NEW GIS VERSION OF THE GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE KANAB 30' X 60' QUADRANGLE COMES TO LIFE! AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO REPRESENT RELIEF ON A GEOLOGIC MAP

The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) is completing a new GIS version of the geologic map of the Kanab 30' x 60' quadrangle for release on CD. The Kanab 30' x 60' quadrangle is located in south-central Utah and covers parts of Kane and Washington Counties, Utah and Coconino and Mohave Counties, Arizona. It includes about one-third of Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, and parts of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Bedrock strata are well exposed and range from the Permian Hermit Formation to the Tertiary Brian Head Formation. Strata are folded by a few broad anticlines and synclines, and by the East Kaibab monocline; and are cut by three major fault zones— the Sevier, Paunsaugunt, and Bald Knoll— and by several minor faults. Basalt flows and various types of alluvial, eolian, and mass-movement surficial deposits locally mantle the bedrock units.

Rather than showing the geology on a standard base map, this map will be one of the first geologic maps released by the UGS with a shaded relief image incorporated into the base to add depth and life to the map, making the geology easier to understand and accentuating key features such as the “Grand Staircase.” Without the shaded relief, the user would need to know the geographic location of the cliffs or the geologic units that form the cliffs of the Grand Staircase.