Colorado Plateau
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
New Core Study Unearths Insights Into Uinta Basin Evolution and Resources
UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SURVEY NOTES VOLUME 51, NUMBER 2 MAY 2019 New core study unearths insights into Uinta Basin evolution and resources CONTENTS New Core, New Insights into Ancient DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE Lake Uinta Evolution and Uinta Basin • Exploration and development of Energy Resources ..........................1 by Bill Keach unconventional resources. Oil shale Drones for Good: Utah Geologists As the incoming Take to the Skies ...........................3 director for the Utah and sand continue to be a provocative Utah Mining Districts at Your Fingertips . .4 Geological Survey opportunity still searching for an eco- Energy News: The Benefits of Utah (UGS), I would like to nomic threshold. Oil and Gas Production.....................6 thank Rick Allis for his Glad You Asked: What are Those • Earthquake early warning systems. Can Blue Ponds Near Moab?....................8 guidance and leader- they work on the Wasatch Front? GeoSights: Pine Park and Ancient ship over the past 18 years. In Rick’s first • Incorporating technology into field Supervolcanoes of Southwestern Utah....10 “Director’s Perspective” he made predic- Survey News...............................12 tions of “likely hot-button issues” that the mapping and hazard recognition and UGS would face. These issues included: using data analytics and knowledge Design | Jenny Erickson sharing in our work at the UGS. Cover | View to the west of Willow Creek • Renewed exploration for oil and gas in core study area. Photo by Ryan Gall. the State. The last item is dear to my heart. A large part of my career has been in the devel- State of Utah • Renewed interest in more fossil-fuel-fired Gary R. -
SW CASC Science Agenda 2013-2018
Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Climate Science Center 2013 Strategic Science Agenda Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Relation of the Southwest Climate Science Center to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee and Partners 5 Climatic Context of the Southwest ............................................................................................................... 6 Vision ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 Guiding Principles ....................................................................................................................................... 13 Goals of the Southwest Climate Science Center ......................................................................................... 14 Leadership goal ............................................................................................................................ 14 Research goal ............................................................................................................................ 14 Synthesis goal ............................................................................................................................ 15 Critical Information Needs ......................................................................................................................... -
Evaluation of Hanging Lake
Evaluation of Hanging Lake Garfield County, Colorado for its Merit in Meeting National Significance Criteria as a National Natural Landmark in Representing Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands in the Southern Rocky Mountain Province prepared by Karin Decker Colorado Natural Heritage Program 1474 Campus Delivery Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 August 27, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. 2 LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................................. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 5 Source of Site Proposal ................................................................................................... 5 Evaluator(s) ..................................................................................................................... 5 Scope of Evaluation ........................................................................................................ 5 PNNL SITE DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................... 5 Brief Overview ............................................................................................................... -
Denudation History and Internal Structure of the Front Range and Wet Mountains, Colorado, Based on Apatite-Fission-Track Thermoc
NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF GEOLOGY & MINERAL RESOURCES, BULLETIN 160, 2004 41 Denudation history and internal structure of the Front Range and Wet Mountains, Colorado, based on apatitefissiontrack thermochronology 1 2 1Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801Shari A. Kelley and Charles E. Chapin 2New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 Abstract An apatite fissiontrack (AFT) partial annealing zone (PAZ) that developed during Late Cretaceous time provides a structural datum for addressing questions concerning the timing and magnitude of denudation, as well as the structural style of Laramide deformation, in the Front Range and Wet Mountains of Colorado. AFT cooling ages are also used to estimate the magnitude and sense of dis placement across faults and to differentiate between exhumation and faultgenerated topography. AFT ages at low elevationX along the eastern margin of the southern Front Range between Golden and Colorado Springs are from 100 to 270 Ma, and the mean track lengths are short (10–12.5 µm). Old AFT ages (> 100 Ma) are also found along the western margin of the Front Range along the Elkhorn thrust fault. In contrast AFT ages of 45–75 Ma and relatively long mean track lengths (12.5–14 µm) are common in the interior of the range. The AFT ages generally decrease across northwesttrending faults toward the center of the range. The base of a fossil PAZ, which separates AFT cooling ages of 45– 70 Ma at low elevations from AFT ages > 100 Ma at higher elevations, is exposed on the south side of Pikes Peak, on Mt. -
Major Landforms and Their Economic Significance MODULE - 2 Changing Face of the Earth 7 Notes MAJOR LANDFORMS and THEIR ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
Major Landforms and their Economic Significance MODULE - 2 Changing face of the Earth 7 Notes MAJOR LANDFORMS AND THEIR ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE You have learnt in the previous lesson that the landforms found on the earth’s surface are the result of interplay between internal and external forces. The soft rocks are easily worn down by these forces. While the relatively harder rocks are not so easily worn down. Therefore, rocks have a great influence on the landforms developed in an area. The internal forces are perpetually elevating the earth’s surface and the external forces about which you will study in the next lessons are constantly wearing down such elevations to make ,the surface level. This is how various landforms are formed by constant action of agents of gradation. These landforms are not only the physical features of the earth’s surface but also the basis of human civilization. The major landforms found on the earth’s surface are mountains, plateaus and plains. In this lesson, we will study the major landforms of the earth and their economic importance for us. OBJECTIVES After studying this lesson you will be able to : differentiate among the three major landforms found on the earth’s surface; explain the process of formation of various landforms with the help of illustrations; classify mountains on the basis of their mode of formation; discuss the usefulness of mountains to man; list different types of plateaus and describe their economic significance; GEOGRAPHY 121 MODULE - 2 Major Landforms and their Economic Significance Changing face of the Earth enumerate major types of plains and explain their influence on human life; locate major mountains, plateaus and plains on the outline map of the world. -
Geology and Stratigraphy Column
Capitol Reef National Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Geology “Geology knows no such word as forever.” —Wallace Stegner Capitol Reef National Park’s geologic story reveals a nearly complete set of Mesozoic-era sedimentary layers. For 200 million years, rock layers formed at or near sea level. About 75-35 million years ago tectonic forces uplifted them, forming the Waterpocket Fold. Forces of erosion have been sculpting this spectacular landscape ever since. Deposition If you could travel in time and visit Capitol Visiting Capitol Reef 180 million years ago, Reef 245 million years ago, you would not when the Navajo Sandstone was deposited, recognize the landscape. Imagine a coastal you would have been surrounded by a giant park, with beaches and tidal flats; the water sand sea, the largest in Earth’s history. In this moves in and out gently, shaping ripple marks hot, dry climate, wind blew over sand dunes, in the wet sand. This is the environment creating large, sweeping crossbeds now in which the sediments of the Moenkopi preserved in the sandstone of Capitol Dome Formation were deposited. and Fern’s Nipple. Now jump ahead 20 million years, to 225 All the sedimentary rock layers were laid million years ago. The tidal flats are gone and down at or near sea level. Younger layers were the climate supports a tropical jungle, filled deposited on top of older layers. The Moenkopi with swamps, primitive trees, and giant ferns. is the oldest layer visible from the visitor center, The water is stagnant and a humid breeze with the younger Chinle Formation above it. -
Conservation
