Portal:Utah/Selected article
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Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon. Despite its name, this is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos, formed from wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lakebed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views.
The canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1875. The area around Bryce Canyon became a United States national monument in 1924 and was designated as a national park in 1928.
Great Salt Lake, is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere, the fourth largest terminal lake in the world, and the 33rd largest lake on Earth. In an average year the lake covers an area of around 1,700 square miles (4,400 km²), but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its shallowness. For instance, in 1963 it reached its lowest recorded level at 950 square miles (1,529 km²), but in 1987 the surface area was at the historic high of 3,300 square miles(5,311 km²).
The lake is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, a pluvial lake which covered much of western Utah in prehistoric times. Great Salt Lake is endorheic (has no outlet besides evaporation), and thus has very high salinity, far saltier than sea water. The Jordan, Weber, and Bear rivers (the three major tributaries) deposit around 1.1 million tons of minerals in the lake each year, and the balance of evaporated water is mineral-free, concentrating the lake further. Because of its unusually high salt concentration, most people can easily float in the lake as a result of the higher density of the water, particularly in the saltier north arm of the lake, Gunnison Bay. The lake's shallow, warm waters cause frequent, sometimes heavy lake-effect snows during late fall, early winter, and spring.
Although it has been called "America's Dead Sea", the lake provides habitat for millions of shorebirds and waterfowl, including the largest staging population of Wilson's Phalarope in the world. In addition to native birds and brine shrimp, the lake is also home, oddly enough, to a Chilean flamingo named Pink Floyd.
The exposed geology of the Bryce Canyon area shows a record of deposition that covers the last part of the Cretaceous Period and the first half of the Cenozoic era in that part of what is now North America. The ancient depositional environment of the region around what is now Bryce Canyon National Park varied from the warm shallow sea in which the Dakota Sandstone and the Tropic Shale were deposited to the cool streams and lakes that contributed to the colorful Claron Formation that dominates the park's amphitheaters.
Other formations were also created but were mostly eroded following two major periods of uplift; one around 70 million years ago (creating the Rocky Mountains) and another 10 to 15 million years ago (creating the Colorado Plateaus). The uplift caused vertical joints to form which were much later preferentially eroded to form the free-standing pinnacles, badlands, and monoliths we see today. The formations exposed in the park are part of the Grand Staircase.
Park City is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The city is 30 miles (48 km) east of downtown Salt Lake City and 15 miles (24km) from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugarhouse along Interstate 80. The population was 7,371 at the 2000 census. Its estimated population in 2004 was 7,882. On average, the tourist population greatly outnumbers full-time residents.
After a population decline following the shutdown of the area's mining industry the city rebounded during the 1980s and 1990s in the tourism business. The city has three major ski resorts: Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Resort, and The Canyons Resort. The Park City and Deer Valley ski resorts were the major locations for ski and snowboarding events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Although they receive less snow and have a shorter ski season than do their counterparts in Salt Lake County, such as Snowbird resort, they are much easier to access.
Additionally the city is the main location of the United States's largest independent film festival, the Sundance Film Festival, home of the United States Ski Team, the largest collection of factory outlet stores in northern Utah, the Olympic bobsled course, a luge run, and golf courses.
Zion National Park is a United States National Park located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature in the 229-square-mile (593 km²) park is Zion Canyon, 15 miles (24 km) long and up to half a mile (800 m) deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River.
Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, this unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. A total of 289 bird species, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), 32 reptiles and numerous plant species inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Notable megafauna include Mountain Lions, Mule Deer and Golden Eagles, along with reintroduced California Condors and Bighorn Sheep. Common plant species include Cottonwood, Cactus, Juniper, Pine, Boxelder, Sagebrush and various willows.Franklin-Covey (NYSE: FC), based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a provider of time-management training and assessment services for organizations and individuals. The company was formed on May 30, 1997, as a result of a merger between Stephen R. Covey's Covey Leadership Center and FranklinQuest, originally founded in 1981 by Hyrum W. Smith. Amongst other products, the company markets the Franklin Planner, modeled in part on the writings of Benjamin Franklin, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, based on Covey's research. The company operates approximately 95 retail stores throughout the United States and has sales channels in over 50 countries worldwide.
The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine known exposed formations, all visible in Zion National Park in the state of Utah in the United States, and representing about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. Part of the Grand Staircase, the formations exposed in the Zion and Kolob area were deposited in several different environments that range from warm shallow seas, streams, and lakes to large deserts and dry near shore environments. Subsequent uplift of the Colorado Plateau exposed these sediments to erosion by streams that preferentially cut through weaker rocks and jointed formations. Much later, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the Zion area.
