Hi, I’m Holly Strand of the Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University. Echoes of Lake Bonneville
Deserts are dry by definition receiving an average of less than 10 inches of precipitation a year. In Utah’s cold West Desert, this skimpy amount of moisture slakes the thirst of sagebrush, saltbush or greasewood, but not much else. However, just like the Sahara, the West Desert has its oases. In certain lowland valleys you’ll find complexes of pools and marshes. There isn’t enough rain to form these freshwater sanctuaries. The water comes from giant underground aquifers.
Underneath the West Desert, the aquifer system acts as a storehouse for runoff from the surrounding mountains. As rainwater or snow melt enters or “recharges” the aquifer system, water pressure can build up in some areas. This pressure moves water through cracks and tunnels within the aquifer, and sometimes this water flows out naturally in the form of springs.
Snake Valley, Utah
Courtesy Utah Geological Survey
But most remarkable are the desert spring residents that have survived from the days when the West Desert formed the floor of giant Lake Bonneville. Surveys have revealed a number of relict snails and other mollusks that still persist from that time. Some, like the Black Canyon Pyrg exist at a single spring complex only; they are found nowhere else on earth.
Courtesy & © Mark C. Belk, Photographer
For more information and pictures go to www.wildaboututah.org
Thanks to Chris Keleher of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources for his help in developing this Wild About Utah story.
For Wild About Utah, I’m Holly Strand.
Credits:
Image: Least Chub, Mark C. Belk, Professor of Biology, Brigham Young University
Image: Wetlands, Courtesy Utah Geological Survey
Text: Holly Strand,
Sources & Additional Reading
Bailey, Carmen L., Kristine W. Wilson Matthew E. Andersen. 2005. CONSERVATION AGREEMENT AND STRATEGY FOR LEAST CHUB (IOTICHTHYS PHLEGETHONTIS) IN THE STATE OF UTAH Publication Number 05-24 Utah Division of Wildlife Resources a division of Utah Department of Natural Resources http://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/LCCAS_30NOV05.pdf
Jones, Jennifer, Rich Emerson, and Toby Hooker. 2013. Characterizing Condition in At-risk
Wetlands of Western Utah: Phase I UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY a division of Utah Department of Natural Resources,https://geodata.geology.utah.gov/pages/view.php?ref=8364
Nature Serve entry for Least Chub: http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Iotichthys+phlegethontis
Hanks, Joseph H. and Mark C. Belk. 2004. Threatened fishes of the world: Iotichthys phlegethontis Cope, 1874 (Cyprinidae) in Environmental Biology of Fishes, Vol. 71. N. 4., Kluwer Academic Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/
Sigler W. F. & J. W. Sigler. 1996. Fishes of Utah, A Natural History. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 375 pp. http://www.amazon.com/Fishes-Utah-A-Natural-History/dp/0874804698
Wasatch Front Canyons Geologic Tour, Virtual Tour created from Published Booklet (pdf) Geologic Guide to the Central Wasatch Front Canyons, Utah Geological Survey, State of Utah, https://utahdnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=5cf1570b998346d98478a5abd50bf096
Geologic guide to the central Wasatch Front Canyons, Utah Geological Survey, 2005, https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=9818