Utah

Approximate water-surface altitude, February 1980 Interface between Effects of Causeway on Great Salt brines in south and 4,210 north parts Lake 4,200 C. 4,190 South ° ° North 113 00' 112 00' part part A. 4,180 Great Salt Lake is important ecologi- 4,170 4,160 cally and economically. The lake and North Fill 41°30' part 4,150 4,140 its wetlands provide critical wildlife Great IN FEET ALTITUDE, Salt 4,130 Lake-bed deposits habitat in an otherwise arid environ- Lake 4,120 Inset 0 50 100 150 Saline FEET ment. The salts in the lake are a Lakeside Inset valuable economic resource and are Railroad causeway Great Salt Lake North part Promontory ° Mountains extensively mined. The brine shrimp 41 00' Breach Lakeside West culvert South East culvert industry, which depends upon part Railroad causeway Saline Lakeside 0 5 10 MILES Mountains harvesting shrimp eggs, has recently 0 10 20 MILES South part 0 5 10 KILOMETERS Promontory Point 0 10 20 KILOMETERS experienced decreased harvests B. Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, 1:100,000, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984 because of the decreasing salinity in Universal Transverse Mercator projection water in the south part of the lake. zone 12 The optimum salinity for the repro- Figure 1. A and B, locations of the rock-fill railroad causeway across Great Salt duction of brine shrimp eggs is Lake, the culverts, and the breach, and C, brine flow through the causeway. believed to be between 12 and 18 percent. In the past several years, Before construction of the causeway, and the water density. Less dense salinity has decreased to less than 9 the hydrologic and chemical charac- brine from the south flows northward percent in the south part and ranged teristics of Great Salt Lake were through the upper rocks and soil of from about 24 to 26 percent in the typical of lakes that lack outlet the causeway, and more dense brine north part. To assist the State of Utah streams. The lake water was thought from the north flows southward in making management decisions, the to be well mixed and without tem- through the lower rocks and soil of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) perature stratification. Salt was the causeway (fig. 1C). The south- developed a numerical model during thought to condense and precipitate ward flow sometimes causes a deep the 1970’s and 1980’s for predicting out of the water column throughout brine layer to form in the lake’s the water and salt balance for variable the entire lake when the lake volume southern part. inflow and differing causeway was small enough for the saturation conveyance properties. level for sodium chloride to be Structural modifications to the exceeded. causeway in recent years have During 1957–59, a permeable rock- changed the conveyance properties of fill railroad causeway was con- Since completion of the causeway, the causeway and thereby affected the structed across Great Salt Lake (fig. the factor that most affects the water salinity of both parts of the lake. The 1A). Although two 15-foot-wide and salt balance of Great Salt Lake is USGS is recalibrating the water and culverts and a 270-foot-wide breach exchange of flow through the cause- salt balance model to reflect these allow some water to flow through, the way. Because almost all surface- changes so that the model remains causeway has acted as a partial dike water inflow is to the lake’s south useful for lake management. by dividing the lake into north and part, the water surface there is at a southern parts (fig. 1B). The formerly higher altitude than that of the north free movement of brine, or water with part. Also, the water in the south part Energy Resources Program a high concentration of dissolved is less saline than that in the north salts, within the lake is restricted by part. Brine flows in both directions Coal Resource Assessment the causeway and caused substantial through the causeway fill, culverts, changes to the hydrology, chemistry, and breach because of the differences The Coal Resource Assessment and biology of the lake. between the water-surface altitudes shows the distribution and quality of