CONSERVATION 8.1 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 8 8.2 NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION 8.3 AIR QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH UPTOWN COMMUNITY PLAN November 2016 INTRODUCTION Conservation is the planned management, preservation, and wise utilization of natural resources and landscapes. Sustainable development is development which respects the balance and relationship between the economy, ecology and equity. The principles of conservation stress humankind’s CONSERVATION ELEMENT GOALS relationship to the natural environment and understand the benefits conferred socially as well as environmentally. • Implementation of sustainable development Socially, these benefits can accrue to all people as well and “green” building practices to reduce as future generations so there can be a sense of equity dependence on non-renewable energy sources, in the appropriate practice of conservation and the lower energy costs, reduce emissions and water implementation of sustainable development. consumption. Many aspects of conservation and sustainability have • Preservation of the natural character of much broader geographic and political relationships Uptown’s open space for its biological diversity and may be more suited to implement on a citywide or as well as important relief from urban even regional basis. However, there is much that can development. be done at the local community level, and individual • Protection of natural canyon landforms and communities can also be at the forefront of the policy habitat from building encroachment and discussion. incompatible uses. The General Plan Conservation Element positions the • Public access to scenic resources and open City to become an international model of sustainable space that is maintained and enhanced where development and to provide for the long-term needed. -
The Tectonic Evolution of the Madrean Archipelago and Its Impact on the Geoecology of the Sky Islands
The Tectonic Evolution of the Madrean Archipelago and Its Impact on the Geoecology of the Sky Islands David Coblentz Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM Abstract—While the unique geographic location of the Sky Islands is well recognized as a primary factor for the elevated biodiversity of the region, its unique tectonic history is often overlooked. The mixing of tectonic environments is an important supplement to the mixing of flora and faunal regimes in contributing to the biodiversity of the Madrean Archipelago. The Sky Islands region is located near the actively deforming plate margin of the Western United States that has seen active and diverse tectonics spanning more than 300 million years, many aspects of which are preserved in the present-day geology. This tectonic history has played a fundamental role in the development and nature of the topography, bedrock geology, and soil distribution through the region that in turn are important factors for understanding the biodiversity. Consideration of the geologic and tectonic history of the Sky Islands also provides important insights into the “deep time” factors contributing to present-day biodiversity that fall outside the normal realm of human perception. in the North American Cordillera between the Sierra Madre Introduction Occidental and the Colorado Plateau – Southern Rocky The “Sky Island” region of the Madrean Archipelago (lo- Mountains (figure 1). This part of the Cordillera has been cre- cated between the northern Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico ated by the interactions between the Pacific, North American, and the Colorado Plateau/Rocky Mountains in the Southwest- Farallon (now entirely subducted under North America) and ern United States) is an area of exceptional biodiversity and has Juan de Fuca plates and is rich in geology features, including become an important study area for geoecology, biology, and major plateaus (The Colorado Plateau), large elevated areas conservation management. -
Part 629 – Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms
Title 430 – National Soil Survey Handbook Part 629 – Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms Subpart A – General Information 629.0 Definition and Purpose This glossary provides the NCSS soil survey program, soil scientists, and natural resource specialists with landform, geologic, and related terms and their definitions to— (1) Improve soil landscape description with a standard, single source landform and geologic glossary. (2) Enhance geomorphic content and clarity of soil map unit descriptions by use of accurate, defined terms. (3) Establish consistent geomorphic term usage in soil science and the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). (4) Provide standard geomorphic definitions for databases and soil survey technical publications. (5) Train soil scientists and related professionals in soils as landscape and geomorphic entities. 629.1 Responsibilities This glossary serves as the official NCSS reference for landform, geologic, and related terms. The staff of the National Soil Survey Center, located in Lincoln, NE, is responsible for maintaining and updating this glossary. Soil Science Division staff and NCSS participants are encouraged to propose additions and changes to the glossary for use in pedon descriptions, soil map unit descriptions, and soil survey publications. The Glossary of Geology (GG, 2005) serves as a major source for many glossary terms. The American Geologic Institute (AGI) granted the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service) permission (in letters dated September 11, 1985, and September 22, 1993) to use existing definitions. Sources of, and modifications to, original definitions are explained immediately below. 629.2 Definitions A. Reference Codes Sources from which definitions were taken, whole or in part, are identified by a code (e.g., GG) following each definition. -
Controls on Geothermal Activity in the Sevier Thermal Belt, Southwestern
