This paper is devoted principally to the presentation and discussion of the results obtained when certain contrasting characters were brought together in a wheat cross between Ridit and Sevier 59. this is one of the crosses made in an attempt to develop a wheat adapted to this region with the following desirable qualities: Bunt resistance, strong straw, hard kernels, and heavy yield. How near this ideal is approached in succeeding generations can be told only by extensive tests. The genetic study herein presented was made to hasten the time when some of the progeny of this cross may become of economic value.

The Sevier River Basin situated in south central Utah is characterized by its semiarid climate, snowmelt-driven runoff, and high dependency on agricultural economy. High evapotranspiration and low precipitation make agricultural production challenging, but naturally stored water in the snowpack in the mountains alleviates water stresses during high water demand seasons. The snowmelt-driven river flow along the main channel is highly exploited for irrigation for farms near the Sevier River. Reservoir operations and river diversions result in heavily regulated flows from the upper to the lower basins. The return flows of over-irrigated water in the upper basin increase salinity of surface water. Long-term applications of salinity water in agriculture eventually produce high soil salinity in the agricultural areas near Delta in the lower basin, which deteriorated farmers’ crop productivity. Farmers cropping near Delta struggle with both water and salinity stresses. Indeed, crop prices and yields are always their concerns. For them, efficient water management can be achieved with consideration of hydrologic, agronomic, and economic aspects of water resources. The overall goal of this research was to develop a decision supporting framework for efficient water and land allocations that considered hydrologic processes, crop response to water in salinity-affected farms, and farmers’ profit and financial risk. This research introduces a methodology for predicting water availability in a given cropping year from the snowpack in the mountains, and agronomic simulations with satellite images follow for quantifying crop response to water. The hydrologic predictions and the agronomic simulations are finally incorporated into an economic analysis that provides efficient water and land allocations with multiple crop selections. In a rural river basin, data limitation is a common concern for water resources engineers; thus simple but robust methodologies are proposed for hydrologic prediction. In the same context, satellite images are used for the estimation of crop yields in individual farms near Delta with no prior crop experimental plots. Historical records of crop prices are used for the economic analysis. The methodologies developed in this research provide a comprehensive decision analysis framework for efficient water management where water is scare and available from snowmelt only, the economy depends on agriculture only, and salinity is present in both soil and water due to long-term irrigation. The case study is for the agricultural area near Delta in the Sevier River Basin, but its applicability is not limited and is flexibly applicable to other agricultural regions.

Calcareous shale, which is often encountered in construction projects, has a variety of physical and chemical properties that influence disintegration behavior of the rock mass. The diverse behavior of calcareous minerals in shale adds to the complexity of geotechnical investigations. Abundance of calcareous minerals is known to improve shale rock strength, although, when exposed to seasonal wetting and drying cycles, disintegration is rapid. The intent of this study is to statistically evaluate the disintegration behavior of calcareous shales in relation to their physico-chemical properties. Shale samples from fresh rock cuts and talus were tested using a multi-cycle slake durability index (Id), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) elemental analysis, bulk density, natural water content, and porosity. A relationship was found between the degree of disintegration and the abundance of calcareous minerals, especially calcite and gypsum. Higher porosity and elevated water content were observed in highly weathered shales. Additionally, the efficiency of the Id test as an indicator of the degree of disintegration was evaluated. Grain-size distribution (GSD) analysis of disintegrated talus was compared with fragmental material of two-and five-cycle Id (Id2 and Id5) tests. The Coefficient of Uniformity (Cu) and Coefficient of Curvature (Cc) of Id5 materials showed satisfactory correlation with Cu and Cc of talus material. It is demonstrated that when compared to the conventional Id2 test, multi-cycle Id tests more precisely predict the disintegration pattern of shale and can be used to evaluate shale in terms of degree of disintegration.

In the Ridge and Valley physiographic province, knobs stand out as anomalous landforms embedded within a region of long, parallel ridges and valleys. In northeastern Tennessee, knobs are associated with the Sevier shale. Well-drained, acidic, channery loam Montevallo soils cover uplands of these knobs. A flora of the Sevier shale knobs of northeastern Tennessee identified 265 taxa in 57 plant families of which 13.6% were exotic and three were state listed (Berberis canadensis, Ruellia purshiana, Silene caroliniana var. pensylvanica). Many taxa had rarely or never been collected in northeastern Tennessee. The flora of the Sevier shale knobs was most similar to dolomite and limestone barrens of southwestern Virginia but among the species rarely collected in northeastern Tennessee, the greatest number was shared with floras of the Sequatchie Valley, middle Tennessee cedar glades, and barrens of the Tennessee eastern Highland Rim.