U.S. Department of the Interior USGS Fact Sheet 046-99 U.S. Geological Survey October 1999 coals in the southern Wasatch Plateau remain unmined and are available for known and undiscovered natural gas and the Kaiparowits Plateau. Re- development. In the northern Wasatch resources of the U.S. search into the geologic controls on Plateau study area, this amounts to the occurrence and quality of the coal about 41 percent of the original coal The project strategy in 1999 is to is being conducted on coals that may resource. As the UGS scientists move define petroleum systems and geo- be available for development during on to the next area of study, the Book logic assessment units in the Uinta- the next few decades. Utah is a high- Cliffs, they will transfer their digital Piceance basin and assess the undis- priority State for coal assessment. files of the northern Wasatch Plateau covered natural gas resources, The quality of the coal is an impor- area to the USGS. USGS geologists including conventional and continu- tant aspect of the assessment; during and engineers will model mine plans, ous resources. This approach inte- processing or use, its sulfur content estimate future mining and washing grates all elements of the petroleum and critical trace elements must meet losses, and estimate the amount of geology of a basin, including source the standards of the Clean Air Act of potential economically recoverable rock characterization, hydrocarbon 1990. Coal Resource Assessment coal in the study area. migration, timing of migration and studies provide detailed stratigraphic structural evolution, sequence strati- cross sections with coal correlations, Preliminary studies indicate that the graphy, and reservoir quality. The databases needed to conduct the amount of coal in the northern petroleum system will be subdivided assessments, coal-resource calcula- Wasatch Plateau area that can be into geologic units and assessed. tions, and basin and area geologic profitably mined is less than 20 summaries. percent of the total unmined coal in the area. Cleanup of Contaminated Ground Water Coal Availability and Recoverability Studies Coalbed Methane Studies Permeable reactive barriers may provide economical and effective The availability of environmentally The Wasatch Plateau, one of the remediation techniques to clean up acceptable and reliable energy newest and, possibly, most productive radionuclide-contaminated ground sources at reasonable prices is an coalbed methane areas in the United water that commonly is present near important issue for Federal, State, and States, was chosen for study of the abandoned mill-tailing piles. The local planners. The USGS and 13 geologic and hydrologic controls of barriers are permanent, semiperma- cooperating State geological surveys coalbed methane. The USGS, in nent, or replaceable units that are have developed a systematic national cooperation with the UGS, River Gas, installed across the flow path of a effort to collect, analyze, and depict Inc., and Texaco, Inc., is studying the contaminant plume. The barriers data that characterize the relation generation, migration, and production contain reactive material that de- between restrictions to mining and of coalbed methane; study results grades or immobilizes contaminants the potential for development of the may be applicable to other areas. The as ground water flows through them Nation’s coal resources. controls of occurrence of coalbed (fig. 2). methane are being evaluated through The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) detailed geologic, geochemical, and A cooperative demonstration project began the first of several cooperative engineering studies; three-dimen- of the U.S. Environmental Protection projects in the Wasatch Plateau and sional water-flow models, which are Agency and the USGS is underway at Book Cliffs area of Utah in 1996. A important for methane production, are Contaminant Trench (filled) 296-square mile area was selected in being constructed; and water disposal plume the northern Wasatch Plateau area for is being studied. State scientists to identify land-use, environmental, technologic, and Aquifer geologic constraints, and, using Oil and Gas Assessment geographic information system Ground-water flow modeling, relate these restrictions to The USGS Oil and Gas Assessment coalbed thickness and depth and Project is assessing the natural gas Permeable mined-out areas. USGS and UGS endowment of the U. S. Eighteen reactive barrier geologists conferred on these coalbed priority provinces, including the correlations. The State then estimated Uinta and Piceance areas, are esti- Figure 2. A permeable reactive the unrestricted amounts of coal that mated to contain 90–95 percent of the barrier.

science for a changing world Average uranium concentration Average uranium concentration 9,770 micrograms per liter ZVI 785 micrograms per liter environment. Arid and semiarid >99.9% regions make up much of Utah; such areas are among the most sensitive to changes in climate and land use. AFO Information about how climate and 88.1% human activities affect weathering, erosion, and deposition is essential PO for understanding the landscape’s 4 response to changes in climate and 94% land use over time scales relevant for land-use decisions. EXPLANATION 94% Percent of uranium removed AFO Amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide Records of past climate change are being derived from studies of Great ZVI Zero-valent iron PO4 Bone char phosphate Salt Lake and Bear Lake. Lake Figure 3. The average 1-year decrease in uranium concentration after passing sediments contain rock fragments, through the permeable reactive barriers at Fry Canyon. minerals formed from lake water, and biologic remains, which provide a the Fry Canyon site, which is a small Global Climate Change geologic record of the changing area of uranium-bearing upgrader environment. Studies of present-day tailings in southeastern Utah. Up- In Utah, the USGS Global Change processes provide information used grader tailings result from preconcen- and Climate History Program focuses for interpreting data obtained from tration of uranium ore before ship- on developing records of past climate lake sediment cores. These studies are ping it to a uranium mill for final change and on learning how climate intended to provide baseline informa- processing. This site was selected in and human activities affect lakes, tion for assessing the potential effects 1996 as a long-term field-demonstra- vegetation, and the land surface (fig. of lake-level changes on the urban tion site to assess the performance of 4). Utah is particularly susceptible to area near Great Salt Lake and the selected barriers for removing the effects of natural and human- effects of diversion of Bear River uranium and other trace elements induced changes because it lies on an water into Bear Lake. from ground water. Baseline uranium important climatic gradient, and concentration in water from a well in the shallow colluvial aquifer ranged Biological Soil Crusts from 60 micrograms per liter (µg/L) to more than 17,000 µg/L in areas The USGS is studying biological soil beneath the tailings. Three barriers crusts (fig. 5) in arid ecosystems at were installed in August 1997. the Canyonlands Field Station. The Reactive materials being used at the crusts, which are critical to ecosystem site are zero valent iron (ZVI), functioning in arid lands, are com- amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide posed of mosses, lichens, and a group (AFO), and bone char phosphate of bacteria called “cyanobacteria.” (PO4). The crusts are found throughout the Figure 4. Meteorological station in the world, particularly in arid and semi- Canyonlands area designed to During the first year of sampling, monitor wind speed and direction, more than 99.9 percent of the dis- temperature, precipitation, and soil solved uranium was removed in the moisture. ZVI barrier, and more than 85 percent was removed in the AFO and PO4 barriers (fig. 3). climatic change can produce large changes in temperature, precipitation, and wind. Records of past change from such regions are important for understanding global climate change and for estimating the potential effects of future change on the local Figure 5. Biological soil crust.

