Chapter 2: Utah’s Geology
Natural Forces Shape
the Land of Utah
This is a no gum class.
Please dispose of it properly!
 Take out your notes and
Bell Activity
study guide.
 Define “fracture” and “fault” in your study
guide.

Find the word on your study guide and complete the following
information for the word.
 Find the definition using a glossary.
 Use your own knowledge and experience to complete the rest of the
definition.

If you finish early, work on the map on p.7; answer
questions 1-18, or finish answering the questions for
“How Fossils are Made” in your notes, or an era’s
notes.
 Where should your backpack be?
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
fracture
Definition:
Draw a picture of it:
Sentence:
Synonym/
Example:
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Antonym/NonExample:
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
fracture
Definition: a broken surface or crack
Sentence: The fracture in the earth
showed where the fault was located.
Synonym/
Example: break,
crack; fault
Antonym/NonExample:
solid, unbroken
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Draw a picture of it:
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
fault
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Definition:
Draw a picture of it:
Sentence:
Synonym/
Example:
Antonym/NonExample:
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
fault
Definition: a fracture in the Earth’s
surface
Sentence: The fault generated a large
earthquake that caused considerable
damage.
Synonym/
Antonym/NonExample: break;
Example:
Wasatch, San Andreas solid, unbroken
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Draw a picture of it:
This is a no gum class.
Please dispose of it properly!
Bell Activity
 Read
page 34-35 in your textbook.
 Answer questions 11-18 on your study
guide.
 If you finish early, work on other
questions in the study guide.
 The test is four school days away! Get
the Study Guide done!!

Where should your backpack be?
This is a no gum class.
Please dispose of it properly!
Bell Activity
 Take
out your notes and study guide.
 Your words are “remnant” & “erosion”

Find the words on your green study guide and
complete the following information for the word.
Find the definition using a glossary.
Use your own knowledge and experience to complete the rest
of the entry.

If you finish early, work on the map on p. 7; answer
questions 1-18, or finish answering the questions for
“How Fossils are Made” in your notes, or an era’s notes.

Where should your backpack be?
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
remnant
Definition:
Draw a picture of it:
Sentence:
Synonym/
Example:
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Antonym/NonExample:
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
remnant
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Definition: remaining; leftover; a trace Draw a picture of it:
Sentence: Fossils, such as Utahraptor’s
skeleton, are a remnant from Utah’s
geologic past.
Synonym/
Example: leftover,
remains; fossil
Antonym/NonExample: whole;
modern, current
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
erosion
Definition:
Draw a picture of it:
Sentence:
Synonym/
Example:
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Antonym/NonExample:
Does your work look something
like this?
word:
erosion
Definition: the wearing away of the
Earth’s surface by water, glaciers, and
wind
Sentence: The river eroded the banks,
and the pebbles were deposited down
stream.
Synonym/
Example:
wearing away
Antonym/NonExample:
build up, deposit
My Understanding: 4 3 2 1
Draw a picture of it:
Today we will be learning about…

Social Studies Objective –
We will be able to identify and
describe the natural processes
that have shaped Utah.


Language Objective –
We will be able to use what
we learn to write an outline
for an essay.
Behavior Objective – Work Ethic: We will stay on task and
complete our work.
Natural Forces Shape Utah
Mountain Building
Faults
Volcanoes
Erosion
Our Environment has been
shaped & continues to be shaped
by natural forces.
Mountain Building

How were the
mountains we see here
in Logan created?
– They began to be
created in the late
Mesozoic era and early
part of the Cenozoic
era.
– Plate movements have
created forces that
changed the land and
created mountains.
Plates moving together



The Atlantic and
Pacific plates are in
continual movement.
When they push
together they can
create mountains.
Other plates around
the world do this too.
Mountain Ranges in Utah


Many of our
mountains are new, in
geologic time.
The Uinta’s are much
older.
– Do you notice anything
unusual about the
Uinta’s when you
compare them to the
other ranges in Utah?
Mountain Building
The Rocky Mountains are unusual. They
were not created in the typical way.
The Rockies Video
Faults shape the earth


Where plates create
stress in the Earth’s
surface, the crust can
break.
Faults are fractures in
the Earth’s surface.
– They are often where
there are mountains.
There are three basic types of
faults.

