Changes coming to National Map

In a strategic planning session with USGS leadership this morning we heard about a new viewer coming in December for the National Map that will dramatically revamp the look of the web site, with a friendlier Google-like interface. They also expect to release 18,000 new maps with contours and hydrography in Fiscal Year 2010 (starting Oct 1). [right, beta digital map of Cat Mountain, AZ, from National Map]

Mineral resources at USGS

The State Geologists met with senior officials from the US Dept of Interior and the USGS this morning to discuss strategic initiatives in the geosciences. One of the issues we covered is the growing demand for certain minerals that are critical to renewable energy and other ‘green’ technologies.

One piece of good news is that Interior recognizes the national security and economic importance of the USGS Mineral Resources Program. So, we should not expect another attempt to eliminate the program in the federal budgeting process. In fact, part of our discussion today was on ways increase support for the program to meet the nation’s needs.

An interesting side note: Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Water and Science, is married to a hardrock mining geologist who specializes in ore reserves and is working on uranium projects in Russia, South Africa, and elsewhere overseas.

Anne told us that Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar is a “huge fan of the USGS” and realizes the value of the science they bring to table for effective decision-making and dealing with critical issues facing the nation.

Asarco - it ain't over

Last week's recommendation by the bankruptcy judge in the Asarco case to go with Grupo Mexico's bid, caught me as much as it did anyone, by surprise. All the signs seemed to be pointing to Sterlite as the buyer of choice.

Yesterday, Sterlite raised it's bid to $2.565 billion in cash from $2.135, according to a company statement reported by Mineweb.com. Sterlite and Asarco reportedly also filed objections with the court over the Grupo recommendation.

[Thanks to Syver More for alerting me to this news]

NAU's new School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability

NAU has launched the new School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability which combines the Department of Geology with the Center for Sustainable Environments to combine educational programs and outreach in environmental sciences, environmental studies and geology, and graduate programs in environmental sciences and policy and geology.

NAU says its vision for the new school is for it to be "the premier school for research, outreach and education in Earth sciences and environmental sustainability" in the Mountain West.

Hydrologist Abe Springer is director of the School.

Field testing for Rosemont mine reclamation

Jeff Conoyer, geologist at Rosemont Copper forwarded a description of a 7-year, $377,000 study they are funding at the University of Arizona to identify best native plants & options for land reclamation. The field test is on private ranch property owned by Rosemont Copper and because it is visible from Rte 83, it has prompted concerns from mine opponents that mining has started. According to the announcement,

Previously, Jeffrey Fehmi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and his team evaluated 29 different native species from around the Rosemont site compiled into four seed mixes. The local seed mixes were tested in the University of Arizona greenhouses using three types of soil from the proposed mine site, with several soil amendments and fertilizer combinations, and watered to simulate low, average and high rainfall years. The field testing is to verify these greenhouse results under real-world conditions.

The field testing is the third phase of the project, which will evaluate the established native species seed mix and methods, as they are exposed to the actual environmental conditions of the site. The field testing will involve test plots where numerous reclamation options will be evaluated. These include differences in site preparation (how smooth the surface is at the time of planting) and the use of mulch (none, mulch placed on the soil surface, and mulch incorporated into the soil). These differences in practice will be tested on two soil types expected to be used in the mine reclamation.

Establishing vegetation on the plots will help to hold soil in place and prevent soil erosion and loss while retaining water and air quality. Roots reach down into the soil and bind the soil beneath, while the plant cover helps to intercept the rainfall impact and to allow it to infiltrate the soil.

You can sit in on planning at ASU for Mars exploration

ASU is hosting the National Academy of Science's Planetary Decadel Survey for exploration of Mars during the 2013-2022 period and the proceedings are open to the public. You can watch the webcast of events at http://nasa-nai.acrobat.com/psdecadal/. Audio is at (866) 606-4717; use access code 7078222. [right, gullies at edge of Hale Crater. Credit UA HiRISE camera]

The meeting is chaired by ASU geologist Philip Christensen and runs through Friday.

No furloughs at UA this year

UA President Robert Shelton informed faculty and staff by email this morning that the influx of federal stimulus funds means that furloughs will not be necessary this year. The entire message is below:

To: All Faculty and Staff
From: President Robert N. Shelton

I write to inform you that employee furloughs will not be necessary this year.

In the spring, when we were preparing for the current fiscal year, it was unclear whether the state would accept federal stimulus funding. In anticipation of further budget cuts for the FY10 year, furloughs became a necessary component of efforts to balance our budget. We notified all faculty and staff at the time to plan on furloughs but not to schedule any until at least September. This strategy allowed us time to determine the exact impact of the state cuts and the level of any federal aid that we would receive.

