decomposed into components formulated in terms of wavelet multiresolution analysis. It is shown that the model model accuracy can be increased by using the wavelet boundary rule introduced in this study. This long-term streamflow modeling and forecasting methodology would enable better decision-making and managing water availability risk.

Boom, Doom and Rocks - The Intersection of Physics, Video Games and Geology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBride, J. H.; Keach, R. W.

2008-12-01

Geophysics is a field that incorporates the rigor of physics with the field methods of geology. The onset and rapid development of the computer games that students play bring new hardware and software technologies that significantly improve our understanding and research capabilities. Together they provide unique insights to the subsurface of the earth in ways only imagined just a few short years ago. 3D geological visualization has become an integral part of many petroleum industry exploration efforts. This technology is now being extended to increasing numbers of universities through grants from software vendors. This talk will explore 3D visualization techniques and how they can be used for both teaching and research. Come see examples of 3D geophysical techniques used to: image the geology of ancient river systems off the coast of Brazil and in the Uinta Basin of Utah, guide archaeological excavations on the side of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy, and to study how volcanoes were formed off the coast of New Zealand.

Evaluation of multispectral middle infrared aircraft images for lithologic mapping the East Tintic Mountains, Utah( USA).

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kahle, A.B.; Rowan, L.C.

1980-01-01

Six channels of moultispectral middle infrared (8 to 14 micrometres) aircraft scanner data were acquired over the East Tintic mining district, Utah. The digital image data were computer processed to create a color-composite image based on principal component transformations. When combined with a visible and near infrared color-composite image from a previous flight, with limited field checking, it is possible to discriminate quartzite, carbonate rocks, quartz latitic and quartz monzonitic rocks, latitic and monzonitic rocks, silicified altered rocks, argillized altered rocks, and vegetation. -from Authors

Stratigraphy and structure of the Sevier thrust belt and proximal foreland-basin system in central Utah: A transect from the Sevier Desert to the Wasatch Plateau

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lawton, T.F.; Sprinkel, D.A.; Decelles, P.G.; Mitra, G.; Sussman, A.J.; Weiss, M.P.

1997-01-01

The Sevier orogenic belt in central Utah comprises four north-northwest trending thrust plates and two structural culminations that record crustal shortening and uplift in late Mesozoic and early Tertiary time. Synorogenic clastic rocks, mostly conglomerate and sandstone, exposed within the thrust belt were deposited in wedge-top and foredeep depozones within the proximal part of the foreland-basin system. The geologic relations preserved between thrust structures and synorogenic deposits demonstrate a foreland-breaking sequence of thrust deformation that was modified by minor out-of-sequence thrust displacement. Structural culminations in the interior part of the thrust belt deformed and uplifted some of the thrust sheets following their emplacement. Strata in the foreland basin indicate that the thrust sheets of central Utah were emplaced between latest Jurassic and Eocene time. The oldest strata of the foredeep depozone (Cedar Mountain Formation) are Neocomian and were derived from the hanging wall of the Canyon Range thrust. The foredeep depozone subsided most rapidly during Albian through Santonian or early Campanian time and accumulated about 2.5 km of conglomeratic strata (Indianola Group). The overlying North Horn Formation accumulated in a wedge-top basin from the Campanian to the Eocene and records propagation of the Gunnison thrust beneath the former foredeep. The Canyon Range Conglomerate of the Canyon Mountains, equivalent to the Indianola Group and the North Horn Formation, was deposited exclusively in a wedge-top setting on the Canyon Range and Pavant thrust sheets. This field trip, a three day, west-to-east traverse of the Sevier orogenic belt in central Utah, visits localities where timing of thrust structures is demonstrated by geometry of cross-cutting relations, growth strata associated with faults and folds, or deformation of foredeep deposits. Stops in the Canyon Mountains emphasize geometry of late structural culminations and relationships of the Canyon Range thrust to growth strata deposited in the wedge-top depozone. Stops in the San Pitch Mountains illustrate deposits of the foredeep depozone and younger, superjacent wedge-top depozone. Stops in the Sanpete Valley and western part of the Wasatch Plateau examine the evolution of the foreland-basin system from foredeep to wedge-top during growth of a triangle zone near the front of the Gunnison thrust.

Geologic and geophysical maps and volcanic history of the Kelton Pass SE and Monument Peak SW Quadrangles, Box Elder County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Felger, Tracey J.; Miller, David; Langenheim, Victoria; Fleck, Robert J.

2016-01-01

The Kelton Pass SE and Monument Peak SW 7.5' quadrangles are located in Box Elder County, northwestern Utah (figure 1; plate 1). The northern boundary of the map area is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) south of the Utah-Idaho border, and the southern boundary reaches the edge of mud flats at the north end of Great Salt Lake. Elevations range from 4218 feet (1286 m) along the mud flats to 5078 feet (1548 m) in the Wildcat Hills. Deep Creek forms a prominent drainage between the Wildcat Hills and Cedar Hill. The closest towns are the ranching communities of Snowville, Utah (10 miles [16 km] to the northeast) (figure 1), and Park Valley, Utah (10 miles [16 km] to the west).The Kelton Pass SE and Monument Peak SW 7.5' quadrangles are located entirely within southern Curlew Valley, which drains south into Great Salt Lake, and extends north of the area shown on figure 1 into Idaho. Curlew Valley is bounded on the west by the Raft River Mountains and on the east by the Hansel Mountains (figure 1). Sedimentary and volcanic bedrock exposures within the quadrangles form the Wildcat Hills, Cedar Hill, and informally named Middle Shield (figure 1). Exposed rocks and deposits are Permian to Holocene in age, and include the Permian quartz sandstone and orthoquartzite of the Oquirrh Formation (Pos), tuffaceous sedimentary rocks of the Miocene Salt Lake Formation (Ts), Pliocene basaltic lava flows (Tb) and dacite (Tdw), Pleistocene rhyolite (Qrw) and basalt (Qb), and Pleistocene and Holocene surficial deposits of alluvial, lacustrine, and eolian origin. Structurally, the map area is situated in the northeastern Basin and Range Province, and is inferred to lie within the hanging wall of the late Miocene detachment faults exposed in the Raft River Mountains to the northwest (e.g., Wells, 1992, 2009; figure 1).This mapping project was undertaken to produce a comprehensive, large-scale geologic map of the Wildcat Hills, as well as to improve understanding of the volcanic and tectonic evolution of southern Curlew Valley. The resultant publication includes a geologic map of the Kelton Pass SE and Monument Peak SW quadrangles (plate 1), two interpretive geologic cross sections (plate 2), new geophysical data and interpretations, and new geochronology data for volcanic units within and near the quadrangles.

Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Eocene Green River Formation, a foundation for calculating recoverable resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Mercier, Tracy

2011-01-01

The recently completed assessment of in-place resources of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado; the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado; and the Greater Green River Basin Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah and their accompanying ArcGIS projects will form the foundation for estimating technically-recoverable resources in those areas. Different estimates will be made for each of the various above-ground and in-situ recovery methodologies currently being developed. Information required for these estimates include but are not limited to (1) estimates of the amount of oil shale that exceeds various grades, (2) overburden calculations, (3) a better understanding of oil shale saline facies, and (4) a better understanding of the distribution of various oil shale mineral facies. Estimates for the first two are on-going, and some have been published. The present extent of the saline facies in all three basins is fairly well understood, however, their original extent prior to ground water leaching has not been studied in detail. These leached intervals, which have enhanced porosity and permeability due to vugs and fractures and contain significant ground water resources, are being studied from available core descriptions. A database of all available xray mineralogy data for the oil shale interval is being constructed to better determine the extents of the various mineral facies. Once these studies are finished, the amount of oil shale with various mineralogical and physical properties will be determined.

Interpretation of a seismic refraction profile across the Roosevelt Hot Springs, Utah and vicinity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gertson, R.C.; Smith, R.B.

1979-03-01

In April 1977, a seismic refraction profile was recorded across the Milford Valley, the Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA, and the northern Mineral Mountains in southwestern Utah. Seven shot points were used to provide multiple subsurface seismic refraction coverage along the 30 km east-west profile line. Since an inspection of power spectrums revealed large components of 60 Hz noise on some traces, computer routines were used to low-pass filter all seismograms. Amplitude information was utilized by normalizing all traces that recorded the same blast. Subsurface structural modeling was conducted by means of first arrival P-wave delay-time analysis and ray tracing. Herglotz-Wiechertmore » travel-time inversion was used for the velocity-depth distribution in the Mineral Mountains. The interpretation of the P-wave travel-times suggests that the Milford Valley fill consists of two units with a total thickness of at least 1.8 km. In the vicinity of the Roosevelt KGRA, a thin low velocity alluvial layer covers a basement igneous complex with a velocity of 5.2 km/s. Granite velocities between 3.3 km/s and 4.0 km/s were calculated from the travel-times in the Mineral Mountains.« less

Earth observations taken during the STS-103 mission

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-12-23

STS103-730-032 (19-27 December 1999) --- One of the astronauts aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Discovery used a handheld 70mm camera to capture the southern to middle Rocky Mountains in low sunlight. The middle Rockies include the Big Horn range of Wyoming (snow capped range almost center of horizon) and the Unita Mountains of northeastern Utah (snow capped range left side of horizon). The southern Rockies includes the Front Range, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Sawatch Ranges, and the San Juan Mountains. The eastern (Front Range, Sangre de Cristo) and western ranges (Sawatch, San Juan's) are separated by intermontane basins. The southernmost basin (near center of the image) is the San Luis Valley of Colorado. On the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Physical characteristics and chemical quality of selected springs in parts of Juab, Millard, Tooele, and Utah counties, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilberg, D.E.; Stolp, B.J.

1985-01-01

Hydrologic, geologic, and partial water quality data were collected at 90 selected springs in west-central Utah, and chemical analyses performed on water samples from 62 of the springs. Descriptions of the physiographic and geologic conditions, climate, and vegetation patterns for the study area are included. Allowable limits of certain chemical constituents in water for human and livestock consumption are included with the water quality data. Three classifications of springs were established based on physical characteristics of the springs, and chemical composition of the springflow: (1) mountain springs; (2) non-thermal valley springs, and (3) thermal valley springs. Mountain springs are in and near recharge areas, have seasonal variations of discharge and temperature, typically discharge from extrusive and metamorphic geohydrologic units, and generally discharge freshwater. Non-thermal valley springs are peripheral to recharge areas, have seasonal variations of discharge and temperature, typically discharge from a variety of geohydrologic units, and have variable water composition. Thermal valley springs are near topographic low areas of valleys , and have little seasonal variation of discharge or temperature. They typically discharge from unconsolidated deposits (but the discharge probably has flowed through buried carbonate geohydrologic units). They also have a considerable range of water composition that reflects the relative complexity of the groundwater system. (Author 's abstract)

Clean and Secure Energy from Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Resources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spinti, Jennifer; Birgenheier, Lauren; Deo, Milind

This report summarizes the significant findings from the Clean and Secure Energy from Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Resources program sponsored by the Department of Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory. There were four principle areas of research; Environmental, legal, and policy issues related to development of oil shale and oil sands resources; Economic and environmental assessment of domestic unconventional fuels industry; Basin-scale assessment of conventional and unconventional fuel development impacts; and Liquid fuel production by in situ thermal processing of oil shale Multiple research projects were conducted in each area and the results have been communicated viamore » sponsored conferences, conference presentations, invited talks, interviews with the media, numerous topical reports, journal publications, and a book that summarizes much of the oil shale research relating to Utah’s Uinta Basin. In addition, a repository of materials related to oil shale and oil sands has been created within the University of Utah’s Institutional Repository, including the materials generated during this research program. Below is a listing of all topical and progress reports generated by this project and submitted to the Office of Science and Technical Information (OSTI). A listing of all peer-reviewed publications generated as a result of this project is included at the end of this report; Geomechanical and Fluid Transport Properties 1 (December, 2015); Validation Results for Core-Scale Oil Shale Pyrolysis (February, 2015); and Rates and Mechanisms of Oil Shale Pyrolysis: A Chemical Structure Approach (November, 2014); Policy Issues Associated With Using Simulation to Assess Environmental Impacts (November, 2014); Policy Analysis of the Canadian Oil Sands Experience (September, 2013); V-UQ of Generation 1 Simulator with AMSO Experimental Data (August, 2013); Lands with Wilderness Characteristics, Resource Management Plan Constraints, and Land Exchanges (March, 2012); Conjunctive Surface and Groundwater Management in Utah: Implications for Oil Shale and Oil Sands Development (May, 2012); Development of CFD-Based Simulation Tools for In Situ Thermal Processing of Oil Shale/Sands (February, 2012); Core-Based Integrated Sedimentologic, Stratigraphic, and Geochemical Analysis of the Oil Shale Bearing Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah (April, 2011); Atomistic Modeling of Oil Shale Kerogens and Asphaltenes Along with their Interactions with the Inorganic Mineral Matrix (April, 2011); Pore Scale Analysis of Oil Shale/Sands Pyrolysis (March, 2011); Land and Resource Management Issues Relevant to Deploying In-Situ Thermal Technologies (January, 2011); Policy Analysis of Produced Water Issues Associated with In-Situ Thermal Technologies (January, 2011); and Policy Analysis of Water Availability and Use Issues for Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Development (March, 2010)« less

A multidisciplinary study of the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Mussentuchit Wash, Utah: a determination of the paleoenvironment and paleoecology of the Eolambia caroljonesa dinosaur quarry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Garrison, J.R.; Brinkman, D.; Nichols, D.J.; Layer, P.; Burge, D.; Thayn, D.

2007-01-01

A quarry within the Cedar Mountain Formation in Mussentuchit Wash, Emery County, Utah, produced a fossil assemblage containing the remains of at least eight juvenile iguanodontid dinosaurs (Eolambia caroljonesa). The Cedar Mountain Formation lies stratigraphically between the Tithonian-Berriasian (Upper Jurassic) Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation and the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) Dakota Formation. Detailed stratigraphic, sedimentological, geochronological, palynological, and paleontological data have been collected along a measured section at the site of the Cifelli #2 Eolambia caroljonesa Quarry. These data provide a chronostratigraphic and a biostratigraphic framework for the Cedar Mountain Formation and allow a detailed reconstruction of the paleoenvironment and the paleoecology of the local paleogeographic area from which E. caroljonesa have been recovered. Three 40Ar/39Ar ages ranging from 96.7 to 98.5 Ma have been obtained three stratigraphically distinct altered volcanic ash layers within the Mussentuchit Member, one of which passes through the E. caroljonesa quarry, that indicate that the quarry is latest Albian in age and that the stratigraphic boundary between the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation and the overlying Dakota Formation is at or near the Albian/Cenomanian boundary. Sedimentological and biostratigraphic data suggest that significant long-term and short-term climatic changes are recorded in the Cedar Mountain Formation. During deposition of the lower part of the formation, climatic conditions were warm and arid to semi-arid. During deposition of the upper part of the formation, conditions became more humid. The progressive change in climatic conditions was probably related to the transgression of the Mowry Sea from the north. Cyclic sedimentation in the Mussentuchit Member suggests high-frequency changes from wet to dry periods. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nonthermal springs of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mundorff, J.C.

1971-01-01

Data are presented for about 4,500 nonthermal springs that discharge in the State of Utah. Most major springs having discharge of several cubic feet per second or more are in or near mountain ranges or plateaus where precipitation is much greater than in other parts of the State. The largest instantaneous discharge observed at any spring was 314 cfs at Mammoth Spring in southwestern Utah.  Discharges exceeding 200 cfs have been observed at Swan Creek Spring in extreme northern Utah, and discharges of 200 cfs have been reported for Big Brush Creek Spring in northeastern Utah. Maximum discharges generally are during or within a few weeks after the main period of snowmelt, which is usually from late April to the middle of June.The largest springs generally discharge form or very near carbonate rocks in which solution channels and fractures are numerous or from areas of porous or fractured volcanic rocks. Most nonthermal springs in Utah probably are variable springs – that is, their variability of discharge exceeds 100 percent.Most of the major springs discharge water that contains less than 500 ppm (parts per million) of dissolved solids, and most of the water is of the calcium bicarbonate type. Water from springs is used for domestic, municipal, irrigation, livestock, mining, and industrial purposes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murphey, P. C.; Daitch, D.; Environmental Science Division

In August 2005, the U.S. Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58. In Section 369 of this Act, also known as the ''Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Other Strategic Unconventional Fuels Act of 2005,'' Congress declared that oil shale and tar sands (and other unconventional fuels) are strategically important domestic energy resources that should be developed to reduce the nation's growing dependence on oil from politically and economically unstable foreign sources. In addition, Congress declared that both research- and commercial-scale development of oil shale and tar sands should (1) be conducted in an environmentally sound mannermore » using management practices that will minimize potential impacts, (2) occur with an emphasis on sustainability, and (3) benefit the United States while taking into account concerns of the affected states and communities. To support this declaration of policy, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a series of steps, several of which are directly related to the development of a commercial leasing program for oil shale and tar sands. One of these steps was the completion of a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) to analyze the impacts of a commercial leasing program for oil shale and tar sands resources on public lands, with an emphasis on the most geologically prospective lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. For oil shale, the scope of the PEIS analysis includes public lands within the Green River, Washakie, Uinta, and Piceance Creek Basins. For tar sands, the scope includes Special Tar Sand Areas (STSAs) located in Utah. This paleontological resources overview report was prepared in support of the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and PEIS, and it is intended to be used by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regional paleontologists and field office staff to support future projectspecific analyses. Additional information about the PEIS can be found at http://ostseis.anl.gov.« less

Origin and microfossils of the oil shale of the Green River formation of Colorado and Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bradley, W.H.

1931-01-01

The Green River formation of Colorado and Utah is a series of lakebeds of middle Eocene age that occupy two broad, shallow, simple, structural basins--the Piceance Creek basin in northwestern Colorado and the Uinta basin in northeastern Utah. The ancient lakes served as a basin for the accumulation of tremendous quantities of aquatic organisms. The predominance of microscopic fresh-water algae and protozoa over the remains of land plants, pollens and spores suggests that the greater part of the organic matter was derived from microorganisms that grew in the lakes. The pollens and spores were carried into the lakes by wind.more » Fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic insect larvae were also plentiful; and turtles, crocodiles, birds, small camels, and insects may have contributed to the organic matter. The ancient lakes apparently were shallow and had a large area, compared with depth. The abundance of organisms and the decaying organic matter produced a strongly reducing environment. Mechanical and chemical action, such as the mastication and digestion of the organic material by bottom-living organisms, caused disintegration of the original organic matter. When the residue was reduced to a gelatinous condition, it apparently resisted further bacterial decay, and other organisms accidently entombed in the gel were protected from disintegration. An accumulation of inorganic material occurred simultaneously with the disintegration of the organic ooze, and the entire mass became lithified. After most of the oil shale was deposited, the lake reverted nearly to the conditions that prevailed during its early stage, when the marlstone and low-grade oil shale of the basal member were formed. The streams in the vicinity of the lake were rejuvenated and carried great quantities of medium- to coarse-grained sand into the basin and formed a thick layer over the lakebeds.« less

Interest focuses on exploratory areas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stremel, K.

1984-10-01

Speculative geophysical programs are underway in sparsely drilled areas throughout the southern Rocky Mountain region. Responding to significant operator interest generated by new production in Nevada, a few contractors are designing programs to establish optimum recording parameters. Geophysical exploration activities in Colorado and Utah are discussed.

Operation of the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory.

DTIC Science & Technology

The report describes the operations of the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory (UBSO) from 1 April 1969 through 30 June 1969. Also discussed is the maintenance of the UBSO digital data acquisition system. (Author)

Operation of the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory.

DTIC Science & Technology

The report describes the operations of the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory (UBSO) from 1 January through 31 March 1969. Also discussed are the maintenance and testing of the UBSO digital data acquisition system. (Author)

Geology and mineral resources of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Oregon and Nevada), the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, and the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada (and Utah) Sagebrush Focal Areas: Chapter B in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vikre, Peter G.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Bleiwas, Donald I.; Colgan, Joseph P.; Cossette, Pamela M.; DeAngelo, Jacob; Dicken, Connie L.; Drake, Ronald M.; du Bray, Edward A.; Fernette, Gregory L.; Glen, Jonathan M.G.; Haacke, Jon E.; Hall, Susan M.; Hofstra, Albert H.; John, David A.; Ludington, Stephen; Mihalasky, Mark J.; Rytuba, James J.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Stillings, Lisa L.; Wallis, John C.; Williams, Colin F.; Yager, Douglas B.; Zürcher, Lukas

2016-10-04

SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpose of the proposed action is to protect the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and its habitat from potential adverse effects of locatable mineral exploration and mining. The U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA) project was initiated in November 2015 and supported by the Bureau of Land Management to (1) assess locatable mineral-resource potential and (2) to describe leasable and salable mineral resources for the seven SFAs and Nevada additions.This chapter summarizes the current status of locatable, leasable, and salable mineral commodities and assesses the potential of selected locatable minerals in lands proposed for withdrawal that span the Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah borders. In this report, the four study areas evaluated were (1) the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex SFA in Washoe County, Nevada, and Harney and Lake Counties, Oregon; (2) the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada SFA in Humboldt County, Nevada, and Harney and Malheur Counties, Oregon; (3) the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada SFA in Cassia, Owyhee, and Twin Falls Counties, Idaho, Elko County, Nevada, and Box Elder County, Utah; and (4) the Nevada additions in Humboldt and Elko Counties, Nevada.

Investigation into seed collection practices and shrub manipulations to improve sustainable seed yield in wildland stands of bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)

Treesearch

F. Leland Roberts

2007-01-01

The Great Basin is a series of unique ecosystems. Starting at the western edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California it stretches east to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. In the north it starts in central Oregon and Idaho and stretches south through out most of Nevada. In all the Great Basin is found in five states of the western U.S. The Great Basin supports...

Space Radar Image of Salt Lake City, Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

This radar image of Salt Lake City, Utah, illustrates the different land use patterns that are present in the Utah Valley. Salt Lake City lies between the shores of the Great Salt Lake (the dark area on the left side of the image) and the Wasatch Front Range (the mountains in the upper half of the image). The Salt Lake City area is of great interest to urban planners because of the combination of lake, valley and alpine environments that coexist in the region. Much of the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake is a waterfowl management area. The green grid pattern in the right center of the image is Salt Lake City and its surrounding communities. The Salt Lake City airport is visible as the brown rectangle near the center of the image. Interstate Highway 15 runs from the middle right edge to the upper left of the image. The bright white patch east of Interstate 15 is the downtown area, including Temple Square and the state capitol. The University of Utah campus is the yellowish area that lies at the base of the mountains, east of Temple Square. The large reservoir in the lower left center is a mine tailings pond. The semi-circular feature in the mountains at the bottom edge of the image is the Kennecott Copper Mine. The area shown is 60 kilometers by 40 kilometers (37 miles by 25 miles) and is centered at 40.6 degrees north latitude, 112.0 degrees west longitude. North is toward the upper left. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 10, 1994. The colors in this image represent the following radar channels and polarizations: red is L-band, horizontally transmitted and received; green is L-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received; and blue is C-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program.

Space Radar Image of Salt Lake City, Utah

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-04-15

This radar image of Salt Lake City, Utah, illustrates the different land use patterns that are present in the Utah Valley. Salt Lake City lies between the shores of the Great Salt Lake (the dark area on the left side of the image) and the Wasatch Front Range (the mountains in the upper half of the image). The Salt Lake City area is of great interest to urban planners because of the combination of lake, valley and alpine environments that coexist in the region. Much of the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake is a waterfowl management area. The green grid pattern in the right center of the image is Salt Lake City and its surrounding communities. The Salt Lake City airport is visible as the brown rectangle near the center of the image. Interstate Highway 15 runs from the middle right edge to the upper left of the image. The bright white patch east of Interstate 15 is the downtown area, including Temple Square and the state capitol. The University of Utah campus is the yellowish area that lies at the base of the mountains, east of Temple Square. The large reservoir in the lower left center is a mine tailings pond. The semi-circular feature in the mountains at the bottom edge of the image is the Kennecott Copper Mine. The area shown is 60 kilometers by 40 kilometers (37 miles by 25 miles) and is centered at 40.6 degrees north latitude, 112.0 degrees west longitude. North is toward the upper left. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 10, 1994. The colors in this image represent the following radar channels and polarizations: red is L-band, horizontally transmitted and received; green is L-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received; and blue is C-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01798

Preliminary isostatic gravity map of the Grouse Creek and east part of the Jackpot 30 by 60 quadrangles, Box Elder County, Utah, and Cassia County, Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, Victoria; Willis, H.; Athens, N.D.; Chuchel, Bruce A.; Roza, J.; Hiscock, H.I.; Hardwick, C.L.; Kraushaar, S.M.; Knepprath, N.E.; Rosario, Jose J.

2013-01-01

A new isostatic residual gravity map of the northwest corner of Utah is based on compilation of preexisting data and new data collected by the Utah and United States Geological Surveys. Pronounced gravity lows occur over Junction, Grouse Creek, and upper Raft River Valleys, indicating significant thickness of low-density Tertiary sedimentary rocks and deposits. Gravity highs coincide with exposures of dense pre-Cenozoic rocks in the Raft River Mountains. Higher values in the eastern part of the map may be produced in part by deeper crustal density variations or crustal thinning. Steep linear gravity gradients coincide with mapped Neogene normal faults near Goose Creek and may define basin-bounding faults concealed beneath Junction and Upper Raft River Valleys.

Comparison of conventional and internally cured concrete bridge decks in Utah : Mountain View corridor project.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-12-01

The objectives of this research were to 1) monitor in-situ moisture and diffusivity for both conventional concrete : and concrete containing pre-wetted lightweight fine aggregate (LWFA), 2) compare deck performance in terms of : early-age cracking, c...

Assessment of potential migration of radionuclides and trace elements from the White Mesa uranium mill to the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation and surrounding areas, southeastern Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naftz, David L.; Ranalli, Anthony J.; Rowland, Ryan C.; Marston, Thomas M.

2011-01-01

In 2007, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe requested that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Geological Survey conduct an independent evaluation of potential offsite migration of radionuclides and selected trace elements associated with the ore storage and milling process at an active uranium mill site near White Mesa, Utah. Specific objectives of this study were (1) to determine recharge sources and residence times of groundwater surrounding the mill site, (2) to determine the current concentrations of uranium and associated trace elements in groundwater surrounding the mill site, (3) to differentiate natural and anthropogenic contaminant sources to groundwater resources surrounding the mill site, (4) to assess the solubility and potential for offsite transport of uranium-bearing minerals in groundwater surrounding the mill site, and (5) to use stream sediment and plant material samples from areas surrounding the mill site to identify potential areas of offsite contamination and likely contaminant sources.

New Basal Iguanodonts from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah and the Evolution of Thumb-Spiked Dinosaurs

PubMed Central

McDonald, Andrew T.; Kirkland, James I.; DeBlieux, Donald D.; Madsen, Scott K.; Cavin, Jennifer; Milner, Andrew R. C.; Panzarin, Lukas

2010-01-01

Background Basal iguanodontian dinosaurs were extremely successful animals, found in great abundance and diversity almost worldwide during the Early Cretaceous. In contrast to Europe and Asia, the North American record of Early Cretaceous basal iguanodonts has until recently been limited largely to skulls and skeletons of Tenontosaurus tilletti. Methodology/Principal Findings Herein we describe two new basal iguanodonts from the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah, each known from a partial skull and skeleton. Iguanacolossus fortis gen. et sp. nov. and Hippodraco scutodens gen. et sp. nov. are each diagnosed by a single autapomorphy and a unique combination of characters. Conclusions/Significance Iguanacolossus and Hippodraco add greatly to our knowledge of North American basal iguanodonts and prompt a new comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of basal iguanodont relationships. This analysis indicates that North American Early Cretaceous basal iguanodonts are more basal than their contemporaries in Europe and Asia. PMID:21124919

The Colorado River

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

This Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) true-color image shows the passage of the Colorado River through several southwestern states. The river begins, in this image, in Utah at the far upper right, where Lake Powell is visible as dark pixels surrounded by the salmon-colored rocks of the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado flows southwest through Glen Canyon, to the Glen Canyon Dam, on the Utah-Arizona border. From there it flows south into Arizona, and then turns sharply west where the Grand Canyon of the Colorado cuts through the mountains. The Colorado flows west to the Arizona-Nevada (upper left) border, where it is dammed again, this time by the Hoover Dam. The dark-colored pixels surrounding the bend in the river are Lake Mead. The river flows south along the border of first Nevada and Arizona and then California and Arizona. The Colorado River, which begins in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, empties into the Gulf of California, seen at the bottom center of this image.

Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and Lake Mead

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

A snowfall in the American West provides contrast to the landscape's muted earth tones and indicates changes in topography and elevation across (clockwise from top left) Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In Utah, the southern ranges of the Wasatch Mountains are covered in snow, and the Colorado River etches a dark ribbon across the red rock of the Colorado Plateau. In the center of the image is the reservoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam. To the east are the gray-colored slopes of Navaho Mountain, and to the southeast, dusted with snow is the region called Black Mesa. Southwest of Glen Canyon, the Colorado enters the Grand Canyon, which cuts westward through Arizona. At a deep bend in the river, the higher elevations of the Keibab Plateau have held onto snow. At the end of the Grand Canyon lies another large reservoir, Lake Mead, which is formed by the Hoover Dam. Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Water resources and potential hydrologic effects of oil-shale development in the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindskov, K.L.; Kimball, B.A.

