Thesis (M.A.)-- Brigham Young University. Dept. of History.

Thesis (M.A.) B.Y.U. Dept.of History. / Electronic thesis. Also available in print ed.

A primary basis for settlement locations in the great basin by the Mormons was the availability of water. The settlement of Heber Valley was no exception. Water became quickly involved in two important and determining factors (cooperation and self-reliance) in the development of Mormon society in general and Wasatch County's society in particular. Likewise, these two factors influenced the direction in the development of water as it was utilized by the Mormons to establish the "Kingdom of God" on earth. Cooperation and self-reliance in Wasatch County were changed as modifications within the county were made as well as by other factors introduced in the county. Wasatch County farmers irrigation systems and institutions are today, a product of these two important factors and the modifications made on them. Co-operation and self reliance continue to be part of the agricultural way of life in Wasastch County.

The Farmington Canyon Complex, situated along the Wasatch front in northern Utah, has been the target for many studies. The FCC has been interpreted to be a passive margin sedimentary wedge. Previous studies have yielded isotopic ages that broadly support an Archean age of formation, and a prominent mid-proterozoic amphibolite grade metamorphic event. Based on this study, a new interpretation for the FCC is presented. Field relations and whole-rock geochemistry as well as recent advances in understanding Archean crustal processes have resulted in the FCC to be considered as an accretionary complex that formed along the SW margin of the Wyoming province in the early Archean. Rock assemblages such as mafic and ultramafic metavolcanics have chemistries that resemble oceanic crust and arc related volcanics. The extensive quartzo-felspathic gneiss and schist units have compositions that reflect greywacke, and are presented here as a melange matrix. The quartzites have chemistries, which may represent cherts or silicified microbial mats. The field relations and timing of these rocks indicate that the FCC may represent a continental arc synchronous with the closing of an ocean basin, forming an accretionary wedge. This culminated with the mid-proterozoic metamorphic event as this continental arc collided with the Santaquin arc, as well as the SW margin of Laurentia. This amphibolite grade metamorphic event has subsequently reset or overprinted isotopic evidence and obscured any textures that may have existed. Although much has yet to be learned about Archean processes, comparison to other recognized Archean accretionary complexes has yielded striking similarities, and it is presented here that the FCC represents an active margin, and is likely an accretionary melange.

A total of 733 bird nests, representing 55 species from 23 habitats, was examined. Forty-nine percent of the nests of 39 bird species were infested with 16 species of Protocalliphora. Infestation of bird nests by Protocalliphora is believed to be related to a number of factors, which are discussed. Loosely constructed nests, nests heavily saturated with feces, and nests occupied early in the season had low rates of infestation. Nests of colonial birds were more frequently infested than those of solitary birds. Nests of some birds were rarely or never infested. Sixteen species of Protocalliphora are differentiated and their host and habitat preferences discussed. Some species appeared to be either host or habitat specific, but infestation by many species appeared to be controlled by a combination of host and habitat specificity. Aspects of the life history of the species of Protocalliphora are discussed. An aggregation of adult Protocalliphora at a Bank Swallow colony was noted. Mortality in nestling birds from the feeding of Protocalliphora was rarely observed, except in nests of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Cliff Swallows, where other factors may have contributed to high mortality.

Understanding the interplay between surficial and tectonic processes in the development of Utah's Wasatch Range is vital to evaluating geologic hazards along the Wasatch Front. Baldy is a large (6.125 km3) block of limestone and sandstone structurally overlying shale on the western flank of Mount Timpanogos. It has been mapped as a downdropped normal fault block of Permian units, but no other trace of such a fault exists along the range. The Baldy block structurally overlies the weak Manning Canyon shale, which has produced a regional geomorphology replete with faceted spurs, landslide scarps and deposits. Structural, bio- and litho-stratigrahic mapping of the block reveals breccia deposits, bed rotation and stratigraphic and structural relations to Mount Timpanogos consistent with a landslide interpretation. Structural reconstructions of the block and calculations of stream downcutting rates help constrain the timing and sequence of events of the block's emplacement. These results attest to the importance of surficial processes in the development of large-scale geologic structures, and demonstrate the ongoing danger of mass wasting to the communities of the Wasatch Front.

the ground-water system was studied in Burnout Canyon, Northern Wasatch Plateau, Utah to provided hydrogeologic information relative to the impacts of longwall coalmining induced subsidence. The longwall panels of coal are overlain by approximately 600 feet of interbedded sand, silt, and shale. The water-bearing zones are comprised of local 1enticular sand lenses. Well analysis and locations of springs indicated that multiple ground-water systems are operating within the study area.A modular three-dimensional, finite-difference flow model (MODFLOW) was used to simulate the multiple water-bearing zones and associated hydrostratigraphy above the mine. The model was used to assess the distribution of head over space both pre- and post-subsidence, using absolute heads and measured values of mine-inflow for model calibration. Longwall retreat was simulated with two model runs, each representing a new face position. Model calibration indicated that spatial head distributions were affected by subsidence. / Department of Geology

