GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NOTES Geologic Mapping ,in Utah's Parks tl:'1:1J-d-?tf[,pnuments TABLE OF CONTENTS Geologic mapping in Utah's parks .. 1 UGS contributes to UGA Guidebook . 4 Glad You Asked: landscaping rock .. 5 Teacher's Comer: teaching packets from USGS web ............... 8 UGS' Prehistory and Heritage Week ..9 UGSNews ...................... 9 Energy news: Utah's available resources . ... 10 GeoSights: the Stockton Bar ...... 11 UGS website users .............. 12 New Publications ............... 13 his issue of Survey Notes contains this to be widely used: firstly, the major­ ity of Internet users are not GIS experts, Design by Vicky Clarke Tseveral articles from the Geologic Mapping Program of the Utah so the IMS software must be non-GIS­ Cover: UGS geologist Grant Willis descends user friendly; secondly, these users want through the canyon of the Right Fork of North Geological Survey. Our traditional role Creek while mapping in Zion National Park, of publishing hard-copy geologic maps access to diverse datasets including southwestern Utah. Photo by Mike Hylland. is rapidly expanding due to changing demographic, geographic, economic, technology. There is now widespread and geologic information. As an exam­ State of Utah use of the Internet, and users expect to ple, a potential developer may want to Michael 0 . Leavitt, Governor quickly access the information they know where urban corridors are, who Department of Natural Resources seek. For example, during the mid- the landowners are, who holds the Kathleen Clarke, Executive Director 1990s, the UGS typically received about water rights appropriations in the area, UGS Board what the geological hazards are, Craig Nelson, Chair 2,000 queries per year, not counting Geoff Bedell Robert Robison inquiries to our bookstore. This number whether oil and gas wells have been E.H. Deedee O'Brien Charles Semborski has decreased in recent years to about drilled nearby, and whether any sensi­ Steve Church Ron Bruhn 1,500, but visitors to our website who tive wildlife habitats exist. Presently in Thomas Faddies (Trust Lands Administration-ex officio) stayed for more than 30 seconds (that is, Utah, this information would require an UGS Staff Administration interpreted as genuine website queries) expert GIS user to hunt through half a Richard G. Allis, Director have risen to around 3,000 per week dozen web sites, including those of the Kimm Harty, Deputy Director (see Bill Case's notes on p. 12). Our agencies responsible for overseeing the John Kingsley, Assoc. Director website visitors have approximately information bases and that of the Daniel Kelly, Acct. Officer Nicole Pickett, Secretary /Receptionist doubled each year over the past four agency making them uniformly accessi­ Cheryl Ostlund, Admin. Secretary years, although there are signs in this ble (the Automated Geographic Refer­ Linda Bennett, Accounting Tech. year's statistics that the growth may ence Center, AGRC). Michael Hylland, Tech. Reviewer have leveled off. In addition to the tra­ Survey Notes Staff An exciting development in Utah is that ditional maps sold from our bookstore, Editor: Jim Stringfellow the AGRC is building a simplified IMS Editorial Staff: Vicky Clarke, Sharon Hamre we can now print some maps on as described above. This coincides with Cartographers: Patricia Speranza, demand and save on print costs, and a directive from Governor Leavitt that James Parker, Lori Douglas produce maps in Geographic Informa­ Geologic Hazards Gary Christenson the state's electronic appearance be tion System (GIS) format, either releas­ William Lund, Barry Solomon, "customer-centric" rather than the pres­ ing them on CDs or making them acces­ Francis Ashland, Richard Giraud, ent "department-centric." The proto­ Greg McDonald, Neil Storey sible through the web. The digital age type is being built around several geo­ Energy and Mineral Resources David Tabet has allowed geologic information to be logic layers provided by the UGS. Once Robert Gloyn, Robert Blackett, Roger Bon, more accessible, and hopefully also to Thomas Chidsey, Bryce T. Tripp, Craig Morgan, the "look and feel" of the website is be in much greater use than a decade J. Wallace Gwynn, Jeff Quick, ,Kevin McClure, finalized, numerous (potentially hun­ Sharon Wakefield, Carolyn Olsen, Cheryl ago. Gustin, Tom Dempster, Mike Kirschbaum, dreds) other layers will be added. It is Brigitte Hucka, F.R. Jahan Bani, Tom Brill, The technology of Internet map servers hoped that the IMS will be operational Glade Sowards (IMS) has the potential to stimulate later this year. The UGS is keen to Geologic Mapping Grant Willis another vast increase in usage of geo­ assist with this project - we believe that Hellmut Doelling, Jon King, Bob Biek, Kent Brown, Michael Wright, logic information during the coming the more accessible geological informa­ Basia Matyjasik, Douglas Sprinkel decade. This technology allows anyone tion is, the easier it will be to demon­ Geologic Information and Outreach