The mineral resources of the Tintic Mining District are influenced by three major events in its geologic history; the Mesozoic Sevier Orogeny, Paleogene volcanism and Late Neogene Basin and Range extension. In this paper a detailed analysis of each these geologic events is presented to help us understand the structural host, mineralization and exhumation of the Tintic Mining District ore. A kinematic analysis of the faults was completed to determine the origin of NE-trending faults, Sevier Orogeny or Basin and Range extension, in the northern part of the East Tintic Mountains in Allens Ranch 7.5' quadrangle, near the eastern margin of the Great Basin of central Utah. The structural history of the NE-trending faults found in the quadrangle was reconstructed to determine stress directions and fault kinematics. Maximum paleostress direction for the East Tintic fold and thrust system is between 80º–100º with fold axes oriented at ~350º. For example, the Gardison Ridge and Tintic Prince faults are NE-trending right-lateral transverse faults that formed at ~30º to paleostress directions similar to those of the Sevier Orogeny. The dominant NE-trending faults in the region are likely due to (1) differential shortening during progressive orocline development, (2) the pre-deformational Pennsylvanian-Permian Oquirrh basin geometry, and (3) the influence of the Leamington transverse zones of the Provo salient. Conversely, mixed paleostress directions for the north-trending Tintic Davis Canyon fault show it is a Basin and Range extension-related normal fault that may have originated as a Sevier related fault. Other N-trending faults within the quadrangle are only related to Basin and Range extension. However, large offset, range-bounding faults are buried by valley fill throughout the quadrangle and no young fault scarps are identified cutting Lake Bonneville deposits. An Oligocene to Miocene suite of extrusive volcanic units in the quadrangle correlates well with those of the East Tintic and Soldiers Pass volcanic fields. The Paleogene volcanic section is dominated by a suite of high-K calc-alkaline extrusive rocks (35 to 32 Ma). This intermediate to silicic sequence was followed by eruption of the mildly alkaline Mosida Basalt during the Miocene (19.5 Ma) marking the transition from subduction-related intermediate and silicic volcanism to extension-related mafic volcanism in the eastern Great Basin.

Though stratigraphic correlations are abundant in the Cordilleran basin-fill, they rarely include along-strike transects providing a spatio-temporal sense of deformation, sediment-supply and subsidence. A new, high-resolution, regional strike-correlation of the Castlegate Formation reveals progressive northward-growth of the San Rafael Swell during two embryonic episodes of Laramide-style deformation in central Utah. The intrabasinal deformation-events produced gentle lithospheric-folding punctuated by erosional-truncation of upwarped regions. The earliest episode occurred at 78 Ma in the southern San Rafael Swell likely causing soft-sediment deformation and stratal-tilting. Following this the alluvial-plain was leveled and rapid, extensive-progradation took place. A second episode, at 75 Ma, where deformation was focused in the northern San Rafael Swell, also caused sediment-liquefaction and erosional beveling. The stratal-tilting and sediment-liquefaction is attributed to seismicity induced by basal-traction between a subducting flat-slab and continental-lithosphere. The south-to north time-transgression of uplift is spatio-temporally consistent with NE-propagation of an oceanic-plateau subducted shallowly beneath the region.

Historical topographic maps are valuable resources for studying past landscapes, but they are unsuitable for geospatial analysis. Cartographic map elements must be extracted and digitized for use in GIS. This can be accomplished by sophisticated image processing and pattern recognition techniques, and more recently, artificial intelligence. While these methods are generally effective, they require high levels of technical expertise. This study presents a straightforward method to digitally extract historical topographic map elements from within popular GIS software, using new and rapidly evolving toolsets. A convolutional neural network deep learning model was used to extract elevation contour lines from a 1940 United States Geological Survey (USGS) quadrangle in Sevier County, TN, ultimately producing a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The topographically derived DEM (TOPO-DEM) is compared to a modern LiDAR-derived DEM to analyze its quality and utility. GIS-capable historians, archaeologists, geographers, and others can use this method in research and land management.

During the 1890s, a series of extra-legal and illegal activities known as "whitecapping" occurred in Sevier County, Tennessee. While the early episodes were based on traditional responses to deviant behavior in rural communities, whitecapping reflected the loss of community within the county. This study examines the relationship of whitecapping and community in Sevier County and how it changed during the 1890s. The several, often contradictory, social conditions which affected the life of every Sevier Countian are also examined to show the decline of community consensus during this period. Finally, the events galavanizing public opinion against the whitecaps are analyzed to understand their enduring effect on community in Sevier County.

During the 1890s, a series of extra-legal and illegal activities known as "whitecapping" occurred in Sevier County, Tennessee. While the early episodes were based on traditional responses to deviant behavior in rural communities, whitecapping reflected the loss of community within the county. This study examines the relationship of whitecapping and community in Sevier County and how it changed during the 1890s. The several, often contradictory, social conditions which affected the life of every Sevier Countian are also examined to show the decline of community consensus during this period. Finally, the events galavanizing public opinion against the whitecaps are analyzed to understand their enduring effect on community in Sevier County.

A detailed structural study of Rock Canyon (near Provo, Utah) provides insight into Wasatch Range tectonics and fold-thrust belt kinematics. Excellent exposures along the E-W trending canyon allow the use of digital photography in conjunction with traditional field methods for a thorough analysis of Rock Canyon's structural features. Detailed photomontages and geometric and kinematic analyses of some structural features help to pinpoint deformation mechanisms active during the canyon's tectonic history. Large-scale images and these structural data are synthesized in a balanced cross section, which is used to reconstruct the structural evolution of this portion of the range. Projection of surficial features into the subsurface produces geometrical relationships that correlate well with a fault-bend fold model involving one or more subsurface imbrications. Kinematic data (e.g. slickenlines, fractures, fold axes) indicate that the maximum stress direction during formation of the fault-bend fold trended at approximately 120°. Following initial thrusting, uplift and development of a thrust splay produced by duplexing may have caused a shift in local stresses in the forelimb of the Rock Canyon anticline leading to late-stage normal faulting during Sevier compression. These normal faults may have activated deformed zones previously caused by Sevier folding, and reactivated early-stage decollements found in the folded weak shale units and shaly limestones. Movement on most of these normal faults roughly parallels stress directions found during initial thrusting indicating that these extensional features may be coeval with thrusting. Other zones of extension and brittle failure produced by lower ramp geometry appear to have been activated during Tertiary Basin and Range extension along the Wasatch Fault Zone. Slickenline data on these later normal faults suggest a transport direction of nearly E-W distinguishing it from earlier events.