Minerals & Rocks

Goblin Valley State Park in Emery County. Mechanical and microbiotic crusts form a thin but hard veneer on the top of this soil.

• So you think you've found a meteorite; is it really a meteorwrong?
• When I find a mineral or fossil in the field, why doesn't it look similar to specimens in museums or at mineral and fossil shows?
• What are fulgurites and where can they be found?
• Have meteorites or meteorite craters been found in Utah?
• What kind of rock makes a good wall?
• How do geologists identify minerals?
• What gemstone is found in Utah that is rarer than diamond and more valuable than gold?
• Where can I collect landscaping rock on public land?
• What is a formation?
• What are minerals used for?
• Why is the Wasatch Front “blessed” with abundant sand, gravel, and rock?
• How can I stake a mining claim?
• What are "colloidal mineral supplements" and where do they come from?
• What are igneous, sedimentary & metamorphic rocks?
• Utah's stone building heritage (pdf)
• How do geologists know how old a rock is?; (pdf )

Geologic Hazards

• I am thinking of buying a house at “X” address... is it near a fault?
• What are seismic surveys and how much “shaking” do they create?
• Who do I call? (for geologic-hazard problems)
• Landslide evaluation issues- examples from Timber Lakes Estates (pdf)

Water

• Great Salt Lake Trivia Questions
• What causes the foam on Great Salt Lake?
• Do you have any information on the hydrologic cycle specific to Utah?
• Do I have to travel all the way to Yellowstone, or can I see beautiful hot springs here in Utah?

Fossils

• Trilobites and the Cambrian environment of Utah

Maps & Symbols

• Why does the eastern border of Utah have a kink in it?
• What is a formation?
• Utah's state symbols
• Topographic map scales and the General Land Office Grid

Land Features

• What are “Potholes” and how are organisms able to live in them?
• What Utah mountain range honors prominent geoscientists of the 19th century and who were they?
• What is Utah's State Soil?
• Have meteorites or meteorite craters been found in Utah?
• What are those crunchy crusts found on some Utah soils?
• How was Utah’s topography formed?
• Are there glaciers in Utah’s mountains?