Geology of Crystal Geyser and environmental implications of its effluent, Grand County, Utah

Abstract

A geologic study was done in conjunction with an environmental impact investigation of the Crystal Geyser, 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) southeast of the community of Green River, Utah. Periodic eruptions of salt-laden waters from the geyser flow into the Green River and provide a source of salts into the Colorado River drainage system. Eruptions average 120 cubic meters (0.1 acre feet) of CO2 charged water with abundant Na, Ca, K. and Mg salts. The mineral laden waters form tufa deposits along a nearly 2 kilometer (1.3 miles) exposure that is situated along and controlled by the Little Grand Wash Fault. Three distinctive levels of tufa deposits indicate that the mineral-laden springs have been active along the fault for several hundred thousand years. Several methods considered to control the salt laden effluent were rejected as either impractical or too expensive.