1984-01-01

Proposed oil-shale mining in northeastern Utah is expected to impact the water resources of a 3,000-square-mile area. This report summarizes a comprehensive hydrologic investigation of the area which resulted in 13 published reports. Hydrologic information obtained during 1974-80 was used to evaluate the availability of water and to evaluate potential impacts of an oil-shale industry on the water resources.The study area is the southeastern part of the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, where the hydrology is extremely variable. The normal annual precipitation averages 11 inches and varies with altitude. It ranges from less than 8 inches at altitudes below 5,000 feet along the White and Green Rivers to more than 20 inches where altitudes exceed 9,000 feet on the Roan Plateau.The White and Green Rivers are large streams that flow through the area. They convey an average flow of 4.3 million acre-feet per year from outside drainage areas of about 34,000 square miles, which is more than 150 times as much flow as that originating within the area. Streams originating in areas where precipitation is less than 10 inches are ephemeral. Mean annual runoff from the study area is about 28,000 acre-feet and ranges from less than 0.1 to 1.6 inches, depending on the location. At any given site, runoff varies greatly-from year to year and season to season. Potential evapotranspiration is large, exceeding precipitation in all years. Three major aquifers occur in the area. They are alluvial deposits of small areal extent along the major stream valleys; the bird's-nest aquifer of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation, which is limited to the central part of the study area; and the Douglas Creek aquifer of the Douglas Creek Member of the Green River Formation, which underlies most of the area. Total recoverable water in storage in the three aquifers is about 18 million acre-feet. Yields of individual wells and interference between wells limit the maximum practical withdrawal to about 20,000 acre-feet per year.An oil-shale industry in the southeastern Uinta Basin with a peak production of 400,000 barrels of oil per day would require a water supply of about 70,000 acre-feet per year. Sources of water supply considered for such an industry were: diversion from the natural flow of the White River, a proposed reservoir on the White River, diversion from the White River combined with proposed off-stream storage in Hells Hole Canyon, diversion from the Green River, and conjunctive use of ground and surface water.The proposed reservoir on the White River would trap about 90 percent of the sediment moving in the river and in turn would release almost sediment-free water. Possible impacts are changes in channel gradient in the downstream 18 miles of the White River and changes in bank stability. In some parts of the area, annual sheet-erosion rates are as great as 2.2 acre-feet per square mile but sediment yield to the White River is less than might be expected because the runoff is small. If process water from retort operations or water used in the construction of surface facilities is discharged into a normally dry streambed, increased channel erosion and sediment in tributary streams could result in increased sediment loads in the White River. In addition, sediment yields from retorted-shale piles with minimum slopes could exceed 0.1 acrefoot per square mile during a common storm. Thus, without safeguards, the useful life of any proposed reservoir or holding pond could be decreased considerably.Leachate water from retorted-shale piles has large concentrations of sodium and sulfate, and the chemical composition of retort waters differs considerably from that of the natural waters of the area. The retort waters contain a greater concentration of dissolved solids and more organic carbon and nutrients. Without proper disposal or impoundment of retort and leachate waters, the salinity of downstream waters in the Colorado River Basin would be increased.

Letters to the New Mexico congressional delegation regarding the long-term monitoring activities and claims for reimbursement

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Feb. 23, 2016: added letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

Weather Support for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horel, J.; Potter, T.; Dunn, L.; Steenburgh, W. J.; Eubank, M.; Splitt, M.; Onton, D. J.

2002-02-01

The 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be hosted by Salt Lake City, Utah, during February-March 2002. Adverse weather during this period may delay sporting events, while snow and ice-covered streets and highways may impede access by the athletes and spectators to the venues. While winter snowstorms and other large-scale weather systems typically have widespread impacts throughout northern Utah, hazardous winter weather is often related to local terrain features (the Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake are the most prominent ones). Examples of such hazardous weather include lake-effect snowstorms, ice fog, gap winds, downslope windstorms, and low visibility over mountain passes.A weather support system has been developed to provide weather information to the athletes, games officials, spectators, and the interested public around the world. This system is managed by the Salt Lake Olympic Committee and relies upon meteorologists from the public, private, and academic sectors of the atmospheric science community. Weather forecasting duties will be led by National Weather Service forecasters and a team of private, weather forecasters organized by KSL, the Salt Lake City NBC television affiliate. Other government agencies, commercial firms, and the University of Utah are providing specialized forecasts and support services for the Olympics. The weather support system developed for the 2002 Winter Olympics is expected to provide long-term benefits to the public through improved understanding,monitoring, and prediction of winter weather in the Intermountain West.

Liquid-Rich Shale Potential of Utah’s Uinta and Paradox Basins: Reservoir Characterization and Development Optimization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanden Berg, Michael; Morgan, Craig; Chidsey, Thomas

The enclosed report is the culmination of a multi-year and multi-faceted research project investigating Utah’s unconventional tight oil potential. From the beginning, the project team focused efforts on two different plays: (1) the basal Green River Formation’s (GRF) Uteland Butte unconventional play in the Uinta Basin and (2) the more established but understudied Cane Creek shale play in the Paradox Basin. The 2009-2014 high price of crude oil, coupled with lower natural gas prices, generated renewed interest in exploration and development of liquid hydrocarbon reserves. Following the success of the mid-2000s shale gas boom and employing many of the samemore » well completion techniques, petroleum companies started exploring for liquid petroleum in shale formations. In fact, many shales targeted for natural gas include areas in which the shale is more prone to liquid production. In Utah, organic-rich shales in the Uinta and Paradox Basins have been the source of significant hydrocarbon generation, with companies traditionally targeting the interbedded sands or carbonates for their conventional resource recovery. Because of the advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, operators in these basins started to explore the petroleum production potential of the shale units themselves. The GRF in the Uinta Basin has been studied for over 50 years, since the first hydrocarbon discoveries. However, those studies focused on the many conventional sandstone reservoirs currently producing oil and gas. In contrast, less information was available about the more unconventional crude oil production potential of thinner carbonate/shale units, most notably the basal Uteland Butte member. The Cane Creek shale of the Paradox Basin has been a target for exploration periodically since the 1960s and produces oil from several small fields. The play generated much interest in the early 1990s with the successful use of horizontal drilling. Recently, the USGS assessed the undiscovered oil resource in the Cane Creek shale of the Paradox Basin at 103 million barrels at a 95 percent confidence level and 198 million barrels at a 50 percent confidence level. Nonetheless, limited research was available or published to further define the play and the reservoir characteristics. The specific objectives of the enclosed research were to (1) characterize geologic, geochemical, and geomechanical rock properties of target zones in the two designated basins by compiling data and by analyzing available cores, cuttings, and well logs; (2) describe outcrop reservoir analogs of GRF plays (Cane Creek shale is not exposed) and compare them to subsurface data; (3) map major regional trends for targeted intervals and identify “sweet spots” that have the greatest oil potential; (4) reduce exploration costs and drilling risks, especially in environmentally sensitive areas; (5) improve drilling and fracturing effectiveness by determining optimal well completion design; and (6) reduce field development costs, maximize oil recovery, and increase reserves. These objectives are all addressed in a series of nine publications that resulted from this extensive research project. Each publication is included in this report as an independent appendix.« less

76 FR 39434 - Notice of Utah's Resource Advisory Council (RAC)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-06

... wildlife, livestock water quality, and recreational opportunities of ``time control'' grazing. A... protocol. The conference call with Director Abbey will take place from 1-1:45 p.m. (Mountain Time). A half.... All meetings are open to the public; however, transportation, lodging, and meals are the...

Regional geophysics of western Utah and eastern Nevada, with emphasis on the Confusion Range

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mankinen, Edward A.; Rowley, Peter D.; Dixon, Gary L.; McKee, Edwin H.

2016-01-01

As befits its name, the geology of the Confusion Range of Utah has been a point of contention for many years, so we looked at it in greater detail in the course of our regional study. The northern part of the range is underlain by a large gravity high, which continues south through the Conger Range, Burbank Hills, and northern Mountain Home Range. This is the "structural trough" reported in the literature that was mapped as the axial part of a Sevier synclinorium and contains the maximum thickness (7 km) of high-density carbonates in the area, thus the largest high gravity anomaly.

40 CFR 81.351 - Wyoming.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County Washakie County... Park County Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County... PSD Baseline Area—Powder River Basin. Campbell County (part), That areabounded by NW1/4 of Section 27...

40 CFR 81.351 - Wyoming.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County Washakie County... Park County Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County... PSD Baseline Area—Powder River Basin. Campbell County (part), That areabounded by NW1/4 of Section 27...

40 CFR 81.351 - Wyoming.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County Washakie County... Park County Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County... PSD Baseline Area—Powder River Basin. Campbell County (part), That areabounded by NW1/4 of Section 27...

40 CFR 81.351 - Wyoming.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County Washakie County... Park County Platte County Sheridan County Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County... PSD Baseline Area—Powder River Basin. Campbell County (part), That areabounded by NW1/4 of Section 27...

State geothermal commercialization programs in ten Rocky Mountain states. Semi-annual progress report, July-December 1979

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Griffith, J.L.

The activities and findings of the ten state teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range Regional Hydrothermal Commercialization Program for the period are described. A summary of the state projects, compilation of project accomplishments, summary of findings, and a description of the major conclusions and recommendations are presented. Also included are chapters on the commercialization activities carried out by individual teams in each state: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New-Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. (MHR)

Petrography and stratigraphy of productive beds in the Morgan Formation, Church Buttes Unit No. 19, southwest Wyoming

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Picard, M.D.

1977-01-01

The combination stratigraphic and structural traps in the Morgan Formation of Pennsylvanian age of Church Buttes, Butcher Knife, and Bruff that produce gas and condensate are directly related to folding of the Church Buttes Arch in SW. Wyoming and NE. Utah. Present knowledge indicates that the Morgan gas and condensate originated in source beds in the lower Morgan formation west of the present Church Buttes Arch and were trapped mainly in porous barrier deposits in the Morgan. Folding of the Church Buttes Arch liberated these accumulations and they migrated updip in their present traps. This work summarizes the sedimentary petrographymore » of the productive beds in the Morgan Formation at the Church Buttes Unit No. 19 (SEC. 8, T 16 N, R 112 W), Uinta County, Wyoming. The stratigraphy is outlined for the whole region and the productive interval at Church Buttes is correlated with other rock units. Nearly all of the rocks studied are dolomite, which is difficult to interpret because of pronounced diagenesis. 33 references.« less

Detection and mapping of mineralized areas in the Cortez-Uinta Belt, Utah-Nevada, using computer-enhanced ERTS imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowan, L. C. (Principal Investigator)

1976-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Preliminary analysis indicates that mineralogical differences between altered rocks and most unaltered rocks in south-central Nevada cause visible and near infrared spectral reflectance differences, which can be used to discriminate these broad categories of rocks in multispectral images. The most important mineralogical differences are the increased abundance of goethite, hematite, and jarosite, and the presence of alunite, montmorillonite, and kaolinite in the altered rock. The technique to enhance subtle spectral differences combines ratioing of the MSS bands and contrast stretching. The stretched ratio values are used to produce black and white images that depict materials according to spectral reflectance; rationing minimizes the influence of topography and overall albedo on the grouping of spectrally similar materials. Field evaluation of color-ratio composite shows that, excluding alluvial areas, approximately 80 percent of the green and brown color patterns are related to hydrothermal alternation. The remaining 20 percent consists mainly of pink hematitic crystallized tuff, a result of vapor phase crystallization, and of tan and red ferruginous shale and siltstone.

Uinta Basin Pneumatic Controller Research Project: Industry meeting slides

EPA Science Inventory

Upstream oil and natural gas (ONG) production has increased significantly within Utah’s Uinta & Ouray (U&O) Basin and across the United States over the last decade. ONG extraction and production activities can co-emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a subset of which consists...

40 CFR 81.351 - Wyoming.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Teton County Uinta County Washakie County Weston County 1 This date is November 15, 1990, unless... Sublette County Sweetwater County Teton County Uinta County Washakie County Weston County 1 This date is... Hampshire Energy Area, and the Kennecott/Puron PSD Baseline Area—Powder River Basin. Campbell County (part...

Simulations of the origin of fluid pressure, fracture gen­ eration, and the movement of fluids in the Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bredehoeft, J.D.; Wesley, J.B.; Fouch, T.D.

1994-01-01

The Altamont oil field in the deep Uinta basin is known to have reservoir fluid pressures that approach lithostatic. One explanation for this high pore-fluid pressure is the generation of oil from kerogen in the Green River oil shale at depth. A three-dimensional simulation of flow in the basin was done to test this hypothesis.In the flow simulation, oil generation is included as a fluid source. The kinetics of oil generation from oil shale is a function of temperature. The temperature is controlled by (1) the depth of sediment burial and (2) the geothermal gradient.Using this conceptual model, the pressure buildup results from the trade-off between the rate of oil generation and the flow away from the source volume. The pressure increase depends primarily on (1) the rate of the oil-generation reaction and (2) the permeability of the reservoir rocks. A sensitivity analysis was performed in which both of these parameters were systematically varied. The reservoir permeability must be lower than most of the observed data for the pressure to build up to near lithostatic.The results of the simulations indicated that once oil generation was initiated, the pore pressure built up rapidly to near lithostatic. We simulated hydrofractures in that part of the system in which the pressures approach lithostatic by increasing both the horizontal and the vertical permeability by an order of magnitude. Because the simulated hydrofractures were produced by the high pore pressure, they were restricted to the Altamont field. A new flow system was established in the vicinity of the reservoir; the maximum pore pressure was limited by the least principal stress. Fluids moved vertically up and down and laterally outward away from the source of oil generation. The analysis indicated that, assuming that one is willing to accept the low values of permeability, oil generati n can account for the observed high pressures at Altamont field.

Architecture and Channel-Belt Clustering in the Fluvial lower Wasatch Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisel, J. R.; Pyles, D. R.; Bracken, B.; Rosenbaum, C. D.

2013-12-01

The Eocene lower Wasatch Formation of the Uinta Basin contains exceptional outcrops of low net-sand content (27% sand) fluvial strata. This study quantitatively documents the stratigraphy of a 7 km wide by 300 meter thick strike-oriented outcrop in order to develop a quantitative data base that can be used to improve our knowledge of how some fluvial systems evolve over geologic time scales. Data used to document the outcrop are: (1) 550 meters of decimeter to half meter scale resolution stratigraphic columns that document grain size and physical sedimentary structures; (2) detailed photopanels used to document architectural style and lithofacies types in the outcrop; (3) thickness, width, and spatial position for all channel belts in the outcrop, and (4) directional measurements of paleocurrent indicators. Two channel-belt styles are recognized: lateral and downstream accreting channel belts; both of which occur as either single or multi-story. Floodplain strata are well exposed and consist of overbank fines and sand-rich crevasse splay deposits. Key upward and lateral characteristics of the outcrop documented herein are the following. First, the shapes of 243 channels are documented. The average width, thickness and aspect ratios of the channel belts are 110 m, 7 m, and 16:1, respectively. Importantly, the size and shape of channel belts does not change upward through the 300 meter transect. Second, channels are documented to spatially cluster. 9 clusters are documented using a spatial statistic. Key upward patterns in channel belt clustering are a marked change from non-amalgamated isolated channel-belt clusters to amalgamated channel-belt clusters. Critically, stratal surfaces can be correlated from mudstone units within the clusters to time-equivalent floodplain strata adjacent to the cluster demonstrating that clusters are not confined within fluvial valleys. Finally, proportions of floodplain and channel belt elements underlying clusters and channel belts vary with the style of clusters and channel belts laterally and vertically within the outcrop.

Circles, Trees, and Bears: Symbols of Power of the Weenuche Ute

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPherson, Robert S.

2012-01-01

The Ute community of White Mesa, comprised of approximately 315 people, sits in the corner of southeastern Utah, eleven miles outside of Blanding. The residents, primarily of Weenuche Ute and Paiute ancestry, enjoy a cultural heritage that embraces elements from plains, mountain, and desert/Great Basin Indian culture. Among their religious…

Notice of release for Eagle Germplasm western yarrow (selected germplasm, natural track)

Treesearch

Scott M. Lambert; Stephen B. Monsen; Nancy Shaw

2011-01-01

The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station; United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Office; Utah State University, Agricultural Experiment Station; and University of Idaho, Agricultural Experiment Station, announce the release of a selected germplasm (natural track) of western...

The Last Five Years of the Millennium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vickerman, Kathrine D.

This document presents the history of the last five years (1996-2000) of the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association (MPAEA) through summaries and photos of the yearly conferences held between 1996 and 2000. The MPAEA, which includes adult education leaders from the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming,…

The Voice of Our History, 1945-1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vickerman, Kathrine D.

This document presents the history of the first 50 years (1945-95) of the Mountain Plains Adult Education Association (MPAEA). The MPAEA, which includes adult education leaders from the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, strives to ensure that every adult is prepared for a lifetime of learning and…

Explosive-residue compounds resulting from snow avalanche control in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naftz, David L.; Kanagy, Leslie K.; Susong, David D.; Wydoski, Duane S.; Kanagy, Christopher J.

2003-01-01

A snow avalanche is a powerful force of nature that can play a significant role in developing mountain landscapes (Perla and Martinelli, 1975). More importantly, loss of life can occur when people are caught in the path of snow avalanches (Grossman, 1999). Increasing winter recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and climbing in mountainous areas, has increased the likelihood of people encountering snow avalanches (fig. 1). Explosives are used by most ski areas and State highway departments throughout the Western United States to control the release of snow avalanches, thus minimizing the loss of human life during winter recreation and highway travel (fig. 2).Common explosives used for snow avalanche control include trinitrotoluene (TNT), pentaerythritoltetranitrate (PETN), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), tetrytol, ammonium nitrate, and nitroglycerin (Perla and Martinelli, 1975). During and after snowfall or wind loading of potential avalanche slopes, ski patrollers and Utah Department of Transportation personnel deliver explosive charges onto predetermined targets to artificially release snow avalanches, thereby rendering the slope safer for winter activities. Explosives can be thrown by hand onto target zones or shot from cannons for more remote delivery of explosive charges. Hand-delivered charges typically contain about 2 pounds of TNT or its equivalent (Perla and Martinelli, 1975).Depending on the size of the ski area, acreage of potential avalanche terrain, and weather conditions, the annual quantity of explosives used during a season of snow avalanche control can be substantial. For example, the three ski areas of Alta, Snowbird, and Brighton, plus the Utah Department of Transportation, may use as many as 11,200 hand charges per year (Wasatch Powderbird Guides, unpub. data, 1999) for snow avalanche control in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons (fig. 3). If each charge is assumed to weigh 2 pounds, this equates to about 22,400 pounds of explosive hand charges per year. In addition, 2,240 to 3,160 Avalauncher rounds and 626 to 958 military artillery rounds (explosive mass not specified) are used each year by the three ski areas and the Utah Department of Transportation for snow avalanche control in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons (Wasatch Powderbird Guides, unpub. data, 1999). The other ski area in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brighton, uses about 2,000 pounds of explosives per year for snow avalanche control (Michele Weidner, Cirrus Ecological Solutions consultant, written commun., 2001).

Assessment of geothermal resources at Newcastle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blackett, Robert E.; Shubat, Michael A.; Chapman, David S.; Forster, Craig B.; Schlinger, Charles M.

1989-01-01

Integrated geology, geophysics, and geochemistry studies in the Newcastle area of southwest Utah are used to develop a conceptual geologic model of a blind, moderate-temperature hydrothermal system. Studies using 12 existing and 12 new, thermal gradient test holes, in addition to geologic mapping, gravity surveys, and other investigations have helped define the thermal regime. Preliminary results indicate that the up-flow region is located near the west-facing escarpment of an adjacent mountain range, probably related to the bounding range-front fault. Chemical geothermometers suggest equilibration temperatures ranging from 140??C to 170??C. The highest temperature recorded in the system is 130??C from an exploration well drilled by the Unocal Corporation.

Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model for Simulating Winter Ozone Formation in the Uinta Basin.

EPA Science Inventory

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) models were used to simulate a 10 day high‐ozone episode observed during the 2013 Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS). The baseline model had a large negative bias when compared to ozo...

Orographic precipitation, wind-blown snow, and landscape evolution in glaciated mountain ranges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brocklehurst, S. H.; Rowan, A. V.; Plummer, M. A.; Foster, D.; Schultz, D. M.; MacGregor, K. R.

2011-12-01

Orographic precipitation and wind-blown snow appear to significantly influence the evolution of glaciated mountain ranges, and in narrow ranges the effect is opposite from orographic precipitation in non-glaciated ranges. While fluvially-eroded ranges tend to be exhumed more on the windward side, glacially-eroded ranges can experience greater erosion on the leeward side. On the timescale of an individual glaciation, the distribution of precipitation and settling is a key component of glacier mass balance and ice extent, while on longer timescales, the interaction of precipitation and topography can play a major role in landscape evolution and range morphology. Numerical modelling of last glacial maximum (LGM) ice extents for catchments on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, highlights the importance of the distribution of precipitation. The accumulation areas of the glaciers would have experienced much greater precipitation than lower elevations, because of the pronounced orographic precipitation gradient, so glacier length is very sensitive to the precipitation distribution employed for any given temperature change. This is particularly challenging given the lack of modern snow monitoring at high altitudes within the Southern Alps, the likelihood of steep accumulation gradients amongst high topography, below the resolution of current datasets, and the difficulty of extrapolating modern values to the LGM. The Sangre de Cristo Range, southern Colorado, and the Bitterroot Range on the Idaho-Montana border both run close to north-south, cross-cutting the prevailing westerly winds. Drainage basins on both sides of the ranges cover similar areas, but moraines are much more substantial on the eastern sides, indicating greater glacial incision, which we suggest at least partly reflects snow blown over the range crest. The Uinta Mountains, Utah, run west-east, parallel to prevailing winds, and show topographic asymmetry across individual catchments, rather than at the range scale. Rapid rock uplift and significant glacial erosion of the north-south Teton Range, Wyoming, has created some of the highest relief in the conterminous US. While an initial topographic asymmetry would have arisen from the tectonic gradient imposed by the extensional Teton Fault on the east side of the range, the topographic asymmetry would have been exaggerated by feedbacks associated with glacial erosion. Slowly-falling snow would have been advected further into the range by prevailing westerlies, which would also have redistributed fallen snow from the subdued topography typical of the headwaters of west-draining basins. Greater topographic shading and cover by rock debris would have mitigated ablation of eastern glaciers bounded by high valley walls. Glacier size, ice flux and erosion would therefore have been enhanced in eastern-draining basins, though only the largest glaciers were capable of eroding at rates that kept pace with rock uplift. Preliminary numerical modelling results are consistent with these inferences of the importance of orographic precipitation and wind-blown snow based on topographic analysis.

An integrated environmental tracer approach to characterizing groundwater circulation in a mountain block

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manning, Andrew H.; Solomon, D. Kip

2005-01-01

The subsurface transfer of water from a mountain block to an adjacent basin (mountain block recharge (MBR)) is a commonly invoked mechanism of recharge to intermountain basins. However, MBR estimates are highly uncertain. We present an approach to characterize bulk fluid circulation in a mountain block and thus MBR that utilizes environmental tracers from the basin aquifer. Noble gas recharge temperatures, groundwater ages, and temperature data combined with heat and fluid flow modeling are used to identify clearly improbable flow regimes in the southeastern Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and adjacent Wasatch Mountains. The range of possible MBR rates is reduced by 70%. Derived MBR rates (5.5–12.6 × 104 m3 d−1) are on the same order of magnitude as previous large estimates, indicating that significant MBR to intermountain basins is plausible. However, derived rates are 50–100% of the lowest previous estimate, meaning total recharge is probably less than previously thought.

Potential impacts to perennial springs from tar sand mining, processing, and disposal on the Tavaputs Plateau, Utah, USA.

PubMed

Johnson, William P; Frederick, Logan E; Millington, Mallory R; Vala, David; Reese, Barbara K; Freedman, Dina R; Stenten, Christina J; Trauscht, Jacob S; Tingey, Christopher E; Kip Solomon, D; Fernandez, Diego P; Bowen, Gabriel J

2015-11-01

Similar to fracking, the development of tar sand mining in the U.S. has moved faster than understanding of potential water quality impacts. Potential water quality impacts of tar sand mining, processing, and disposal to springs in canyons incised approximately 200 m into the Tavaputs Plateau, at the Uinta Basin southern rim, Utah, USA, were evaluated by hydrogeochemical sampling to determine potential sources of recharge, and chemical thermodynamic estimations to determine potential changes in transfer of bitumen compounds to water. Because the ridgetops in an area of the Tavaputs Plateau named PR Spring are starting to be developed for their tar sand resource, there is concern for potential hydrologic connection between these ridgetops and perennial springs in adjacent canyons on which depend ranching families, livestock, wildlife and recreationalists. Samples were collected from perennial springs to examine possible progression with elevation of parameters such as temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, isotopic tracers of phase change, water-rock interaction, and age since recharge. The groundwater age dates indicate that the springs are recharged locally. The progression of hydrogeochemical parameters with elevation, in combination with the relatively short groundwater residence times, indicate that the recharge zone for these springs includes the surrounding ridges, and thereby suggests a hydrologic connection between the mining, processing, disposal area and the springs. Estimations based on chemical thermodynamic approaches indicate that bitumen compounds will have greatly enhanced solubility in water that comes into contact with the residual bitumen-solvent mixture in disposed tailings relative to water that currently comes into contact with natural tar. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Landscape Documentary: Unveiling the Face of "Wasteland."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denton, Craig L.

This paper outlines the process of a photographic landscape documentary project which set out to unveil the face of Utah's West Desert (a 42,000 square-mile, sparsely-populated, broad, rugged land of salt bed "playas" and high mountain ranges) comprising one-third of the state and which hoped to make the West Desert, recently under…

Propagation protocol for production of Lomatium grayi (J. M. Coult. and Rose) seeds

Treesearch

Derek Tilley; Loren St. John; Dan Ogle; Nancy Shaw

2012-01-01

Gray's biscuitroot occurs in Northwest North America, primarily from the Cascade and Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. There are two populations in British Columbia, Canada where it is considered a threatened species. Seed matures in July into August. Wildland seed disarticulates...

State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain States. Semi-annual progress report, January-June 1980

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tuttle, J.; Coe, B.A.; Gertsch, W.D.

The following are included: a summary of the state projects, a summary of findings, public outreach, and a description of the major conclusions and recommendations. The commercialization activities carried out by the state teams are described for Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. (MHR)

Ecology of pinon-juniper vegetation in the Southwest and Great Basin

Treesearch

Rex D. Pieper

2008-01-01

Pinon-juniper vegetation is conspicuous in foothills surrounding most mountain ranges in the Great Basin and the Southwest. Utah has the largest percentage of pinon-juniper vegetation, followed by New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Although pinon-juniper stands may appear to be similar, the vegetation component varies. The most abundant junipers are Juniperus...

The aspen mortality summit; December 18 and 19, 2006; Salt Lake City, UT

Treesearch

Dale L. Bartos; Wayne D. Shepperd

2010-01-01

The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station sponsored an aspen summit meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on December 18 and19, 2006, to discuss the rapidly increasing mortality of aspen (Populus tremuloides) throughout the western United States. Selected scientists, university faculty, and managers from Federal, State, and non-profit agencies with experience...

75 FR 25876 - Notice of Intent To Prepare Resource Management Plans for the Beaver Dam Wash and Red Cliffs...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-10

... personnel; Federal, state, and local agencies; and other stakeholders. The issues include: Air quality... of the Sand Mountain Special Recreation Management Area will remain Open under all alternatives of the plan amendment, consistent with the agreement for joint management by the State of Utah's Sand...

Snowpack regimes of the Western United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trujillo, Ernesto; Molotch, Noah P.

2014-07-01

Snow accumulation and melt patterns play a significant role in the water, energy, carbon, and nutrient cycles in the montane environments of the Western United States. Recent studies have illustrated that changes in the snow/rainfall apportionments and snow accumulation and melt patterns may occur as a consequence of changes in climate in the region. In order to understand how these changes may affect the snow regimes of the region, the current characteristics of the snow accumulation and melt patterns must be identified. Here we characterize the snow water equivalent (SWE) curve formed by the daily SWE values at 766 snow pillow stations in the Western United States, focusing on several metrics of the yearly SWE curves and the relationships between the different metrics. The metrics are the initial snow accumulation and snow disappearance dates, the peak snow accumulation and date of peak, the length of the snow accumulation season, the length of the snowmelt season, and the snow accumulation and snowmelt slopes. Three snow regimes emerge from these results: a maritime, an intermountain, and a continental regime. The maritime regime is characterized by higher maximum snow accumulations reaching 300 cm and shorter accumulation periods of less than 220 days. Conversely, the continental regime is characterized by lower maximum accumulations below 200 cm and longer accumulation periods reaching over 260 days. The intermountain regime lies in between. The regions that show the characteristics of the maritime regime include the Cascade Mountains, the Klamath Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The intermountain regime includes the Eastern Cascades slopes and foothills, the Blue Mountains, Northern and Central basins and ranges, the Columbia Mountains/Northern Rockies, the Idaho Batholith, and the Canadian Rockies. Lastly, the continental regime includes the Middle and Southern Rockies, and the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The implications of snow regime classification are discussed in the context of possible changes in accumulation and melt patterns associated with regional warming.

A high ozone episode in winter 2013 in the Uinta Basin oil and gas region characterized by aircraft measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oltmans, S. J.; Karion, A.; Schnell, R. C.; Pétron, G.; Sweeney, C.; Wolter, S.; Neff, D.; Montzka, S. A.; Miller, B. R.; Helmig, D.; Johnson, B. J.; Hueber, J.

2014-08-01

During the winter of 2012-2013 atmospheric surface ozone mole fractions exceeded the US 8 h standard of 75 ppb on 39 days in the Uinta Basin of Utah. As part of the Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) aircraft flights were conducted throughout the basin with continuous measurements of ozone (O3), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and discrete whole air flask samples for determination of ∼50 trace gases including a number of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs). During the course of seven flights conducted between 31 January and 7 February 2013, coinciding with strong, multi-day temperature inversions, O3 levels gradually built up in the shallow boundary layer from ∼45 ppb to ∼140 ppb. Near-surface CH4 mole fractions increased during the episode from near background levels of ∼2 ppm to over 10 ppm. Based on elevated levels of CH4 across the basin and high correlations of CH4 with NMHCs from the discrete air samples, O3 precursor NMHCs were also inferred to be elevated throughout the basin. Discrete plumes of high NO2 were observed in the gas production region of the basin suggesting that gas processing plants and compressor facilities were important point sources of reactive nitrogen oxides (NOx). Vertical profiles obtained during the flights showed that the high O3 mole fractions (as well as other elevated constituents) were confined to a shallow layer from near the ground to 300-400 m above ground level (m a.g.l.) capped by a strong temperature inversion. The highest mole fractions of the measured constituents during the study period were in an isothermal cold layer that varied from ∼300 m depth on 4 February to ∼150 m on 5 February. A gradient layer with declining mole fractions with altitude extended above the isothermal layer to ∼1900 m a.s.l. (300-400 m a.g.l.) indicative of some mixing of air out of the boundary layer. O3 mole fractions continued to increase within the basin as the high O3 episode developed over the course of a week. CH4 mole fractions, on the other hand, leveled off after several days. On several flights, the aircraft sampled the plume of a coal-fired power plant (located east of the main gas field) flowing above the inversion layer. These measurements ruled out the effluents of the power plant as a significant source of NOx for O3 production beneath the temperature inversion in the basin. The presence of elevated O3 precursors within the basin and the rapid daytime production of O3 in the atmosphere beneath the temperature inversion both indicated that O3 was being produced from precursors emitted within the basin beneath the temperature inversion. Although observations show that horizontal winds in the surface layer were relatively light during the high ozone event, they were sufficient to disperse precursors up to 80 km from primary sources in the main gas field in the southeast quadrant to the balance of the Uinta Basin.