with Internet access to use GIS software strate to the Utah taxpayer that the Sur­ Sandra Eldredge, William Case on the map-server website to compile a vey has an important role to play in Christine Wilkerson, Mage Yonetani, Patricia Stokes, Mark Milligan, Carl Ege, personal map which can then be down­ ensuring that wise land-use decisions Rob Nielson, Jo Lynn Campbell, Brian Martin loaded to their PC, or printed locally. continue to be made during Utah's con­ Environmental Sciences Michael Lowe Two factors need to be recognized for tinuing period of economic delopment. David Madsen, James Kirkland, Charles Bishop, Martha Hayden, Janae Wallace, Hugh Hurlow, Survey Notes is published three times yearly by Utah Geological Survey, 1594 W. North Temple, Suite 3110, Salt Lake City, Utah Alison Corey, Kim Nay, Dave Schmitt 84116; (801) 537-3300. The UGS is an applied scientific agency that creates, evaluates, and distributes information about Utah"s geologic environment. resources, and hazards to promote safe, beneficial, and wise use of land. The UGS is a division of the Department of Natural Resources. Single copies of Survey Notes are distributed free of charge to residents within the United ISSN 1061-7930 States and Canada and reproduction is encouraged with recognition of source. SURVEY NOTES 1 Geologic Mapping in Utah's Parks and Monuments by Grant C. Willis and Douglas A. Sprinkel IDAHO tah has been known by many ·. ;.Bear Lake titles over the years: "Deseret," ■ National Park "The Beehive State," even the II National Monument U •Hyrum c "Jello State." But perhaps most appro­ D National Recreation Area priate would be "The Parks State," or, ■ National Historic Site to us geologists, "The Geologic Parks • Utah State Park State," for Utah has gained worldwide WYOMING renown for its numerous state and Flaming national parks. Utah has some of the 1-80 Gorge N.R.A. best examples in the world of classic geologic features, and many of these Veterans Memorial are showcased in our parks. Students Tlmpanogos Cave N.M. Stagecoach In~ and professionals alike come to study Camp Floyd these features, and visitors from around the world come to experience the awe-inspiring geology. AScofield As near as we can determine, Utah has a greater percentage of its land set ~ ,.. ~./ Huntington aside as "parks" (as used here, the I _,,,-··--·,/ • term includes national and state parks, _{ •Palisade monuments, recreation areas, and Territorial •Mil/site Statehouse wildlife preserves) than any other state in the continental U.S. (over 4.2 , million acres, or almost 8% of the state). Regardless of how some of these parks came to be, they represent a large part of Utah's economy and Minersvi/19.. resources. The Governor's Office of Planning and Budget estimated that 17.8 million nonresidents visited Utah in 2000. They spent $4.25 billion, gen­ erated $340 million in tax revenue, and supported 121,500 travel and tourism jobs. Many of those visits were specif­ ically to our national and state parks. And of course, Utah citizens get to enjoy these treasures more than any- 2 SURVEY NOTES UGS geologists measure and describe Tertiary outcrops on Antelope Island. UGS and Bureau of Land Management per­ sonnel review recent map of Grand Staircase - one. In 2000, resident and nonresi­ for several reasons, primarily: {l) to Escalante National Monument. dents together made 6.6 million visits fulfill our mission to produce com­ to state parks and 5.4 million visits to plete map coverage of the state at managers of mineral exploration com­ national parks. Travel and tourism 1:100,000 and 1:24,000 scales, (2) to panies state that they will not explore represent about 7 percent of the gross complete detailed maps of the areas in areas that do not have good geolog­ state product. around parks that are experiencing ic maps because it is too expensive to some of the most rapid urban growth map themselves. Thus, one of the With Utah's famous scenery, it is no and recreational development in the benefits of mapping projects in the surprise that most of our parks were state, and (3) to help solve the many parks is that we have often been able designated because of their geology. puzzles that make up Utah geology. to develop cooperatively funded proj­ Whether it be the towering cliffs ects that share the expenses, and that (Zion), deep canyons (Canyonlands, While mapping in Utah's parks may benefit everyone. For example, even Capitol Reef, Dead Horse Point, Glen seem like a dream job (actually it is, though the UGS and National Park Canyon, Flaming Gorge), arches and but don't tell anyone), it also presents Service (NPS) jointly funded the bridges (Arches, Natural Bridges, many unique challenges. After all, work, more than 50 percent of our Rainbow Bridge), fossils (Dinosaur, Utah's parks are noted more for their recent mapping of Zion National Park Escalante), caves and cave ornaments remote canyons than they are for their covered adjoining areas outside the (Timpanogos Cave), complex geologic convenient access.