Prehistoric Verde Salt Mine talk scheduled for January 21

Our friends in the Central Arizona Geology Club passed along this interesting item that the Verde Valley Archaeological Center meeting this coming Tuesday, January 21, will feature a talk on the Prehistoric Verde Salt Mine.  [Right. Photo credit, VVAC]

This meeting will be in the Cliff Castle Casino Hotel, Sedona Ballroom, on Middle Verde Road.  After a short business meeting and elections, the group will hear from their Director of Archaeology, Dr. Todd Bostwick who will speak on the Prehistoric Verde Salt Mine in Camp Verde.

"Salt has been a valuable trade item throughout human history. Native American salt procurement in the Southwest involved dangerous journeys across sacred landscapes associated with a deity called Salt Woman. This presentation describes the history of a famous salt mine in Camp Verde where prehistoric tools used for mining salt were discovered in the 1920s by historic miners. These tools were located deep inside tunnels dug into a thick, fresh-water salt deposit by Sinagua miners. Numerous photographs will be shown of these well-preserved, 700-year old tools and other Sinagua artifacts to illustrate the story of this unusual discovery."

They note this meeting is free and open to the public 'so bring a friend.'  The hotel's Gathering Restaurant is closed on Tuesdays for dinner, so if you plan to have dinner before the meeting you will have to visit the casino or other area restaurants.

Bill would add Geologic Services to contractor statutes

The number of bills filed before the Arizona Legislative session began was the smallest in memory, but they are coming in quickly now.   

House Bill 2360 adds language about "Design Professionals" which "means an individual or firm that is registered by the state board of technical registration pursuant to chapter 1 of this title to practice architecture, engineering, geology, landscape architecture or land surveying, or any combination of those professionals, and persons employed by the registered individual or firm" [emphasis added].

My quick scan of the bill indicates it gives Design Professionals the same status as other contractors in construction projects.

Small quakes hit northwest Arizona

The northwest corner of Arizona was hit with four small earthquakes on Monday, January 13, ranging in magnitude from 1.0 to 2.8.  They follow a magnitude 3.4 event that occurred last Friday, January 10.   [Right, yellow dots are epicenters recorded over the past seven days.  The larger one south of Mesquite is the M=3.4 from January 10.  The other events in Arizona all occurred on January 13.  Credit, USGS]


The day started with a magnitude 1.0 at 1:15 a.m south of Colorado City. The others were further west, closer to the Nevada border, with a M=1.7 at 12:43 p.m., a M=2.8 at 5:06 p.m., and finishing the day with a M=1.9 just a few seconds before midnight.

There is no indication the events are linked.  This area of the state lies within the southern end of the Intermountain Seismic Belt.

Another quake in northwest Arizona

Northwest Arizona was hit by another small to moderate quake with a magnitude 3.1 event occurring at 5:06 pm local time on Monday about 13 miles SSW of St. George, Utah.  
 [Right, orange star marks epicenter.   Red lines are active faults.  Credit, USGS]

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred about 21 miles south of Mesquite, NV on Friday morning.

Mine locally to support renewable energy construction

I highly recommend the introductory articles on economic geology in the November issue of Nature Geoscience - http://www.nature.com/ngeo/focus/economic-geology/index.html .    The article “Minerals for a low-carbon society” offers some fascinating insights, including “A shift to renewable energy will replace one non-renewable resource (fossil fuel) with another (metals and minerals).”   The volume of minerals (and the energy to produce and process them) needed for renewable energy projects is staggering.    They project that the world will need to produce as many mineral resources by 2050 as we have since the beginning of civilization.  This has particular significance for Arizona products such as copper, aggregate, and limestone (for concrete).

To meet the World Wide Fund for Nature's projections for renewable energy in 2050, "40 million tonnes of copper will be required to build the latest generations of wind and solar facilities."  [Right, solar farms. Credit, ASEIA]

The authors report that 10% of world energy consumption is used in mining and processing of mineral resources, and that will grow as lower grade ores from more remote regions are tapped.

They argue the environmental benefits to mine locally. "A case can be made for more metal production near centres of demand, similarly to the locavore movement that proposes looking closer to home for our food. It seems unreasonable to shun green beans grown in Kenya while using copper from the Congo. Green technologies should incorporate domestic mining, which reduces the financial and environmental costs of transporting metals from far-flung sources and decreases the carbon footprint, while providing jobs and wealth to the local community."

UA's HiRISE camera captures Mars rover tracks through Gale Crater

The tracks left by the Mars Curiosity rover are visible in a photo taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, on December 13.  The camera is managed by the University of Arizona.

NASA notes that the "tracks show where the rover has zigzagged around obstacles on its route toward the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, its next major destination."

 

The yellow arrow points to the Curiosity rover.  The blue arrows mark segments of the rover tracks.[Photo credit, NASA/JPL/Univ AZ.   I added the arrows]

Magnitude 3.4 earthquake in northwest Arizona

There was a magnitude 3.4 earthquake shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, 21 miles south-southeast of Mesquite, Nevada in northwest Arizona.

[Right, orange star marks epicenter. Red lines are active faults. Credit, USGS]

President nominates Suzette Kimball as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey

Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell sent this message to USGS employees today:

Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Dr. Suzette M. Kimball to serve as the next Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Suzette is an excellent choice for the position, and she has my complete support as her nomination moves forward. [Photo credit, USGS]

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Suzette would continue to lead the terrific USGS team in your important mission to provide timely, relevant, and useable information that deepens our understanding of the earth and our natural resources. 

Suzette has already demonstrated her exceptional leadership qualities and extensive scientific expertise during her many decades of public service – most recently as Acting Director of the USGS. She is a strong advocate for the science mission at Interior and its power to offer solutions to some of our most complex natural resource challenges, like impacts of climate change or natural hazards and their threats.

Suzette has a long history at USGS.  Before assuming the USGS Acting Director position in February 2013, Suzette served as the Deputy Director from 2010 to 2013; as the Associate Director for Geology from 2008 to 2010; as the Director of the Eastern Region from 2004 to 2008; and as the Eastern Regional Executive for Biology from 1998 to 2004.  Before working at USGS, Suzette worked on natural resources at the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

I sincerely appreciate Suzette’s leadership over the last year, and I know that our employees and the American public will continue to be well served by her confirmation as Director.

Additional information about Suzette and her background is available here.  

Freeport's land purchase near Twin Buttes mine

The front page headline story in today's Arizona [Tucson] Daily Star is about the sale of a land parcel by the Tucson-based Reid Park Zoological Society to Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, for $3 million.     Freeport has not said what their plans are for the lands and others they already own in the area.

We used the parcel numbers provided by Tony Davis of the Star, and the Pima County online GIS system to plot the land in relation to the Twin Buttes and Sierrita copper mines south of Tucson.  [Right, map prepared by Janel Day, AZGS]

I blogged in January 2012, that Freeport McMoRan's drilling program at Twin Buttes was winding down. Freeport was continuing to review historic drill holes and creating a detailed deposit model. Speculation iwas that when the mine reopens it will feed the Sierrita mill. In the Fiscal 2011 10Q report, Freeport reported:

In December 2009, we purchased the Twin Buttes copper mine, which ceased operations in 1994 and is adjacent to our Sierrita mine. The purchase provides significant synergies in the Sierrita minerals district, including the potential for expanded mining activities and access to material that can be used for Sierrita tailings and stockpile reclamation purposes. We are conducting drilling on the property and metallurgical studies to support a feasibility study expected to commence in 2012.