USGS ScienceSearch

Geology topics

Research about Sugar House quadrangle

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Sugar House quadrangle.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Map showing the thickness of loosely packed sediments and the depth to bedrock in the Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah

This map provides information on the location and distribution of three general types of geologic materials in part of Salt Lake County, including the southeastern part of Salt Lake City, Utah. These materials have different physical properties that are pertinent to comprehensive planning and zoning, land-use studies, and engineering usage. The map should be of use in preliminary studies to determine the depth to different general types of foundation material and to determine the potential for settlement of the ground surface during major earthquakes, which could result in damage to waterlines, gaslines, large buildings, and other major engineering structures. The lines on the map are generalized. Lines showing the thickness of loosely packed sediments are based on drillers’ logs of 27 water wells in and near the 35-square-mile part of the quadrangle west of the mountains – less than one data point for each square mile. Lines showing the depth to bedrock are based on indirect geophysical data, and the data points are more widely scattered. The map may be useful as a general guide in planning, but investigations by qualified specialists should be made for detailed evaluations of specific areas. references to other reports of possible interest to the reader are included at the end of this text.

Utah

Map showing thickness of saturated Quaternary deposits, Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah, February 1972

Saturated Quaternary deposits in the Sugar Horse quadrangle supply significant quantities of water to wells from which water is withdrawn for domestic, municipal, industrial, and irrigation uses. The deposits consist of clay, silt, sand, and gravel; individual beds range from a few inches to several tens of feet thick. The principal aquifer, which is almost completely within the Quaternary deposits, supplied about 4 percent, or 9,000 acre-feet, of the municipal and industrial water used annually in Salt Lake County during 1964-68. As a general rule, more water is stored and more water will be yielded to a well where aquifers are thicker. This map can be used as a general guide to those areas where greatest amounts of water are stored in the aquifer, and where yields to wells may be greater. Local variations in the ability of saturated deposits to transmit water can alter the general relationship between aquifer thickness and yield of wells. The thickness of saturated Quaternary deposits within the area of the Sugar Horse quadrangle ranges from zero to about 650 feet, as shown on the map. The thickest section of these deposits is near the southwestern corner of the quadrangle, and the thinnest section is along the mountain front adjacent to the approximate eastern limit of saturated Quaternary deposits. The thickness of saturated Quaternary deposits shown on this map is based on drillers’ logs for 55 deep wells (which show the thickness of the Quaternary deposits) and on water-level measurements made in February 1972 in wells in unconfined shallow aquifers. Reports in the following list of selected references contain other information about the saturated Quaternary deposits in this and adjacent parts of Jordan Valley, Utah. The basic-data reports and releases contain well logs, water-level measurements, and other types of basic ground-water data. The interpretive repots contain discussions of the occurrence of ground water, tests to determine hydraulic properties of the aquifer, and related information. Ground-water terms used in this report have been defined by Lohman and others (1972).

Utah

Map showing minimum depth to water in shallow aquifers (1963-72) in the Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah

The depth to ground water in shallow aquifers in the Sugar Horse quadrangle ranges from zero in areas of springs and seeps to more than 10 feet beneath most of the area shown on the map. The depth to water differs from place to place because of irregular topography, and the varying capability of different rock materials to transmit water. Ground water also occurs under unconfined and confined conditions in deep aquifers beneath the Sugar Horse quadrangle, as shown by the block diagram and as described by Hely, Mower, and Harr (1971a, p. 17-111).

Utah

Map showing depth to top of the principal aquifer, Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah, February 1972

The depth to the top of the principal aquifer in the Sugar House quadrangle ranges from about 50 feet to more than 400 feet below land surface. The principal aquifer supplied about 4 percent, or 9,000 acre-feet, of the municipal and industrial water used annually in Salt Lake County curing 1964-68. The least depths occur in topographically low areas of the Jordan Valley, such as near Murray in the southwest corner of the Sugar House quadrangle. The greatest depths occur near the mountain front in the vicinity of Mill creek and Neffs Canyons where thick alluvial-fan deposits overlie the principal aquifer.

Utah

Map showing concentration of dissolved solids in water from the principal aquifer, Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah

The concentration of dissolved solids in water from the principal aquifer ranges from about 100 mg/l (milligrams per liter) to as much as 800 mg/l. Water containing the least dissolved solids occurs in an arcuate, mile-wide band along the southern border of the Sugar House quadrangle. Water containing the most dissolved solids occurs in a 3½-mile–wide band in the northern part of the valley, as shown by the map.

Utah

Map showing configuration of the potentiometric surface of the principal aquifer and its approximate position relative to land surface, Sugar House quadrangle, Salt Lake County, Utah, February 1972

The potentiometric surface is an imaginary surface representing the static head of ground water and defined by the levels to which ground water would rise in tightly cased wells. The potentiometric surface of the principal aquifer within the area of the Sugar House quadrangle ranges from about 20 feet above, to as much as 500 feet below land surface as is shown on the map. The principal aquifer supplied about 4 percent, or 9,000 acre-feet, of the municipal and industrial water used annually in Salt Lake County during 1964-68.

Utah