Weekly GeoJournal

  Draper Utah 2023 landslide   For those who may not know Utah received an exceptional amount of snow this winter. ( I live in Kearns and we got 18 inches overnight, we are in the valley) As a result of the extra, but much-needed water from the snow we have seen a lot of flooding, which as we learned is not good because the ground soaks it up and it is one of the main causes of landslides. This picture shows what is left of the two homes that slid off the edge of a cliff in Draper, it's kind of cool because you could see the damage from the freeway. Thankfully the families that lived in these homes had enough warning to get out of the house so no one was hurt.  Video :https://youtu.be/PhBw_dvnt-M?t=1 Article : https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2023/04/25/draper-landslide-1/ FACTS:  Date: April 22nd, 2023 Location: Salt Lake County, Draper Utah  Triggers : Spring runoff, it went from 40 to 80 overnight and stayed in the high 70s for several days thus cr...

 Science V Religion  In the book of Genesis in the Bible we are taught that God created the earth, we are also taught about the creation period, from separating night and day to the land and the water.  Genesis chapter one talks about how God created the earth for his children and explains in great detail how the earth was created. I love studying others' ideas like the big bang theory, because it helps gives me perspective on how blessed we are to know that God created the Earth for his children. I think that knowing about the Plan of Salvation helps me reconcile the difference between what the Bible says and what science says. My mom used to say that science is how we look for an understanding of how God did what he did, but we need to be careful that we don't use science to disprove that there is a God. I think my mom explained it best when she said that we use science to learn about how God created the Earth. In the Endowment we are also taught more about the Plan of ...

  Metamorphic Rock  Sadly, I do not know of any metamorphic rocks in my collection. However, I see different types of metamorphic rock at work. We sell slate and shale tiles, marble countertops, and others that I know I have seen but cannot think of. Picture 1 - Slate, Picture 2- Shale, Picture 3 - Marble  My husband and I found this rock in our yard I am not sure what kind of rock it is sedimentary or metamorphic but I like how you can see the layers in it. It got me thinking about the reading and how the layers look like they were compressed in such a way we can see them clearly in this rock. The last two are also rocks we found around our year I love how big the crystals are in the one with the red. The white one looks like it might have some kind of ore or lead in it. I think they are metamorphic rocks because you can see how the parent rock has been melted just enough for another mineral to start to form into it. I also think that they are metamorphic because they do...

 Sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are rocks that are created by sediment ( smaller rocks, dirt, and sometimes insects or small animals ) that become cemented together.   This image is of a rock structure in Grantsville Utah, called Lone Rock. I think this is a sedimentary rock because up close, ( which is harder to see in this picture ) you can see the layers and how the exposed layers have been physically weathered. We got rained out on our shooting trip when I took this picture on Saturday. These four pictures are of a rock that I have in my collection that I bought years ago that I think is a sedimentary rock because you can see other rocks under the black layer. I am not sure what it is made of because I bought it several years ago, also it has been shaped into an egg and polished so the layers aren't easy to see. It also looks like it has part of a fossilized insect or bug trapped in it. If anyone knows or has any guesses as to what kind of minerals make up this r...

 Mauna Loa , Hawaii Volcano  This is a volcano that I studied a semester ago, for my Natural Disaster class and then later that spring my older brother went to the island that this volcano was on. I learned a little about this volcano: it is a shield volcano that is horizontal when it erupts. it also spreads lava in waves because it is for the most part flat. It also has been dormant for 38 years until 2022. Although it's flat it can destroy several hundreds of acres of land because of the viscosity of the lava, I think the textbook we used said the lava was soft and had the consistency of a semi-baked cake. Because the lava is mostly basalt-based it is soft and moves like shampoo. Shield volcanos are known for their basalt flows and rivers of lava. It is also the largest shield volcano on the Hawaiian islands. Since this volcano is mostly flat, it doesn't have violent eruptions like a composite volcano would, however, there are still the same warning signs of an eruption such...