The furloughs would have provided an opportunity for temporary budget savings this year. The federal stimulus funding that has been allocated to the UA, coming through the Governor's Office as State Fiscal Stabilization Funds, are also temporary, one-time funds. While critically important to our budget for this year (and I cannot overstate how grateful we are to President Obama for initiating the program and Governor Brewer for securing the funds), they do not resolve the more fundamental, long-term issues that result from the state appropriation reductions. They do, however, make it possible to eliminate the furloughs that had been planned for this year.

We are very appreciative of the efforts of Governor Brewer to secure the federal funding, and are pleased that we can relieve faculty and staff of the hardship that would have resulted if the furloughs had been implemented.

Record economic impacts of Arizona copper production

Arizona produced 66% of the copper mined in the U.S. in 2008 with a direct economic impact to Arizona of $3.862 billion, a new high.

The report on the economic impact of the copper industry on Arizona for 2008 has just been released and the rest of the numbers are staggering. The report, prepared by Dr. George Leaming of the Western Economic Analysis Center in Marana, for the Arizona Mining Association, shows copper contributed a combined direct and indirect impact of $10.381 billion to the Arizona economy. This is up from $6.8 billion in 2007, a rise of 53%.

The industry in 2008 produced 949,354 tons of copper and other minerals with a value of $6.925 billion, up 13% from 2007.

One of the interesting calculations reported is that "Arizona copper production directly and indirectly provided federal government revenues of nearly $3.8 billion in 2008. That amounted to $19,400 of federal revenue per acre of land used by the Arizona copper industry in 2008."

Copies of the report are available from AMA or a pdf file can be downloaded from the association's web site at www.azcu.org.

Senate bill would eliminate depreciation of minerals

Another update from this months AGI government affairs newsletter describes a new Senate bill (S. 1570) that would eliminate depreciation of mines in the federal tax code due to removal of the minerals.

"The senators argue that the mining companies are receiving double subsidies without providing any revenue to the federal government, such as a royalty, for using public lands."

AGI says the new bill is estimated to generate $50 million per year in increased taxes from minersand half of that revenue would be directed to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust Fund to help clean-up abandoned mines.

"Mining industry officials say the logic fails as it does not take into account the high costs of mineral development and refining. The policy will be bad for attracting future mining investment, especially combined with the expected cost increase from changes to the Mining Act of 1872 already proposed in Congress (S. 796 and H.R. 699)." [above, Morenci copper mine. May 2008]

The full text of S. 1570 is available from Thomas:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:s1570

The full text of the S. 796 and H.R. 699:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S.796:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.00699:

Geology degree puts you in top 20 salaries

A degree in geology will place you 19th among college grads with a median starting salary of $45,100 and a mid-career median salary of $84,200, according to payscale.com. [right, Arco Exploration]

The highest earning degree is in aerospace engineering and engineering specialties dominate the top 10 degrees in terms of salary.

Second from bottom in their list is elementary education, with education overall being 7th from bottom.

Deep oil test planned near Kingman

Forest Gate Energy announced today a partnership with Vanterra Energy and plans to drill a deep exploratory oil well in the Sacramento Valley of Arizona, southwest of Kingman.

The press release said, "Forest Gate and Vanterra are planning to drill an 11,000 foot well targeting the Navajo sands at 6000 feet, the Mississippian carbonates at 9,160 feet, and the Devonian carbonates at 10,160 feet.. A drill site has been selected using the results of a seismic program acquired by Phillips Petroleum in 1981 and subsequently licensed to Vanterra."

Forest Gate said they have run geochemical and geophysical surveys over the prospect. They compared the target as similar to the Grant Canyon oil field in Nevada [above, generalized geology of oil fields in Railroad Valley, NV, based on work done by Don French], which occurs in a block of Paleozoic sediments, down-dropped along a basin-bounding fault and perpendicular block faults.

Federal water management council proposed

The latest monthly government affairs report from AGI has an amazing write-up about federal involvement in water resources:

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is drafting a bill that would establish a Water Resources Management Council consisting of Cabinet level members and a director nominated by the President. The bill, called the Sustainable Watershed Planning Act, would establish regional watershed planning boards to work for a comprehensive water management infrastructure of all watersheds. The boards would develop five year plans for water use and conservation, and be comprised of members from stakeholders and local, state, and federal agencies.

The legislation is an attempt to consolidate and coordinate water management so that regional effects from local management decisions can be taken into account. There are some doubts over the legislation, as stakeholders and state water managers are unsure what the specific goals of the council and planning boards are, but water experts agree that the current water management structure needs to be fixed.

