The New and Improved Earth Fissure Viewer at AZGS

The AZGS has just released the newest version of the Earth Fissure Viewer: http://www.blogger.com/www.azgs.az.gov/efv.shtml. It is much improved and incorporates a Google maps environment, complete with search engine. (http://www.blogger.com/www.azgs.az.gov/efv)

Some features:

Earth Fissure Viewer http://www.azgs.az.gov/efv provides an interactive and searchable map that displays over 330 miles of earth fissures in Cochise, Maricopa, Pima and Pinal Counties.

Principal Features of the Earth Fissure Viewer

• A Google Maps environment:
  > choice of street map or terrain background.
  > maximum zoom scale 1:18,000 (1 inch = 1,500 feet).
  > rapid address search via Google search engine.
• Shows earth fissure study areas (e.g., Scottsdale, Luke)
• Color-coded earth fissure key
• Fissure study area maps available for download (*.pdf)

New Earth Fissure Map for Maricopa County

The Arizona Geological Survey has just realeased a new earth fissure map for Maricopa County. This map is combination of the study area maps that cover parts of the county, so it's not really anything new, just a new (and perhaps more convinient) way of presenting the info.

With the new release, they got a little press from CBS Channel 5 in Phoenix.

Some Updates

Well I hope that everyone had a nice holiday break, but now it’s back to business. I plan to write up a newsletter soon, but don’t hold your breath. But I do have the meeting schedule for the next few months and a few updates from the Arizona Geology blog.

The next meeting is on January 21st. It’s a joint meeting with SME – more info to come. The topic is “Underground Mining at PT Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg District" by Tim Casten and the location will be at the Lexington Central Hotel (formerly Best Western), 1100 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona.

Other scheduled meetings:

March 4th – Paul Marinos, 2010 Jahn’s Lecturer
April 6th – Student Night at ASU

Times, locations, and other info to come later.

On the geological front:

• New earth fissure maps – 1:24k earth fissure maps for Dragoon Rd, Cochise Cty and Greene Wash, Pinal Cty - SW of Arizona City. The pdfs of maps and news release are located at www.azgs.az.gov/efmaps.shtml. And an interesting blog post on some of the implications of the fissures at Dragoon Road.

• Budget cuts will severely affect the AZGS. Details are still slim and more cuts are to come. It’s grim, but AZGS is still hanging on. And changes in the Earth Fissure Mapping program – no mention of the budget in this one, but it’s severely reduced as a result.

• Arizona Geology’s top geologic stories of 2009.

• Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole outside of Sedona.

• And finally – geologists love beer.

Arizona Geological Survey Budget Cuts - Input Requested

Hello all,

I'm sure that you all have seen that our state government is in pretty poor shape these days. Things are looking especially bad for the AZGS as more budget cuts are needed. Up to now the AZGS has managed to not significantly reduce the services that it provides, but that will no longer be the case with this next round of cuts. As a result, the AZGS is requesting comments as to what parts of its mission are critical and what parts expendable.

A review panel of stakeholder organizations will meet in early October to help advise AZGS on the tough decisions ahead. AEG will be a part of this review panel. I'm asking all of you (members and non-members) to please comment so that your input can be included. Lee Allison (the State Geologist and director of the AZGS) is posting about this on his blog at http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/. His original post on the issue can be found at http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-should-we-eliminate-in-next-round.html. He will also be posting the services and activities that are on the chopping block, so check back often.

Below, I've copied some of the email that Lee sent me that outlines just how bad the situation is.

We have to submit plans for 15-20% cuts in the current budget by October 10, based on permanent elimination of AZGS programs. No other options (furloughs, salary reductions, spreading cuts around) will be considered.

The situation is more desperate than might seem apparent. The cuts would take place in January, which means we have to implement a full year’s cuts in 6 months. This results in effective cuts of 30-40% by permanently eliminating enough programs to achieve that. We are also being told to turn over 15-20% of our bookstore revenues (used to run the store and produce publications) and an equal amount of funds we collect from contracts and grants to pay for the cost of carrying out those operations. We are still assessing the extent and impacts of these two fund transfers.

We have already taken about 30% in cuts in the past 15 months. However, our infrastructure costs have not been reduced (rent, phones, accountants, insurance, etc).