77 FR 15795 - Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Gasco Energy Inc. Uinta...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-16

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLUTG01100-12-L13110000-EJ0000] Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Gasco Energy Inc. Uinta Basin Natural Gas Development Project, Uintah County, UT AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of...

75 FR 60805 - Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Gasco Uinta Basin...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-01

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLUTG01100-09-L13100000-EJ0000] Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Gasco Uinta Basin Natural Gas Development Project, Duchesne and Uintah Counties, UT AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of...

Assessing Changes in Water Chemistry Along the Mountain to Urban Gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabor, R. S.; Brooks, P. D.; Neilson, B. T.; Barnes, M. L.; Stout, T.; Millington, M. R.; Gelderloos, A.; Tennant, H.; Eiriksson, D.

2015-12-01

Throughout the western US, growing population centers rely on mountain watersheds that are already sensitive to hydrologic stressors. We examined rivers along Utah's Wasatch Front over a range of spatial and discharge scales, confusing on the mountain-to-urban transition to identify how urbanization impacts water resources. The rivers we studied all originate in canyons with impact level ranging from minimal human disturbance to roads and open grazing cattle. Each river enters an urban area after leaving the canyon, where there is significantly more anthropogenic impact on the system. As part of an interdisciplinary effort with the iUTAH project, sample sites were selected at intervals along each river and a variety of measurements were made, including basic water chemistry along with discharge, water isotopes, nutrients, and organic matter analysis. By combining physical and chemical parameters we were able to quantify groundwater influence in gaining reaches and how those differ between the mountain and urban environments. We also identified how the urban system impacted hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in the catchment. For example, in Red Butte Creek discharge tripled through gaining reached in the canyon with only small corresponding changes in conductivity or nitrate levels. However in the urban stretch a gaining reach that tripled the discharge corresponded with a doubling in the conductivity and order of magnitude increase in nitrate. The fact that we first see this change in chemistry during a gaining reach, and not in an area full of storm culverts, suggests that urban impact to stream chemistry predominately occurs through the groundwater. Further work will incorporate ecological and climatic data along with the hydrologic and chemical datasets to identify how controls on water resources change along the mountain to urban gradient. By combining this physical information with sociological data we can identify green infrastructure solutions to mitigate urban impacts on our waterways.

Use of generalized linear models and digital data in a forest inventory of Northern Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moisen, Gretchen G.; Edwards, Thomas C.

1999-01-01

Forest inventories, like those conducted by the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) in the Rocky Mountain Region, are under increased pressure to produce better information at reduced costs. Here we describe our efforts in Utah to merge satellite-based information with forest inventory data for the purposes of reducing the costs of estimates of forest population totals and providing spatial depiction of forest resources. We illustrate how generalized linear models can be used to construct approximately unbiased and efficient estimates of population totals while providing a mechanism for prediction in space for mapping of forest structure. We model forest type and timber volume of five tree species groups as functions of a variety of predictor variables in the northern Utah mountains. Predictor variables include elevation, aspect, slope, geographic coordinates, as well as vegetation cover types based on satellite data from both the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Thematic Mapper (TM) platforms. We examine the relative precision of estimates of area by forest type and mean cubic-foot volumes under six different models, including the traditional double sampling for stratification strategy. Only very small gains in precision were realized through the use of expensive photointerpreted or TM-based data for stratification, while models based on topography and spatial coordinates alone were competitive. We also compare the predictive capability of the models through various map accuracy measures. The models including the TM-based vegetation performed best overall, while topography and spatial coordinates alone provided substantial information at very low cost.

Understanding High Wintertime Ozone Events over an Oil and Natural Gas Production Region from Air Quality Model Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadov, R.; McKeen, S. A.; Trainer, M.; Banta, R. M.; Brown, S. S.; Edwards, P. M.; Frost, G. J.; Gilman, J.; Helmig, D.; Johnson, B.; Karion, A.; Koss, A.; Lerner, B. M.; Oltmans, S. J.; Roberts, J. M.; Schnell, R. C.; Veres, P. R.; Warneke, C.; Williams, E. J.; Wild, R. J.; Yuan, B.; Zamora, R. J.; Petron, G.; De Gouw, J. A.; Peischl, J.

2014-12-01

The huge increase in production of oil and natural gas has been associated with high wintertime ozone events over some parts of the western US. The Uinta Basin, UT, where oil and natural gas production is abundant experienced high ozone concentrations in winters of recent years, when cold stagnant weather conditions were prevalent. It has been very challenging for conventional air quality models to accurately simulate such wintertime ozone pollution cases. Here, a regional air quality model study was successfully conducted for the Uinta Basin by using the WRF-Chem model. For this purpose a new emission dataset for the region's oil/gas sector was built based on atmospheric in-situ measurements made during 2012 and 2013 field campaigns in the Uinta Basin. The WRF-Chem model demonstrates that the major factors driving high ozone in the Uinta Basin in winter are shallow boundary layers with light winds, high emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) compared to nitrogen oxides emissions from the oil and natural gas industry, enhancement of photolysis rates and reduction of O3 dry deposition due to snow cover. We present multiple sensitivity simulations to quantify the contribution of various factors driving high ozone over the Uinta Basin. The emission perturbation simulations show that the photochemical conditions in the Basin during winter of 2013 were VOC sensitive, which suggests that targeting VOC emissions would be most beneficial for regulatory purposes. Shortcomings of the emissions within the most recent US EPA (NEI-2011, version 1) inventory are also discussed.

Uranium deposits at Shinarump Mesa and some adjacent areas in the Temple Mountain district, Emery County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wyant, Donald G.

1953-01-01

Deposits of uraniferous hydrocarbons are associated with carnotite in the Shinarump conglomerate of Triassic age at Shinarump Mesa and adjacent areas of the Temple Mountain district in the San Rafael Swell of Emery County, Utah. The irregular ore bodies of carnotite-bearing sandstone are genetically related to lenticular uraniferous ore bodies containing disseminated asphaltitic and humic hydrocarbon in permeable sandstones and were localized indirectly by sedimentary controls. Nearly non-uraniferous bitumen commonly permeates the sandstones in the Shinarump conglomerate and the underlying Moekopi formation in the area. The ore deposits at Temple Mountain have been altered locally by hydrothermal solutions, and in other deposits throughout the area carnotite has been transported by ground and surface water. Uraniferous asphaltite is thought to be the non-volatile residue of an original weakly uraniferous crude oil that migrated into the San Rafael anticline; the ore metals concentrated in the asphaltite as the oil was devolatilized and polymerized. Carnotite is thought to have formed from the asphaltite by ground water leaching. It is concluded that additional study of the genesis of the asphaltitic uranium ores in the San Rafael Swell, of the processes by which the hydrocarbons interact and are modified (such as heat, polymerization, and hydrogenation under the influence of alpha-ray bombardment), of petroleum source beds, and of volcanic intrusive rocks of Tertiary age are of fundamental importance in the continuing study of the uranium deposits on the Colorado Plateau.

Evaluating wildland fire danger and prioritizing vegetation and fuels treatments

Treesearch

Paul F. Hessburg; Keith M. Reynolds; Robert E. Keane; Kevin M. James; R. Brion Salter

2010-01-01

We present a prototype decision support system for evaluating wild-land fire danger and prioritizing subwatersheds for vegetation and fuels treatment. We demonstrate the use of the system with an example from the Rocky Mountain region in the State of Utah, which represents a planning area of about 4.8 million ha and encompasses 575 complete subwatersheds. In a logic...

Moderate-scale mapping methods of aspen stand types: a case study for Cedar Mountain in southern Utah

Treesearch

Chad M. Oukrop; David M. Evans; Dale L. Bartos; R. Douglas Ramsey; Ronald J. Ryel

2011-01-01

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) are the most widely distributed tree species across North America, but its dominance is declining in many areas of the western United States, with certain areas experiencing rapid mortality events over the past decade. The loss of aspen from western landscapes will continue to profoundly impact biological, commercial, and...

Environmental Assessment (EA): Proposed Construction of a Munitions Flight Maintenance Facility, Hill Air Force Base, Utah

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

1997) Ozone(031 /·-c.,.. ?i Ogden C.ty Ma1 tenance Area (Redes~gnated 2001) er ~~.., Sa Laice Oty Ma1 enance Alea (RedeSIQreled 1999) Pr...disposal. 3.4 Vegetation Hill AFB is located in a geographic region that would typically support a mountain -brush type native plant community. Dominant

Environmental Assessment (EA): Proposed Construction of a Munitions Flight Maintenance Facility, Hill Air Force Base, Utah

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

031 /·-c.,.. ?i Ogden C.ty Ma1 tenance Area (Redes~gnated 2001) er ~~.., Sa Laice Oty Ma1 enance Alea (RedeSIQreled 1999) Pr<MYOrem...Vegetation Hill AFB is located in a geographic region that would typically support a mountain -brush type native plant community. Dominant vegetation

Evaluating wildland fire danger and prioritizing vegetation and fuels treatments

Treesearch

Paul F. Hessburg; Keith M. Reynolds; Robert E. Keane; Kevin M. James; R. Brion Salter

2008-01-01

We present a decision-support application that evaluates danger of severe wildland fire and prioritizes subwatersheds for vegetation and fuels treatment. We demonstrate the use of the system with an example from the Rocky Mountain region in Utah; a planning area of 4.8 million ha encompassing 575 subwatersheds. In a logic model, we evaluate fire danger as a function of...

Results of a conservation agreement and strategy for Rabbit Valley gilia (Gilia caespitosa)

Treesearch

L. A. Armstrong; T. O. Clark; R. B. Campbell

2001-01-01

Gilia caespitosa Gray (Rabbit Valley gilia) is a rare species restricted to scattered occurrences from the northern Waterpocket Fold to Thousand Lakes Mountain and Rabbit Valley in Wayne County, Utah. This species is a very narrow endemic, known only from unstable and faulting soils of detrital Navajo Sandstone. Species occurrences are often found with limited numbers...

Ventilation planning at Energy West's Deer Creek mine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tonc, L.; Prosser, B.; Gamble, G.

2009-08-15

In 2004 ventilation planning was initiated to exploit a remote area of Deer Creek mine's reserve (near Huntington, Utah), the Mill Fork Area, located under a mountain. A push-pull ventilation system was selected. This article details the design process of the ventilation system upgrade, the procurement process for the new fans, and the new fan startup testing. 5 figs., 1 photo.

Gambel oak ecology and management in the southern Rockies: The status of our knowledge

Treesearch

Merrill R. Kaufmann; Daniel W. Huisjen; Stanley Kitchen; Mike Babler; Scott R. Abella; Todd S. Gardiner; Darren McAvoy; Josh Howie; Douglas H. Page

2016-01-01

Gambel oak is a prominent and ecologically important component of natural vegetation in the Southern Rocky Mountains and Southwest. Woodland and shrub communities dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) are widely distributed in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Gambel oak has long been recognized to have important benefits and uses such as supplying...

Chemistry of throughfall under douglas fir and Rocky Mountain juniper. [Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca; Juniperus scopulorum

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hart, G.E.; Parent, D.R.

1974-01-01

Concentrations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and nitrate were measured in throughfall under isolated douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) trees in northern Utah for 39 storms in 1970 and 1971. Concentrations were 3-16 times greater under the trees than in the open. Throughfall under douglas fir invariably had higher concentrations than that under juniper. Since most of the chemical input occurs as dry fallout between storms, surface area and form of the canopy are believed to be the prime factors influencing throughfall chemistry in this region. 15 references, 2 figures, 5 tables.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Narr, W.; Currie, J.B.

The occurrence of natural fracture systems in subsurface rock can be predicted if careful evaluation is made of the ecologic processes that affect sedimentary strata during their cycle of burial, diagenesis, uplift, and erosional unloading. Variations in the state of stress within rock arise, for example, from changes in temperature, pore pressure, weight of overburden, or tectonic loading. Hence geologic processes acting on a sedimentary unit should be analyzed for their several contributions to the state of stress, and this information used to compute a stress history. From this stress history, predictions may be made as to when in themore » burial cycle to expect fracture (joint) formation, what type of fractures (extension or shear) may occur, and which geologic factors are most favorable to development of fractures. A stress history is computed for strata of the naturally fractured Altamont oil field in Utah's Uinta basin. Calculations suggest that fractures formed in extension, that the well-cemented rocks are those most likely to be fractured, that fractures began to develop only after stata were uplifted and denuded of overburden. Geologic evidence on fracture genesis and development is in accord with the stress history prediction. Stress history can be useful in evaluating a sedimentary basin for naturally fractured reservoir exploration plays.« less

Study of the characteristics of seismic signals generated by natural and cultural phenomena. [such as earthquakes, sonic booms, and nuclear explosions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goforth, T. T.; Rasmussen, R. K.

1974-01-01

Seismic data recorded at the Tonto Forest Seismological Observatory in Arizona and the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory in Utah were used to compare the frequency of occurrence, severity, and spectral content of ground motions resulting from earthquakes, and other natural and man-made sources with the motions generated by sonic booms. A search of data recorded at the two observatories yielded a classification of over 180,000 earthquake phase arrivals on the basis of frequency of occurrence versus maximum ground velocity. The majority of the large ground velocities were produced by seismic surface waves from moderate to large earthquakes in the western United States, and particularly along the Pacific Coast of the United States and northern Mexico. A visual analysis of raw film seismogram data over a 3-year period indicates that local and regional seismic events, including quarry blasts, are frequent in occurrence, but do not produce ground motions at the observatories comparable to either the large western United States earthquakes or to sonic booms. Seismic data from the Nevada Test Site nuclear blasts were used to derive magnitude-distance-sonic boom overpressure relations.

What measurements tell us about air composition and emissions in three US oil and gas fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petron, G.; Miller, B. R.; Montzka, S. A.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Kofler, J.; Sweeney, C.; Karion, A.; Frost, G. J.; Helmig, D.; Hueber, J.; Schnell, R. C.; Conley, S. A.; Tans, P. P.

2013-12-01

In 2012 and 2013, the NOAA Global Monitoring Division and several collaborators conducted intensive airborne and ground campaigns in three US oil and gas plays to study emissions of methane and surface ozone precursors. In this presentation we will focus on the multiple species analysis in discrete air samples collected with the NOAA Mobile Laboratory (ML) and the light aircraft in the Uinta Basin (Utah), Denver Julesburg Basin (Colorado) and Barnett Shale (Texas). Hydrocarbon ratios in samples collected with the ML downwind of specific sources show significantly more variability than the aircraft samples. These surface samples provide some useful information about the composition of various sources in each region. Ratios of the non-methane hydrocarbons on the ground and higher in the boundary layer show some differences between the plays, which could be explained by the different composition of the raw gas being produced or by different mixes of sources contributions. Understanding the speciation of atmospheric emissions is critical to identify emission vectors and to assess their potential air quality and climate impacts. Our measurement results will be compared with data from other studies, including emission inventories.

Grindstone Flat and Big Flat enclosures - 41-year record of changes in clearcut aspen communities

Treesearch

Walter F. Mueggler; Dale L. Bartos

1977-01-01

The role of deer and cattle in the failure of aspen stands to regenerate on Beaver Mountain in southern Utah was investigated by a series of exclosures constructed in 1934. Three-fourths of each exclosure was clearcut of aspen in 1934. Aspen reproduction, shrubs, and herbaceous understory were measured in 1937, 1942, 1949, and 1975. Implications of wildlife and...

Narrow hybrid zone between two subspecies of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata: Asteraceae): XI. Plant-insect interactions in reciprocal transplant gardens

Treesearch

John H. Graham; E. Durant McArthur; D. Carl Freeman

2001-01-01

Basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata) and mountain big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. vaseyana) hybridize in a narrow zone near Salt Creek, Utah. Reciprocal transplant experiments in this hybrid zone demonstrate that hybrids are more fit than either parental subspecies, but only in the hybrid zone. Do hybrids experience greater, or lesser, use by...

The influence of an extensive dust event on snow chemistry in the southern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

Charles Rhoades; Kelly Elder; E. Greene

2010-01-01

In mid-February 2006, windstorms in Arizona, Utah, and western Colorado generated a dust cloud that distributed a layer of dust across the surface of the snowpack throughout much of the Colorado Rockies; it remained visible throughout the winter. We compared the chemical composition of snowfall and snowpack collected during and after the dust deposition event with pre-...

Use of distance measures to assess environmental and genetic variability across sagebrush hybrid zones

Treesearch

D. Carl Freeman; John H. Graham; Terra Jones; Han Wang; Kathleen J. Miglia; E. Durant McArthur

2001-01-01

Reciprocal transplant studies in the big sagebrush hybrid zone at Salt Creek Canyon, Utah, showed that hybrids between basin (Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata) and mountain big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. vaseyana) are more fit than either parental taxon, but only when raised in the hybrid zone. Hybrids are less fit than the native parent when raised in the parental...

Proceedings: ecology and management of pinyon-juniper communities within the Interior West; 1997 September 15-18; Provo, UT

Treesearch

Stephen B. Monsen; Richard Stevens

1999-01-01

A symposium held September 15-18,1997, in Provo, UT, and Sanpete County, UT, provided information on the ecology, management, resource values, and restoration of pinyon-juniper communities in the Interior Western United States. The conference was hosted by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in...

IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION OF PROSPECTIVE CHANGES IN SOCIETY, REPORTS PREPARED FOR THE AREA CONFERENCE (2D, SALT LAKE CITY, OCTOBER 24-26, 1966).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MORPHET, EDGAR L.; RYAN, CHARLES O.

AT A CONFERENCE IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, OCTOBER 24-26, 1966, SPONSORED BY EIGHT ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATES, SIXTEEN PAPERS AND FOUR SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENTS WERE GIVEN BY EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES TO DEFINE PROSPECTIVE CHANGES IN SOCIETY BY 1980 AND TO CONSIDER THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION. FACTORS INFLUENCING EDUCATIONAL CHANGE INCLUDE POPULATION…

Hydrologic Contributions of Springs to the Logan River, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gooseff, M. N.; Evans, J.; Kolesar, P.; Lachmar, T.; Payn, R.

2005-05-01

The Logan River flows through a fractured karst watershed of the Bear River mountain range in northern Utah, and provides significant water supply to the city of Logan, Utah. Springs flowing into the Logan River are important sources of water after annual snowmelt has been exhausted. In this work, we present results from a year of monitoring water chemistry and stable isotopes (D, 18O, and 13C) in two major springs and in the Logan River upstream and downstream of the combined spring inputs. The two springs, DeWitt and Spring Hollow, flow into the river within 1.5 km of each other. Annual patterns of Si and Mg suggest a flushing pattern, with reduced concentrations during snowmelt, and increasing concentrations throughout baseflow recession, at all for sampling locations. Cl concentrations are likewise greatly depressed after the snowmelt pulse but afterward remain consistently low at all four sites. Stable isotope data show that spring water is generally more enriched in D and 18O than river water, with an enriching pattern throughout annual stream flow recession.

Studies of the Permian Phosphoria Formation and related rocks, Great Basin-Rocky Mountain region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wardlaw, Bruce R.

1979-01-01

PART A: The transgression of the Permian Retort Phosphatic Shale Member of the Phosphoria Formation is dated by the occurrence of diagnostic brachiopods. The complex pattern of this transgression reflects the paleogeography and indicates two initial basins of deposition: one in southwestern Montana and one in southeastern Idaho. PART B: A new formation is proposed for middle Permian rocks of a transitional facies positioned laterally between the Rex Chert Member of the Phosphoria Formation in northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho and the Plympton Formation in northeastern Nevada and northwestern Utah. PART C: The relationships of the Permian Park City Group to the Phosphoria and Park City Formations are clarified by the stratigraphy of four sections in northwestern Utah, northeastern Nevada, and southern Idaho. PART D: Five biostratigraphic zones based on the distribution of brachiopods and conodonts are proposed for the Park City Group. They are: the Peniculauris ivesi-Neostreptognathodus prayi Zone, the Peniculauris bassi-Neostreptognathodus sulcoplicatus Zone, the Peniculauris bassi-Neostreptognathodus sp. C Zone, the Thamnosia depressa Zone, and the Yakovlevia. multistriata-Neogondolella bitteri Zone. They range in age from Leonardian to Wordian.

Demographic monitoring and population viability analysis of two rare beardtongues from the Uinta Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCaffery, Rebecca M.; Reisor, Rita; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Brunson, Jessi

2014-01-01

Energy development, in combination with other environmental stressors, poses a persistent threat to rare species endemic to the energy-producing regions of the Western United States. Demographic analyses of monitored populations can provide key information on the natural dynamics of threatened plant and animal populations, and how they might be affected by ongoing and future development. In the Uinta Basin in Utah and Colorado, Graham’s beardtongue (Penstemon grahamii) and White River beardtongue (Penstemon scariosus var. albifluvis) are two rare endemic wildflowers that persist on oil shale habitats heavily impacted by current energy exploration and development, and slated for expanded traditional drilling and oil shale development. We described demographic characteristics and population viability for two populations of each species that have been monitored since 2004. First, we measured population size, survival rates, transitions between life stages, and recruitment using individually marked plants at the four study areas. Then, we used matrix population models to determine stochastic population growth rates (λ) and the probability that each population would persist 50 years into the future, given current conditions. The two P. grahamii study plots had small populations averaging 70 adult plants, and relatively constant and high survival in both vegetative and flowering plants. The two P. scariosus var. albifluvis study plots had populations that averaged 120 adult plants, with high and stable survival in flowering plants and variable survival in vegetative plants. Recruitment of new seedlings into all populations was low and variable, with most recruitment occurring in one or two years. Both P. grahamii populations had λ near 1.0 (stable). One P. scariosus var. albifluvis population appeared to be declining (λ=0.97), while the other was increasing (λ=1.16). Our analyses reveal populations that appear relatively stable, but that are susceptible to declines now and into the future. Increases in environmental variability, deterministic changes in habitat conditions or stressors, or a single catastrophic event could all have immediately deleterious impacts on the long-term growth trajectory of these populations.

Quantifying Ozone Production throughout the Boundary Layer from High Frequency Tethered Profile Measurements during a High Ozone Episode in the Uinta Basin, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, C. W.; Johnson, B.; Schnell, R. C.; Oltmans, S. J.; Cullis, P.; Hall, E. G.; Jordan, A. F.; Windell, J.; McClure-Begley, A.; Helmig, D.; Petron, G.

2015-12-01

During the Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) in Jan - Feb 2013, 735 tethered ozonesonde profiles were obtained at 3 sites including during high wintertime photochemical ozone production events that regularly exceeded 125 ppb. High resolution profiles of ozone and temperature with altitude, measured during daylight hours, showed the development of approximately week long high ozone episodes building from background levels of ~40 ppb to >150 ppb. The topography of the basin combined with a strong temperature inversion trapped oil and gas production effluents in the basin and the snow covered surface amplified the sun's radiation driving the photochemical ozone production at rates up to 13 ppb/hour in a cold layer capped at 1600-1700 meters above sea level. Beginning in mid-morning, ozone mixing ratios throughout the cold layer increased until late afternoon. Ozone mixing ratios were generally constant with height indicating that ozone production was nearly uniform throughout the depth of the cold pool. Although there was strong diurnal variation, ozone mixing ratios increased during the day more than decreased during the night, resulting in elevated levels the next morning; an indication that nighttime loss processes did not compensate for daytime production. Even though the 3 tethersonde sites were at elevations differing by as much as 140 m, the top of the high ozone layer was nearly uniform in altitude at the 3 locations. Mobile van surface ozone measurements across the basin confirmed this capped structure of the ozone layer; the vehicle drove out of high ozone mixing ratios at an elevation of ~1900 meters above sea level, above which free tropospheric ozone mixing ratios of ~50 ppb were measured. Exhaust plumes from a coal-fired power plant in the eastern portion of the basin were intercepted by the tethersondes. The structure of the profiles clearly showed that effluents in the plumes were not mixed downward and thus did not contribute precursor nitrogen oxides to the observed ozone production in the boundary layer.

Uranium mineralization in fluorine-enriched volcanic rocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burt, D.M.; Sheridan, M.F.; Bikun, J.

1980-09-01

Several uranium and other lithophile element deposits are located within or adjacent to small middle to late Cenozoic, fluorine-rich rhyolitic dome complexes. Examples studied include Spor Mountain, Utah (Be-U-F), the Honeycomb Hills, Utah (Be-U), the Wah Wah Mountains, Utah (U-F), and the Black Range-Sierra Cuchillo, New Mexico (Sn-Be-W-F). The formation of these and similar deposits begins with the emplacement of a rhyolitic magma, enriched in lithophile metals and complexing fluorine, that rises to a shallow crustal level, where its roof zone may become further enriched in volatiles and the ore elements. During initial explosive volcanic activity, aprons of lithicrich tuffsmore » are erupted around the vents. These early pyroclastic deposits commonly host the mineralization, due to their initial enrichment in the lithophile elements, their permeability, and the reactivity of their foreign lithic inclusions (particularly carbonate rocks). The pyroclastics are capped and preserved by thick topaz rhyolite domes and flows that can serve as a source of heat and of additional quantities of ore elements. Devitrification, vapor-phase crystallization, or fumarolic alteration may free the ore elements from the glassy matrix and place them in a form readily leached by percolating meteoric waters. Heat from the rhyolitic sheets drives such waters through the system, generally into and up the vents and out through the early tuffs. Secondary alteration zones (K-feldspar, sericite, silica, clays, fluorite, carbonate, and zeolites) and economic mineral concentrations may form in response to this low temperature (less than 200 C) circulation. After cooling, meteoric water continues to migrate through the system, modifying the distribution and concentration of the ore elements (especially uranium).« less

Selected hydrologic data for Salt Lake Valley, Utah, October 1968 to October 1985

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seiler, R.L.

1986-01-01

This report contains hydrologic data collected in Salt Lake Valley from October 1968 to October 1985. The report area is bounded by the Wasatch Range on the east, the Oquirrh Mountains on the west, the Traverse Mountains on the south, and the boundary between Davis and Salt Lake Counties on the north. Hely and others (1971) defined two aquifers of major importance in the valley the principal aquifer and the shallow aquifer. The principal aquifer is a source of water for public supply and industry, whereas the shallow aquifer in many places contains water that is contaminated and is unsuitable for public supply (Seiler and Waddell, 1984). Most of the data in this report were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, Granger-Hunter Improvement District, Magna Water Co. and Improvement District, City of Midvale, Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, City of Sandyr City of South Salt Lake, Taylorsville Bennion Improvement District, City of West Jordan, Holladay Water Company, and White City Water Co. Some of the data were published previously by Hely, Mower, and Horr (1967, 1968, and 1969), lorns, Mower, and Horr (1966a and b), Marine and Price (1963), and Seiler and Waddell (1984).The purpose of this report is to provide hydrologic data for use by the general public and by officials who manage water resources and to supplement interpretive reports for the area. Information about wells, water levels in wells, and the chemical and physical properties of ground water is given in tables 1-4, and the well locations are shown on plate 1.

Preliminary hydrologic evaluation of the North Horn Mountain coal-resource area, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Graham, M.J.; Tooley, John E.; Price, Don

1981-01-01

North Horn Mountain is part of a deeply dissected plateau in central Utah which is characterized by deep, narrow, steep-walled canyons with local relief of more than 1,000 feet. Geologic units exposed in the North Horn Mountain area range in age from Late Cretaceous to Holocene and contain two mineable seams of Cretaceous coal. The area is in the drainage basin of the San Rafael River, in the Colorado River Basin. Runoff from the mountain is ephemeral. This runoff to the San Rafael River is by way of Cottonwood and Perron Creeks and represents less than 10 percent of their average annual runoff. Probable peak discharges (100-year flood) for the ephemeral streams draining North Horn Mountain are estimated to range from 200 to 380 cubic feet per second.The chemical quality of surface water in the area is good. The water is generally of a calcium magnesium bicarbonate type with average dissolved solids less than 500 milligrams per liter. Annual sediment yield in most of the area ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 acre-foot per square mile but locally is as high as 1.0 acre-foot per square mile. Most of the sediment is eroded during cloudbursts.Most of the ground water above the coal on North Horn Mountain probably is in perched aquifers. These aquifers support the flow of small seeps and springs. In some areas, the regional water table appears to extend upward into the coal. The principal source of recharge is precipitation that probably moves to aquifers along faults, joints, or fractures. This movement is apparently quite rapid. The dissolved-solids concentrations of ground water in the North Horn Mountain area range from less than 500 to about 1,000 milligrams per liter.Coal mining on North Horn Mountain should have minor "effects on the quantity and quality of surface water. The maximum predicted decrease in the annual flow of Ferron and Cottonwood Creeks is less than U percent. The sediment loads of affected streams could be significantly increased if construction were to take place during the summer cloudburst season. Subsidence, which usually follows underground coal mining, could create rock fractures through which a perched aquifer might be drained, thus depleting the flow of seeps or springs fed by that aquifer. It is considered unlikely that the mining will adversely affect the chemical quality of the ground water.

Geochemistry and hydrodynamics of the Paradox Basin region, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanshaw, B.B.; Hill, G.A.