Dispersed recreation management is a form of management that has emerged over the past century of outdoor recreation management on public lands in the United States. Techniques used in dispersed recreation management seek to disperse recreation use, recreational areas, and their impacts across landscapes and ecosystems or to concentrate such use to areas that remain undeveloped. This study is a mixed-methods, descriptive study of dispersed recreation management on national forest lands. In particular, this study focuses on United States Forest Service (USFS) management Concentrated Use Areas (CUAs) on Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (UWCNF), as identified in the 2003 Revised Forest Plan of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. A qualitative approach of inventorying past management actions, observing CUAs, and interviewing recreation managers and resource specialists on the UWCNF was used. The qualitative aspects of this study were also coupled with a quantitative analysis of Geographic Positioning System (GPS) based data using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to better understand characteristics of CUAs and their management in dispersed recreation settings. Overall, this study draws many conclusions involving the definition of, and management and design solutions for CUAs. CUAs can be described as easily accessible, flat areas adjacent to roads, with good access to water, and shade. These areas are often used for camping of various types, with trailers and groups being a predominant use. ATVs and motorized use are also associated with these areas. Use is generally considered high and continual during the summer season, with sites often being used year after year by families and groups of friends. Loss of vegetation, soil compaction, and soil erosion are common impacts attributed to concentrated recreational use. Another finding was that recreation resource managers and resource specialists have similar views of what CUAs are and how they are managed. Management actions generally consist of both indirect and direct management actions focused on limiting environmental impacts caused by recreation uses. Management actions are conducted on both large and small scales within districts, and dispersed recreation protocol was found that called on management to reduce biophysical impacts. However, management techniques lack official targets and metrics for measuring the success of management. Design is also a component of CUA management. The design of CUAs generally consists of adapting user-created recreation areas into more structured and defined areas.

Wellsville Mountain is 10 miles west of Logan, Utah, at the northern extremity of the Wasatch Range. Paleozoic rocks forma northeast-dipping homocline bounded in part by northwest-trending high-angle faults and cut by a series of northeast-trending high-angle faults. A major transverse fault, with a stratigraphic displacement of 4,500 feet, divides the mountain into two distinct blocks. The rock units of the area are comparable to those of the Logan quadrangle immediately to the east. Pre-Cambrian rocks crop out in Box Elder Canyon, just east of Brigham City, and are overlain by at least 20,000 feet of northeast-dipping Paleozoic rocks of every period except possibly the Permian. The Beirdneau sandstone member of the Jefferson formation, is tentatively correlated with that of the upper Devils Gate limestone of central Nevada. About 6,600 feet of the Oquirrh formation of Pennsylvanian age is exposed near the northern end of Wellsville Mountain. The presence of Desmoinesian fusulinids at the base of the Oquirrh and upper Virgilian fusulinids throughout the interval from 1,000 to 2,000 feet above its base indicates an absence of Lower Pennsylvanian rocks and suggests that the upper 4,400 feet may be in part Permian. Mesozoic rocks are not found in the area. The Wasatch formation and Salt Lake group of Tertiary age crop out in the foothills at the northern end of Wellsville Mountain. Two fault systems are recognized in the area. The northeast-trending high-angle transverse faults of Laramide age and the north-west-trending high-angle bordering faults are Basin and Range age.

abstract: In "Between Mountain and Lake: an Urban Mormon Country," I identify a uniquely Mormon urban tradition that transcends simple village agrarianism. This tradition encompasses the distinctive ways in which Mormons have thought about cities, appropriating popular American urban forms to articulate their faith's central beliefs, tenants, and practices, from street layout to home decorating. But if an urban Mormon experience has as much validity as an agrarian one, how have the two traditions articulated themselves over time? What did the city mean for nineteenth-century Mormons? Did these meanings change in the twentieth-century, particularly following World War II when the nation as a whole underwent rapid suburbanization? How did Mormon understandings of the environment effect the placement of their villages and cities? What consequences did these choices have for their children, particularly when these places rapidly suburbanized? Traditionally, Zion has been linked to a particular place. This localized dimension to an otherwise spiritual and utopian ideal introduces environmental negotiation and resource utilization. Mormon urban space is, as French thinker Henri Lefebvre would suggest, culturally constructed, appropriated and consumed. On a fundamental level, Mormon spaces tack between the extremes of theocracy and secularism, communalism and capitalism and have much to reveal about how Mormonism has defined gender roles and established racial hierarchies. Mormon cultural landscapes both manifest a sense of identity and place, as well as establish relationships with the past. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation History 2015