Stansbury Island
{{short description|Island in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
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| name = Stansbury Island
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| image_name = Erda overlooking the Great Salt Lake.jpg
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| image_caption = View of Stansbury Island from southeast at Erda, Utah-(~20 mi)
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| coordinates = {{coord|40|49|47|N|112|29|52|W|region:US-UT_dim:30000|display=inline,title}}
| etymology = Howard Stansbury
| location = Great Salt Lake
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| elevation_ft = 6647
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| country = United States
| country_admin_divisions_title = State
| country_admin_divisions = Utah
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}}Stansbury Island is the second largest island within the Great Salt Lake in the U.S. state of Utah. Located in Tooele County, it is considered an island even though a dirt causeway connects it to the mainland. Stansbury Island was named after Howard Stansbury, the leader of a government expedition that surveyed the lake in 1849.{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/explorationsurve00stan |title=Stansbury, H., 1852, Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah Including a Reconnoissance of a New Route Through the Rocky Mountains: Philadelphia, Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 615 pg. |access-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321121824/https://archive.org/details/explorationsurve00stan |archive-date=2017-03-21 |url-status=live }}
A biking trail is located on the island. Petroglyphs and two caves large enough to explore are also located on the island. Its peak is Castle Rock, at 6647 feet above sea level. Camping is permitted in most areas.{{cite web|url= http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/279296/Stansbury-Island-Castle-Rock.html|title= Stansbury Island - Castle Rock|author= Horn, Matthew Van|date= |publisher= Summit Post|accessdate= December 6, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081013213851/http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/279296/stansbury-island-castle-rock.html|archive-date= October 13, 2008|url-status= live}}
Geography and geology
Stansbury Island is longitudinally aligned and is approximately {{convert|11.5|mi|km}} long, {{convert|4.5|mi|km}} wide, and {{convert|22314|acre|km2}} in area.Roylance, W.J., Utah: A Guide to the State, 1982, Salt Lake City: Zion Book Store, {{ISBN|978-0-914740-23-0}}, pp. 295 and 486 The island is a desert mountain/mountain range, with a few fresh water seeps along the eastern side. The western side lacks water. The island is uninhabited and is used as a winter feeding ground for sheep. Average annual precipitation is approximately six inches.
The rocks on the island are mostly early Paleozoic in age. Precambrian strata are present at the north tip and along a portion of the northeast shore. The quartzite ledge on the southern part of the island is Devonian in age. The remaining northern third of the island dates back to the Cambrian Period, consisting of a small outcrop of Tintic Quartzite, but mainly middle Cambrian limestone, shale, and dolomite. The rest of the island is composed of Upper Cambrian to Upper Mississippian strata, mostly limestone, dolomite, quartzite, and shale.
The southern half of the island was folded into a southward anticline. The northern half of the island is composed of a series of northwesterly trending fault blocks in which the strata dip to the west. The faults in the north section are transverse and may have some strike–slip component.Stokes, W.L., Geologic Setting of Great Salt Lake, in Great Salt Lake: A Scientific, Historical and Economic Overview, Gwynn, J.W., editor,1980, Utah Dept. of Natural Resources Utah Geological and Mineral Survey Bulletin 116, pp. 55-68
Claret Cup cacti grow in abundance on the island, which forms the northern limit of their natural range.{{Cite journal |last=Taye |first=Alan |date=1983 |title=Flora of the Stansbury Mountains, Utah |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2640&context=gbn |journal=Great Basin Naturalist |volume=43 |issue=4 |page=624}} Unusually large juniper trees were noted by Howard Stansbury in his 1850 survey of the island.{{Cite book |last=Stansbury |first=Howard |title=Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake |publisher=Lippincott, Grambo, & Co. |year=1852 |isbn=9780874748895 |location=Philadelphia |pages=210 |url=https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QaepJ-nm_G7oKaUdWz_U_7pf9M8xLD2qqxUXqqxNMpUxprxQ9UBbMZEjvWheF41FJPsJECDvizjr68f5ZF09WvCu8CybA2dayDKhV6cGjjHElq2a-xWVUry8jchGzI9kcI2pzD6hDy7fifddAcL4ovxSRQ5soXsX1-JHeETdyQDqxFymve2zE66T9nx9ebad5eDKCx8jsstVUOKewDjl9LVJPICU-5pt5_VJxUYvnakq3uZTgtOBcpUVq8xx5uXg6rTHz8CvIy0U4iP18n0FM31wHk1vyQ}}
Bolinder Resources runs a quarry on the island. They quarry quartzite for railroad ballast.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Stansbury Island}}
- [https://www.utah.com/things-to-do/outdoor-recreation/mountain-biking/stansbury-island-trail/ Stansbury Island Trail] - Utah.com
- [https://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/stansbur.htm Stansbury Island Mountain Biking] - UtahMountainBiking.com
- [http://www.tooelecountytrails.com/images/print%20pdfs/stansburyislandtrailprintablemap.pdf Stansbury Island Trail] - Tooele County
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Category:Landforms of Tooele County, Utah
Category:Bureau of Land Management areas in Utah