1969-01-01

The Paradox Basin region is approximately bounded by the south flank of the Uinta Basin to the north, the Uncompahgre uplift and San Juan Mountains to the east, the Four Corners structural platform to the southeast, the north rim of the Black Mesa Basin and the Grand Canyon to the south and southwest, and the Wasatch Plateau and Hurricane fault system to the west. Some of these geologic features are areas of ground-water recharge or discharge whereas others such as the Four Corners platform do not directly influence fluid movement. The aquifer systems studied were: (1) Mississippian rocks; (2) Pinkerton Trail Limestone of Wengerd and Strickland, 1954; (3) Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation; (4) Honaker Trail Formation of Wengerd and Matheny, 1958; (5) Permian rocks. Recharge in the Paradox Basin occurs on the west flank of the San Juan Mountains and along the west side of the Uncompahgre uplift. The direction of ground-water movement in each analyzed unit is principally southwest-ward toward the topographically low outcrop areas along the Colorado River in Arizona. However, at any point in the basin, flow may be in some other direction owing to the influence of intrabasin recharge areas or local obstructions to flow, such as faults or dikes. A series of potentiometric surface maps was prepared for the five systems studied. Material used in construction of the maps included outcrop altitudes of springs and streams, drill-stem tests, water-well records, and an electric analog model of the entire basin. Many structurally and topographically high areas within the basin are above the regional potentiometric surface; recharge in these areas will drain rapidly off the high areas and adjust to the regional water level. With a few exceptions, most wells in formations above the Pennsylvanian contain fresh ( 35,000 mg/l T.D.S.) reported. Most water samples from strata below the Permian are brines of the sodium chloride type but with large amounts of calcium sulfate or calcium chloride type water commonly occurring. Because evaporite facies occur in the Paradox Member, this unit has brines with as much as 400,000 mg/l dissolved solids content. Previous analysis of the San Juan Basin has indicated the presence of an osmotic membrane system. The highly permeable Jurassic formations were postulated to be the outflow side of the membrane. It is also possible that the Upper Paleozoic units with known brines and with an otherwise inexplicably high potentiometric surface in the Four Corners area of New Mexico could be the outflow receptors of the San Juan membrane system. ?? 1969.

The distribution and mobility of uranium in glassy and zeolitized tuff, Keg Mountain area, Utah, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zielinski, R.A.; Lindsey, D.A.; Rosholt, J.N.

1980-01-01

The distribution and mobility of uranium in a diagenetically altered, 8 Ma old tuff in the Keg Mountain area, Utah, are modelled in this study. The modelling represents an improvement over similar earlier studies in that it: (1) considers a large number of samples (76) collected with good geologic control and exhibiting a wide range of alteration; (2) includes radiometric data for Th, K and RaeU (radium equivalent uranium) as well as U; (3) considers mineralogic and trace-element data for the same samples; and (4) analyzes the mineral and chemical covariation by multivariate statistical methods. The variation of U in the tuff is controlled mainly by its primary abundance in glass and by the relative abundance of non-uraniferous detritus and uraniferous accessory minerals. Alteration of glass to zeolite, even though extensive, caused no large or systematic change in the bulk concentration of U in the tuff. Some redistribution of U during diagenesis is indicated by association of U with minor alteration products such as opal and hydrous Fe-Mn oxide minerals. Isotopic studies indicate that the zeolitized tuff has been open to migration of U decay products during the last 0.8 Ma. The tuff of Keg Mountain has not lost a statistically detectable fraction of its original U, even though it has a high (??? 9 ppm) trace U content and has been extensively altered to zeolite. Similar studies in a variety of geological environments are required in order to identify the particular combination of conditions most favorable for liberation and migration of U from tuffs. ?? 1980.

Identifying environmental features for land management decisions. [Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Advances in digital processing of LANDSAT imagery and in the interpretation of aerial photography are reported as well as the development of a geographic information system and the acquisition of cartographic equipment. Services to technical specialists and dignitaries are also described. The status of the following studies is discussed: Farmington Bay waterfowl; Sevier River wetland and agriculture; Davis County foothill development; Bear River Range aspen habitat; Wasatch-Cache riparian habitats; irrigated acreage in the Bear River Basin; the Parker Mountain rangeland inventory; and the development of techniques for inventorying aspen and aspen conifer stands. The cooperative project with NASA-Ames to verify LANDSAT digital maps of the forest and range resources on the LaSal Mountains is also considered.

Mechanisms and Magnitude of Cenozoic Crustal Extension in the Vicinity of Lake Mead, Nevada and the Beaver Dam Mountains, Utah: Geochemical, Geochronological,Thermochronological and Geophysical Constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almeida, Rafael V.

The central Basin and Range Province of Nevada and Utah was one of the first areas in which the existence of widespread low-angle normal faults or detachments was first recognized. The magnitude of associated crustal extension is estimated by some to be large, in places increasing original line lengths by as much as a factor of four. However, rock mechanics experiments and seismological data cast doubt on whether these structures slipped at low inclination in the manner generally assumed. In this dissertation, I review the evidence for the presence of detachment faults in the Lake Mead and Beaver Dam Mountains areas and place constraints on the amount of extension that has occurred there since the Miocene. Chapter 1 deals with the source-provenance relationship between Miocene breccias cropping out close to Las Vegas, Nevada and their interpreted source at Gold Butte, currently located 65 km to the east. Geochemical, geochronological and thermochronological data provide support for that long-accepted correlation, though with unexpected mismatches requiring modification of the original hypothesis. In Chapter 2, the same data are used to propose a refinement of the timing of ~1.45 Ga anorogenic magmatism, and the distribution of Proterozoic crustal boundaries. Chapter 3 uses geophysical methods to address the subsurface geometry of faults along the west flank of the Beaver Dam Mountains of southwestern Utah. The data suggest that the range is bounded by steeply inclined normal faults rather than a regional-scale detachment fault. Footwall folding formerly ascribed to Miocene deformation is reinterpreted as an expression of Cretaceous crustal shortening. Fission track data presented in Chapter 4 are consistent with mid-Miocene exhumation adjacent to high-angle normal faults. They also reveal a protracted history dating back to the Pennsylvanian-Permian time, with implications for the interpretation of other basement-cored uplifts in the region. A key finding of this dissertation is that the magnitude of crustal extension in this region has been overestimated. The pre-extensional width was increased by a factor of two across Lake Mead, through a combination of high-angle normal faulting and strike-slip deformation. Data from the transect across the Beaver Dam Mountains suggest substantially less extension, with the difference accommodated for the most part by displacement on the intervening Las Vegas Valley Shear Zone. The Colorado Plateau-Basin and Range transition zone may be a long-lived tectonic boundary where this assumption may be especially ill-suited.

Research Natural Areas on National Forest System lands in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Western Wyoming: A guidebook for scientists, managers, and educators

Treesearch

Angela G. Evenden; Melinda Moeur; J. Stephen Shelly; Shannon F. Kimball; Charles A. Wellner

2001-01-01

This guidebook is intended to familiarize land resource managers, scientists, educators, and others with Research Natural Areas (RNAs) managed by the USDA Forest Service in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Intermountain West. This guidebook facilitates broader recognition and use of these valuable natural areas by describing the RNA network, past and current research...

Profile of American Youth: 1980 Nationwide Administration of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-03-01

recruiting results. In addition, if a national emergency necessitates the reintroduction of con- scription, military policymakers must be able to...Century-Crofts, 1965. Tyler, L.E. Individuality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978. Tyler, R.W., & Wolf , R.M. Crucial issues in testing. Berkeley, CA...Texas WEST Mountain Pacific Montano Washington Idaho Oregon Wyoming California Colorado Alaska New Mexico Hawaii Arizona Utah Nevada OTHER Outlying

Manganese deposits in the Drum Mountains, Juab and Millard Counties, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crittenden, Max D.; Straczek, John A.; Roberts, Ralph Jackson

1961-01-01

The Drum Mountains are in west-central Utah 30 miles northwest of Delta, between the Sevier Desert on the east and Whirlwind Valley on the west. It is a typically barren desert range comprising a westward-tilted structural unit in which is exposed as much as 9,000 feet of quartzite (Cambrian and Precambrian?) and 3,000 feet of carbonate rocks of Cambrian age. These beds, which strike northward and dip west, are cut by myriad east- to northeast-trending faults with displacements of a few feet to a few thousand feet. Quartz monzonite dikes, pebble dikes, and vein deposits are present locally along the faults. The Cambrian rocks are overlain unconformably by volcanic rocks of probable Tertiary age. Bodies of manganese carbonate ore were formed by replacement of two 20-foot beds of impure dolomite at the base of the sequence of carbonate rocks, along their intersection with certain preore faults. The feeding fissures locally contain veins in which rhodochrosite is associated with base metal sulfides. Downward- moving meteoric water has oxidized the ore bodies to a depth of 100 to 200 feet except where they are sealed off by structural or stratigraphic traps.From 1925 to 1953, 72,462 long tons of manganese ore with an average grade of about 25 percent Mn were shipped.

A Mesoscale Model-Based Climatography of Nocturnal Boundary-Layer Characteristics over the Complex Terrain of North-Western Utah.

PubMed

Serafin, Stefano; De Wekker, Stephan F J; Knievel, Jason C

Nocturnal boundary-layer phenomena in regions of complex topography are extremely diverse and respond to a multiplicity of forcing factors, acting primarily at the mesoscale and microscale. The interaction between different physical processes, e.g., drainage promoted by near-surface cooling and ambient flow over topography in a statically stable environment, may give rise to special flow patterns, uncommon over flat terrain. Here we present a climatography of boundary-layer flows, based on a 2-year archive of simulations from a high-resolution operational mesoscale weather modelling system, 4DWX. The geographical context is Dugway Proving Ground, in north-western Utah, USA, target area of the field campaigns of the MATERHORN (Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations Program) project. The comparison between model fields and available observations in 2012-2014 shows that the 4DWX model system provides a realistic representation of wind speed and direction in the area, at least in an average sense. Regions displaying strong spatial gradients in the field variables, thought to be responsible for enhanced nocturnal mixing, are typically located in transition areas from mountain sidewalls to adjacent plains. A key dynamical process in this respect is the separation of dynamically accelerated downslope flows from the surface.

Reinterpretation of Halokinetic Features in the Ancestral Rocky Mountains Paradox Salt Basin, Utah and Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, J. A.; Giles, K. A.; Rowan, M. G.; Hearon, T. E., IV

2016-12-01

The Paradox Basin in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado is a foreland basin formed in response to flexural loading by the Pennsylvanian-aged Uncompaghre uplift during the Ancestral Rocky Mountain orogen. Thick sequences of evaporites (Paradox Formation) were deposited within the foreland basin, which interfinger with clastic sediments in the foredeep and carbonates around the basin margin. Differential loading of the Pennsylvanian-Jurassic sediments onto the evaporites drove synsedimentary halokinesis, creating a series of salt walls and adjacent minibasins within the larger foreland basin. The growing salt walls within the basin influenced patterns of sediment deposition from the Pennsylvanian through the Cretaceous. By integrating previously published mapping with recent field observations, mapping, and subsurface interpretations of well logs and 2D seismic lines, we present interpretations of the timing, geometry, and nature of halokinesis within the Paradox Basin, which record the complex salt tectonic history in the basin. Furthermore, we present recent work on the relationships between the local passive salt history and the formation of syndepositional counter-regional extensional fault systems within the foreland. These results will be integrated into a new regional salt-tectonic and stratigraphic framework of the Paradox Basin, and have broader implications for interpreting sedimentary records in other basins with a mobile substrate.

Igneous activity and related ore deposits in the western and southern Tushar Mountains, Marysvale volcanic field, west-central Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steven, Thomas A.

1984-01-01

PART A: Igneous activity in the Marysvale volcanic field of western Utah can be separated into many episodes of extrusion, intrusion, and hydrothermal activity. The rocks of the western Tushar Mountains, near the western part of the volcanic field, include intermediate-composition, calc-alkalic volcanic rocks erupted from scattered volcanoes in Oligocene through earliest Miocene time and related monzonitic intrusions emplaced 24-23 m.y. ago. Beginning 22-21 m.y. ago and extending through much of the later Cenozoic, a bimodal basalt-rhyolite assemblage was erupted widely throughout the volcanic field. Only volcanic and intrusive rocks belonging to the rhyolitic end member of this bimodal assemblage are present in the western Tushar Mountains; most of these rocks either fill the Mount Belknap caldera (19 m.y. old) or are part of the rhyolite of Gillies Hill (9---8 m.y. old). Episodic hydrothermal activity altered and mineralized rocks at many places in the western Tushar Mountains during Miocene time. The earliest activity took place in and adjacent to monzonitic calcalkalic intrusions emplaced in the vicinity of Indian Creek and Cork Ridge. These rocks were widely propylitized, and gold-bearing quartz-pyrite-carbonate veins formed in local fractures. Hydrothermal activity associated with the Mount Belknap caldera mobilized and redeposited uranium contained in the caldera-fill rocks and formed primary concentrations of lithophile elements (including molybdenum and uranium) in the vicinity of intrusive bodies. Hydrothermal activity associated with the rhyolite of Gillies Hill altered and mineralized rocks at several places along the fault zone that marks the western margin of the Tushar Mountains; the zoned alunite and gold deposits at Sheep Rock, the gold deposit at the Sunday Mine, and an alunite deposit near Indian Creek were thus produced. Resetting of isotopic ages suggests that another center of hydrothermally altered rocks associated with a buried pluton about 16 m.y. old may exist near Indian Creek just west of the Mount Belknap caldera. Geophysical evidence confirms the probability of a buried pluton near Indian Creek, and also indicates that another buried pluton probably exists beneath the 9-m.y.-old mineralized area at Sheep Rock. The mineral potential of the different hydrothermal systems, and the types of minerals deposited probably vary considerably from one period of mineralization to another and from one depth environment to another within a given system. PART B: The Big John caldera, on the western flank of the Tushar Mountains in the Marysvale volcanic field in west-central Utah, formed 23-22 m.y. ago in response to ash-flow eruptions of the Delano Peak Tuff Member of the Bullion Canyon Volcanics. These eruptions were near the end of the period of Oligocene-early Miocene calc-alkalic igneous activity that built a broad volcanic plateau in this part of Utah. About 22 m.y. ago, the composition of rocks erupted changed to a bimodal assemblage of mafic and silicic volcanics that was erupted episodically through the remainder of Cenozoic time. The alkali rhyolites are uranium rich in part, and are associated with all the known uranium deposits in the Marysvale volcanic field. The Big John caldera was a broad drained basin whose floor was covered by a layer of stream gravels when ash flows from the western source area of the Mount Belknap Volcanics filled the caldera with the Joe Lott Tuff Member about 19 m.y. ago. Devitrified and zeolitized rocks in the caldera fill have lost one-quarter to one-half of the uranium contained in the original magma. This mobilized uranium probably moved into the hydrologic regime, and some may have been redeposited in stream gravels underlying the Joe Lott within the caldera, or in gravels filling the original drainage channel that extended south from the caldera.

Reconnaissance of the hydrothermal resources of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rush, F. Eugene

1983-01-01

Geologic factors in the Basin and Range province in Utah are more favorable for the occurrence of geothermal resources than in other areas on the Colorado Plateaus or in the Middle Rocky Mountains. These geologic factors are principally crustal extension and crustal thinning during the last 17 million years. Basalts as young as 10,000 years have been mapped in the area. High-silica volcanic and intru­sive rocks of Quaternary age can be used to locate hydrothermal convection systems. Drilling for hot, high-silica, buried rock bodies is most promising in the areas of recent volcanic activity. Southwestern Utah has more geothermal potential than other parts of the Basin and Range province in Utah. The Roosevelt Hot Springs area, the Cove Fort-Sulphurdale area, and the area to the north as far as 60 kilome­ters from them probably have the best potential for geothermal devel­opment for generation of electricity. Other areas with estimated res­ervoir temperatures greater than 150°C are Thermo, Monroe, Red Hill (in the Monroe-Joseph Known Geothermal Resource Area), Joseph Hot Springs, and the Newcastle area. The rates of heat and water discharge are high at Crater, Meadow, and Hatton Hot Springs, but estimated reservoir temperatures there are less than 150°C. Ad­ditional exploration is needed to define the potential in three ad­ditional areas in the Escalante Desert.

The crazy hollow formation (Eocene) of central Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weiss, M.P.; Warner, K.N.

2001-01-01

The Late Eocene Crazy Hollow Formation is a fluviatile and lacustrine unit that was deposited locally in the southwest arm of Lake Uinta during and after the last stages of the lake the deposited the Green River Formation. Most exposures of the Crazy Hollow are located in Sanpete and Sevier Counties. The unit is characterized by a large variety of rock types, rapid facies changes within fairly short distances, and different lithofacies in the several areas where outcrops of the remnants of the formation are concentrated. Mudstone is dominant, volumetrically, but siltstone, shale, sandstone, conglomerate and several varieties of limestone are also present. The fine-grained rocks are mostly highly colored, especially in shades of yellow, orange and red. Sand grains, pebbles and small cobbles of well-rounded black chert are widespread, and "salt-and-pepper sandstone" is the conspicuous characteristic of the Crazy Hollow. The salt-and-pepper sandstone consists of grains of black chert, white chert, quartz and minor feldspar. The limestone beds and lenses are paludal and lacustrine in origin; some are fossiliferous, and contain the same fauna found in the Green River Formation. With trivial exceptions, the Crazy Hollow Formation lies on the upper, limestone member of the Green River Formation, and the beds of the two units are always accordant in attitude. The nature of the contact differs locally: at some sites there is gradation from the Green River to the Crazy Hollow; at others, rocks typical of the two units intertongue; elsewhere there is a disconformity between the two. A variety of bedrock units overlie the Crazy Hollow at different sites. In the southeasternmost districts it is overlain by the late Eocene formation of Aurora; in western Sevier County it is overlain by the Miocene-Pliocene Sevier River Formation; in northernmost Sanpete County it is overlain by the Oligocene volcanics of the Moroni Formation. At many sites bordering Sanpete and Sevier Valleys the Crazy Hollow beds dip beneath Quaternary sediments that fill the two valleys. The Crazy Hollow Formation ranges from 0 to 1,307 feet (0-398 m) thick in the region, but is usually much thinner than the maximum value. At most outcrops it is only a few scores of feet (12-50 m) thick. Its age is middle Eocene, for it is only a little younger than the underlying Green River Formation. The unit developed by the washing of detritus into the basin of the southwest arm of Lake Uinta from the various source rocks in the highlands surrounding the basin. The limestone beds and lenses formed in ponds and small lakes that developed in the basin from time to time during and following the draining and evaporation of Lake Uinta. The qualities of the Crazy Hollow Formation are described in detail for 10 different areas of outcrops in the Sanpete and Sevier Valleys and vicinity.

U-Pb ages of uraniferous opals and implications for the history of beryllium, fluorine, and uranium mineralization at Spor Mountain, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ludwig, K. R.; Lindsey, D.A.; Zielinski, R.A.; Simmons, K.R.

1980-01-01

The U-Pb isotope systematics of uraniferous opals from Spor Mountain, Utah, were investigated to determine the suitability of such material for geochronologic purposes, and to estimate the timing of uranium and associated beryllium and fluorine mineralization. The results indicate that uraniferous opals can approximate a closed system for uranium and uranium daughters, so that dating samples as young as ???1 m.y. should be possible. In addition, the expected lack of initial 230Th and 231Pa in opals permits valuable information on the initial 234U/238U to be obtained on suitable samples of ???10 m.y. age. The oldest 207Pb/235U apparent age observed, 20.8 ?? 1 m.y., was that of the opal-fluorite core of a nodule from a beryllium deposit in the Spor Mountain Formation. This age is indistinguishable from that of fission-track and K-Ar ages from the host rhyolite, and links the mineralization to the first episode of alkali rhyolite magmatism and related hydrothermal activity at Spor Mountain. Successively younger ages of 13 m.y. and 8-9 m.y. on concentric outer zones of the same nodule indicate that opal formed either episodically or continuously for over 10 m.y. Several samples of both fracture-filling and massive-nodule opal associated with beryllium deposits gave 207Pb/235U apparent ages of 13-16 m.y., which may reflect a restricted period of mineralization or perhaps an averaging of 21- and <13-m.y. periods of opal growth. Several samples of fracture-filling opal in volcanic rocks as young as 6 m.y. gave 207Pb/235U ages of 3.4-4.8 m.y. These ages may reflect hot-spring activity after the last major eruption of alkali rhyolite. ?? 1980.

Report on the geology of the Henry Mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gilbert, G.K.

1877-01-01

The Henry Mountains have been visited only by the explorer. Previous to 1869 they were not placed upon any map, nor was mention made of them in any of the published accounts of exploration or survey in the Rocky Mountain region. In that year Professor Powell while descending the Colorado River in boats passed near their foot, and gave to them the name which they bear in honor of Prof. Joseph Henry, the distinguished physicist. In 1872 Prof. A. H. Thompson, engaged in the continuance of the survey of the river, led a party across the mountains by the Penellen Pass, and climbed some of the highest peaks. Frontiersmen in search of farming and grazing lands or of the precious metals have since that time paid several visits to the mountains; but no survey was made of them until the years 1875 and 1876, when Mr. Walter H. Graves and the writer visited them for that purpose. They are situated in Southern Utah, and are crossed by the meridian of 110° 45' and the thirty-eighth parallel. They stand upon the right bank of the Colorado River of the West, and between its tributaries, the Dirty Devil and the Escalante.

Charadrius montanus: Montane, grassland, or bare-ground plover?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knopf, Fritz L.; Miller, B.

1994-01-01

The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is an aridland member of the Charadriidae. This plover is generally considered an associate of the North American shortgrass prairie, which is dominated by blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides; Graul 1975). The species breeds at many locations across the western Great Plains plus at isolated locales in western Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico (Leachman and Osmundson 1990) and recently in eastern Utah (K.S. Day pers.comm.). Continental populations of the Mountain Plover declined 63% from 1966 to 1991 (Knopf 1994), with the historic and current breeding stronghold being the Pawnee National Grassland in Weld County, Colorado (Graul and Webster 1976). Currently, a second major breeding population of Mountain Plovers is on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, Phillips County, Montana. Unlike when found on the grassland landscape of Weld County, Mountain Plovers in Phillips County selectively nest in prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns (Knowles et al., 1982, Olson and Edge 1985) in vegetative settings that include prickly pear (Opunitia polyacantha), fringed sagewort (Arteminisia frigida), big sagebrush (A. tridentata), western wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii), and blue grama, Collectively, Weld and Phillips counties provide nesting habitat for approximately one-half of the continental population of Mountain Plovers,

Capability of U-Pb dating of zircons from Quaternary tephra: Jemez Mountains, NM, and La Sal Mountains, UT, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krautz, Jana; Hofmann, Mandy; Gärtner, Andreas; Linnemann, Ulf; Kleber, Arno

2018-01-01

Two Quaternary tephras derived from the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico - the Guaje and Tsankawi tephras - are difficult to distinguish due to their similar glass-shard chemical composition. Differences in bulk chemical composition are small as well. Here we examine the feasibility to assign an age to a distal tephra layer in the La Sal Mountains, Utah, by U-Pb dating of zircons and to correlate it with one of the two Jemez eruptions. We also dated original Jemez tephras for comparison. Even though the tephras are very young, we obtained reasonable age determinations using the youngest cluster of zircon grains overlapping in age at 2σ. Thereafter, the Guaje tephra is 1.513 ± 0.021 Myr old. The La Sal Mountains tephra is correlated with the Tsankawi tephra. Three samples yielded a common age range of 1.31-1.40 Myr. All ages are in slight disagreement with published age determinations obtained by 40Ar / 39Ar dating. These findings indicate that distal Jemez tephras can be distinguished by U-Pb dating. Furthermore, we encourage giving this method a try for age assignments even of Quaternary volcanic material.

Children, Youth, and Families of the Mountain West. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First session (Salt Lake City, UT, December 6, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

The third of five regional fact-finding committee hearings across the United States, this report includes testimony from hearing committee members and social service organizations in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. Live and prepared testimony presents information on problems associated with abuse of women, children, and the elderly;…

The Granite Mountain Atmospheric Sciences Testbed (GMAST): A Facility for Long Term Complex Terrain Airflow Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zajic, D.; Pace, J. C.; Whiteman, C. D.; Hoch, S.

2011-12-01

This presentation describes a new facility at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), Utah that can be used to study airflow over complex terrain, and to evaluate how airflow over a mountain barrier affects wind patterns over adjacent flatter terrain. DPG's primary mission is to conduct testing, training, and operational assessments of chemical and biological weapon systems. These operations require very precise weather forecasts. Most test operations at DPG are conducted on fairly flat test ranges having uniform surface cover, where airflow patterns are generally well-understood. However, the DPG test ranges are located alongside large, isolated mountains, most notably Granite Mountain, Camelback Mountain, and the Cedar Mountains. Airflows generated over, or influenced by, these mountains can affect wind patterns on the test ranges. The new facility, the Granite Mountain Atmospheric Sciences Testbed, or GMAST, is designed to facilitate studies of airflow interactions with topography. This facility will benefit DPG by improving understanding of how mountain airflows interact with the test range conditions. A core infrastructure of weather sensors around and on Granite Mountain has been developed including instrumented towers and remote sensors, along with automated data collection and archival systems. GMAST is expected to be in operation for a number of years and will provide a reference domain for mountain meteorology studies, with data useful for analysts, modelers and theoreticians. Visiting scientists are encouraged to collaborate with DPG personnel to utilize this valuable scientific resource and to add further equipment and scientific designs for both short-term and long-term atmospheric studies. Several of the upcoming MATERHORN (MountAin TERrain atmospHeric mOdeling and obseRvatioNs) project field tests will be conducted at DPG, giving an example of GMAST utilization and collaboration between DPG and visiting scientists.

Stratigraphic architecture of a fluvial-lacustrine basin-fill succession at Desolation Canyon, Uinta Basin, Utah: Reference to Walthers’ Law and implications for the petroleum industry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ford, Grace L.; David R. Pyles,; Dechesne, Marieke

2016-01-01

Two large-scale (member-scale) upward patterns are noted: Waltherian, and non-Waltherian. The upward successions in Waltherian progressions record progradation or retrogradation of a linked fluvial-lacustrine system across the area; whereas the upward successions in non-Waltherian progressions record large-scale changes in the depositional system that are not related to progradation or retrogradation of the ancient lacustrine shoreline. Four Waltherian progressions are noted: 1) the Flagstaff Limestone to lower Wasatch Formation member records the upward transition from lacustrine to fluvial—or shallowing-upward succession; 2) the upper Wasatch to Uteland Butte records the upward transition from fluvial to lacustrine—or a deepening upward succession; 3) the Uteland Butte to Renegade Tongue records the upward transition from lacustrine to fluvial—a shallowing-upward succession; and 4) the Renegade Tongue to Mahogany oil shale interval records the upward transition from fluvial to lacustrine—a deepening upward succession. The two non-Waltherian progressions in the study area are: 1) the lower to middle Wasatch, which records the abrupt shift from low to high net-sand content fluvial system, and 2) the middle to upper Wasatch, which records the abrupt shift from high to intermediate net-sand content fluvial system.

Results of mineral, chemical, and sulfate isotopic analyses of water, soil, rocks, and soil extracts from the Pariette Draw Watershed, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morrison, Jean M.; Tuttle, Michele L.W.; Fahy, Juli W.

2015-08-06

The goal of this study was to establish a process-based understanding of salt, Se, and B behavior to address whether these contaminants can be better managed, or if uncontrollable natural processes will overwhelm any attempts to bring Pariette Draw into compliance with respect to recently established total maximum daily limits (TMDLs). We collected data to refine our knowledge about the role of rock weathering and soil formation in the transport and storage of salt in the watershed and to show how salt is cycled under irrigated and natural conditions. Our approach was to sample rock, soils, and sediment on irrigated and natural terrain for mineralogical analysis to determine the residence of salt and associated Se and B, classify minerals as primary (related to rock formation) or secondary weathering products, and characterize mineral dissolution kinetics. Mineral and chemical analyses and selective extractions of rocks and soils provide useful information in understanding solute movement and mineral dissolution/ formation. The resulting data are critical in determining residence of salt, Se, and B in weathered rock and soil and understanding the mobility during water-rock-soil interactions. This report summarizes our methods for sample and data collection and tabulates the mineral, chemical, and isotopic data collected.

Petroleum Source Rock Maturation Data Constrain Predictions of Natural Hydrocarbon Seepage into the Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansfield, M. L.

2013-12-01

Natural seepage of methane from the lithosphere to the atmosphere occurs in regions with large natural gas deposits. According to some authors, it accounts for roughly 5% of the global methane budget. I explore a new approach to estimate methane fluxes based on the maturation of kerogen, which is the hydrocarbon polymer present in petroleum source rocks, and whose pyrolysis leads to the formation of oil and natural gas. The temporal change in the atomic H/C ratio of kerogen lets us estimate the total carbon mass released by it in the form of oil and natural gas. Then the time interval of active kerogen pyrolysis lets us estimate the average annual formation rate of oil and natural gas in any given petroleum system. Obviously, this is an upper bound to the average annual rate at which natural gas seeps into the atmosphere. After adjusting for bio-oxidation of natural gas, I conclude that the average annual seepage rate in the Uinta Basin of eastern Utah is not greater than (3100 × 900) tonne/y. This is (0.5 × 0.15)% of the total flux of methane into the atmosphere over the Basin, as measured during aircraft flights. I speculate about the difference between the regional 0.5% and the global 5% estimates.

State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain states. Semiannual progress report, July-December 1980

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lunis, B. C.; Toth, W. J.

The activities and findings of the seven state commercialization teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range commercialization program are described. Background information is provided; program objectives and the technical approach that is used are discussed; and the benefits of the program are described. The summary of findings is presented. Prospect identification, area development plans, site specific development analyses, time-phased project plans, the aggregated prospective geothermal energy use, and institutional analyses are discussed. Public outreach activities are covered and findings and recommendations are summarized. The commercialization activities carried out by the respective state teams are described for the following:more » Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.« less

An integrated remote sensing approach for identifying ecological range sites. [parker mountain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaynes, R. A.

1983-01-01

A model approach for identifying ecological range sites was applied to high elevation sagebrush-dominated rangelands on Parker Mountain, in south-central Utah. The approach utilizes map information derived from both high altitude color infrared photography and LANDSAT digital data, integrated with soils, geological, and precipitation maps. Identification of the ecological range site for a given area requires an evaluation of all relevant environmental factors which combine to give that site the potential to produce characteristic types and amounts of vegetation. A table is presented which allows the user to determine ecological range site based upon an integrated use of the maps which were prepared. The advantages of identifying ecological range sites through an integrated photo interpretation/LANDSAT analysis are discussed.