Utah arid ecosystems such as those preva- Washington County Habitat the desert tortoise in Washington lent in the southwestern U.S. Conservation Plan County in a long-term research project on the ecology of this species. The crusts affect soil stability, water To conserve biodiversity while This information has been used for infiltration, and soil fertility. For allowing for economic growth in designing and establishing a 60,000- example, their sticky surfaces glue southwestern Utah, the Washington acre desert reserve adjacent to the soil particles together, making soil County Board of Commissioners municipalities of St. George, Wash- aggregates larger. These larger began a Habitat Conservation Plan in ington City, and Ivins. The USGS is particles are less susceptible than 1996. USGS scientists are providing developing a plan to monitor and smaller particles to wind and water biological expertise and are working analyze the distributions of plants erosion. The roughened surface of the with the Utah Division of Wildlife and animals for regional management crusts also affects the moisture Resources, the U.S. Bureau of Land of multiple species. content of desert soils by slowing Management (BLM), and Washington overland flow of precipitation, County. Providing adequate know- thereby increasing water infiltration ledge of the habitat for a viable Single Edition Program into desert soils. Crustal organisms population of the desert tortoise (fig. contribute nitrogen and organic 6), a federally listed threatened The Single Edition Program is a matter to ecosystems. species, is an objective of the plan. mapping agreement with the U.S. USGS researchers collect biological Forest Service to revise, maintain, Because of the significant contribu- information on diet, nutrition, home and distribute 1:24,000-scale topo- tion of biological crusts to ecosystem range, habitat use, and distribution of graphic (7.5-minute quadrangle) functioning, it is important to under- maps of U.S. National Forest lands. stand how environmental factors About 500 maps cover the 7 National influence the distribution and abun- Forests in Utah, which comprise dance of different crustal compo- more than 8 million acres. The U.S. nents. Another facet of USGS re- Forest Service maintains the maps, search addresses disturbance to and the USGS prints and distributes crusts. Cyanobacterial fibers are no them. The U.S. Forest Service match for the compressional stress of Geospatial Service and Technology livestock hooves, off-road vehicle Center in Salt Lake City coordinates tires, or heavy foot traffic. Recovery this program. Single edition maps, as of these crusts from such impacts in well as standard USGS products, are arid areas can take up to 250 years. available from map dealers, USGS Such disturbance may alter the role Earth Science Information Centers, these organisms play in an ecosystem Figure 6. A desert tortoise in the and National Forest Visitor Centers, by influencing how they respond to Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, north of or by ordering through the Internet. their physical environment. For this St. George. reason, it also is important to under- stand the relation between environ- mental factors and crustal compo- nents in disturbed environments. USGS office locations USGS State Representative With this information, land managers The USGS has 93 2329 W. Orton Cir. may be able to predict the conse- employees in Utah West Valley City, UT 84119-2047 quences of different types and (801) 908-5000 intensities of land use under different Logan FAX (801) 908-5001 climatic regimes. USGS research also is directed at developing restoration USGS Home Page Salt Lake City http://www.usgs.gov techniques for ecosystems in which crusts have been destroyed or dam- Reports and products 1-888-ASK-USGS aged. Moab

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