 EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes
and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and
archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


 A Many-Colored Fall in Blacksmith Fork Canyon

   November 25, 2021

    Blacksmith102ac_30sep21

   Photographer:  Ray Boren

   Summary Author:  Ray Boren

   As summer’s long days diminish and temperatures turn crisp, fall colors
   begin to pop on the slopes and in the canyons of  North America’s
   Rocky Mountains and the  Great Basin of the western United States.
   This photo from near  Hyrum, Utah shows the many colors of fall
   taken on Sept. 30, 2021 along the  Blacksmith Fork River. The stream
   follows serpentine Blacksmith Fork Canyon generally westward through
   the  Bear River Range, a subset of the Wasatch Mountains. The stream
   continues toward the  Bear River in Cache Valley, and thus on to the
   West’s terminal inland sea,  Great Salt Lake.

   The quilt of autumn colors is created by an intermingling of
    boxelder trees (Acer negundo),  bigtooth maples (Acer
   grandidentatum),  scrub or gambel oaks (Quercus gambelii), in
   addition to riverside  dogwood,  willows, shrubs and sedges. The
   deciduous trees have stopped producing  chlorophyll, revealing their
   underlying colors. Higher up, forest greens are provided by  Douglas
   firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and various pines, including  pinyon
   pines (likely Pinus monophylla), as well as  Utah junipers
   (Juniperus osteosperma).

   In the distance rise steep light-gray cliffs of interbedded
    limestone and dolostone, as well as some  sandstones and
    conglomerates. These rock cliffs create the scenic grandeur of
   Blacksmith Fork and nearby  Logan Canyon to its north, as they
   thread the Bear River Mountains. These layers were deposited in marine
   environments during the Paleozoic Era’s Devonian, Mississippian and
   Pennsylvanian ages, 299-419 million years ago. Blacksmith Fork’s
   distinctive name has two possible origins, according to John W. Van
   Cott, who compiled a reference book of  “Utah Place Names”. One
   source might have been a cache of blacksmithing tools kept in the
   vicinity by mountain man and explorer Jedediah Smith and his brigades
   in the early 1800s for shoeing horses. Other tales mention an actual
   blacksmith, Andrew Anderson, who later worked in the area.
     * Hyrum, Utah Coordinates: 41.6341, -111.8522

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Plant Links

     *  Discover Life
     *  Tree Encyclopedia
     *  What are Phytoplankton?
     *  Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
     *  USDA Plants Database
     *  University of Texas Native Plant Database
     *  Plants in Motion
     *  What Tree is It?

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   Space Research Association.

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