Sonoran Desert field trip guides

The Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, hosts some of the wildest and most intriguing geology in the Southwest. In March 1990, the Geological Society of America’s Cordilleran Section met in Tucson, Arizona, to review fresh geologic research and to visit a broad suite of geologic settings.

The field trip guides from 19 field excursions – 5 in north-central Sonora, Mexico, and 14 in central and southern Arizona – are reproduced in the Arizona Geological Survey’s Special Paper #7, Geologic Excursions through the Sonoran Desert Region, Arizona and Sonora’.

For a link to free download, see us at our new blog space http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu

Shaking it up with AZGS’ Earthquake Fault Videos

As part of our earthquake preparedness program, ‘Arizona has Earthquakes’, we've produced a suite of video shorts showcasing active fault systems in Arizona. Our objective: to inform the Arizona public and decision-makers of the nature, magnitude and frequency of earthquakes impacting Arizona.

For video titles, viewership and links see the post at our new blog site: http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu/ 

Arizona #2 in the U.S. in nonfuel mineral production in 2017

Arizona come in 2nd in nonfuel mineral production in 2017. The US Geological Survey just released the Mineral Commodity Summaries 2018 for 2017. With nonfuel mineral production topping $6.61 billion, Arizona is the #2 state in the U.S. Nevada is a runaway first with $8.68 billion in production. Arizona is at a competitive disadvantage here; gold ($1352/oz) trumps copper ($3.20/lbs) every time.

For the entire blog and more on Arizona mineral production visit our new blog site: http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu/

Deadly debris flows in the SW U.S. fueled by drought, wildfire, and rain

On January 24, the LA Times reported that residents in the Montecito, California, area received conflicting information regarding evacuation zones prior to the worst post-fire floods and debris flows (often called mudflows) in recent California history. This is troubling news, as 21 people perished in these flows with two still missing, 65 homes were destroyed and another 462 were damaged.

To read the entire post, visit our Arizona Geology blog home -  http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu/ 

Image courtesy of ABC-15.

Got a geology story to tell

Got a geology story to tell? ESRI's StoryMaps might be just the platform you are looking for.
You'll find the entire blog text and pointers to a new USGS StoryMap on North America's mid-continental rift episode at   http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu/blog/2018-01/storymaps-brave-new-tool-geoscience-outreach.

The Case for Navigable Rivers

Our newest post (22 Jan. 2018) presents Jon Fuller's 135-page contributed report on navigable rivers. This illustrated report includes case studies for three Arizona rivers: Gila, Salt and Verde Rivers.

Case for Navigable Rivers

Geology & uranium potential of Proterozoic rocks of the Central Arizona Arch and the Tonto Basin, Arizona

We are releasing a second suite of Phil Anderson’s geologic mapping and research of Proterozoic rocks, which includes geologic mapping and geochemical sampling of the Central Arizona Arch that covers roughly 3,000 square miles in central Arizona. 

Study area & example of sampling.

See our full blog post with links to the newly released maps at http://blog.azgs.arizona.edu/