As a result, this next round of cuts may necessitate reduction of our geoscience operations by 80% or so.

AZGS Online Publications Page

From email:

On 3 August we [AZGS] debuted our new Online Publications page. There are about 50 geologic reports and maps there now as free downloadable PDFs -- with dozens more to come soon.

*New Publication Model - The AZGS Online Publication Outlet.* AZGS is migrating to a digital publication model, making new publications available free online. And for the first time, we’re marketing GIS data of newly released geologic quadrangles: geodatebase, shapefiles, for $25.00. Printed maps still available at the AZGS Map and Bookstore.

That URL is: http://www.azgs.az.gov/publications_online.shtml

New Fissure Maps and Subsidence Workshop

The AZGS has released new earth fissure study area maps. New earth fissure maps showing confirmed and unconfirmed earth fissures for Harquahala, Maricopa County, and the Friendly Corners, Tator Hills and Signal Peak areas of Pinal County are complete. The 1:24,000 scale maps can be downloaded free at the Arizona Geological Survey’s (AZGS) Earth Fissure Center (http://azgs.az.gov/efmaps). For interactive viewing and custom map-making at up to 1:12,000 scale, visit the Arizona Department of Real Estate’s Earth Fissure Viewer at http://azmap.org/fissures.

Also of note is the Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop in August - the infromation below is from Brian Conway of ADWR:

I wanted to remind everyone again about the upcoming AHS Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop. I am still accepting abstracts and need at least three more talks to attempt to fill the full day workshop. I also want to remind you to register for the workshop whether you will be presenting or attending; either way you will have to pay for the workshop. I was also wondering if anyone would be interested on giving a presentation about the Arizona Land Subsidence Group. Here is the information about the workshop:

Arizona Hydrological Society

American Institute of Hydrology

2009 Annual Water Symposium

Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop

Sunday, August 30th, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Scottsdale, Arizona

Westin Kierland Resort and Spa

Abstracts should be 250 words or less and include title, authorship, and affiliations. Please include a brief biographical sketch of the primary author(s) and indicate that the abstract is for the Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop. Please submit abstracts no later than July 30th.

Abstracts must be submitted electronically to: hydrosymposium@a6consultants.com

Please copy Brian Conway (Workshop Moderator) on the email for the abstract submittal: bdconway@azwater.gov

If you have questions about the workshop, please contact:

Brian Conway
Arizona Department of Water Resources
602.771.1517
bdconway@azwater.gov

Arizona Geology On-Line Publication

The AZGS quarterly newsletter, Arizona Geology, has gone digital only due to budget cuts at the state level. The web version is up and looks nice.

A Few Things of Interest

Over the past week, a few items of potential interest to readers of this blog have come up. They all come from the wonderful blog Arizona Geology that is maintained by the State Geologist of Arizona and head of the Arizona Geological Survey, Lee Allison.

• Mining and dust - Sierrita mine fined

• ADOT's Victor Mendez is nominated to head up FHWA

• Science Foundation Arizona rallys against budget cuts

• Rockfalls in Colorado - an informative publication

• AZGS is forced to cut their involvement in the newly opened Explore Arizona store

Surficial Geologic and Flood Hazard Assessment of Rainbow Valley

Announcement From the AZGS:

The Arizona Geological Survey’s (AZGS) newest map product, "Surficial Geologic Map and Flood Hazard Assessment, Rainbow Valley, Maricopa County, Arizona", DGM – 71, displays the surface geology of Rainbow Valley on three map sheets at 1:24,000 map-scale; the three sheets encompass portions of 12 USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles.

The accompanying 11-page report includes a _Flood Hazard Assessment_ that pigeonholes map units into high, intermediate, or low flood hazard areas. The three flood hazard areas encompass more than 250 sq. miles of Rainbow Valley and environs: Flood Hazard High (76.29 sq. miles), Intermediate (129.76 sq. miles), and Low (48.25 sq. miles).

Within flood area categories, e.g., Flood Hazard High, units are arranged in order of decreasing frequency of flooding. For example, Qycr – Modern channels of Waterman Wash, has the highest flood frequency of the seven geologic units in the Flood Hazard High zone; Qyaf – Potentially active alluvial fans, has the lowest flood frequency in that same category.

This first flood hazard assessment will provide land-use planners of Maricopa County with a blueprint for directing future development in Rainbow Valley.

