Munroe Quarry near Livermore Geology, Hazards April 11, 2022 Case Study: Lykins Formation Small but significant areas of Colorado are underlain by bedrock that is composed of evaporative minerals. These are salts and sulfates that precipitate out of salt-concentrated surface waters. In the geologic past these minerals were deposited in shallow seas within closed or restricted basins where…
Soil arch in Qamf deposit, Loutzenhizer Arroyo. Piping cave/soil arch in Qamf deposit, Loutzenhizer Arroyo, Delta County, Colorado, April 2007. Photo credit: David Noe (CGS). Hazards July 12, 2018 Collapsible Soils By Jonathan White, Senior Engineering Geologist, Emeritus At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Century, some of the first settlers of the plateau region of western Colorado along the Colorado River, and the Uncompahgre and North Fork of…
Figure 03. Highly contorted sedimentary strata in the evaporitic terrain between Gypsum and Glenwood Springs Hazards May 5, 2015 Evaporite Karst Subsidence [ED: Originally written by Jonathan White, Senior Engineering Geologist (emeritus staff) for a 2001 volume of our paper RockTalk bulletin, this short introduction reveals some special geological areas of the state worthy of notice for a variety of reasons.] Many areas of Colorado are underlain…
Hazards March 13, 2013 The Science of Sinkholes This video, from the U.S. Geological Survey, explores the geological factors behind sinkholes and the related science. Narrated by Randall Orndorff, the Director of the USGS Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center.
Bohemian karst (Český kras) landscape formed in a limestone of Silurian and mainly Devonian age. The area hosts several international stratotype and parastratotype sections General March 4, 2005 Dr. Cílek on the Bohemian karst Dr. Cílek, the Director of the Czech Republic’s Academy of Sciences Institute of Geology delivers a fascinating talk about the Bohemian Karst region of the Czech Republic, around Beroun, that weaves the human historical, mystical, and mythological elements…
A large sinkhole opened in January 2005 at the Ironbridge Development and Golf Course Hazards January 17, 2005 Case Study: Roaring Fork sinkhole [ED: This report from January 17, 2005 was written by Jon White, (Senior Engineering Geologist, Emeritus). Lightly edited for dated references it highlights a hazardous geological regime in the central Colorado Rockies around the Roaring Fork River Corridor.] Last week, while on the Western Slope, I was informed by…
West view of the 2003 sinkhole showing proximity to campus buildings. Sunlight Ski Area is on the left horizon. Roaring Fork River valley is in left middle background below the ski area and in front of first row of ridges. Photo credit: Jon White for the CGS.|South close-up view of sinkhole wall showing uniform silt sediments derived from windblown deposits (loess). CMC maintenance staff had started to fill the sinkhole with broken road-pavement waste. Photo credit: Jon White for the CGS.|Sample of the loess from the wall of the sinkhole. Photo credit: Jon White for the CGS.|The sinkhole site Geology, Hazards February 4, 2003 Case Study: Colorado Mountain College, Spring Valley In early February of 2003, a 24-foot-wide (7.5 m) sinkhole spontaneously opened on a soccer field at the Colorado Mountain College (CMC) – Spring Valley campus, about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County. The CMC physical plant maintenance staff back-filled the hole with road pavement…