Quantifying the relative contribution of natural gas fugitive emissions to total methane emissions in Colorado, Utah, and Texas using mobile isotopic methane analysis based on Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rella, Chris; Winkler, Renato; Sweeney, Colm; Karion, Anna; Petron, Gabrielle; Crosson, Eric

2014-05-01

Fugitive emissions of methane into the atmosphere are a major concern facing the natural gas production industry. Because methane is more energy-rich than coal per kg of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, it represents an attractive alternative to coal for electricity generation, provided that the fugitive emissions of methane are kept under control. A key step in assessing these emissions in a given region is partitioning the observed methane emissions between natural gas fugitive emissions and other sources of methane, such as from landfills or agricultural activities. One effective method for assessing the contribution of these different sources is stable isotope analysis, using the isotopic carbon signature to distinguish between natural gas and landfills or ruminants. We present measurements of methane using a mobile spectroscopic stable isotope analyzer based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy, in three intense natural gas producing regions of the United States: the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado, the Uintah basin in Utah, and the Barnett Shale in Texas. Performance of the CRDS isotope analyzer is presented, including precision, calibration, stability, and the potential for measurement bias due to other atmospheric constituents. Mobile isotope measurements of individual sources and in the nocturnal boundary layer have been combined to establish the fraction of the observed methane emissions that can be attributed to natural gas activities. The fraction of total methane emissions in the Denver-Julesburg basin attributed to natural gas emissions is 78 +/- 13%. In the Uinta basin, which has no other significant sources of methane, the fraction is 96% +/- 15%. In addition, results from the Barnett shale are presented, which includes a major urban center (Dallas / Ft. Worth). Methane emissions in this region are spatially highly heterogeneous. Spatially-resolved isotope and concentration measurements are interpreted using a simple emissions model to arrive at an overall isotope ratio for the region.

Study of a prehistoric landslide using seismic reflection methods integrated with geological data in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tingey, B.E.; McBride, J.H.; Thompson, T.J.; Stephenson, W.J.; South, J.V.; Bushman, M.

2007-01-01

An integration of geological and geophysical techniques characterizes the internal and basal structure of a landslide along the western margin of the Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah, USA. The study area is within a region of planned and continuing residential development. The Little Valley Landslide is a prehistoric landslide as old as 13??ka B.P. Drilling and trenching at the site indicate that the landslide consists of chaotic and disturbed weathered volcanic material derived from Tertiary age volcanic rocks that comprise a great portion of the Wasatch Range. Five short high-resolution common mid-point seismic reflection profiles over selected portions of the site examine the feasibility of using seismic reflection to study prehistoric landslides in the Wasatch Mountain region. Due to the expected complexity of the near-surface geology, we have pursued an experimental approach in the data processing, examining the effects of muting first arrivals, frequency filtering, model-based static corrections, and seismic migration. The results provide a framework for understanding the overall configuration of the landslide, its basal (failure) surface, and the structure immediately underlying this surface. A glide surface or de??collement is interpreted to underlie the landslide suggesting a large mass movement. The interpretation of a glide surface is based on the onset of coherent reflectivity, calibrated by information from a borehole located along one of the seismic profiles. The glide surface is deepest in the center portion of the landslide and shallows up slope, suggesting a trough-like feature. This study shows that seismic reflection techniques can be successfully used in complex alpine landslide regions to (1) provide a framework in which to link geological data and (2) reduce the need for an extensive trenching and drilling program. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Potential for a significant deep basin geothermal system in Tintic Valley, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardwick, C.; Kirby, S.

2014-12-01

The combination of regionally high heat flow, deep basins, and permeable reservoir rocks in the eastern Great Basin may yield substantial new geothermal resources. We explore a deep sedimentary basin geothermal prospect beneath Tintic Valley in central Utah using new 2D and 3D models coupled with existing estimates of heat flow, geothermometry, and shallow hydrologic data. Tintic Valley is a sediment-filled basin bounded to the east and west by bedrock mountain ranges where heat-flow values vary from 85 to over 240 mW/m2. Based on modeling of new and existing gravity data, a prominent 30 mGal low indicates basin fill thickness may exceed 2 km. The insulating effect of relatively low thermal conductivity basin fill in Tintic Valley, combined with typical Great Basin heat flow, predict temperatures greater than 150 °C at 3 km depth. The potential reservoir beneath the basin fill is comprised of Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks. The hydrology of the Tintic Valley is characterized by a shallow, cool groundwater system that recharges along the upper reaches of the basin and discharges along the valley axis and to a series of wells. The east mountain block is warm and dry, with groundwater levels just above the basin floor and temperatures >50 °C at depth. The west mountain block contains a shallow, cool meteoric groundwater system. Fluid temperatures over 50 °C are sufficient for direct-use applications, such as greenhouses and aquaculture, while temperatures exceeding 140°C are suitable for binary geothermal power plants. The geologic setting and regionally high heat flow in Tintic Valley suggest a geothermal resource capable of supporting direct-use geothermal applications and binary power production could be present.

The timing of tertiary metamorphism and deformation in the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek metamorphic core complex, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Strickland, A.; Miller, E.L.; Wooden, J.L.

2011-01-01

The Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek metamorphic core complex of southern Idaho and northern Utah exposes 2.56-Ga orthogneisses and Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks that were intruded by 32-25-Ma granitic plutons. Pluton emplacement was contemporaneous with peak metamorphism, ductile thinning of the country rocks, and top-to-thewest, normal-sense shear along the Middle Mountain shear zone. Monazite and zircon from an attenuated stratigraphic section in the Middle Mountain were dated with U-Pb, using a SHRIMP-RG (reverse geometry) ion microprobe. Zircons from the deformed Archean gneiss preserve a crystallization age of 2532 ?? 33 Ma, while monazites range from 32.6 ?? 0.6 to 27.1 ?? 0.6 Ma. In the schist of the Upper Narrows, detrital zircons lack metamorphic overgrowths, and monazites produced discordant U-Pb ages that range from 52.8 ?? 0.6 to 37.5 ?? 0.3 Ma. From the structurally and stratigraphically highest unit sampled, the schist of Stevens Spring, narrow metamorphic rims on detrital zircons yield ages from 140-110 Ma, and monazite grains contained cores that yield an age of 141 ??2 Ma, whereas rims and some whole grains ranged from 35.5 ?? 0.5 to 30.0 ?? 0.4 Ma. A boudinaged pegmatite exposed in Basin Creek is deformed by the Middle Mountains shear zone and yields a monazite age of 27.6 ?? 0.2 Ma. We interpret these data to indicate two periods of monazite and metamorphic zircon growth: a poorly preserved Early Cretaceous period (???140 Ma) that is strongly overprinted by Oligocene metamorphism (???32-27 Ma) related to regional plutonism and extension. ?? 2011 by The University of Chicago.

Anatomy, taphonomy, and phylogenetic implications of a new specimen of Eolambia caroljonesa (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA

PubMed Central

McDonald, Andrew T.; Gates, Terry A.; Zanno, Lindsay E.; Makovicky, Peter J.

2017-01-01

Background Eolambia caroljonesa is the most abundant dinosaur in the lower Cenomanian Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, and one of the most completely known non-hadrosaurid iguanodontians from North America. In addition to the large holotype and paratype partial skulls, copious remains of skeletally immature individuals, including three bonebeds, have been referred to E. caroljonesa. Nevertheless, aspects of the postcranial anatomy of this taxon, particularly the pelvic girdle, have remained ambiguous due to the lack of associated postcranial material of larger, more mature individuals. Methodology/Principal findings Here we describe a recently discovered associated partial postcranial skeleton of a large Eolambia caroljonesa. This specimen, FMNH PR 3847, provides new anatomical data regarding the vertebral column and pelvic girdle, supplementing previous diagnoses and descriptions of E. caroljonesa. A new phylogenetic analysis incorporating information from FMNH PR 3847 places E. caroljonesa as a basal hadrosauromorph closely related to Protohadros byrdi from the Cenomanian Woodbine Formation of Texas. Histological analysis of FMNH PR 3847 reveals that it represents a subadult individual eight to nine years of age. Taphonomic analysis indicates that FMNH PR 3847 was preserved in a crevasse splay deposit, along with an unusual abundance of small crocodylomorph material. Conclusions/Significance FMNH PR 3847 provides a wealth of new morphological data, adding to the anatomical and systematic characterization of Eolambia caroljonesa, and histological data, revealing new information on growth history in a basal hadrosauromorph. Taphonomic characterization of FMNH PR 3847 and associated vertebrate material will allow comparison with other vertebrate localities in the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. PMID:28489871

Summer spatial patterning of chukars in relation to free water in Western Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Larsen, R.T.; Bissonette, J.A.; Flinders, J.T.; Hooten, M.B.; Wilson, T.L.

2010-01-01

Free water is considered important to wildlife in arid regions. In the western United States, thousands of water developments have been built to benefit wildlife in arid landscapes. Agencies and researchers have yet to clearly demonstrate their effectiveness. We combined a spatial analysis of summer chukar (Alectoris chukar) covey locations with dietary composition analysis in western Utah. Our specific objectives were to determine if chukars showed a spatial pattern that suggested association with free water in four study areas and to document summer dietary moisture content in relation to average distance from water. The observed data for the Cedar Mountains study area fell within the middle of the random mean distance to water distribution suggesting no association with free water. The observed mean distance to water for the other three areas was much closer than expected compared to a random spatial process, suggesting the importance of free water to these populations. Dietary moisture content of chukar food items from the Cedar Mountains (59%) was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than that of birds from Box Elder (44%) and Keg-Dugway (44%). Water developments on the Cedar Mountains are likely ineffective for chukars. Spatial patterns on the other areas, however, suggest association with free water and our results demonstrate the need for site-specific considerations. Researchers should be aware of the potential to satisfy water demand with pre-formed and metabolic water for a variety of species in studies that address the effects of wildlife water developments. We encourage incorporation of spatial structure in model error components in future ecological research. ?? Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

Silicification of trace fossils in carbonates; evidence from Permian Kaibab Formation, southwestern Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whidden, K.J.; Bottjer, D.J.

Silicification in carbonates, particularly silicified trace fossils, has received relatively little previous study. Chert comprises a significant percentage of the upper Fossil Mountain Member of the Kaibab Formation, a Permian epicontinental limestone. Distribution and origin of this chert were studied from outcrops in southwestern Utah. The origin of much of this chert is believed to be as silicified Thalassinoides burrows. Field evidence for trace fossil silicification includes (1) silicified cylindrical tubes with Y-shaped branching patterns as well as hollow tubes, and (2) polygonal box-work patterns of tubes. In addition, brachiopods, bryozoans, and abundant specimens of the sponge Actinocelia maendrina Finksmore » are also silicified. Recognition of silicified trace fossils in carbonates provides a different approach to the study of early diagenetic silica precipitation. These silicified trace fossils also represent new information on bioturbation in ancient carbonates, a subject that has, until recently, been relatively unstudied.« less

Lake Powell, Colorado River, Utah and Grand Canyon, Arizona

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-06-22

SL2-04-018 (June 1973) --- A vertical view of the Arizona-Utah border area showing the Colorado River and Grand Canyon photographed from the Skylab 1/2 space station in Earth orbit. This picture was taken by one of the six lenses of the Itek-furnished S190-A Multispectral Photographic Facility Experiment in the Multiple Docking Adapter of the space station. Type S0-356 film was used. The row of white clouds extend north-south over the dark colored Kaibab Plateau. The junction of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers is in the southwest corner of the picture. The body of water is Lake Powell on the Colorado River upstream from the Grand Canyon. The lone peak at the eastern edge of the photograph south of Colorado River is the 10,416-foot Navajo Mountain. The S190-A experiment is part of the Skylab Earth Resources Experiments Package(EREP). Photo credit: NASA

Extreme Seasonality During Early Eocene Hyperthermals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plink-Bjorklund, P.; Birgenheier, L.

2012-12-01

An outcrop multi-proxy dataset from the Uinta Basin, Utah, US indicates that extreme seasonality occurred repeatedly during the Early Eocene transient global warming events (hyperthermals), during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) as well as during the six consequent younger hyperthermals. In this multi-proxy analysis we have investigated the precipitation distribution and peakedness changes during Early Eocene hyperthermals. This dataset is different from previously published terrestrial climate proxy analyses, in that we fully utilize the sedimentary record itself, and especially the hydrodynamic indicators within the river strata. We combine these high-resolution sedimentologic-stratigraphic analyses, with analyses of terrestrial burrowing traces, and the conventional palaeosol and stable carbon isotope analyses. With this approach, we are able to better document hydroclimatologic changes, and identify climate seasonality changes, rather than just long-term mean humidity/aridity and temperature trends. For this study we analyzed over 1000 m of Palaeocene and Early Eocene river and lake strata in the Uinta Basin, Utah, US (Figs. 1 and 2). The sedimentologic-stratigraphic analyses of outcrops included measuring detailed stratigraphic sections, analyzing photopanels, a spatial GPS survey, and lateral walk-out of stratigraphic packages across an area of 300 km2, with additional data across an area of ca 6000 km2 (Fig. 2). Continental burrowing traces and palaeosols were analyzed along the measured sections. For geochemical analysis 196 samples of mudrock facies were collected along the measured sections and analyzed for total organic carbon (Corg), total nitrogen (Ntot), and δ13C values of bulk organic matter. Biostratigraphy (25), radiometric dates, and carbon isotope stratigraphy, using bulk δ13C of organic matter in floodplain siltstones confirm the position of the PETM and the 6-8 post-PETM hyperthermals in the studied strata The seasonality intensification is seen as short intense rain seasons alternating with prolonged droughts. Such seasonality intensification had a profound effect on landscape morphology as well as on vegetation. River systems changed from braided streams to highly seasonal fluvial megafans with tens of meters deep channels. River channels staid dry through most of the prolonged droughts, as witnessed by intra-channel insect burrows and paleosols. The intense wet seasons caused extremely high water discharge in channels, resulting in high rates of erosion, sediment transport and deposition. As a result, the channels were filled locally by up to 10s of meters of sediment, causing rapid river course changes and terrestrial flooding. Particulate organic matter content is extremely low in these sediments. This is in contrast to river sediments that were deposited during less intense seasonality. The dataset was compared to other datasets from intermontane basins in the Western Interior and also Europe (Spain), where similar seasonality changes are indicated to have occurred during the PETM. This is in great contrast to intermontane Early Eocene river systems documented in Norwegian Arctic (e.g. Spitsbergen) and in tropics (e.g. Venezuela), where no seasonality intensification has been documented. Thus the seasonality intensification seems to have been confined to (northern) mid-latitudes and subtropics.

Canyonlands National Park, UT, USA

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-06-22

SL2-81-014 (22 June 1973) --- Desert and mountain scenery along the Utah/Colorado border are displayed in this scene of the Canyonlands National Park, UT (39.0N, 110.0W). The park occupies the near center of the image, displaying spectacular incised meanders and the bulls-eye structure of Upheaval Dome (a salt dome). The Green River and the Colorado River flow southward to join (off scene) before flowing through the Grand Canyon National Park. Photo credit: NASA

3-Methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one for area and individual tree protection against spruce beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) attack in the southern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

E. Matthew Hansen; A. Steven Munson; Darren C. Blackford; Andrew D. Graves; Tom W. Coleman; L. Scott Baggett

2017-01-01

We tested 3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one (MCH) and an Acer kairomone blend (AKB) as repellent semiochemicals for area and single tree protection to prevent spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby) attacks at locations in Utah and New Mexico. In the area protection study, we compared host infestation rates of MCH applications at three densities (20, 40, and 80 g MCH...

Economic Evaluation and Assessment. Physical Evaluation and Assessment, South Cheyenne Area, Cheyenne, Wyoming

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-10-01

125 381.23 95 461.85 117 (Natrona County) Evanston, WY 519’.76 122 401.16 100 325.23 82 ( Uinta County) Lander/Riverton, WY 489.62 115 357.31 89 295.74...Index to $ Cheyenne Cheyenne, WY (Laramie County) $331.69 - Casper, WY (Natrona County) 365.12 110 Evanston, WY ( Uinta County) 330.41 100 Lander...area. The Burlington Northern Railroad operates class "A" north-south trackage from the Powder River coal basin near Gillette south to Denver and then

Oil Shale in the Piceance Basin: An Analysis of Land Use Issues,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

basins -the Piceance, Uinta , Green River, and Washakie. The locations of these basins are shown on the map of the Green River Formation in Fig. 3...commercial interest. Deposits of low grade shale in the other basins are thin and scattered. Only the rich (30 gpt) deposits in the Uinta Basin are of...r n~p I S 806 OIL SHALE, IN lilE PICCANCE BASIN : AN ANALYSIS of LAND USE ISSUESIUI RAND CORP SANtA MONICA CA lJN IASIFID 0 RUBENSON El AL. JUL 83

Modification of wave-cut and faulting-controlled landforms.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanks, T.C.; Bucknam, R.C.; Lajoie, K.R.; Wallace, R.E.

1984-01-01

From a casual observation that the form of degraded fault scarps resembles the error function, this investigation proceeds through an elementary diffusion equation representation of landform evolution to the application of the resulting equations to the modern topography of scarplike landforms. The value of K = 1 GKG (K = 'mass diffusivity'; 1 GKG = 1m2/ka) may be generally applicable as a good first approximation, to the modification of alluvial terranes within the semiarid regions of the western United States. The Lake Bonneville shoreline K is the basis for dating four sets of fault scarps in west-central Utah. The Drum Mountains fault scarps date at 3.6 to 5.7 ka BP. Fault scarps along the eastern base of the Fish Springs Range are very young, 3 ka BP. We estimate the age of fault scarps along the western flank of the Oquirrh Mountains to be 32 ka B.P. Fault scarps along the NE margin of the Sheeprock Mountains are even older, 53 ka BP. -from Authors

Response of lake chemistry to atmospheric deposition and climate in selected Class I wilderness areas in the western United States, 1993-2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mast, M. Alisa

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Air Resource Management, conducted a study to evaluate long-term trends in lake-water chemistry for 64 high-elevation lakes in selected Class I wilderness areas in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming during 1993 to 2009. Understanding how and why lake chemistry is changing in mountain areas is essential for effectively managing and protecting high-elevation aquatic ecosystems. Trends in emissions, atmospheric deposition, and climate variables (air temperature and precipitation amount) were evaluated over a similar period of record. A main objective of the study was to determine if changes in atmospheric deposition of contaminants in the Rocky Mountain region have resulted in measurable changes in the chemistry of high-elevation lakes. A second objective was to investigate linkages between lake chemistry and air temperature and precipitation to improve understanding of the sensitivity of mountain lakes to climate variability.

CO{sub 2} Sequestration Capacity and Associated Aspects of the Most Promising Geologic Formations in the Rocky Mountain Region: Local-Scale Analyses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Laes, Denise; Eisinger, Chris; Morgan, Craig

2013-07-30

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of individual local-­scale CCS site characterization studies conducted in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. These site-­ specific characterization analyses were performed as part of the “Characterization of Most Promising Sequestration Formations in the Rocky Mountain Region” (RMCCS) project. The primary objective of these local-­scale analyses is to provide a basis for regional-­scale characterization efforts within each state. Specifically, limits on time and funding will typically inhibit CCS projects from conducting high-­ resolution characterization of a state-­sized region, but smaller (< 10,000 km{sup 2}) site analyses are usually possible, and suchmore » can provide insight regarding limiting factors for the regional-­scale geology. For the RMCCS project, the outcomes of these local-­scale studies provide a starting point for future local-­scale site characterization efforts in the Rocky Mountain region.« less

Snowpack Regimes of the Western United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trujillo, E.; Molotch, N. P.

2011-12-01

Snow accumulation and melt patterns play a significant role in the water, energy, carbon and nutrient cycles in the montane environments of the Western United States. Recent studies have illustrated that changes in the snow/rainfall apportionments, and snow accumulation and melt patterns may occur as a consequence of changes in climate in the region. In order to understand how these changes may affect the snow regimes of the region, the current characteristics of the snow accumulation and melt patterns must be identified. Here, we characterize the snow water equivalent (SWE) curve formed by the daily SWE values at over seven hundred snow pillow stations in the Western U.S., focusing on several metrics of the yearly SWE curves and the cross relationships between the different metrics. The metrics include the initial snow accumulation and meltout dates, the peak accumulation and date of peak, the time from initial accumulation to peak, the time from peak to meltout, the accumulation and melt slopes, and the daily rates of accumulation and melt. Three distinct regimes emerge from these results: a maritime, an intermediate (intercontinental), and a continental regime. The maritime regime is characterized by higher maximum snow accumulations reaching 300 cm and shorter accumulation periods of less than 220 days, while on the other hand; the continental regime is characterized by lower maximum accumulations below 200 cm and longer accumulation periods reaching over 260 days. The intercontinental regime lies in between. Several other differences are identified between the metrics of the SWE curve in these regimes. The regions that show the characteristics of the maritime regime include the Cascade Mountains, the Klamath Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The intercontinental regime includes the Northern and Central basins and ranges, the Idaho Batholith, the Northern Rockies and the Blue Mountains. Lastly, the Continental regime includes the Middle and Southern Rockies, and the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The consequences of the differences between these snow regimes are discussed in the framework of the implications of possible changes in accumulation and melt patterns as a consequence of changes in climate.

CarbonSAFE Rocky Mountain Phase I : Seismic Characterization of the Navajo Reservoir, Buzzard Bench, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haar, K. K.; Balch, R. S.; Lee, S. Y.

2017-12-01

The CarbonSAFE Rocky Mountain project team is in the initial phase of investigating the regulatory, financial and technical feasibility of commercial-scale CO2 capture and storage from two coal-fired power plants in the northwest region of the San Rafael Swell, Utah. The reservoir interval is the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, an eolian dune deposit that at present serves as the salt water disposal reservoir for Ferron Sandstone coal-bed methane production in the Drunkards Wash field and Buzzard Bench area of central Utah. In the study area the Navajo sandstone is approximately 525 feet thick and is at an average depth of about 7000 feet below the surface. If sufficient porosity and permeability exist, reservoir depth and thickness would provide storage for up to 100,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per square mile, based on preliminary estimates. This reservoir has the potential to meet the DOE's requirement of having the ability to store at least 50 million metric tons of CO2 and fulfills the DOE's initiative to develop protocols for commercially sequestering carbon sourced from coal-fired power plants. A successful carbon storage project requires thorough structural and stratigraphic characterization of the reservoir, seal and faults, thereby allowing the creation of a comprehensive geologic model with subsequent simulations to evaluate CO2/brine migration and long-term effects. Target formation lithofacies and subfacies data gathered from outcrop mapping and laboratory analysis of core samples were developed into a geologic model. Synthetic seismic was modeled from this, allowing us to seismically characterize the lithofacies of the target formation. This seismic characterization data was then employed in the interpretation of 2D legacy lines which provided stratigraphic and structural control for more accurate model development of the northwest region of the San Rafael Swell. Developing baseline interpretations such as this are crucial toward long-term carbon storage monitoring.

Early Mesozoic history and petroleum potential of formations in Wyoming and northern Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Picard, M.D.

1993-08-01

During the Triassic and Jurassic, over what is now Wyoming and northern Utah, roughly equal amounts of sediment were being deposited in continental settings-lake, stream, and eolian-and in shallow-marine or deltaic-plain settings-delta, beach, marsh, tidal flat, and shallow shelf. Clastic rocks dominate. In order of decreasing abundance, the rocks are fine-grained clastics (siltstone, claystone, mudstone), sandstone, carbonates, evaporites, and claystone- and carbonate-pebble conglomerate. Approximately four-fifths of the succession contains red beds or variegated layers-purple, maroon, lavender, olive, green. Unconformities bound Jurassic formations in Wyoming-Nugget, Gypsum Spring, Sundance, and Morrison. Unconformities also bound the continental Upper Triassic section-unnamed red bed unit,more » Jelm, Popo Agie-separating it from the underlying shallow-marine formations-Dinwoody, Red Peak, Alcova, Crow Mountain. Within the marine sequence, an unconformity occurs at the top of the Alcova and, quite likely, shorter periods of erosion took place at the top and below the base of the sandy faces that underlies the Alcova. The postulate duration of the principal unconformities totals about 18 m.y., at least one-sixth of early Mesozoic time. The bulk of the remaining 80-100 m.y. may be represented by a large number of smaller unconformities. For the lower Mesozoic, as for most stratigraphic intervals, a few beds contain the story of what has taken place during the abyss of geologic time. Like other places in the world where evaporites occur in the Triassic, the Wyoming section produces little crude oil. No significant sequence in the early Mesozoic shows source-bed characteristics. The Crow Mountain Sandstone contains the best reservoirs. The Lower( ) Jurassic Nugget Sandstone produces the most oil and gas in the thrust belt of southwestern Wyoming and northern Utah. Cretaceous claystones below the thrusts contain the source beds.« less

Mineral resources of the Raymond Mountain Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln county, Wyoming

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lund, K.; Evans, J.P.; Hill, R.H.

1990-01-01

The paper reports on the Raymond Mountain Wilderness Study Area which encompasses most of the Sublette Range of western Lincoln County, Wyo. The study area consists of upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that form part of the Idaho-Wyoming-Utah overthrust belt. There are no identified mineral or energy resources in the wilderness study area. The study area has moderate energy resource potential for oil and gas. Mineral resource potential for vanadium and phosphate is low because the Phosphoria Formation is deeply buried beneath the wilderness study area and contains unweathered units having low P{sub 2}O{sub 5} values. The mineral resourcemore » potential for coal, other metals, including uranium, high-purity limestone or dolostone, and geothermal energy is low.« less

Intertonguing of the Lower Part of the Uinta Formation with the Upper Part of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Creek Basin During the Late Stages of Lake Uinta

USGS Publications Warehouse

Donnell, John R.

2009-01-01

During most of middle Eocene time, a 1,500-mi2 area between the Colorado and White Rivers in northwestern Colorado was occupied by the Piceance lobe of Lake Uinta. This initially freshwater lake became increasingly saline throughout its history. Sediments accumulating in the lake produced mostly clay shale, limestone, and dolomite containing varying concentrations of organic matter. At the time of the maximum extent of the lake, the organic-rich Mahogany bed of the Green River Formation was deposited throughout the area. Shortly after its deposition, stream deposits began infilling the lake from the north through a series of contractions interspersed with minor expansions. This fluctuation of the shoreline resulted in the intertonguing of the stream sediments of the lower part of the overlying Uinta Formation with the lacustrine sediments of the upper part of the Green River over a distance of about 40 mi; construction of regional stratigraphic cross sections show the pattern of intertonguing in considerable detail. The data utilized in this study, which covered parts of Rio Blanco, Garfield, and Mesa counties, was derived from (1) geologic mapping of thirty-four 7 1/2-minute quadrangles and stratigraphic studies by geologists of the U.S. Geological Survey, and (2) shale-oil assay information from numerous cores. As a result of this previous work and the additional effort involved in the compilation here presented, more than a dozen Green River Formation tongues have been named, some formally, others informally. Middle Eocene strata above the Mahogany bed in the northern part of the study area are dominantly coarse clastics of the Uinta Formation. The sedimentary sequence becomes more calcareous and organic-rich to the south where, in a 400-mi2 area, a 250 ft-thick sequence of oil shale above the Mahogany bed contains an average of 16 gallons of oil per ton of shale and is estimated to contain 73 billion barrels of oil.

Geochemistry of the Spor Mountain rhyolite, western Utah, as revealed by laser ablation ICP-MS, cathodoluminescence, and electron microprobe analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dailey, S. R.; Christiansen, E. H.; Dorais, M.; Fernandez, D. P.

2015-12-01

The Miocene topaz rhyolite at Spor Mountain in western Utah hosts one of the largest beryllium deposits in the world and was responsible for producing 85% of the beryllium mined worldwide in 2010 (Boland, 2012). The Spor Mountain rhyolite is composed primarily of Ca-poor plagioclase (An8), sodic sanidine (Or40), Fe-rich biotite (Fe/(Fe+Mg)>0.95; Al 1.2-1.4 apfu), and Ti-poor quartz, along with several trace-element rich accessory phases including zircon, monazite, thorite, columbite, and allanite. Cathodoluminescence (CL) studies of quartz show oscillatory zoning, with 80% of the examined crystals displaying euhedral edges and slightly darker rims. CL images were used to guide laser ablation (LA) ICP-MS analysis of quartz, along with analyses of plagioclase, sanidine, biotite, and glass. Ti concentrations in quartz are 20±6 ppm; there is no quantifiable variation of Ti from core to rim within the diameter of the laser spot (53 microns). Temperatures, calculated using Ti in quartz (at 2 kb, aTiO2=0.34), vary between 529±10 C (Thomas et al., 2011), 669±13 C (Huang and Audetat, 2012), and 691±13 C (Wark and Watson, 2006). Two feldspar thermometry yield temperatures of 686±33 C (Elkins and Grove, 1990) and 670±41 C (Benisek et al., 2010). Zr saturation temperatures (Watson and Harrison, 1983) average 711±28 C. Analysis of the glass reveal the Spor Mountain rhyolite is greatly enriched in rare elements (i.e. Li, Be, F, Ga, Rb, Nb, Mo, Sn, and Ta) compared to average continental crust (Rudnick and Gao, 2003). Be in the glass can have as much as 100 ppm, nearly 50 times the concentration in continental crust. REE partition coefficients for sanidine are 2 to 3 times higher in the Spor Mountain rhyolite when compared to other silicic magmas (Nash and Crecraft, 1985; Mahood and Hildreth, 1983), although plagioclase tends to have lower partition coefficients; biotite has lower partition coefficients for LREE and higher partition coefficients for HREE. The patterns of trace element enrichment and depletion are similar to those of the measured partition coefficients, consistent with a major role for extensive fractional crystallization in the origin of the Be enriched magma.

Water resources of Beaver Valley, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Willis Thomas

1908-01-01

Location and extent of area examined. Beaver Valley is located in Beaver County, in southwestern Utah, about 175 miles south of Salt Lake. It lies between the Tushar Mountains on the east and the Beaver Mountains on the west. The principal town of the valley is Beaver, which is most conveniently reached from Milford, a station on the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. The valley, together with its neighboring highlands, occupies the eastern third of Beaver County, an area of about 1,200 square miles. A large part of this area, however, is rocky upland and unproductive desert, the tillable land comprising a comparatively small area in the immediate vicinity of the streams.Purpose and scope of work. The purpose of this paper is to present information concerning the waters of Beaver Valley and to point out ways and means of increasing their usefulness. The presence of a large amount of water in Beaver Valley results from local topograhic conditions, the water being supplied by precipitation in the highland to the east. Its conservation and distribution result from geologic conditions, the water being held in loose gravel and sand, which are more or less confined between ridges of consolidated rocks. The rock basins were formed partly by erosion and partly by faulting and surface deformation. In order to accomplish the purpose in view it is therefore necessary to describe the geographic and geologic conditions in Beaver Valley and neighboring regions.The investigation included the determination of the flow of streams and springs, of the manner of occurrence and quantity of the underground waters as shown by the geologic and geographic conditions of the region and by the distribution of springs and wells, and of the chemical character of the waters with reference to their adaptability to domestic use and to irrigation. The chemical data were obtained (a) by field assays, which are approximately correct and probably of sufficient accuracy to be of value in comparing the various waters; (b) by more exact analyses, some of which were made in the laboratory of the United States Geological Survey by W. M. Barr, and others by Herman Harms, State chemist of Utah, for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad; and (c) by sanitary analyses, made also by Herman Harms.Cooperation. The work was done during the summer of 1906, the United States Geological Survey cooperating with the State of Utah through Caleb Tanner, State engineer, and with the county of Beaver through the supervisors of the county. In collecting the information the writer was assisted by J. F. Hoyt, of Nephi, Utah.