Rainbow Valley is a checkerboard of agricultural fields drained by Waterman Wash, which debouches into the Gila River to the north. AZGS mapping shows the valley floor and adjacent alluvial fans comprise a complex of fluvial sediments including channel and sheetflow deposits, terrace and bar deposits, alluvial fans, and sparse eolian sands, ranging in age from modern, through the Holocene or late Pleistocene, to early Quaternary or late Tertiary.

AZGS geologists Philip Pearthree, Ann Youberg, and Todd Shipman co-authored the work. Funding was provided by the Flood Control District of Maricopa County.

DGM-71, maps and report, are available on CD-ROM at the State Map & Bookstore, 416 W. Congress, Ste#100, Tucson, AZ, 85701, for $15.00.

AZGS Publishes New Earth Fissure Maps

The AZGS has published new and updated earth fissure maps.

http://www.azgs.az.gov/efmaps.shtml

New maps include:

• Luke Study Area (updated)
• Picacho Study Area (three seperate maps)
• Heaton Study Area
• Wintersburg Study Area

The AZGS has also made the geologic map of Arizona available digitally.

http://www.azgs.az.gov/services_azgeomap.shtml

New Earth Fissure Maps Released

The AZGS released two new earth fissure study area maps.

West Valley - Luke Air Force Base Area

Pete's Corner

AZGS is posting pdf images and GIS shape files. Interactive versions of the maps are available at the AZMAP Earth Fissure Viewer web site.

AZGS Report on the SR 87 Landslide

The Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) has released a preliminary report about the landslide that closed SR 87 between Phoenix and Payson last March. It's a short and informative report with some interesting findings - most notably the identification of 4 paleo-landslides in the area, and that part of one of those was reactivated to cause the road closure.

While it's still preliminary, we have scheduled the Aecom (formerly DMJM Harris) team to give us a presentation about the remediation of this landslide for our meeting on May 7, 2009.

"Reconnaissance Report on the Easter Weekend Landslide of 21 March 2008, SR-87, Gila County, Arizona." by M. Diaz, B. Gootee and A. Youberg

http://www.azgs.az.gov/hazard_info_hwy87_2008.shtml

Arizona Seismic Station Network

From the Arizona Geological Survey:

Greetings, all:

I am sending you some news updates about the seismic stations (seismometer) that we're busy trying to acquire in order to build the first nationally integrated seismic network in Arizona. We applied for a FEMA grant to acquire these stations because the seismic risk in Arizona is likely underestimated.

The grant funded us to acquire 8 seismometers for 2 years. While this is a good start, we really need more stations for longer in order to have more adequate coverage of the state. (To put it in perspective, USArray has deployed 58 stations across the state, and everything we don't acquire,
leaves.) We have been trying to reach critical facilities (because they are one component of the grant funding) to see if they can help fund some of these stations for longer, or if they would like to sponsor a new station outside of one we're getting from the grant. We also would like to to get in contact with those groups who have a stake in gaining seismic data, would might benefit from the PR that goes along with adoption, or would actually benefit from the tax deductible donation.

We would like to enlist your help in searching for potential seismic station sponsors. Please let me know if you have ideas for groups that we can contact, or any other ideas you have that can help spread the word. We are hitting a serious deadline now: starting in October, the seismometers are being removed from Arizona; once they go, we'll never get them back.

I have attached 3 documents that I hope you will find useful: our press release about the grant, the Adopt-A-Station flyer, and the station removal schedule. (Note that the western side of the state is scheduled for removal first.)

We appreciate any assistance you can provide us, and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. If your group is interested, and would like a presentation about the project, please let me know.

Thanks,

Mimi

--
Mimi Diaz
Phoenix Branch Chief
Agency Liaison
Arizona Geological Survey
1502 W Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 708-8253
Fax: (602) 771-1616
mimi.diaz@azgs.az.gov
http://azgs.az.gov

New Earth Fissure Study Area Maps

The Arizona Geological Survey has just released three more earth fissure study area maps - for the Mesa area, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, and the Toltec Buttes (southeast of Casa Grande). They also updated their Chandler Heights study area with a new earth fissure that has developed during monsoon rains this summer and adjusted the boundaries to their Apache Junction study area.

State Geologist Lee Allison also mentions it on his blog.