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An approximately 300 million-year-old fossil skeleton discovered at Canyonlands National Park in Utah could be the first of its kind, researchers say. © Adam Marsh/National Park Service The fossil discovery at Canyonlands National Park was a rare intact skeleton. The exact species and classification have yet to be determined, but the fossil is a tetrapod -- meaning animal with four legs -- and could be an early ancestor of either reptiles or mammals. Paleontologists have determined the fossil could be anywhere from 295 million to 305 million years old, between the Pennsylvanian and the Permian geologic time periods.

Utah - The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into the unlawful closing of a county road on BLM public lands. At the February 27 meeting of the County Commission, Commissioner Bruce Adams said the county claims the road and directed the county road department to destroy the berm “that has been placed in the middle of our road” and do whatever is required to make the road passable. Adams also asked that the road department track all costs on the project, in the event a citation is issued, to determine the restitution that would need to...

Grand County companies whose owners signed a letter to President Obama supporting federal protection for 1.4 million acres surrounding Canyonlands National Park are facing an economic boycott that some say has been spurred by the locally-based Sagebrush Coalition. The coalition’s Facebook page includes a list of local and national companies that signed the Nov. 13 letter from the Outdoor Industry Association urging Obama to create the Greater Canyonlands National Monument. ... Sagebrush Coalition president James Tibbetts ... opposes monument status for land around Canyonlands National Park because it isn’t necessary. “We’ve used it all these years and we haven’t ruined...

Explanation: Is there any place in the world you could see a real sight like this? Yes. Pictured above is single exposure image spectacular near, far, and in between. Diving into the Earth far in the distance is part of the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, taken with a long duration exposure. Much closer, the planet Jupiter is visible as the bright point just to band's left. Closer still are picturesque buttes and mesas of the Canyonlands National Park in Utah, USA, lit by a crescent moon. In the foreground is a cave housing a stone circle...

Accompanying text and location map: Mastodon Arch

Link post: Geology Picture of the Week, July 7-13, 2002