The Uinta Basin has been the focus of groundbreaking geological research for 150 years, with famous geologists like Powell, Hayden, and King having done early work there and all of the major peaks in the Uinta Mountain Range being named for prominent 19th century geologists. More recently, sequence stratigraphy was largely developed with the help of world class marginal marine outcrops at the basin’s southern boundary. This talk reviews the basin’s long history from Proterozoic assembly through Pleistocene glaciation and how an understanding of the basin’s history and geology helps to mitigate natural disasters, plan for urban growth and provide for best practices in the area’s extractive industries.
The Uinta Basin has been the focus of groundbreaking geological research for 150 years, with famous geologists like Powell, Hayden, and King having done early work there and all of the major peaks in the Uinta Mountain Range being named for prominent 19th century geologists. More recently, sequence stratigraphy was largely developed with the help of world class marginal marine outcrops at the basin’s southern boundary. This talk reviews the basin’s long history from Proterozoic assembly through Pleistocene glaciation and how an understanding of the basin’s history and geology helps to mitigate natural disasters, plan for urban growth and provide for best practices in the area’s extractive industries.