My experiences are that dealing with even scientific studies of water across state lines is enough to risk total war with water group and constituencies. I expect a federally-established water management council to be a target from so many quarters that it will never stand a chance of passage.

Magnitude 3.0 quake near Fredonia

There was a magnitude 3.0 earthquake 7 mile ENE of Fredonia, Arizona about 11 pm last Thursday. I just learned about it this morning. The reported depth is just over 10 miles (17 km) but don't give much credence to that estimate for a small, remote event.

I didn't see any reports of it being felt.

NASA desert rats returning to Arizona to test lunar robot

NASA's Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) team is heading back to Arizona in a week to continue testing equipment for extraterrestrial exploration.

According to a press release posted on Reuters, the test will include "a simulated 14-day mission during which two crew members -- an astronaut and a geologist -- will live inside NASA's prototype Lunar Electric Rover [right]. They will scout the test area for features of geological interest and conduct simulated moonwalks to collect samples."

Erick Weiland appointed to AZ technical registration board

Gov. Jan Brewer has appointed Tucson geologist Erick Weiland to a two year term on the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, replacing Dawn Garcia, who stepped down after serving since 2005, according to the AIPG Arizona Chapter newsletter. There is only one geologist on the board, and Erick will represent Arizona on the Association of State Boards of Geologists (ASBOG) in the development and administration of the Geology test for professional registration.

Previous appointments to AzBTR and ASBOG include Ralph Weeks, Frank Turek, and Bill Greenslade.

UA releases thousands of new Mars photos

The University of Arizona Planetary Lab made their periodic release of hi-res photos from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and there are some spectacular images as usual.

Science Daily has a nice overview of the release.

Arizonans Arctic warming study gains global attention

A study in Science published yesterday by NAU researcher Darrell Kaufman, UA researchers Nicholas McKay and Jonathan ("Peck") Overpeck, and their colleagues, showing that recent warming has reversed a long-term Arctic cooling trend, has attracted massive worldwide news media attention.

The Knight Science Journalism Tracker website picked this story up and commented on how well the various news media outlets treated it and who got it right and who didn't.

KSJT makes an interesting comment on the claims by climate change skeptics that scientists had flip-flopped on earlier claims that the Earth was cooling and perhaps heading towards another Ice Age. This new study indicates that there was indeed a cooling trend and it's only a sudden warming that has reversed it.


Ref: Recent Warming Reverses Long-Term Arctic Cooling
Darrell S. Kaufman,1,* David P. Schneider,2 Nicholas P. McKay,3 Caspar M. Ammann,2 Raymond S. Bradley,4 Keith R. Briffa,5 Gifford H. Miller,6 Bette L. Otto-Bliesner,2 Jonathan T. Overpeck,3 Bo M. Vinther,7 Arctic Lakes 2k Project Members; Science, 4 September 2009: Vol. 325. no. 5945, pp. 1236 - 1239,DOI: 10.1126/science.1173983

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5945/1236

Geologist to save the day in "Piranha 3D"

The online movie site FearNet interviewed actor Adam Scott, who plays Novak, a geologist brought in to deal with the prehistoric piranha in the movie filming in Arizona, "Piranha 3D." He described it as a horror film with a "Girls Gone Wild subplot." I can hardly wait.

ASU lunar camera shoots Apollo 12 landing site

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) managed by ASU, has captured the Apollo 12 landing site with new photos. Apollo 12 landed on the moon in 1969, only 200 meters from the unmanned Surveyor 3 spacecraft, in remarkable piece of interplanetary navigating. You can even see the astronaut tracks in the lunar dust in the photo at right. [right, Apollo 12 landing site. Arrows point to astronaut footpaths. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University]

Desert tortoise designation could eliminate mining claims

There's a story on Mineweb.com that a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposal to list the Sonoran desert tortoise [right, photo credit Tigerhawkvok on Wikipedia] as endangered would "limit livestock grazing, urban growth and development, mining and international border patrol activities in tortoise areas." As of 2003, there were 1096 active mining claims in the area of Arizona that would be affected.

Mineweb cites the FWS statement in the Federal Register that says,

"The petitioners state that mining activities (both small- and large-scale) adversely affect the Sonoran desert tortoise through habitat fragmentation, loss, and degradation; introduction of contaminants and fugitive dust (dust that cannot be attributed to a single point of origin, such as a smokestack); off-road travel associated with mining activities or roads created for said activities; and entrapment of tortoises in mine spoil heaps."

FWS is carrying out a 12-month long study to determine if listing is warranted.