Zion National Park includes an elevated plateau that consists of sedimentary formations that dip very gently to the east. This means that the oldest strata are exposed along the Virgin River in the Zion Canyon part of the park, and the youngest are exposed in the Kolob Canyons section. The plateau is bounded on the east by the Sevier Fault Zone, and on the west by the Hurricane Fault Zone. Weathering and erosion along north-trending faults and fractures influence the pattern of landscape features associated with canyons in this stream-incised plateau region.
Salt Lake City, Utah is the state capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Utah. According to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city's population is 178,097. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, which encompasses the Salt Lake Valley and includes the city and fifteen other municipalities. The city's name is often shortened to Salt Lake or referred to by its initials, S.L.C.
The Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area spans Salt Lake County and two additional counties, Summit and Tooele, and had a total estimated population of 1,034,484 in 2005. These counties are situated in a greater urban area called the Wasatch Front, home to just over 2 million residents.
Originally named Great Salt Lake City after nearby Great Salt Lake, it was founded in 1847 by a group of Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young who fled hostility in the East. Salt Lake City is among the oldest cities in the region and is the world headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church). Mining and railroads initially brought economic growth, and the city became nicknamed the Crossroads of the West. In the 21st century the city has developed a strong tourism industry; it served as host to the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area is the industrial banking center of the United States, the center of business along the rapidly-growing Wasatch Front, and the gateway to several national parks, ski resorts, and resort towns, perhaps most famously Park City.
Brigham Young University, often referred to as BYU, is the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The vast majority of students at BYU are members of this church and, as a condition of admission to the university, they commit to obey a stringent honor code while they attend BYU. BYU is often known for its low tuition costs, especially for a private university of its size.[2] A large number of its students have some proficiency in a foreign language. BYU is located in Provo, Utah, approximately 50 miles to the south of Salt Lake City.
Additional facilities include a study center in Israel (the BYU Jerusalem Center); a satellite campus to the north in Utah's capital and largest city, Salt Lake City, (the BYU Salt Lake Center); and study centers all over the world, including London and Washington, D.C. Until recently, BYU operated an academy for its students at Nauvoo, Illinois, a town that figures prominently in Latter-day Saint history (the Joseph Smith Academy).
The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U or the UU) is a public university in Salt Lake City, Utah. Originally established February 28, 1850 by Latter-day Saint leader Brigham Young; it was initially named "University of Deseret." The school closed two years later for financial reasons. It reopened as a commercial school in 1867 in the old Council House in what is now downtown Salt Lake City under the direction of David O. Calder, a prominent Salt Lake City businessman and associate of Mormon leader Brigham Young. The University was renamed University of Utah in 1894 and classes were first held on the present campus approximately two miles directly east of downtown Salt Lake City in 1900. It currently enrolls 22,661 undergraduate and 6,531 graduate students and has 3,971 faculty members.
The state-owned University is referred to colloquially as "the U." The university has a ferocious athletic and (some might say) cultural rivalry with its neighbor to the south, Brigham Young University (aka "the Y"), which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the LDS Church). The University of Utah is the flagship public research institution in the state of Utah, and is one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education.
Of the more than 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States, the University of Utah is one of only 88 which are classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as Research I universities — those which offer a full range of undergraduate programs, are committed to graduate education, and give research high priority.The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The team was originally the New Orleans Jazz but was financially unsuccessful and moved to Utah. The Jazz were one of the most successful teams in the late 1980s and 1990s, making it to two NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 under coach Jerry Sloan and anchored by John Stockton and Karl Malone, a point guard/power forward combination noted for its remarkable on-court rapport. Malone and Stockton were often seen as two of the best players at their respective positions.
The Green River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 730 mi (1,175 km) long, in the western United States. The Green River Basin covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The river begins in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, and flows through Utah for much of its course, draining the northeastern portion of the state while looping for 40 mi (64 km) into western Colorado. Much of its route is through the Colorado Plateau, some of the most spectacular canyons in the United States. It is the largest tributary of the Colorado.
South of the Flaming Gorge Dam it flows eastward, looping around the eastern tip of the Uinta Mountains going from Utah into northwestern Colorado, then south into Dinosaur National Monument and is joined by the Yampa River at Steamboat Rock. It turns westward back into Utah along the southern edge of the Uintas in Whirlpool Canyon. In Utah it meanders southwest across the Yampa Plateau and through the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation and the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. Two miles south of Ouray, Utah, it is joined by Duchesne River, and three miles downstream by the White River. Ten miles farther downstream it is joined by the Willow River.
South of the plateau, it is joined by the Nine Mile River, then enters the Roan Cliffs where it flows south through the back-to-back Desolation and Gray Canyons, with a combined length of 120 mi (192 km). In Gray Canyon, it is joined by the Price River. South of the canyon it passes the town of Green River, Utah and is joined by the San Rafael River in southern Emery County. In eastern Wayne County it meanders through Canyonlands National Park where it joins the Colorado.Portal:Utah/Selected article/18
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