Student Volunteers are needed for the 2009 AEG Conference in Lake Tahoe September 21st to the 26th. Your incentive for volunteering is FREE registration! To volunteer, go to the AEG website (aegweb.org) and click on the Lake Tahoe icon, click on Student Volunteer Registration, enter your AEG Student username and password and fill out the form. If you're not an AEG Student Member, you can join for only $25 by visiting the Why You Should Join AEG under the Students tab. Don't forget to sign up for the Student-Professional Event on Tuesday, it's FREE! Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Field Trip to SR 87 Landslide
Hello from the beautiful (and HOT!) Phoenix. The Arizona Section held a field trip this August 15, 2009 in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting. The group took the opportunity to get out of the heat and headed to north to the project site.
The project site, the State Route 87 (SR 87) Landslide, located between about 45 miles north of Phoenix in the Mazatzal Mountains near Rye, Arizona. The field trip was led by Pancho Garza, Arizona Section Vice Chair, and Wayne Harrison, Arizona Section member. In addition to their AEG affiliation, both are with AECOM, the engineering firm hired to investigate the landslide and develop emergency and long-term mitigation in response to the landslide.
The project has been a local news story of much local interest since March 21, 2008 when after a series of heavy precipitation events, a landslide in a cut slope buckled an adjacent portion of SR 87 resulting in a week-long closure of the highway. Immediately after the landslide, the Arizona Department of Transportation and their consultants conducted an initial assessment of the damage and possible causes. Aerial photogeologic reconnaissance and surficial geologic mapping guided an extensive subsurface investigation of the local slide and the much larger ancient landslide which consisted of test drilling and monitoring instrumentation installations. Monitoring and instrumentation included slope inclinometers, vibrating-wire piezometers, wire-extensometers, deformation surveys, and time-domain reflectometry (TDR).
The group totaling about 30 people included a mixture of professionals and students including attendees from all across the state. Everyone met up early Saturday morning before piling into two 15-passenger vans. The hour drive to the site was spent getting to know everyone, and discussing various geologic features along the way.
The project site is located at an elevation of approximately 4500 feet in the Mazatzal Mountains which are located within the Transition Zone Physiographic Province. The Transition Zone province is a very jumbled and extremely interesting geologic area that lies between the relatively flat uplifted Colorado Plateau province to the north and the tilted Basin and Range province to the south.
The field trip included three stops at various areas with the project site with the group leaders providing explanations to the group. The first stop allowed attendees to hike up on top of a dual-tiered set of soil nail walls to get a good view of the various project features including the head scarp of the ancient landslide structure in which the recent landslide occurred and the various cut slopes, buttresses, drainages, and instrumentation included in the investigation and mitigation. The second stop involved a 12-foot multi-plate with water dissipaters underneath an embankment buttress. The third and final stop was at a rock buttress within the landslide completed as part of the mitigation measures. Here site plans showing boring, instrumentation, and cross section locations and interpreted slide limits and cross sections showing the landslide and underlying geology were presented. Also, an up-close inspection of the instrumentation used in the on-going monitoring was presented.
After a quick lunch, the group piled back into the vans and headed back to Phoenix. The group arrived in the early afternoon where the weary travelers got into their vehicles and headed home, mostly to cool off and rest I think. Most of the attendees found the trip and presentation very interesting and suggested more field trips. Overall the trip was a great success!
For more information on the SR 87 Landslide project, be sure to catch the upcoming presentation at the AEG National conference in September. Upcoming Arizona Section events include our regular monthly meeting tentatively scheduled the week before the AEG Annual meeting (anyone visiting Arizona on vacation is encouraged to attend) our annual Holiday Meeting, and in early 2010, our fifth annual Student Night that will be held at the campus of Arizona State University.
The project site, the State Route 87 (SR 87) Landslide, located between about 45 miles north of Phoenix in the Mazatzal Mountains near Rye, Arizona. The field trip was led by Pancho Garza, Arizona Section Vice Chair, and Wayne Harrison, Arizona Section member. In addition to their AEG affiliation, both are with AECOM, the engineering firm hired to investigate the landslide and develop emergency and long-term mitigation in response to the landslide.