PROCEEDINGS, 44th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Stanford University, Stanford, California, February 11-13, 2019 SGP-TR-214 Controls of Geothermal Resources and Hydrothermal Activity in the Sevier Thermal Belt Based on Fluid Geochemistry Stuart F. Simmons1,2, Stefan Kirby3, Rick Allis3, Phil Wannamaker1 and Joe Moore1 1EGI, University of Utah, 423 Wakara Way, suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT 2Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, 50 S. Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112 3Utah Geological Survey, 1594 W. North Temple St., Salt Lake City, UT 84114 [email protected] Keywords: Sevier Thermal Belt, hydrothermal systems, heat flow, geochemistry, helium isotopes, stable isotopes. ABSTRACT The Sevier Thermal Belt, southwestern Utah, covers 20,000 km2, and it is located along the eastern edge of the Basin and Range, extending east into the transition zone of the Colorado Plateau. The belt encompasses the geothermal production fields at Cove Fort, Roosevelt Hot Springs, and Thermo, scattered hot spring activity, and the Covenant & Providence hydrocarbon fields. Regionally, it is characterized by elevated heat flow, modest seismicity, and Quaternary basalt-rhyolite magmatism. There are at least five large discrete domains (50 to >500 km2) with anomalous heat flow, including ones associated with Roosevelt Hot Springs, Cove Fort, Thermo and the Black Rock desert. Helium isotope data indicate connections to the upper mantle are developed over the region of strongest and most concentrated hydrothermal activity. By contrast, stable isotope data demonstrate that most of the convective heat transfer is associated with shallow to deep circulation of local meteoric water. Quartz-silica geothermometry suggests that convective heat transfer is compartmentalized by stratigraphic horizons and sub-vertical faults. -
Chapter 3 of the State Wildlife Action Plan
Colorado’s 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan Chapter 3: Habitats This chapter presents updated information on the distribution and condition of key habitats in Colorado. The habitat component of Colorado’s 2006 SWAP considered 41 land cover types from the Colorado GAP Analysis (Schrupp et al. 2000). Since then, the Southwest Regional GAP project (SWReGAP, USGS 2004) has produced updated land cover mapping using the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (NVC) names for terrestrial ecological systems. In the strictest sense, ecological systems are not equivalent to habitat types for wildlife. Ecological systems as defined in the NVC include both dynamic ecological processes and biogeophysical characteristics, in addition to the component species. However, the ecological systems as currently classified and mapped are closely aligned with the ways in which Colorado’s wildlife managers and conservation professionals think of, and manage for, habitats. Thus, for the purposes of the SWAP, references to the NVC systems should be interpreted as wildlife habitat in the general sense. Fifty-seven terrestrial ecological systems or altered land cover types mapped for SWReGAP have been categorized into 20 habitat types, and an additional nine aquatic habitats and seven “Other” habitat categories have been defined. SWAP habitat categories are listed in Table 4 (see Appendix C for the crosswalk of SWAP habitats with SWReGAP mapping units). Though nomenclature is slightly different in some cases, the revised habitat categories presented in this document -
Economic Impact of Mountain Biking in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests
Economic Impact of Mountain Biking in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests JAMES N. MAPLES, PhD MICHAEL J. BRADLEY, PhD Report submitted to Outdoor Alliance: November 2018 Study funded by Outdoor Alliance Image Credit: Carl Zoch 1 Executive Summary of Study Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) is an important American mountain biking destination. Mountain bikers visited the GMUG over 150,000 times per year. An estimated 70% of these visits were from persons living outside the GMUG and surrounding region. Over 576 mountain bikers from around the nation responded to our survey collecting their economic expenditures on their most recent trip to the GMUG. Based on the economic impact analysis and NVUM visitation figures, the research team estimates: 1. Mountain bike visitors who are not local residents annually spend $24 million in the GMUG. 2. Mountain bike visitors’ expenditures in the GMUG support 315 jobs and $7.9 million in job income within the region. REPORT CONTENTS Meet Your Research Team 2 Methodological Notes 3 Study Regions 4 Visitor Mean Expenditures 5 Economic Impact Terminology 8 Economic Impact Modeling 9 Taxation Generation within the Study Areas 10 Visitor Expenditures beyond Study Area but in State 11 Local Resident Expenditures by Study Area 12 Local Resident Expenditures beyond Study Area but Inside State 15 Omissions, Considerations 16 1 Meet Your Research Team DR. JAMES N. MAPLES is an associate professor of sociology at Eastern Kentucky University, where he examines the political economy of renewable tourism. His research interests include the economic impact of outdoor recreation and social change in rural areas.