Interim Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report are not to be used for advertising , publication, or promotional purposes...Paragraph 48, including Table 5 and the accompanying User Note in the online version of the Manual Chapter 5, Wetlands that Pe- riodically Lack...online_surveys/ and soil maps and data are available online at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. Most de- tailed soil surveys in the region are mapped at

The Pocatello Valley, Idaho, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rogers, A. M.; Langer, C.J.; Bucknam, R.C.

1975-01-01

A Richter magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred at 8:31 p.m mountain daylight time on March 27, 1975, near the Utah-Idaho border in Pocatello Valley. The epicenter of the main shock was located at 42.094° N, 112.478° W, and had a focal depth of 5.5 km. This earthquake was the largest in the continental United States since the destructive San Fernando earthquake of February 1971. The main shock was preceded by a magnitude 4.5 foreshock on March 26. 

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Volume III, Part II. Cultural Resources Survey, Pine and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

valleys are typical of the Basin and Range Province, characterized by parallel, north-south trending mountain ranges, separated by hydrologically closed... basins . Pine and Wah Wah valleys each have hardpan-playas in their lowest areas. State Highway 21 runs roughly northwest-southeast through both val...have been important for prehis- toric and historic use of the area. Pine Valley: Pine and Wah Wah valleys are closed alluvial basins . The central part

Using noble gases to investigate mountain-front recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manning, A.H.; Solomon, D.K.

2003-01-01

Mountain-front recharge is a major component of recharge to inter-mountain basin-fill aquifers. The two components of mountain-front recharge are (1) subsurface inflow from the mountain block (subsurface inflow), and (2) infiltration from perennial and ephemeral streams near the mountain front (stream seepage). The magnitude of subsurface inflow is of central importance in source protection planning for basin-fill aquifers and in some water rights disputes, yet existing estimates carry large uncertainties. Stable isotope ratios can indicate the magnitude of mountain-front recharge relative to other components, but are generally incapable of distinguishing subsurface inflow from stream seepage. Noble gases provide an effective tool for determining the relative significance of subsurface inflow, specifically. Dissolved noble gas concentrations allow for the determination of recharge temperature, which is correlated with recharge elevation. The nature of this correlation cannot be assumed, however, and must be derived for the study area. The method is applied to the Salt Lake Valley Principal Aquifer in northern Utah to demonstrate its utility. Samples from 16 springs and mine tunnels in the adjacent Wasatch Mountains indicate that recharge temperature decreases with elevation at about the same rate as the mean annual air temperature, but is on average about 2??C cooler. Samples from 27 valley production wells yield recharge elevations ranging from the valley elevation (about 1500 m) to mid-mountain elevation (about 2500 m). Only six of the wells have recharge elevations less than 1800 m. Recharge elevations consistently greater than 2000 m in the southeastern part of the basin indicate that subsurface inflow constitutes most of the total recharge in this area. ?? 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Aircraft measurements to characterize polluted winter boundary layers: Overview of twin otter flights during the Utah Winter Fine Particulate Matter Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, S. S.; Baasandorj, M.; Franchin, A.; Middlebrook, A. M.; Goldberger, L.; Thornton, J. A.; Dube, W. P.; McDuffie, E. E.; Womack, C.; Fibiger, D. L.; Moravek, A.; Clark, J. C.; Murphy, J. G.; Mitchell, R.

2017-12-01

Winter air pollution is a significant public health concern. In many regions of the U.S., Europe and Asia, wintertime particulate matter concentrations exceed national and / or international air quality standards. Winter air pollution also represents a scientific challenge because these events occur during stagnation events in shallow, vertically stratified boundary layers whose composition is difficult to probe from surface level measurements. Chemical processes responsible for the conversion of primary emissions to secondary pollutants such as ammonium nitrate aerosol vary with height above ground level. Sources of oxidants are poorly understood and may result from both local chemical production and mixing between shallow inversion layers and background air. During the Utah Winter Fine Particulate Study (UWFPS) in January - February 2017, the NOAA twin otter executed 23 research flights with a payload designed to characterize the formation of ammonium nitrate aerosol in three mountain valleys of northern Utah (Salt Lake, Cache, and Utah). These valleys are subject to periodic episodes of winter aerosol pollution well in excess of U.S. national ambient air quality standards. This presentation will describe the measurement strategy of the twin otter flights to address the specific features of aerosol pollution within winter boundary layer of this region. This strategy is relevant to understanding the broader issue of winter air pollution in other regions and potentially to the design of future studies. The presentation will summarize findings from UWFPS related to boundary layer structure, emissions and chemical processes responsible for ammonium nitrate aerosol in this region.

Dinosaur tracks from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Arches National Park, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockley, Martin G.; White, Diane K.; Kirkland, James I.; Santucci, Vincent L.

2004-01-01

The seventh and largest known dinosaur tracksite from the Cedar Mountain Formation is reported from two important stratigraphic levels in the Ruby Ranch Member within the boundaries of Arches National Park. Previous reports of sites with a few isolated tracks are of limited utility in indicating the fauna represented by track makers. The Arches site reveals evidence of several theropod morphotypes, including a possible match for the coelurosaur Nedcolbertia and an apparently didactyl Utahraptor-like dromeosaurid. Sauropod tracks indicate a wide-gauge morphotype (cf. Brontopodus). Ornithischian tracks suggest the presence of an iguandontid-like ornithopod and a large ankylosaur. Dinosaur track diversity is high in comparison with other early Cretaceous vertebrate ichnofaunas, and it correlates well with faunal lists derived from skeletal remains, thus providing a convincing census of the known fauna.

Evaluation of LANDSAT multispectral scanner images for mapping altered rocks in the east Tintic Mountains, Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowan, L. C.; Abrams, M. J. (Principal Investigator)

1979-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Positive findings of earlier evaluations of the color-ratio compositing technique for mapping limonitic altered rocks in south-central Nevada are confirmed, but important limitations in the approach used are pointed out. These limitations arise from environmental, geologic, and image processing factors. The greater vegetation density in the East Tintic Mountains required several modifications in procedures to improve the overall mapping accuracy of the CRC approach. Large format ratio images provide better internal registration of the diazo films and avoids the problems associated with magnifications required in the original procedure. Use of the Linoscan 204 color recognition scanner permits accurate consistent extraction of the green pixels representing limonitic bedrock maps that can be used for mapping at large scales as well as for small scale reconnaissance.

Mercury and Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics During Snowmelt in the Upper Provo River, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Packer, B. N.; Carling, G. T.; Nelson, S.; Aanderud, Z.; Shepherd Barkdull, N.; Gabor, R. S.

2017-12-01

Mercury (Hg) is deposited to mountains by atmospheric deposition and mobilized during snowmelt runoff, leading to Hg contamination in otherwise pristine watersheds. Mercury is typically transported with dissolved organic matter (DOM) from soils to streams and lakes. This study focused on Hg and DOM dynamics in the snowmelt-dominated upper Provo River watershed, northern Utah, USA. We sampled Hg, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations, and DOM fluorescence in river water, snowpack, and ephemeral streams over four years from 2014-2017 to investigate Hg transport mechanisms. During the snowmelt season (April through June), Hg concentrations typically increased from 1 to 8 ng/L showing a strong positive correlation with DOC. The dissolved Hg fraction was dominant in the river, averaging 75% of total Hg concentrations, suggesting that DOC is more important for transport than suspended particulate matter. Ephemeral channels, which represent shallow flow paths with strong interactions with soils, had the highest Hg (>10 ng/L) and DOC (>10 mg/L) concentrations, suggesting a soil water source of Hg and organic matter. Fluorescence spectroscopy results showed important changes in DOM type and quality during the snowmelt season and the soil water flow paths are activated. Changes in DOM characteristics during snowmelt improve the understanding of Hg dynamics with organic matter and elucidate transport pathways from the soil surface, ephemeral channels and groundwater to the Provo River. This study has implications for understanding Hg sources and transport mechanisms in mountain watersheds.

Mitochondrial DNA evolution in the Anaxyrus boreas species group

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goebel, A.M.; Ranker, T.A.; Corn, P.S.; Olmstead, R.G.

2009-01-01

The Anaxyrus boreas species group currently comprises four species in western North America including the broadly distributed A. boreas, and three localized species, Anaxyrus nelsoni, Anaxyrus exsul and Anaxyrus canorus. Phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA 12S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase I, control region, and restriction sites data, identified three major haplotype clades. The Northwest clade (NW) includes both subspecies of A. boreas and divergent minor clades in the middle Rocky Mountains, coastal, and central regions of the west and Pacific Northwest. The Southwest (SW) clade includes A. exsul, A. nelsoni, and minor clades in southern California. Anaxyrus canorus, previously identified as paraphyletic, has populations in both the NW and SW major clades. The Eastern major clade (E) includes three divergent lineages from southern Utah, the southern Rocky Mountains, and north of the Great Basin at the border of Utah and Nevada. These results identify new genetic variation in the eastern portion of the toad's range and are consistent with previous regional studies from the west coast. Low levels of control region sequence divergence between major clades (2.2-4.7% uncorrected pair-wise distances) are consistent with Pleistocene divergence and suggest that the phylogeographic history of the group was heavily influenced by dynamic Pleistocene glacial and climatic changes, and especially pluvial changes, in western North America. Results reported here may impact conservation plans in that the current taxonomy does not reflect the diversity in the group. ?? 2008 Elsevier Inc.

Lower Cretaceous paleo-Vertisols and sedimentary interrelationships in stacked alluvial sequences, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joeckel, R. M.; Ludvigson, G. A.; Kirkland, J. I.

2017-11-01

The Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Poison Strip, Utah, USA, consists of stacked, erosionally bounded alluvial sequences dominated by massive mudstones (lithofacies Fm) with paleo-Vertisols. Sediment bodies within these sequences grade vertically and laterally into each other at pedogenic boundaries, across which color, texture, and structures (sedimentary vs. pedogenic) change. Slickensides, unfilled (sealed) cracks, carbonate-filled cracks, and deeper cracks filled with sandstone; the latter features suggest thorough desiccation during aridification. Thin sandstones (Sms) in some sequences, typically as well as laminated to massive mudstones (Flm) with which they are interbedded in some cases, are interpreted as avulsion deposits. The termini of many beds of these lithofacies curve upward, parallel to nearby pedogenic slickensides, as the features we call ;turnups.; Turnups are overlain or surrounded by paleosols, but strata sheltered underneath beds with turnups retain primary sedimentary fabrics. Turnups were produced by movement along slickensides during pedogenesis, by differential compaction alongside pre-existing gilgai microhighs, or by a combination of both. Palustrine carbonates (lithofacies C) appear only in the highest or next-highest alluvial sequences, along with a deep paleo-Vertisol that exhibits partially preserved microrelief at the base of the overlying Poison Strip Member. The attributes of the Yellow Cat Member suggest comparatively low accommodation, slow accumulation, long hiatuses in clastic sedimentation, and substantial time intervals of subaerial exposure and pedogenesis; it appears to be distinct among the members of the Cedar Mountain Formation in these respects.

Developing a Degree-Day Model to Predict Billbug (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Seasonal Activity in Utah and Idaho Turfgrass.

PubMed

Dupuy, Madeleine M; Powell, James A; Ramirez, Ricardo A

2017-10-01

Billbugs are native pests of turfgrass throughout North America, primarily managed with preventive, calendar-based insecticide applications. An existing degree-day model (lower development threshold of 10°C, biofix 1 March) developed in the eastern United States for bluegrass billbug, Sphenophorus parvulus (Gyllenhal; Coleoptera: Curculionidae), may not accurately predict adult billbug activity in the western United States, where billbugs occur as a species complex. The objectives of this study were 1) to track billbug phenology and species composition in managed Utah and Idaho turfgrass and 2) to evaluate model parameters that best predict billbug activity, including those of the existing bluegrass billbug model. Tracking billbugs with linear pitfall traps at two sites each in Utah and Idaho, we confirmed a complex of three univoltine species damaging turfgrass consisting of (in descending order of abundance) bluegrass billbug, hunting billbug (Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden; Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and Rocky Mountain billbug (Sphenophorus cicatristriatus Fabraeus; Coleoptera: Curculionidae). This complex was active from February through mid-October, with peak activity in mid-June. Based on linear regression analysis, we found that the existing bluegrass billbug model was not robust in predicting billbug activity in Utah and Idaho. Instead, the model that best predicts adult activity of the billbug complex accumulates degree-days above 3°C after 13 January. This model predicts adult activity levels important for management within 11 d of observed activity at 77% of sites. In conjunction with outreach and cooperative networking, this predictive degree-day model may assist end users to better time monitoring efforts and insecticide applications against billbug pests in Utah and Idaho by predicting adult activity. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Cordilleran hingeline: Late Precambrian rifted margin of the North American craton and its impact on the depositional and structural history, Utah and Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Picha, Frank; Gibson, Richard I.

1985-07-01

The structural pattern set by late Precambrian rifting and fragmentation of the North American continent is apparent in both sedimentary and tectonic trends in western Utah and eastern Nevada. The late Precambrian cratonic margin (Cordilleran hingeline) displays several prominent structural features, such as the Wasatch and Ancient Ephraim faults, Fillmore arch and northeast-trending lineaments, which were repeatedly reactivated as structural uplifts, ramps, strike-slip faults, and extensional detachments. The renewed activity affected, among others, the geometry of the late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain uplifts and basins, the extent of the Jurassic Arapien basin, the sedimentary pattern of the Cretaceous foreland basin, the geometry of the Sevier orogenic belt, and the extent and type of Basin-and-Range extensional tectonics. The rifted cratonic margin has thus remained a major influence on regional structures long after rifting has ceased. *Present address: Everest Geotech, 10101 Southwest Freeway, Houston, Texas 77074

National Uranium Resource Evaluation: Wells Quadrangle, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Proffitt, J.L.; Mayerson, D.L.; Parker, D.P.

1982-08-01

The Wells 2/sup 0/ Quadrangle, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah, was evaluated using National Uranium Resource Evaluation criteria to delineate areas favorable for uranium deposits. Our investigation has resulted in the delineation of areas that contain Tertiary sedimentary rocks favorable for hydroallogenic deposits in the Mountain City area (Favorable Area A) and in the Oxley Peak area north of Wells (Favorable Area B). Environments considered to be unfavorable for uranium deposits include Tertiary felsic volcanic, felsic plutonic, intermediate to mafic volcanic, Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, Precambrian rocks, and most Tertiary sedimentary rocks located outside the favorable areas. Present-day basins aremore » unevaluated environments because of a paucity of adequate outcrop and subsurface data. However, the scarce data indicate that some characteristics favorable for uranium deposits are present in the Susie Creek-Tule Valley-Wild Horse basin, the Contact-Granite Range-Tijuana John stocks area, the Charleston Reservoir area, and the Wells-Marys River basin.« less

Persistent Urban Impacts on Surface Water Quality Mediated by Stormwater Recharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabor, R. S.; Brooks, P. D.; Neilson, B. T.; Bowen, G. J.; Jameel, M. Y.; Hall, S. J.; Eiriksson, D.; Millington, M. R.; Gelderloos, A.

2016-12-01

Growing population centers along mountain watersheds put added stress on sensitive hydrologic systems and create water quality impacts downstream. We examined the mountain-to-urban transition in watersheds on Utah's Wasatch Front to identify mechanisms by which urbanization impacts water resources. Rivers in the Wasatch flow from the mountains directly into an urban landscape, where they are subject to channelization, stormwater runoff systems, and urban inputs to water quality from sources such as road salt and fertilizer. As part of an interdisciplinary effort within the iUTAH project, multiple synoptic surveys were performed and a variety of measurements were made, including basic water chemistry along with discharge, water isotopes, and nutrients. Red Butte Creek, a stream in Salt Lake City, does not show significant urban impact to water quality until several kilometers after it enters the city where concentrations of solutes such as chloride and nitrate more than triple in a gaining reach. Groundwater springs discharging to this gaining section demonstrate urban-impacted water chemistry, suggesting that during baseflow a contaminated alluvial aquifer significantly controls stream chemistry. By combining hydrometric and hydrochemical observations we were able to estimate that these groundwater springs were 17-20% urban runoff. We were then able to predict the chemistry of urban runoff that feeds into the alluvial aquifer. Samples collected from storm culverts, roofs, and asphalt during storms had chemistry values within the range of those predicted by the mixing model. This evidence that urbanization affects the water quality of baseflow through impacted groundwater suggests that stormwater mitigation may not be sufficient for protecting urban watersheds, and quantifying these persistent groundwater mediated impacts is necessary to evaluate the success of restoration efforts. By comparing these results from Red Butte Creek with similar studies from other rivers in the Wasatch Front and other alluvial systems, we can quantify how characteristics such as discharge patterns and land-use determine alluvial recharge controls on surface water quality.

Trends in lake chemistry in response to atmospheric deposition and climate in selected Class I wilderness areas in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, 1993-2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mast, M. Alisa; Ingersoll, George P.

2011-01-01

In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Air Resource Management, began a study to evaluate long-term trends in lake-water chemistry for 64 high-elevation lakes in selected Class I wilderness areas in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming during 1993 to 2009. The purpose of this report is to describe trends in the chemical composition of these high-elevation lakes. Trends in emissions, atmospheric deposition, and climate variables (air temperature and precipitation amount) are evaluated over a similar period of record to determine likely drivers of changing lake chemistry. Sulfate concentrations in precipitation decreased over the past two decades at high-elevation monitoring stations in the Rocky Mountain region. The trend in deposition chemistry is consistent with regional declines in sulfur dioxide emissions resulting from installation of emission controls at large stationary sources. Trends in nitrogen deposition were not as widespread as those for sulfate. About one-half of monitoring stations showed increases in ammonium concentrations, but few showed significant changes in nitrate concentrations. Trends in nitrogen deposition appear to be inconsistent with available emission inventories, which indicate modest declines in nitrogen emissions in the Rocky Mountain region since the mid-1990s. This discrepancy may reflect uncertainties in emission inventories or changes in atmospheric transformations of nitrogen species that may be affecting deposition processes. Analysis of long-term climate records indicates that average annual mean air temperature minimums have increased from 0.57 to 0.75 °C per decade in mountain areas of the region with warming trends being more pronounced in Colorado. Trends in annual precipitation were not evident over the period 1990 to 2006, although wetter than average years during 1995 to 1997 and drier years during 2001 to 2004 caused a notable decline in precipitation in the middle part of the record.

Climatic and limnologic setting of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dean, W.E.; Wurtsbaugh, W.A.; Lamarra, V.A.

2009-01-01

Bear Lake is a large alkaline lake on a high plateau on the Utah-Idaho border. The Bear River was partly diverted into the lake in the early twentieth century so that Bear Lake could serve as a reservoir to supply water for hydropower and irrigation downstream, which continues today. The northern Rocky Mountain region is within the belt of the strongest of the westerly winds that transport moisture during the winter and spring over coastal mountain ranges and into the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains. As a result of this dominant winter precipitation pattern, most of the water entering the lake is from snowmelt, but with net evaporation. The dominant solutes in the lake water are Ca 2+, Mg2+, and HCO32-, derived from Paleozoic carbonate rocks in the Bear River Range west of the lake. The lake is saturated with calcite, aragonite, and dolomite at all depths, and produces vast amounts of carbonate minerals. The chemistry of the lake has changed considerably over the past 100 years as a result of the diversion of Bear River. The net effect of the diversion was to dilute the lake water, especially the Mg2+ concentration. Bear Lake is oligotrophic and coprecipitation of phosphate with CaCO3 helps to keep productivity low. However, algal growth is colimited by nitrogen availability. Phytoplankton densities are low, with a mean summer chlorophyll a concentration of 0.4 mg L-1. Phytoplankton are dominated by diatoms, but they have not been studied extensively (but see Moser and Kimball, this volume). Zooplankton densities usually are low (<10 L-1) and highly seasonal, dominated by calanoid copepods and cladocera. Benthic invertebrate densities are extremely low; chironomid larvae are dominant at depths <30 m, and are partially replaced with ostracodes and oligochaetes in deeper water. The ostracode species in water depths >10 m are all endemic. Bear Lake has 13 species of fi sh, four of which are endemic. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Mammalian faunal response to the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (~53.5-48.5 mya) and a new terrestrial record of the associated carbon isotope excursion from Raven Ridge in the Uinta Basin, Colorado-Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutchak, A. R.

2010-12-01

Raven Ridge straddles the Colorado-Utah border on the northeastern edge of the Uinta Basin and consists of intertonguing units of the fluvial Colton and lacustrine Green River Formations. Fossil vertebrate localities along the ridge have produced a diverse mammalian fauna comprising 64 genera in 34 families. Included are the index taxa Smilodectes, Omomys, Heptodon, and Lambdotherium which suggest an age range of mid-Wasatchian (Wa5, ~53.5mya) through mid Bridgerian (Br2, ~48.5mya) for the Raven Ridge fauna. Others have shown that this time interval coincides with the onset, peak, and decline of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), an extended interval of globally warm temperatures following the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) that is coincident with a large negative carbon excursion. The Raven Ridge fauna provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the effects of a lengthy interval of global warmth on mammalian diversity and ecosystem structure. To study changes in the mammalian fauna that occurred during the EECO, it was necessary to constrain the onset, peak, and decline of the EECO at Raven Ridge through chemostratigraphic correlation with established marine isotope curves. This was accomplished by analysis of approximately 300 sediment samples for Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content. TOC has been used successfully in the Bighorn Basin to identify the stratigraphic occurrence of the Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) associated with the PETM, which has roughly the same amplitude as the negative excursion associated with the EECO. The Raven Ridge TOC data show a large negative carbon excursion that starts during the Wa6 biochron, peaks during the Wa7 biochron, and is followed by a positive excursion near the Wa-Br boundary. This terrestrial δ13C pattern is consistent with results seen in established marine isotope curves across the EECO interval. The minimum δ13C value of the negative excursion is -29.67‰, which is comparable to the Bighorn CIE values, and the maximum δ13C value of the positive excursion is -20.51‰. The Raven Ridge mammalian fauna shows a gradual increase in generic diversity from Wa5, when the fauna was dominated by terrestrially-adapted ischyromyid rodents and the condylarth Hyopsodus, through the Wa6 and Wa7 biochrons when arboreal primates including microsyopids, omomyids, and adapids, increased in diversity and relative abundance. These results are consistent with diversity trends seen in meta-analyses of North American mammalian diversity during the EECO. The diversity increase at Raven Ridge is mirrored by a change in ranked familial abundance from a skewed distribution during Wa5 to more even distributions during Wa6-Br1 time, an interval which is shown by previous studies in Wyoming to coincide with a significant increase in floral diversity. One interpretation of these patterns is that there was a floral shift associated with the EECO in central North America, with the relatively open habitats of the mid-Wasatchian being replaced by more densely forested canopy systems, with increased niche space allowing for diversification and increased abundance of arboreal taxa, during the late Wasatchian and early Bridgerian.

Characterizing the Response of Fluvial Systems to Extreme Global Warming During the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: An Analysis of the Wasatch and Green River Formations, Uinta Basin, UT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, E. R.; Plink-Bjorklund, P.

2013-12-01

The Wasatch and Green River Formations in the Uinta Basin, UT contain fluvial sandstones that record changes in terrestrial sedimentation coincident with Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and at least six post-PETM hyperthermal climate change events. While proxies for chemical weathering rates during the PETM have been developed using the marine osmium isotope record, to date there has been little research on chemical weathering rates in proximal terrestrial depocenters. This work is one part of a multi-proxy research effort combining quantitative petrographic analysis, the stable carbon isotope record, and a high-resolution stratigraphic and sedimentologic framework across the southern margin of the Uinta Basin. Relative tectonic quiescence in the Uinta Basin during the Early Eocene suggests that climate is the forcing mechanism controlling fluvial architecture and composition, and gradual basin subsidence has preserved at least six pulses of greenhouse climate change during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO). Terrestrial records of PETM climate do not support a humid climate with increased precipitation as previously suggested from marine proxies of climate change. Instead, terrestrial records of the PETM climate show evidence of prolonged drought punctuated by intense terrestrial flooding events in mid-latitude continental interiors. Increases in chemical weathering rates during the PETM due to increased temperature and average precipitation is cited as a key carbon sink to initiate a recovery phase where atmospheric CO2 returned to normal concentrations. If terrestrial records of chemical weathering rates differ substantially from marine proxies the carbon-cycle dynamics active during the EECO must be reconsidered. Initial results of this study show that these peak hyperthermal climate change conditions in the Uinta Basin preserve more compositionally and texturally immature sediments due to extremely high erosion and deposition rates, and subdued duration of transport. In particular the relative proportions of preserved potassium and especially plagioclase feldspar are sensitive to these pulses of greenhouse climate change. This dataset suggests that the seasonality of sediment dispersal and transport can play a more important role in the preservation potential of unstable mineral phases in the sedimentary record than just variations in global chemical weathering rates. Compositional variability in perenially wet and peaked seasonality facies in fluvial sandstones in the Wasatch Formation.

Ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holmes, Walter F.; Kimball, Briant A.

1987-01-01

The potential for developing oil-shale resources in the southeastern Uinta Basin of Utah and Colorado has created the need for information on the quantity and quality of water available in the area. This report describes the availability and chemical quality of ground water, which might provide a source or supplement of water supply for an oil-shale industry. Ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin occurs in three major aquifers. Alluvial aquifers of small areal extent are present i n val ley-f i 11 deposits of six major drainages. Consolidated-rock aquifers include the birds's-nest aquifer i n the Parachute Creek Member of the G reen River Formation, which is limited to the central part of the study area; and the Douglas Creek aquifer, which includes parts of the Douglas Creek Member of the Green River Formation and parts of the intertonguing Renegade Tongue of the Wasatch Formation; this aquifer underlies most of the study area.The alluvial aquifers are recharged by infiltration of streamflow and leakage from consolidated-rock aquifers. Recharge is estimated to average about 32,000 acre-feet per year. Discharge from alluvial aquifers, primarily by evapotranspiration, also averages about 32,000 acre-feet per year. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage in alluvial aquifers is about 200,000 acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells are less than 1,000 gallons per minute.Recharge to the bird's-nest aquifer, primarily from stream infiltration and downward leakage from the overlying Uinta Formation, is estimated to average 670 acre-feet per year. Discharge from the bird's-nest aquifer, which is primarily by seepage to Bitter Creek and the White River, is estimated to be at 670 acre-feet per year. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage in the bird's-nest aquifer is 1.9 million acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells in some areas may be as much as 5,000 gallons per minute. A digital-computer model of the flow system was used to evaluate the effects of oil-shale development on the bird's-nest aquifer at the Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub. Results of model simulations indicate that during construction of a vertical access shaft, a pumping rate of about 900 gallons per minute would be required to dewaterthe aquifer. The model also indicates that the construction of a proposed reservoir on the White River may raise water levels in the bird's-nest aquifer near the reservoir site by as much as 45 feet.The flow model was used to evaluate the potential ground-water supply available for oil-shale development in the vicinity of the Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub. The results of the simulation indicate that bird's-nest aquifer could supply about 10,000 acre-feet of water per year at that site, for a period of 20 years. Downdraw after 20 years of pumping would exceed 250 feet near the simulated well field. Based on the results of the model simulation, it is estimated that the aquifer could simultaneously supply another 10,000 acre-feet of water per year in the northern part of the study area, but some interference between well fields could be expected.The Douglas Creek aquifer is recharged by precipitation and stream infiltration at an average rate of about 20.000 acre-feet per year. Discharge is estimated to be about the same and is primarily through springs and diffuse seepage. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage is 16 million acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells are estimated to be less than 500 gallons per minute.A model of the flow system in the Douglas Creek aquifer indicates that the aquifer could supply about 700 acre-feet of water per year for oil-shale development at Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub and at the TOSCO Corp. site. After 20 years of pumping, water levels in production wells would be near the base of the aquifer. Based on the results of the model simulation, it is estimated that the aquifer could supply another 700 acre-feet of water per year in the southern part of the modeled area, but some interference between wells could be expected. Chemical quality of the ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin varies considerably. Water from alluvial wells ranges from about 440 to 27,800 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids. Water from two consolidated-rock aquifers has dissolved-solids concentrations ranging from 870 to 5,810 milligrams per liter in the bird's-nest aquifer, and from 640 to 6,100 milligrams per liter in the Douglas Creek aquifer. Water from alluvial wells generally is a sodium sulfate type, whereas water in both the consolidated-rock aquifers generally changes from a sodium sulfate type to a sodium bicarbonate type. All ground water is very alkaline, and the alluvial aquifers contain very hard water. None of the water is suitable for public supply, but all the water could be used for industrial purposes such as washing and cooling.Changes in chemical composition of the ground water can be attributed to several physiochemical processes, including mineral precipitation and dissolution, oxidation and reduction, mixing, ion exchange, and evaporative concentration. Mass-transfer modeling of these processes shows how they can account for the variability in the ground-water quality. The mass-transfer model of the Bitter Creek alluvial aquifer shows that evaporative concentration, combined with precipitation of calcite, dolomite, gypsum, and release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere results in the documented changes in the pH and dissolved solids in the water. The water-quality changes in the consolidated-rock aquifers are a result of precipitation of calcium carbonate and perhaps dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate) with the reduction of sulfate by organic carbon, as well as ion exchange of magnesium for sodium. These processes result in large values of pH and alkalinity in the water.

Fingerprinting of glacial silt in lake sediments yields continuous records of alpine glaciation (35–15 ka), western USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosenbaum, Joseph G.; Reynolds, Richard L.; Colman, Steven M.

2012-01-01

Fingerprinting glacial silt in last glacial-age sediments from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) and Bear Lake (BL) provides continuous radiocarbon-dated records of glaciation for the southeastern Cascade Range and northwestern Uinta Mountains, respectively. Comparing of these records to cosmogenic exposure ages from moraines suggests that variations in glacial flour largely reflect glacial extent. The two areas are at similar latitudes and yield similar records of glacial growth and recession, even though UKL lies less than 200 km from the ocean and BL is in the continental interior. As sea level began to fall prior to the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), existing glaciers in the UKL area expanded. Near the beginning of the global LGM (26.5 ka), the BL record indicates onset of glaciation and UKL-area glaciers underwent further expansion. Both records indicate that local glaciers reached their maximum extents near the end of the global LGM, remained near their maxima for ~1000 yr, and underwent two stages of retreat separated by a short period of expansion.

