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.
Provo CanyonΓÇÖs Bridal Veil Falls
February 21, 2020
Bridalveil287c_31jan20 (003)
Bridalveil388c_26may19 (003)
Photographer: Ray Boren
Summary Author: Ray Boren
One of many waterfalls similarly named, from Niagara to
Yosemite in North America, and all around the world, UtahΓÇÖs
eye-catching Bridal Veil Falls tumbles some 600 feet (183 m) in two
principal cataracts down the primarily limestone cliffs and
rubble slopes of Cascade Mountain in the Wasatch RangeΓÇÖs Provo
Canyon, where the waters join the Provo River en route to Utah
Lake. In winter the falls mostly freeze, along with nearby seeps,
as illustrated in the first photograph here, taken on January 31, 2020.
In spring and summer, the fallΓÇÖs tresses streak the well-defined rock
strata among green trees and bushes, shown in a second, wider image,
taken on May 26, 2019.
The waterfalls, easily visible from U.S. Highway 189 and various
viewpoints and trails, have given their name to the regionΓÇÖs Bridal
Veil Falls Limestone, a many-layered basal unit of the
Permo- Carboniferous Oquirrh Group, deposited in coastal
seas during the early Pennsylvanian subperiod about 300 million
years ago, and now conspicuous in the uplifted southern Wasatch
Mountains near such cities as Orem and Provo, Utah. The limestone unit
is 1,050 feet (320 m) thick, geologists report and features a prolific
fauna that includes corals, brachiopods and other organisms.
When winter ice is particularly dense, frozen Bridal Veil Falls
attracts ice climbers. However, the waterfallΓÇÖs course is also
avalanche prone in snowy winters, as are other segments of busy,
steep-sided Provo Canyon. An aerial tram line began operating at the
fallΓÇÖs base in 1961, lifting passengers to a viewpoint and restaurant
called the EagleΓÇÖs Nest atop a nearby pinnacle overlooking the canyon
and the cascade. But a massive avalanche on New YearΓÇÖs Day 1996
barreled down the fallsΓÇÖ chute, taking out buildings beside the Provo
River, and a 2008 fire destroyed the high EagleΓÇÖs Nest.
Photo Details: Top - Camera: NIKON D3200; Exposure Time: 0.0040s
(1/250); Aperture: ƒ/10.0; ISO equivalent: 400; Focal Length (35mm):
105. Bottom - same except: Camera: NIKON D3500; Aperture: ƒ/8.0; ISO
equivalent: 110; Focal Length (35mm): 27.
* Bridal Veil Falls, Utah Coordinates: 40.3390, -111.6019
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More...
Hydrology Links
* Current Sea Surface Temperature
* NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery
* Ocean Color
* What is hydrology?
* Tides and Currents
* Water Resources of the United States
* World Waterfall Database
* The USGS Water Science School
* World Water Database
* The WorldΓÇÖs Water
* USGS Surface Water Information Pages
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