Three types of Faults
animation

Strike-slip faults

Normal faults

Reverse faults
Logan is also located near a fault

Grabens & Horsts
Cache Valley is a special
kind of valley/basin
created by a normal fault.
This special landform is
called a graben.
Utah’s Faults



90% of Utah’s
population live on a
fault line.
Earthquakes occur
where there are fault
lines.
Earthquake safety is
an important thing to
talk about at school
and at home.
Did you know that Utah has all
three types of volcanoes?
Three Main Types of Volcanoes*
The three main types of volcanoes differ in shape, size, and make-up; the differences partly result from the
different types of eruptions.
Volcano
Volcano
Eruption
Volcano Shape
Volcano Materials
Utah Example
Type
Size
Type
Diamond Cinder
Small
Cone,
Cinder Cone
less than
cinders
Explosive
Washington
Steep conical hill with straight
300m high
County
sides
Shield
Volcano
Very gentle slopes; convex
upward (shaped like a
warrior’s shield)
Large
over 10s of
kms across
Large
Stratovolcano
1-10 km in
Gentle lower slopes, but steep diameter
upper slopes; concave upward
fluid lava flows
(basalt)
Quiet
Cedar Hill,
Box Elder County
Mount Belknap,
numerous layers of
Tushar
lava and
Explosive
Mountains, Paiute
pyroclastics
County
Utah’s volcanoes are so old they
are hard to see.
Shield Volcano - Cedar Hill, located north of
Great Salt Lake, bears a resemblance to
several Haw aiian shield volcanoes. The
volcano i s approximately 1,150,000 years old.
Cinder Cone - Diamond Cinder Cone is one of
several cinde r cones near St. George in
Washington County, Utah. The cone is
approxi mately 27,000 years old.
The Tushar Mountains
in Central Utah are
stratovolcanoes.
Volcanoes in Utah


Volcanoes have
played a role in Utah’s
past. They also
influence our
economics in Utah.
Volcanoes bring
minerals to the surface
of the earth that can be
mined.
Some types of natural resources are
brought to the surface by these forces.


Gems stones are formed
deep beneath the earth.
They are brought to the
surface through volcanic
activity.
Other minerals are also
brought to the surface in
this way.
– This is why Kennecott
Mine, in the Oquirrh
Mountains, has copper.
Want to have a fun and profitable
weekend? Try visiting Topaz
Mountain!
Topaz
Bixbyite
Topaz Mountain
Wearing away the mountains


Utah has also been shaped by other
forces, such as wind, water, & ice.
These forces create weathering
and erosion that reshape
mountains, valleys, and our
environment.
Other types of minerals were
created by other natural forces.





Coal
Oil Shale (Fossil fuel clip)
Salt
Building stones (marble, granite, quartz, etc.)
Gravel & sand (left behind by Lake Bonneville)
What do you think?

What are some of the
environmental issues
associated with mining
and refining of
minerals?


What are some ways
these problems can be
solved?
What if the problem
can’t be solved easily
or cheaply? What
then should people
do?
Utah is an environment shaped
by many natural forces.
Essay practice: Let’s use what we have
just learned to create an essay outline.
How do natural forces shape our environment?
Main Idea
Utah has been and is shaped in many ways by different natural forces.
(What are some of the things we have talked about that have changed Utah's environment?)
Plate movement
(Examples?)
?
?
Water
(Examples?)
?
?
Wind
(Examples?)
?
?
Then close your paragraph by restating your main idea.
Truly, Utah's landscape has been shaped by many natural forces.
Now try it for yourself.
How have discoveries made in Utah improved our understanding of dinosaurs
in the past and in the present?
Main Idea?
Think about the things that we talked about when we learned about dinosaurs in class.
Today you can use the organizer you made to help you find some facts quickly.
Utah's dino past?
Significance?
Utah's dino present?
Significance?
Conclusion?
Why does Utah matter?
Name
Hour
Date
Natural
Forces
Shape
Utah
Volcanoes
Faults
Erosion
Mountain
Building