Fingerprinting of glacial silt in lake sediments yields continuous records of alpine glaciation (35-15 ka), western USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenbaum, Joseph G.; Reynolds, Richard L.; Colman, Steven M.

2012-09-01

Fingerprinting glacial silt in last glacial-age sediments from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) and Bear Lake (BL) provides continuous radiocarbon-dated records of glaciation for the southeastern Cascade Range and northwestern Uinta Mountains, respectively. Comparing of these records to cosmogenic exposure ages from moraines suggests that variations in glacial flour largely reflect glacial extent. The two areas are at similar latitudes and yield similar records of glacial growth and recession, even though UKL lies less than 200 km from the ocean and BL is in the continental interior. As sea level began to fall prior to the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), existing glaciers in the UKL area expanded. Near the beginning of the global LGM (26.5 ka), the BL record indicates onset of glaciation and UKL-area glaciers underwent further expansion. Both records indicate that local glaciers reached their maximum extents near the end of the global LGM, remained near their maxima for ~ 1000 yr, and underwent two stages of retreat separated by a short period of expansion.

Preliminary palynological zonation of the Chinle formation, southwestern U.S.A., and its correlation to the Newark supergroup (eastern U.S.A.)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Litwin, R.J.; Traverse, A.; Ash, S.R.

1991-01-01

Three informal palynological assemblage zones can be distinguished in samples from Chinle Formation outcrops in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The oldest zone (zone I) is in the Temple Mountain Member in southeastern Utah; the middle zone (zone II) is in the Shinarump, Moss Back, Monitor Butte and (lower part of the) Petrified Forest Members (Utah, Arizona and New Mexico); the youngest zone (zone III) is in the upper Petrified Forest Member and silstone member in Arizona and Utah and the silstone member in northcentral New Mexico. Present palynological evidence suggests that Chinle deposition on the Colorado Plateau began locally in late Carnian time and continued at least into the early part of Norian time of the Late Triassic period. Because the upper boundary of the Chinle Formation is an unconformity and the overlying formations are palynologically barren, the length of time represented by this stratigraphic hiatus is not known with certainty. Current palynological evidence suggests, however, that the unconformity at the top of the Chinle cannot be older than early Norian nor younger than Hettangian. Zones I, II and III can now be recognized in the palynomorph assemblage sequences from the Eastern Mesozoic basins, which modifies earlier palynological zonations for the lower portions of the Newark Supergroup. This is based on our identification of palynomorphs not previously known from portions of the Newark Supergroup and the discovery that specific biomarker taxa combinations are the same for both the western and eastern palynomorph sequences. At present palynomorph assemblages from the Chinle Formation and Newark Supergroup compare more closely for zones II and III than they do for zone I, but research is still in progress. ?? 1991.

Rocky Mountains

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-05-06

On April 29, 2015 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured a true-color image of a typical spring scene in the western United State: snow-crowned Rocky Mountains rising above the faintly greening plains. The Rocky Mountains stretch from British Columbia, Canada to the Rio Grande in New Mexico, a span of roughly 3,000 miles, and contains many of the highest peaks in the continental United States. The tallest, Mount Elbert, rises 14,400 ft. (4,401 m) above sea level, and is located in the San Isabel National Forest, near Leadville, Colorado. This image covers seven Rocky Mountain states. From north to south they are: Montana and Idaho, Wyoming; Utah (with the Great Salt Lake visible) and Colorado; Arizona and New Mexico. To the east, the Great Plain states captured are, from north to south: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Texas. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Airborne Fraunhofer line discriminator (FLD) luminescence imaging systems and its application to exploration problems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Watson, Robert D.; Theisen, Arnold F.; Hemphill, William R.; Barringer, Anthony R.

1980-01-01

Experiments with an imaging airborne Fraunhofer line discriminator (FLD) are being conducted to establish the feasibility of delineating the areal extent of luminescent materials on the earth's surface from aircraft and spacecraft. All luminescence measurements are related to a standard set of conditions with rhodamine wt dye used as a reference standard. The FLD has a minimum detectable rhodamine wt concentration of 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5.0. Luminescence, when expressed in a signal-to-noise ratio (R) is related to equivalent ppb rhodamine wt through the relationship ppb=(0.1R-0.4). Luminescent materials imaged from an aircraft altitude of approximately 2400 m above terrain include fluorite in association with molybdenum, Pinenut Mountains, Nevada (R=62.0); mineralized playas, Claunch, New Mexico (R=960.0); uranium and vanadium-bearing outcrops, Big Indian Valley, Utah (R=105.0); uranophane sandstones, Sandia Mountains, New Mexico (R=60.0); phosphate outcrops, Pine Mountain, California (R=76.0); and marine oil slicks, Santa Barbara Channel, California (R=24.0). Correlation between the amount of fluorite in the rocks and soils of the Pinenut Mountains and luminescence, measured by the FLD, is as high as 0.88 at the 95 percent confidence level.

Quantifying the relative contribution of natural gas fugitive emissions to total methane emissions in Colorado, Utah, and Texas using mobile δ13CH4 analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rella, C.; Crosson, E.; Petron, G.; Sweeney, C.; Karion, A.

2013-12-01

Fugitive emissions of methane into the atmosphere are a major concern facing the natural gas production industry. Because methane is more energy-rich than coal per kg of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, it represents an attractive alternative to coal for electricity generation, provided that the fugitive emissions of methane are kept under control. A key step in assessing these emissions in a given region is partitioning the observed methane emissions between natural gas fugitive emissions and other sources of methane, such as from landfills or agricultural activities. One effective method for assessing the contribution of these different sources is stable isotope analysis, using the δ13CH4 signature to distinguish between natural gas and landfills or ruminants. We present measurements of mobile field δ13CH4 using a spectroscopic stable isotope analyzer based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy, in three intense natural gas producing regions of the United States: the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado, the Uintah basin in Utah, and the Barnett Shale in Texas. Mobile isotope measurements of individual sources and in the nocturnal boundary layer have been combined to establish the fraction of the observed methane emissions that can be attributed to natural gas activities. The fraction of total methane emissions in the Denver-Julesburg basin attributed to natural gas emissions is 78 +/- 13%. In the Uinta basin, which has no other significant sources of methane, the fraction is 96% +/- 15%. In addition, results from the Barnett shale are presented, which includes a major urban center (Dallas / Ft. Worth). Methane emissions in this region are spatially highly heterogeneous. Spatially-resolved isotope and concentration measurements are interpreted using a simple emissions model to arrive at an overall isotope ratio for the region. (left panel) Distribution of oil and gas well pads (yellow) and landfills (blue) in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. Mobile nocturnal measurements of methane are shown in red, indicating a strong degree of source heterogeneity. (right panel) Histogram of individual isotopic source signatures, showing distinct signatures for landfills (red) and oil and gas sources (green).

A Methodology for the Assessment of Unconventional (Continuous) Resources with an Application to the Greater Natural Buttes Gas Field, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olea, Ricardo A., E-mail: olea@usgs.gov; Cook, Troy A.; Coleman, James L.

2010-12-15

The Greater Natural Buttes tight natural gas field is an unconventional (continuous) accumulation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, that began production in the early 1950s from the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. Three years later, production was extended to the Eocene Wasatch Formation. With the exclusion of 1100 non-productive ('dry') wells, we estimate that the final recovery from the 2500 producing wells existing in 2007 will be about 1.7 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) (48.2 billion cubic meters (BCM)). The use of estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) per well is common in assessments of unconventional resources, and it is one of themore » main sources of information to forecast undiscovered resources. Each calculated recovery value has an associated drainage area that generally varies from well to well and that can be mathematically subdivided into elemental subareas of constant size and shape called cells. Recovery per 5-acre cells at Greater Natural Buttes shows spatial correlation; hence, statistical approaches that ignore this correlation when inferring EUR values for untested cells do not take full advantage of all the information contained in the data. More critically, resulting models do not match the style of spatial EUR fluctuations observed in nature. This study takes a new approach by applying spatial statistics to model geographical variation of cell EUR taking into account spatial correlation and the influence of fractures. We applied sequential indicator simulation to model non-productive cells, while spatial mapping of cell EUR was obtained by applying sequential Gaussian simulation to provide multiple versions of reality (realizations) having equal chances of being the correct model. For each realization, summation of EUR in cells not drained by the existing wells allowed preparation of a stochastic prediction of undiscovered resources, which range between 2.6 and 3.4 TSCF (73.6 and 96.3 BCM) with a mean of 2.9 TSCF (82.1 BCM) for Greater Natural Buttes. A second approach illustrates the application of multiple-point simulation to assess a hypothetical frontier area for which there is no production information but which is regarded as being similar to Greater Natural Buttes.« less

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 11 crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-09-30

ISS011-E-13889 (30 September 2005) --- Wasatch Range, Utah is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 11 crewmember on the international space station. The Wasatch Range forms an impressive backdrop to the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, and is a frequent destination for hikers, backpackers, and skiers. The range is considered to be the westernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, and rises to elevations of approximately 3600 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level. This photograph, taken at the end of September, captures red- (maple trees) and gold-mantled (aspen trees) hill slopes along the western mountain front to the south of Salt Lake City. Other common tree species at these elevations include pine, fir, spruce, willow, birch, and oak. A portion of Draper City is visible in the left half of the image. The elevation of Lone Peak, visible at upper right, is approximately 3410 meters (11,253 feet).

Hydrology of area 52, Rocky Mountain coal province Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lowham, H.W.; Peterson, D.A.; Larson, L.R.; Zimmerman, E.A.; Ringen, B.H.; Mora, K.L.

1985-01-01

This report is one of a series designed to characterize the hydrology of drainage basins within coal provinces, nationwide. Area 52 (in the Rocky Mountain Coal Province) includes the Green River Basin upstream from the Yampa River, and the Bear River upstream from the Bear Lake - a total of 23,870 sq mi. Area 52 contains over 3 billion tons of strippable coal, most of which is located in the arid and semiarid plains. The report represents a summary of results of the water resources investigations of the U.S. Geological Survey, carried out in cooperation with State and other Federal agencies. More than 40 individual topics are discussed in a brief text that is accompanied by maps, graphs, photographs, and other illustrations. Primary topics in the report are: general features, resources and economy, surface-water quantity and quality, and groundwater. (USGS)

The Rockfall Buzzsaw: Quantifying the role of frost processes on mountain evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hales, T.; Roering, J. J.

2006-12-01

The height and relief of high mountains reflects a balance between uplift, caused by tectonic and isostatic forces, and erosion, by fluvial, glacial, periglacial, and hillslope processes. Recently, models of mountain evolution have focused on the importance of glaciers in eroding deep valleys, a process referred to as the "glacial buzzsaw". Little attention has been paid to the role of periglacial processes, despite large scree slopes and rubble-covered glaciers being common in mountains. Frost cracking induced rockfall erosion has wide acceptance in the literature and a number of local studies have calculated high rockfall erosion rates in cold environments; but the question remains, how important is frost cracking in eroding bedrock in mountainous environments? We quantify how and where ice-driven mechanical erosion occurs in cold, bedrock-dominated landscapes using a simple one-dimensional numerical heat flow model. In our model, ice grows by water migration to colder regions in shallow rock by the reduction in chemical potential associated with intermolecular forces between ice and mineral surfaces, a process called segregation ice growth. Positive MAT sites are characterized by intense cracking in the top meter of the rock mass and a maximum frost penetration of ~4m. In contrast, negative MAT areas have an order of magnitude less intense cracking that primarily occurs at depths between 50 and 800 cm. This suggests that periglacial erosion may be concentrated in a narrow elevation range (corresponding to areas with a MAT between 0 and 2°C). At higher MATs ice growth is limited to very shallow depths. As MATs dip below zero, frost cracking intensity is reduced considerably resulting in a high and frozen condition. These results suggest that rocks with a fracture spacing of less than 400cm provide more sites for the nucleation and growth of segregation ice, and are therefore more susceptible to frost-induced bedrock weathering. To quantify the effect of ice weathering, we compared the elevation, rock fracture spacing, and the rockfall erosion rate for three areas, the eastern Southern Alps, New Zealand (fracture spacing of <10cm), rock outcrops in Utah (variable fracture spacing), and Mt. Whitney, Sierra Nevada (fracture spacing of ~400 cm). The eastern Southern Alps are characterized by large (km scale) scree slopes, rapid rockfall erosion rates (~0.1 mm/yr), and rounded peaks whose maximum elevation corresponds with the ~0°C isotherm. The eastern Sierra Nevada has small scree slopes and steep pinnacled ridges and peaks above the -5°C isotherm, consistent with the high and frozen scenario. In Utah the highest rockfall frequencies occur in coincidence with the 0.5°C isotherm. These results hint at an interplay between mountain height and rock fracture spacing, such that the height of mountains with highly fractured rocks may be limited by the intense frost processes coincident with the 1°C isotherm. In this case, mountain elevations may be limited by a rockfall buzzsaw, which efficiently erodes bedrock within a narrow elevation band, the location of which is controlled by glacial- interglacial climate cycles.

Map showing distribution of gold in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, W.R.; Motooka, J.M.; McHugh, J.B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of gold in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the Selected References of this report. The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of silver in the nonmagnetic fraction of heavy-mineral concentrates, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of silver in the nonmagnetic fraction of heavy-mineral concentrates of drainage-sediment samples. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of thorium in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of thorium in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of zinc in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of zinc in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of lead in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of lead in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of cadmium and antimony in the nonmagnetic fraction of heavy-mineral concentrates, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of cadmium and antimony in the nonmagnetic fraction of drainage-sediment samples. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of molybdenum in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of molybdenum in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of silver in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of silver in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of tin in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of tin in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of uranium in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of uranium in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Revised geologic cross sections of parts of the Colorado, White River, and Death Valley regional groundwater flow systems, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Page, William R.; Scheirer, Daniel S.; Langenheim, V.E.; Berger, Mary A.

2006-01-01

This report presents revisions to parts of seven of the ten cross sections originally published in U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006-1040. The revisions were necessary to correct errors in some of the original cross sections, and to show new parts of several sections that were extended and (or) appended to the original section profiles. Revisions were made to cross sections C-C', D-D', E-E', F-F', G-G', I-I', and J-J', and the parts of the sections revised or extended are highlighted below the sections on plate 1 by red brackets and the word "revised," or "extended." Sections not listed above, as well as the interpretive text and figures, are generally unchanged from the original report. Cross section C-C' includes revisions in the east Mormon Mountains in the east part of the section; D-D' includes revisions in the Mormon Mesa area in the east part of the section; E-E' includes revisions in the Muddy Mountains in the east part of the section; F-F' includes revisions from the Muddy Mountains to the south Virgin Mountains in the east part of the section; and J-J' includes some revisions from the east Mormon Mountains to the Virgin Mountains. The east end of G-G' was extended about 16 km from the Black Mountains to the southern Virgin Mountains, and the northern end of I-I' was extended about 45 km from the Muddy Mountains to the Mormon Mountains, and revisions were made in the Muddy Mountains part of the original section. This report contains 10 interpretive cross sections and an integrated text describing the geology of parts of the Colorado, White River, and Death Valley regional groundwater flow systems in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The primary purpose of the report is to provide geologic framework data for input into a numerical groundwater model. Therefore, the stratigraphic and structural summaries are written in a hydrogeologic context. The oldest rocks (basement) are Early Proterozoic metamorphic and intrusive crystalline rocks that are considered confining units because of their low permeability. Late Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian clastic units overlie the crystalline rocks and are also considered confining units within the regional flow systems. Above the clastic units are Middle Cambrian to Lower Permian carbonate rocks that are the primary aquifers in the flow systems. The Middle Cambrian to Lower Permian carbonate rocks are overlain by a sequence of mainly clastic rocks of late Paleozoic to Mesozoic age that are mostly considered confining units, but they may be permeable where faulted. Tertiary volcanic and plutonic rocks are exposed in the northern and southern parts of the study area. In the Clover and Delamar Mountains, these rocks are highly deformed by north- and northwest-striking normal and strike-slip faults that are probably important conduits in transmitting groundwater from the basins in the northern Colorado and White River flow systems to basins in the southern part of the flow systems. The youngest rocks in the region are Tertiary to Quaternary basin-fill deposits. These rocks consist of middle to late Tertiary sediments consisting of limestone, conglomerate, sandstone, tuff, and gypsum, and younger Quaternary surficial units consisting of alluvium, colluvium, playa deposits, and eolian deposits. Basin-fill deposits are both aquifers and aquitards. The rocks in the study area were complexly deformed by episodes of Mesozoic compression and Cenozoic extensional tectonism. Some Cretaceous thrust faults and folds of the Sevier orogenic belt form duplex zones and define areas of maximum thickness for the Paleozoic carbonate rocks. Cenozoic faults are important because they are the primary structures that control groundwater flow in the regional flow systems.

Colorado River and its utilization

USGS Publications Warehouse

La Rue, Eugene Clyde; Grover, Nathan C.

1916-01-01

The region traversed by the Colorado and its tributaries is for many reasons of intense interest to the people of the United States. Here was the home of that forgotten people of which there is almost no record except the hieroglyphics on the rocks, the ruins of their irrigation systems, and the cliff dwellings by which they are most widely known; here were Spanish missions whose history extends back nearly to the days of Balboa and Cortez; here is the Grand Canyon, whose sublimity was first fully disclosed by Maj. Powell and his associates, who navigated it from end to end in 1869 and 1872; here are the greatest known natural bridges, so remote and inaccessible that they have only recently been discovered; here is the mighty river and its tributaries, as yet largely undeveloped, affording possibilities of extensive use for water power in its many canyons and for irrigation in its desert valleys, which need only the life-giving water to make them productive and valuable. We are interested in its mysteries, its traditions, its history, and its possible future; in the fascination of its deserts, whose immensity awes us; in the grandeur of its mountains, from the highest peaks of the Rockies on the east to the beauties of the Uinta and Wasatch mountains on the west; in the wonders of its canyons, perhaps the most famous in the world; in the range of its climate, from its short and cold summer season in Wyoming, where frosts may occur in every month of the year, to the subtropical temperatures of the valleys of Arizona, where the growing season never ends.

Generation and migration of Bitumen and oil from the oil shale interval of the Eocene Green River formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Mercier, Tracey J.

2016-01-01

The results from the recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Eocene Green River Formation, based primarily on the Fischer assay method, are applied herein to define areas where the oil shale interval is depleted of some of its petroleum-generating potential along the deep structural trough of the basin and to make: (1) a general estimates of the amount of this depletion, and (2) estimate the total volume of petroleum generated. Oil yields (gallons of oil per ton of rock, GPT) and in-place oil (barrels of oil per acre, BPA) decrease toward the structural trough of the basin, which represents an offshore lacustrine area that is believed to have originally contained greater petroleum-generating potential than is currently indicated by measured Fischer assay oil yields. Although this interval is considered to be largely immature for oil generation based on vitrinite reflectance measurements, the oil shale interval is a likely source for the gilsonite deposits and much of the tar sands in the basin. Early expulsion of petroleum may have occurred due to the very high organic carbon content and oil-prone nature of the Type I kerogen present in Green River oil shale. In order to examine the possible sources and migration pathways for the tar sands and gilsonite deposits, we have created paleogeographic reconstructions of several oil shale zones in the basin as part of this study.

Thick sequences of silicate and carbonate rocks of sedimentary origin in North America an interim report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Love, John David

1956-01-01

Thick sequences of silicate and carbonate rocks of sedimentary origin have been investigated in 64 areas in North America. The areas containing the thickest and most homogeneous stratigraphic sections more than 1,000 feet thick, buried at depths greater than 10,000 feet are: 1. Uinta Basin, Utah, where the Mancos shale is 1,300 to 5,000 feet thick, the Weber sandstone is 1,000 to 1,600 feet thick, and Mississippian limestones are 1,000 to 1,500 feet thick. 2. Washakie Basin, Wyoming, and Sand Wash Ba.sin, Colorado, where the Lewis shale is 1,000 to 2,000 feet thick and the Cody-Mancos shale is 4,500 to 5,500 feet thick. 3. Green River Basin, Wyoming, where the Cody-Hilliard-Baxter-Mancos shale sequence averages more than 3,000 feet, the siltstone and shale of the Chugwater formation totals 1,000 feet, and the Madison limestone ranges from 1,000 to 1,400 feet thick. 4. Red Desert (Great Divide) Basin, Wyoming, where the Cody shale is 4,000 feet thick. 5. Hanna Basin, Wyoming, where the Steele shale is 4,500 feet thick. 6. Wind River Basin, Wyoming, where the Cody shale is 3,600 to 5,000 feet thick. Geochemical characteristics of these rocks in these areas are poorly known but are being investigated. A summary of the most pertinent recent ana1yses is presented.

Map showing distribution of copper in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle shows the regional distribution of copper in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Map showing distribution of barium in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, William R.; Motooka, Jerry M.; McHugh, John B.

1990-01-01

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle shows the regional distribution of barium in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

The Geologic Story of Arches National Park

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lohman, Stanley William

1975-01-01

According to former Superintendent Bates Wilson (1956), Prof. Lawrence M. Gould, of the University of Michigan, was the first to recognize the geologic and scenic values of the Arches area in eastern Utah and to urge its creation as a national monument. Mrs. Faun McConkie Tanner told me that Professor Gould, who had done a thesis problem in the nearby La Sal Mountains, was first taken through the area by Marv Turnbow, third owner of Wolfe cabin. (See p. 12.) When Professor Gould went into ecstasy over the beautiful scenery, Turnbow replied, 'I didn't know there was anything unusual about it.'

Spatial Analysis of Gravity Data in the California, Nevada, and Utah (US)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferani, NA; Hartantyo, E.; Niasari, SW

2018-04-01

The geological condition of western North America is very complex because of the encounter of three major plates namely North America, Juan de Fuca, and Pacific Plate. The process of Juan de Fuca subduction and Pacific transform against North America plate created many mountains and produced Great Basin that we can see extending across California, Nevada, and Utah. The varied natural condition causes the varied value of gravity anomaly distribution. Using Topex free-air anomaly analyzed with second vertical derivative (SVD), we can analyze the fracture structures that occur in the Great Basin. The results show that the maximal SVD anomaly value is higher than the minimal SVD anomaly value at the western and eastern border of Great Basin. This explains that the two of Great Basin border are normal faults with trend direction NW-SE in the western boundary and NE-SW trending in the eastern boundary. This research result corresponds with the high seismicity data along the fault. Through this research, we can know that topex free-air anomaly data can be used to determine the type and trend of fault on a regional scale.

Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and depositional environment of the Crystal Geyser Dinosaur Quarry, east-central Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Suarez, M.B.; Suarez, C.A.; Kirkland, J.I.; Gonzalez, Luis A.; Grandstaff, D.E.; Terry, D.O.

2007-01-01

The Crystal Geyser Dinosaur Quarry, near Green River, Utah, is located at the base of the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. The quarry preserves a nearly monospecific accumulation of a new basal therizinosauroid, Falcarius utahensis. We used field descriptions and petrographic analysis to determine the depositional environment and development of the quarry strata. Results of these analyses suggest that the quarry represents multiple episodes of bone accumulation buried by spring and overbank flood deposits. Evidence for these previously undescribed spring deposits includes calcite macroscopic structures within the quarry strata - such as pisolites and travertine fragments - and calcite micromorphologies - including radial-fibrous, feather, and scandulitic dendrite morphologies and tufa clasts. At least two episodes of bone incorporation are preserved in the quarry based on their stratigraphic position and lithologic associations. The unique depositional setting in and around the Crystal Geyser Dinosaur Quarry appears to have been favorable for the preservation of vertebrate fossils and provides insight into early Cretaceous environments in North America. Copyright ?? 2007, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology).

Reported Historic Asbestos Mines, Historic Asbestos Prospects, and Natural Asbestos Occurrences in the Southwestern United States (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Gosen, Bradley S.

2008-01-01

This map and its accompanying dataset provide information for 113 natural asbestos occurrences in the Southwestern United States (U.S.), using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences and their geological characteristics in the Southwestern U.S., which includes sites in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map reported natural asbestos occurrences in the U.S., which thus far includes similar maps and datasets of natural asbestos occurrences within the Eastern U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1189/), the Central U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1211/), and the Rocky Mountain States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1182/. These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on natural occurrences of asbestos in the U.S.

A primitive therizinosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirkland, J.I.; Zanno, L.E.; Sampson, S.D.; Clark, J.M.; DeBlieux, D.D.

2005-01-01

Therizinosauroids are an enigmatic group of dinosaurs known mostly from the Cretaceous period of Asia, whose derived members are characterized by elongate necks, laterally expanded pelves, small, leaf-shaped teeth, edentulous rostra and mandibular symphyses that probably bore keratinized beaks. Although more than a dozen therizinosauroid taxa are known, their relationships within Dinosauria have remained controversial because of fragmentary remains and an unusual suite of characters. The recently discovered 'feathered' therizinosauroid Beipiaosaurus from the Early Cretaceous of China helped to clarify the theropod affinities of the group. However, Beipiaosaurus is also poorly represented. Here we describe a new, primitive therizinosauroid from an extensive paucispecific bonebed at the base of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Early Cretaceous) of east-central Utah. This new taxon represents the most complete and most basal therizinosauroid yet discovered. Phylogenetic analysis of coelurosaurian theropods incorporating this taxon places it at the base of the clade Therizinosauroiden, indicating that this species documents the earliest known stage in the poorly understood transition from carnivory to herbivory within Therizinosauroidea. The taxon provides the first documentation, to our knowledge, of therizinosauroids in North America during the Early Cretaceous.

Reconnaissance for uranium in black shale, Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, 1953

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mapel, W.J.

1954-01-01

Reconnaissance examinations for uranium in 22 formations containing black shale were conducted in parts of Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon during 1953. About 150 samples from 80 outcrop localities and 5 oil and gas wells were submitted for uranium determinations. Most of the black shale deposits examined contain less than 0.003 percent uranium; however, thin beds of black shale at the base of the Mississippian system contain 0.005 percent uranium at 2 outcrop localities in southwestern Montana and as much as 0.007 percent uranium in a well in northeastern Montana. An eight-foot bed of phosphatic black shale at the base of the Brazer limestone of Late Mississippian age in Rich County, Utah, contains as much as 0.009 percent uranium. Commercial gamma ray logs of oil and gas wells drilled in Montana and adjacent parts of the Dakotas indicate that locally the Heath shale of Late Mississippian age contains as much as 0.01 percent equivalent uranium, and black shales of Late Cretaceous age contain as much as 0.008 percent equivalent uranium.

Role of multidecadal climate variability in a range extension of pinyon pine

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gray, Stephen T.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Eddy, Robert G.

2006-01-01

Evidence from woodrat middens and tree rings at Dutch John Mountain (DJM) in northeastern Utah reveal spatiotemporal patterns of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis Engelm.) colonization and expansion in the past millennium. The DJM population, a northern outpost of pinyon, was established by long-distance dispersal (~40 km). Growth of this isolate was markedly episodic and tracked multidecadal variability in precipitation. Initial colonization occurred by AD 1246, but expansion was forestalled by catastrophic drought (1250–1288), which we speculate produced extensive mortality of Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little), the dominant tree at DJM for the previous ~8700 years. Pinyon then quickly replaced juniper across DJM during a few wet decades (1330–1339 and 1368–1377). Such alternating decadal-scale droughts and pluvial events play a key role in structuring plant communities at the landscape to regional level. These decadal-length precipitation anomalies tend to be regionally coherent and can synchronize physical and biological processes across large areas. Vegetation forecast models must incorporate these temporal and geographic aspects of climate variability to accurately predict the effects of future climate change.

AVIRIS data calibration information: Oquirrh and East Tintic mountains, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Clark, Roger N.; Livo, K. Eric; McDougal, Robert R.; Kokaly, Raymond F.

2002-01-01

The information contained herein pertains to the original reflectance calibration derived solely from the Saltair beach site on the shores of Great Salt Lake.  The reflectance data derived from this calibration becomes markedly affected by residual absorptions due to atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide within short horizontal and vertical distances from the calibration site due to the presence of what is believed to be a distinct microclimate by the lake.  Subsequent to the development of this web site, a new reflectance calibration was derived which mitigated these effects.  Reflectance spectra of bright areas of known composition in the East Tintic Mountains, far from Great Salt Lake, were sampled from the calibrated high altitude AVIRIS data cubes and edited, or "polished," to identify artifacts related to residual absorptions of atmospheric gases, particulates, and sensor noise.  The subtle artifacts identified in this way were incorporated into the multiplier spectra derived from the original calibration site, generating new multiplier spectra that were used to re-calibrate the ATREM- and path radiance-corrected cubes to reflectance.  This process generated a reflectance calibration customized for the Oquirrh/East Tintic Mountain region.

PBO Facility Construction: Basin and Range and Rocky Mountain Regions Status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friesen, B.; Jenkins, F.; Kasmer, D.; Feaux, K.

2007-12-01

The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), part of the larger NSF-funded EarthScope project, will study the three- dimensional strain field resulting from active plate boundary deformation across the western United States. PBO is a large construction project involving the reconnaissance, permitting, installation, documentation, and maintenance of 875 permanent GPS stations in five years. 163 of these stations lie within the Basin and Range and Rocky Mountain Regions consisting of the states of Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. During the fourth year of the project, the Basin and Range and Rocky Mountain regions of PBO completed reconnaissance and nearly all permitting activities, and maintained a fast pace of station installations. The fall of 2006 and spring of 2007 were devoted to the construction of a large push of 50 stations, most located on Bureau of Land Management controlled public lands in Nevada. This transect is located along Highway 50 and will profile the extension of the Basin and Range province. The Yellowstone area, including surrounding National Parks and Forests was the target of summer 2007, during which time 10 remote stations with difficult logistics were installed. To date, construction is complete for 135 of 163 GPS stations.

Uranium hydrogeochemical and stream sediment reconnaissance data release for the Red Creek quartzite special study area, Vernal NTMS Quadrangle, Utah/Colorado, including concentrations of forty-six additional elements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goff, S.; George, W.E.; Apel, C.T.

