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.

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

AHS Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Symposium

The Arizona Hydrological Society Symposium workshop link is now up and running so you can view the workshop on Land Subsidence and Earth Fissures:

http://www.hydrosymposium.eventinterface.com/hydrosymposium/workshops.cfm

Please submit your abstracts for your presentations as well as register for the workshop if you are going to speak or just attend. We need to reach a minimum number by August 7th or the workshop will be cancelled.

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.

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.

Property in Pinal County Devalued Due to Earth Fissures

The East Valley Tribune has this article about reducing property value of a parcel by 60% due to the presence of earth fissures. This seems to be a precedent-setting action that I imagine we'll be seeing more of in the future.