1981-04-01

Totals of 22 water and 140 sediment samples were collected from 148 locations in the study area. The study area, in the north-central portion of the Vernal NTMS quadrangle, is covered by four 7-1/2' topographic maps: Dutch John, Goslin Mountain, and Clav Basin, Utah; and Willow Creek Butte, Utah/Colorado. Additional HSSR data are available for the entire Vernal quadrangle (Purson, 1980). All field and analytical data are presented in Appendix I. Figure 1 is an index and sample location map that can be used in conjunction with the 1:250,000-scale topographic map of the Vernal quadrangle (USGS, 1954). Standarized field, analytical,more » and data base management procedures were followed in all phases of the study. These procedures are described briefly in Appendix II-A and in reports by Sharp (1977), Hues et al (1977), Sharp and Aamodt (1978), Cheadle (1977), and Kosiewicz (1979). The data presented in Appendix I are available on magnetic tape from GJOIS Project, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC-ND), Computer Applications Department, 4500 North Building, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box X, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830. Because this is simply a data release, intended to make the data available to the DOE and the public as quickly as possible, no discussion of the geology of the region, uranium occurrences, or data evaluation is included.« less

Cold-Air-Pool Structure and Evolution in a Mountain Basin: Peter Sinks, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clements, Craig B.; Whiteman, Charles D.; Horel, John D.

2003-06-01

The evolution of potential temperature and wind structure during the buildup of nocturnal cold-air pools was investigated during clear, dry, September nights in Utah's Peter Sinks basin, a 1-km-diameter limestone sinkhole that holds the Utah minimum temperature record of -56 C. The evolution of cold-pool characteristics depended on the strength of prevailing flows above the basin. On an undisturbed day, a 30 C diurnal temperature range and a strong nocturnal potential temperature inversion (22 K in 100 m) were observed in the basin. Initially, downslope flows formed on the basin sidewalls. As a very strong potential temperature jump (17 K)more » developed at the top of the cold pool, however, the winds died within the basin and over the sidewalls. A persistent turbulent sublayer formed below the jump. Turbulent sensible heat flux on the basin floor became negligible shortly after sunset while the basin atmosphere continued to cool. Temperatures over the slopes, except for a 1 to 2-m-deep layer, became warmer than over the basin center at the same altitude. Cooling rates for the entire basin near sunset were comparable to the 90 W m-2 rate of loss of net longwave radiation at the basin floor, but these rates decreased to only a few watts per square meter by sunrise. This paper compares the observed cold-pool buildup in basins with inversion buildup in valleys.« less

Energy in the Mountain West: Colonialism and Independence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steven Piet; Lloyd Brown; Robert Cherry

2007-08-01

In many ways, the mountain west (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) is an energy colony for the rest of the United States: it is rich in energy resources that are extracted to fuel economic growth in the wealthier and more populous coastal regions. Federal agencies and global corporations often behave as if the mountain west is a place to be exploited or managed for the benefit of customers and consumers elsewhere. Yet, the area. is not vast empty space with a limitless supply of natural resources, but rather a fast-growing region with a diverse economicmore » base dependent on a limited supply of water. New decision processes and collaborations are slowly changing this situation, but in a piecemeal fashion that places local communities at odds with powerful external interests. Proper planning of major development is needed to insure that the west has a strong economic and cultural future after the fossil energy resources decline, even if that might be a century from now. To encourage the necessary public discussions, this paper identifies key differences between the mountain west and the rest of the United States and suggests some holistic approaches that could improve our future. This paper is designed to provoke thought and discussion; it does not report new analyses on energy resources or usage. It is a summary of a large group effort.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brumbaugh, William D.; Cook, Kenneth L.

During the summers of 1975 and 1976, a gravity survey was conducted in the Cove Fort - Sulphurdale KGRA and north Mineral Mountains area, Millard and Beaver counties, Utah. The survey consisted of 671 gravity stations covering an area of about 1300 km{sup 2}, and included two orthogonal gravity profiles traversing the area. The gravity data are presented as a terrain-corrected Bouguer gravity anomaly map with a contour interval of 1 mgal and as an isometric three-dimensional gravity anomaly surface. Selected anomaly separation techniques were applied to the hand-digitized gravity data (at 1-km intervals on the Universal Transverse Mercator grid)more » in both the frequency and space domains, including Fourier decomposition, second vertical derivative, strike-filter, and polynomial fitting analysis, respectively. Residual gravity gradients of 0.5 to 8.0 mgal/km across north-trending gravity contours observed through the Cove Fort area, the Sulphurdale area, and the areas east of the East Mineral Mountains, along the west flanks of the Tushar Mountains, and on both the east and west flanks of the north Mineral Mountains, were attributed to north-trending Basin and Range high-angle faults. Gravity highs exist over the community of Black Rock area, the north Mineral Mountains, the Paleozoic outcrops in the east Cove Creek-Dog Valley-White Sage Flats areas, the sedimentary thrust zone of the southern Payant Range, and the East Mineral Mountains. The gravity lows over north Milford Valley, southern Black Rock Desert, Cunningham Wash, and northern Beaver Valley are separated from the above gravity highs by steep gravity gradients attributed to a combination of crustal warping and faulting. A gravity low with a closure of 2 mgal corresponds with Sulphur Cove, a circular topographic features containing sulphur deposits.« less

Coal Markets

EIA Publications

2017-01-01

Summarizes spot coal prices by coal commodity regions (i.e., Central Appalachia (CAP), Northern Appalachia (NAP), Illinois Basin (ILB), Power River Basin (PRB), and Uinta Basin (UIB)) in the United States.

Evaluation of the effects of precipitation on ground-water levels from wells in selected alluvial aquifers in Utah and Arizona, 1936-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gardner, Philip M.; Heilweil, Victor M.

2009-01-01

Increased withdrawals from alluvial aquifers of the southwestern United States during the last half-century have intensified the effects of drought on ground-water levels in valleys where withdrawal for irrigation is greatest. Furthermore, during wet periods, reduced withdrawals coupled with increased natural recharge cause rising ground-water levels. In order to manage water resources more effectively, analysis of ground-water levels under the influence of natural and anthropogenic stresses is useful. This report evaluates the effects of precipitation patterns on ground-water levels in areas of Utah and Arizona that have experienced different amounts of ground-water withdrawal. This includes a comparison of water-level records from basins that are hydrogeologically and climatologically similar but have contrasting levels of ground-water development. Hydrologic data, including records of ground-water levels, basin-wide annual ground-water withdrawals, and precipitation were examined from two basins in Utah (Milford and central Sevier) and three in Arizona (Aravaipa Canyon, Willcox, and Douglas). Most water-level records examined in this study from basins experiencing substantial ground-water development (Milford, Douglas, and Willcox) showed strong trends of declining water levels. Other water-level records, generally from the less-developed basins (central Sevier and Aravaipa Canyon) exhibited trends of increasing water levels. These trends are likely the result of accumulating infiltration of unconsumed irrigation water. Water-level records that had significant trends were detrended by subtraction of a low-order polynomial in an attempt to eliminate the variation in the water-level records that resulted from ground-water withdrawal or the application of water for irrigation. After detrending, water-level residuals were correlated with 2- to 10-year moving averages of annual precipitation from representative stations for the individual basins. The water-level residual time series for each well was matched with the 2- to 10-year moving average of annual precipitation with which it was best correlated and the results were compared across basins and hydrologic settings. Analysis of water-level residuals and moving averages of annual precipitation indicate that ground-water levels in the Utah basins respond more slowly to precipitation patterns than those from the Arizona basins. This is attributed to the dominant mechanism of recharge that most directly influences the respective valley aquifers. Substantial recharge in the Utah basins likely originates as infiltrating snowmelt in the mountain block far from the valley aquifer, whereas mountain-front recharge and streambed infiltration of runoff are the dominant recharge mechanisms operating in the Arizona basins. It was determined that the fraction of water-level variation caused by local precipitation patterns becomes more difficult to resolve with increasing effects of ground-water pumping, especially from incomplete records. As the demand for ground water increases in the southwestern United States, long-term records of ground-water levels have the potential to provide valuable information about the precipitation-driven variation in water levels, which has implications to water management related to water availability.

40 CFR 86.094-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Power Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison... Sweetwater Teton Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate...

40 CFR 86.094-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Power Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison... Sweetwater Teton Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate...

40 CFR 86.094-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Power Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison... Sweetwater Teton Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate...

40 CFR 86.094-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Power Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison... Sweetwater Teton Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate...

High concentrations of regional dust from deserts to plains across the central Rocky Mountains, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, R. L.; Munson, S. M.; Fernandez, D. P.; Neff, J. C.

2015-12-01

Regional mineral dust in the American Southwest affects snow-melt rates, biogeochemical cycling, visibility, and public health. We measured total suspended particulates (TSP) across a 500-km-long sampling network of five remote sites in Utah and Colorado, USA, forming a gradient in distance from major dust emitting areas. The two westernmost sites on the Colorado Plateau desert had similar TSP concentrations (2008-2012, daily average=126 μg m-3; max. daily average over a two-week period=700 μg m-3 at Canyonlands National Park, Utah), while the easternmost High Plains site, close to cropped and grazed areas in northeastern Colorado, had an average concentration of 143 μg m-3 in 2011-2012 (max. daily average=656 μg m-3). Such concentrations rank comparably with those of TSP in several African and Asian cities in the paths of frequent dust storms. Dust loadings at the two intervening montane sites decreased from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains (Telluride, daily average=68 μg m-3) to an eastern site (Niwot Ridge, daily average=58 μg m-3). Back-trajectory analyses and satellite retrievals indicated that the three westernmost sites received most dust from large desert-source regions as far as 300 km to their southwest. These sources also sometimes sent dust to the two easternmost sites, which additionally captured dust from sources north and northwest of the central Rocky Mountains as well as locally at the Plains site. The PM10 fraction accounted for <15% of TSP, but most TSP is only slightly larger (typical median size, 15-20 μm) after about 100-800 km transport distances. Correlations between TSP and PM10 values indicate increases in both fractions during regional wind storms, especially related to Pacific frontal systems during late winter to late spring. These measurements and observations indicate that most dust deposition and associated air-quality problems in the interior American West are connected to regional dust sources and not to those in Asia.

Stratigraphy and structure of the Miners Mountain area, Wayne County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luedke, Robert G.

1953-01-01

The Miners Mountain area includes about 85 square miles in Wayne County, south-central Utah. The area is semiarid and characterized by cliffs and deep canyons. Formations range in age from Permian to Upper Jurassic and have an aggregate thickness of about 3,500 feet. Permian formations are the buff Coconino sandstone and the overlying white, limy, shert-containing Kaibab limestone. Unconformably overlying the Kaihab is the lower Triassic Moenkopi formation of reddish-brown and yellow mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone; it contains the Sinbad limestone member (?) in the lower part. Thin, lenticular Shinarump conglomerate unconformably overlies the Moenkopi, but grades upward into the Upper Triassic Chinle formation of variegated mudstone with some interbedded sandstone and limestone lenses. Uncomformably overlying the Chinle are the Wingate sandstone, Kayenta formation, and Navajo sandstone of the Jurassic (?) Glen Canyon group, which consist of red to white sandstone. Only the lower part of the Carmel formation of the Upper Jurassic San Rafael group is exposed in the area; it consists of variegated siltstone, sandstone, limestone, and gypsum. The conspicuous structural feature in the area is the Teasdale anticline which trends northwest, is about 14 miles long, and is asymmetric with a steeper west flank. Bounding the anticline on the northeast and east is the Capitol Reef monocline, the northern part of the Waterpocket Fold. Strata in the area are broken by steeply-dipping normal faults with small displacements, except for the Teasdale fault which has a maximum displacement of over 1,000 feet. Jointing is prominent in some formations. The major orogenic movement in the area is believed to be late Upper Cretaceous to early Tertiary. Epeirogenic uplift occurred intermittently throughout Tertiary and perhaps Quaternary time.

Moment tensor inversion of ground motion from mining-induced earthquakes, Trail Mountain, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fletcher, Joe B.; McGarr, A.

2005-01-01

A seismic network was operated in the vicinity of the Trail Mountain mine, central Utah, from the summer of 2000 to the spring of 2001 to investigate the seismic hazard to a local dam from mining-induced events that we expect to be triggered by future coal mining in this area. In support of efforts to develop groundmotion prediction relations for this situation, we inverted ground-motion recordings for six mining-induced events to determine seismic moment tensors and then to estimate moment magnitudes M for comparison with the network coda magnitudes Mc. Six components of the tensor were determined, for an assumed point source, following the inversion method of McGarr (1992a), which uses key measurements of amplitude from obvious features of the displacement waveforms. When the resulting moment tensors were decomposed into implosive and deviatoric components, we found that four of the six events showed a substantial volume reduction, presumably due to coseismic closure of the adjacent mine openings. For these four events, the volume reduction ranges from 27% to 55% of the shear component (fault area times average slip). Radiated seismic energy, computed from attenuation-corrected body-wave spectra, ranged from 2.4 ?? 105 to 2.4 ?? 106 J for events with M from 1.3 to 1.8, yielding apparent stresses from 0.02 to 0.06 MPa. The energy released for each event, approximated as the product of volume reduction and overburden stress, when compared with the corresponding seismic energies, revealed seismic efficiencies ranging from 0.5% to 7%. The low apparent stresses are consistent with the shallow focal depths of 0.2 to 0.6 km and rupture in a low stress/low strength regime compared with typical earthquake source regions at midcrustal depths.

40 CFR 86.007-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison Meagher Park... Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate, which are...

40 CFR 86.007-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison Meagher Park... Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate, which are...

40 CFR 86.007-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison Meagher Park... Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate, which are...

40 CFR 86.007-30 - Certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Treton Valley State of Montana Beaverhead Deer Lodge Gallatin Jefferson Judith Basin Madison Meagher Park... Uinta Washakie Weston (6) Catalyst-equipped vehicles, otherwise covered by a certificate, which are...

Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion: Chapter 26 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruhlman, Jana; Gass, Leila; Middleton, Barry

2012-01-01

Situated between ecoregions of distinctly different topographies and climates, the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion represents a large area of approximately 192,869 km2 (74,467 mi2) that stretches across northern Arizona, central and northwestern New Mexico, and parts of southwestern Colorado; in addition, a small part extends into southeastern Nevada (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). Forested, mountainous terrain borders the ecoregion on the northeast (Southern Rockies Ecoregion) and southwest (Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Ecoregion). Warmer and drier climates exist to the south (Chihuahuan Deserts Ecoregion) and west (Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion). The semiarid grasslands of the western Great Plains are to the east (Southwestern Tablelands Ecoregion), and the tablelands of the Colorado Plateau in Utah and western Colorado lie to the north (Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion). The Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion occupies a significant portion of the southern half of the Colorado Plateau.

An occurrence model for the national assessment of volcanogenic beryllium deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Foley, Nora K.; Seal, Robert R.; Piatak, Nadine M.; Hetland, Brianna

2010-01-01

The general occurrence model summarized here is intended to provide a descriptive basis for the identification and assessment of undiscovered beryllium deposits of a type and style similar to those found at Spor Mountain, Juab County, Utah. The assessment model is restricted in its application in order to provide a coherent basis for assessing the probability of the occurrence of similar economic deposits using the current U.S. Geological Survey methodology. The model is intended to be used to identify tracts of land where volcanogenic epithermal replacement-type beryllium deposits hosted by metaluminous to peraluminous rhyolite are most likely to occur. Only a limited number of deposits or districts of this type are known, and only the ores of the Spor Mountain district have been studied in detail. The model highlights those distinctive aspects and features of volcanogenic epithermal beryllium deposits that pertain to the development of assessment criteria and puts forward a baseline analysis of the geoenvironmental consequences of mining deposits of this type.

Cover beds older than the mid-pleistocene revolution and the provenance of their eolian components, La Sal Mountains, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krautz, Jana; Gärtner, Andreas; Hofmann, Mandy; Linnemann, Ulf; Kleber, Arno

2018-04-01

We used uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of zircons from a tephra layer deposited in the La Sal Mountains to assign an age of more than c. 1.3 Ma to underlying loess-mixed slope deposits (cover beds) and paleosols developed therein. For the first time, we show that properties of cover beds and soils before the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution were similar to those formed after the revolution. However, the deepest exposed carbonate-enriched horizon is much farther developed than younger ones, indicating that there was a period of enrichment by far exceeding intensities of younger calcic horizons some time before the revolution, possibly in Neogene times. Remarkable differences between age distributions of detrital zircons (DZ) within the cover beds allow reconstructing the regional provenance of mixed eolian matter with high accuracy: we were able to trace particular cover beds back to areas with outcropping Permian and Upper Cretaceous rocks.

Resolving Past Liabilities for Future Reduction in Greenhouse Gases; Nuclear Energy and the Outstanding Federal Liability of Spent Nuclear Fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donohue, Jay

This thesis will: (1) examine the current state of nuclear power in the U.S.; (2) provide a comparison of nuclear power to both existing alternative/renewable sources of energy as well as fossil fuels; (3) dissect Standard Contracts created pursuant to the National Waste Policy Act (NWPA), Congress' attempt to find a solution for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), and the designation of Yucca Mountain as a repository; (4) the anticipated failure of Yucca Mountain; (5) explore WIPP as well as attempts to build a facility on Native American land in Utah; (6) examine reprocessing as a solution for SNF used by France and Japan; and, finally, (7) propose a solution to reduce GHG's by developing new nuclear energy plants with financial support from the U.S. government and a solution to build a storage facility for SNF through the sitting of a repository based on a "bottom-up" cooperative federalism approach.

Yersinia philomiragia sp. n., a new member of the Pasteurella group of bacteria, naturally pathogenic for the muskrat (Ondatra zibethica)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jensen, W.I.; Owen, C.R.; Jellison, W.L.

1969-01-01

A bacterium experimentally pathogenic for muskrats (Ondatra zibethica), white mice, mountain voles (Microtus montanus), and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) was isolated from the tissues of a sick muskrat captured on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (Brigham City, Utah) and from four surface water samples collected within 15 miles of that point. In culture, the cells are chiefly coccoid, but in the tissues of muskrats and voles they resemble the bizarre forms of Yersinia pestis, except for their smaller size. The characteristics of the organism are described and the name Yersinia philomiragia sp. n. is proposed.

Detection of aspen/conifer forest mixes from multitemporal LANDSAT digital data. [Bear River Range, Rocky Mountains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merola, J. A.; Jaynes, R. A.; Harniss, R. O.

1983-01-01

Aspen, conifer and mixed aspen/conifer forests were mapped for a 15-quadrangle study area in the Utah-Idaho Bear River Range using LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data. The digital MSS data were utilized to devise quantitative indices which correlate with apparently stable and seral aspen forests. The extent to which a two-date LANDSAT MSS analysis may permit the delineation of different categories of aspen/conifer forest mix was explored. Multitemporal analyses of MSS data led to the identification of early, early to mid, mid to late, and late seral stages of aspen/conifer forest mixing.

The University of Utah Urban Undertaking (U4)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, J. C.; Mitchell, L.; Bares, R.; Mendoza, D. L.; Fasoli, B.; Bowling, D. R.; Garcia, M. A.; Buchert, M.; Pataki, D. E.; Crosman, E.; Horel, J.; Catharine, D.; Strong, C.; Ehleringer, J. R.

2015-12-01

The University of Utah is leading efforts to understand the spatiotemporal patterns in both emissions and concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) and criteria pollutants within urban systems. The urbanized corridor in northern Utah along the Wasatch Front, anchored by Salt Lake City, is undergoing rapid population growth that is projected to double in the next few decades. The Wasatch Front offers multiple advantages as an unique "urban laboratory": urban regions in multiple valleys spanning numerous orders of magnitude in population, each with unique airsheds, well-defined boundary conditions along deserts and tall mountains, strong signals during cold air pool events, seasonal contrasts in pollution, and a legacy of productive partnerships with local stakeholders and governments. We will show results from GHG measurements from the Wasatch Front, including one of the longest running continuous CO2 records in urban areas. Complementing this record are comprehensive meteorological observations and GHG/pollutant concentrations on mobile platforms: light rail, helicopter, and research vans. Variations in the GHG and pollutant observations illustrate human behavior and the resulting "urban metabolism" taking place on hourly, weekly, and seasonal cycles, resulting in a coupling between GHG and criteria pollutants. Moreover, these observations illustrate systematic spatial gradients in GHG and pollutant distributions between and within urban areas, traced to underlying gradients in population, energy use, terrain, and land use. Over decadal time scales the observations reveal growth of the "urban dome" due to expanding urban development. Using numerical models of the atmosphere, we further link concentrations of GHG and air quality-relevant pollutants to underlying emissions at the neighborhood scale as well as urban planning considerations.

Automated thematic mapping and change detection of ERTS-A images. [farmlands, cities, and mountain identification in Utah, Washington, Arizona, and California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gramenopoulos, N. (Principal Investigator)

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A diffraction pattern analysis of MSS images led to the development of spatial signatures for farm land, urban areas and mountains. Four spatial features are employed to describe the spatial characteristics of image cells in the digital data. Three spectral features are combined with the spatial features to form a seven dimensional vector describing each cell. Then, the classification of the feature vectors is accomplished by using the maximum likelihood criterion. It was determined that the recognition accuracy with the maximum likelihood criterion depends on the statistics of the feature vectors. It was also determined that for a given geographic area the statistics of the classes remain invariable for a period of a month, but vary substantially between seasons. Three ERTS-1 images from the Phoenix, Arizona area were processed, and recognition rates between 85% and 100% were obtained for the terrain classes of desert, farms, mountains, and urban areas. To eliminate the need for training data, a new clustering algorithm has been developed. Seven ERTS-1 images from four test sites have been processed through the clustering algorithm, and high recognition rates have been achieved for all terrain classes.

Analysis of Geologic CO2 Sequestration at Farnham Dome, Utah, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.; Han, W.; Morgan, C.; Lu, C.; Esser, R.; Thorne, D.; McPherson, B.

2008-12-01

The Farnham Dome in east-central Utah is an elongated, Laramide-age anticline along the northern plunge of the San Rafael uplift and the western edge of the Uinta Basin. We are helping design a proposed field demonstration of commercial-scale geologic CO2 sequestration, including injection of 2.9 million tons of CO2 over four years time. The Farnham Dome pilot site stratigraphy includes a stacked system of saline formations alternating with low-permeability units. Facilitating the potential sequestration demonstration is a natural CO2 reservoir at depth, the Jurassic-age Navajo formation, which contains an estimated 50 million tons of natural CO2. The sequestration test design includes two deep formations suitable for supercritical CO2 injection, the Jurassic-age Wingate sandstone and the Permian-age White Rim sandstone. We developed a site-specific geologic model based on available geophysical well logs and formation tops data for use with numerical simulation. The current geologic model is limited to an area of approximately 6.5x4.5 km2 and 2.5 km thick, which contains 12 stacked formations starting with the White Rim formation at the bottom (>5000 feet bgl) and extending to the Jurassic Curtis formation at the top of the model grid. With the detail of the geologic model, we are able to estimate the Farnham Dome CO2 capacity at approximately 36.5 million tones within a 5 mile radius of a single injection well. Numerical simulation of multiphase, non- isothermal CO2 injection and flow suggest that the injected CO2 plume will not intersect nearby fault zones mapped in previous geologic studies. Our simulations also examine and compare competing roles of different trapping mechanisms, including hydrostratigraphic, residual gas, solubility, and mineralization trapping. Previous studies of soil gas flux at the surface of the fault zones yield no significant evidence of CO2 leakage from the natural reservoir at Farnham Dome, and thus we use these simulations to evaluate what factors make this natural reservoir so effective for CO2 storage. Our characterization and simulation efforts are producing a CO2 sequestration framework that incorporates production and capacity estimation, area-of-review, injectivity, and trapping mechanisms. Likewise, mitigation and monitoring strategies have been formulated from the site characterization and modeling results.

75 FR 5890 - Suspension of Community Eligibility

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-05

...; May 19, 1992, Reg; February 17, 2010, Susp. Ross, Township of, 260624 July 24, 1975, ......do Do.... Evanston, City of, Uinta 560054 March 23, 1977, ......do Do. County. Emerg; January 15, 1988, Reg; February...

76 FR 71559 - Environmental Impacts Statements; Notice of Availability

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-18

..., PROGRAMMATIC--Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan, To Meet the Water Supply and... Mechanical Thinning, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Summit County, UT, Review Period Ends: 12/19/2011...

Structural analysis using thrust-fault hanging-wall sequence diagrams: Ogden duplex, Wasatch Range, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schirmer, T.W.

1988-05-01

Detailed mapping and cross-section traverses provide the control for structural analysis and geometric modeling of the Ogden duplex, a complex thrust system exposed in the Wasatch Mountains, east of Ogden, Utah. The structures consist of east-dipping folded thrust faults, basement-cored horses, lateral ramps and folds, and tear faults. The sequence of thrusting determined by means of lateral overlap of horses, thrust-splay relationships, and a top-to-bottom piggyback development is Willard thrust, Ogden thrust, Weber thrust, and Taylor thrust. Major decollement zones occur in the Cambrian shales and limestones. The Tintic Quartzite is the marker for determining gross geometries of horses. Thismore » exposed duplex serves as a good model to illustrate the method of constructing a hanging-wall sequence diagram - a series of longitudinal cross sections that move forward in time and space, and show how a thrust system formed as it moved updip over various footwall ramps. A hanging wall sequence diagram also shows the complex lateral variations in a thrust system and helps to locate lateral ramps, lateral folds, tear faults, and other features not shown on dip-oriented cross sections. 8 figures.« less

Preliminary report on the Apex and Paymaster mines, Washington County, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kinkel, Arthur R.

1951-01-01

The Apex and Paymaster mines in the Tutsagubet mining district, 25 miles southwest of St. George, Utah, are at an elevation of about 5,000 feet in the Beaver Dam Mountains. The ore was deposited in a steeply dipping fault zone which cuts a thick series of gently dipping limestones of Pennsylvanian age with minor interbedded shales and sandstones. The ore now consists primarily of copper oxides, but is reported to contain small quantities of lead and sine oxides. Complete oxidation extends to the 1,400 level of the Apex mine, the deepest level in this mine. Lead oxides are reported to have been more plentiful in the workings near surface, but the stoped area is now caved to the 1,330 level. The ore bodies probably formed largely as a filling in the fault fissure, and in crushed zones along the fault, with only minor replacement extending for short distances along the bedding. The sulfides oxidized essentially in place and migration of the oxidized copper ores is believed to be limited to a few feet. Additional exploration below the known ore shoots in the Apex and Paymaster mines and along the fissure between the two mines may disclose new ore bodies.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 41 crewmember.

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-10-06

ISS041-E-067595 (6 Oct. 2014) --- This moonlit panorama was shot recently with a wide-angle lens by an Expedition 41 crew member aboard the International Space Station, as they looked southwest from a point over Nebraska. The wide-angle lens shows a huge swath of country that stretches from Portland, Oregon (right) to Phoenix, Arizona (left). The largest string of lights is the Ogden-Salt Lake City-Provo area (lower center) in Utah. The Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan regions, and the cities of the central valley of California (Bakersfield to Redding) stretch across the horizon. The green airglow layer always appears in night images. Moonlight shows the red tinge of the space station?s solar arrays top left. Moonlight emphasizes the broader-scale geological zones. Nevada?s short, dark, parallel mountain ranges of the basin and range geological province (center) contrast with the expanses of flat terrain of the Colorado Plateau (left) in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The near-full moon even reveals the vast dry lake bed known as the Bonneville Salt Flats. The black line of the Sierra Nevada marks the edge of California?s well-lit central valley (directly below the San Francisco Bay area).

Report on the geology of the high plateaus of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dutton, C.E.; Powell, John Wesley

1880-01-01

In the year 1874 my kind friend Prof. J.W. Powell proposed to me that I should undertake, under his direction, the study of a large volcanic tract in the Territory of Utah, provided the consent of proper authority could be entertained. Distrusting my own fitness for the work, I felt that it would be better for him if his proposals were thankfully declined. In 1875, however, he renewed the proposition in such a friendly and complimentary manner that a refusal seemed ungracious. He therefore laid the matter before the Secretary of War, the General of the Army, and the Chief of Ordnance, all of whom gave their cordial approbation; and by order of the Ward Department I was detailed for duty in connection with the survey of the Rocky Mountain Region in charge of Professor Powell. The field which he assigned me to study was the District of the High Plateaus, and the investigations were made during the summers of 1875, 1876, and 1877. The preparation of a report or monograph upon the district has several times between interrupted by the pressure of other official duties to which the writer has been assigned during the last three years.

Detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation along the north and east margins of the Piceance Basin, western Colorado, using measured sections and drill hole information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Ronald C.

2014-01-01

This report presents two detailed cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado, constructed from eight detailed measured sections, fourteen core holes, and two rotary holes. The Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin contains the world’s largest known oil shale deposit with more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place. It was deposited in Lake Uinta, a long-lived saline lake that once covered much of the Piceance Basin and the Uinta Basin to the west. The cross sections extend across the northern and eastern margins of the Piceance Basin and are intended to aid in correlating between surface sections and the subsurface in the basin.

Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model for Simulating Winter Ozone Formation in the Uinta Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matichuk, Rebecca; Tonnesen, Gail; Luecken, Deborah; Gilliam, Rob; Napelenok, Sergey L.; Baker, Kirk R.; Schwede, Donna; Murphy, Ben; Helmig, Detlev; Lyman, Seth N.; Roselle, Shawn

2017-12-01

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) models were used to simulate a 10 day high-ozone episode observed during the 2013 Uinta Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS). The baseline model had a large negative bias when compared to ozone (O3) and volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements across the basin. Contrary to other wintertime Uinta Basin studies, predicted nitrogen oxides (NOx) were typically low compared to measurements. Increases to oil and gas VOC emissions resulted in O3 predictions closer to observations, and nighttime O3 improved when reducing the deposition velocity for all chemical species. Vertical structures of these pollutants were similar to observations on multiple days. However, the predicted surface layer VOC mixing ratios were generally found to be underestimated during the day and overestimated at night. While temperature profiles compared well to observations, WRF was found to have a warm temperature bias and too low nighttime mixing heights. Analyses of more realistic snow heat capacity in WRF to account for the warm bias and vertical mixing resulted in improved temperature profiles, although the improved temperature profiles seldom resulted in improved O3 profiles. While additional work is needed to investigate meteorological impacts, results suggest that the uncertainty in the oil and gas emissions contributes more to the underestimation of O3. Further, model adjustments based on a single site may not be suitable across all sites within the basin.