The project has been a local news story of much local interest since March 21, 2008 when after a series of heavy precipitation events, a landslide in a cut slope buckled an adjacent portion of SR 87 resulting in a week-long closure of the highway. Immediately after the landslide, the Arizona Department of Transportation and their consultants conducted an initial assessment of the damage and possible causes. Aerial photogeologic reconnaissance and surficial geologic mapping guided an extensive subsurface investigation of the local slide and the much larger ancient landslide which consisted of test drilling and monitoring instrumentation installations. Monitoring and instrumentation included slope inclinometers, vibrating-wire piezometers, wire-extensometers, deformation surveys, and time-domain reflectometry (TDR).
The group totaling about 30 people included a mixture of professionals and students including attendees from all across the state. Everyone met up early Saturday morning before piling into two 15-passenger vans. The hour drive to the site was spent getting to know everyone, and discussing various geologic features along the way.
The project site is located at an elevation of approximately 4500 feet in the Mazatzal Mountains which are located within the Transition Zone Physiographic Province. The Transition Zone province is a very jumbled and extremely interesting geologic area that lies between the relatively flat uplifted Colorado Plateau province to the north and the tilted Basin and Range province to the south.
The field trip included three stops at various areas with the project site with the group leaders providing explanations to the group. The first stop allowed attendees to hike up on top of a dual-tiered set of soil nail walls to get a good view of the various project features including the head scarp of the ancient landslide structure in which the recent landslide occurred and the various cut slopes, buttresses, drainages, and instrumentation included in the investigation and mitigation. The second stop involved a 12-foot multi-plate with water dissipaters underneath an embankment buttress. The third and final stop was at a rock buttress within the landslide completed as part of the mitigation measures. Here site plans showing boring, instrumentation, and cross section locations and interpreted slide limits and cross sections showing the landslide and underlying geology were presented. Also, an up-close inspection of the instrumentation used in the on-going monitoring was presented.
After a quick lunch, the group piled back into the vans and headed back to Phoenix. The group arrived in the early afternoon where the weary travelers got into their vehicles and headed home, mostly to cool off and rest I think. Most of the attendees found the trip and presentation very interesting and suggested more field trips. Overall the trip was a great success!
For more information on the SR 87 Landslide project, be sure to catch the upcoming presentation at the AEG National conference in September. Upcoming Arizona Section events include our regular monthly meeting tentatively scheduled the week before the AEG Annual meeting (anyone visiting Arizona on vacation is encouraged to attend) our annual Holiday Meeting, and in early 2010, our fifth annual Student Night that will be held at the campus of Arizona State University.
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
Monday, August 3, 2009
Must-Read Article on Groundwater Use in Arizona
Via Arizona Geology
A must-read article outlining the use and over-use of groundwater in Arizona came out in the Arizona Republic over this past weekend. It's so rare that media gets something right, and this is one case of the media nailing the issue (though if anything, the situation is under-stated in my opinion).
Thursday, July 30, 2009
California Board of Geology Terminated in New Budget Deal
As a result of the new California State Budget, the Geology Board is slated to be terminated.
The termination of the Geology Board and transfer of its authorities to the Board of Professional Engineers and Surveyors is on page 26 of the final State Budget
http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/FullBudgetSummary.pdf
This appears to be a significant detriment to the professional practice of geology in the State of California.
According to the Geology Board, they aren’t sure that it’s a done deal yet, and they recommend that you contact your local representatives if you’d like to protest this decision. The Geology Board plans to continue to operate business as usual until they hear otherwise.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Field Trip - SR 87 Landslide
The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that the SR 87 Landslide Field Trip will be held on Saturday August 15, 2009. We will be meeting at the Bass Pro Shop located at 1133 North Dobson in Mesa at 8am. AEG will be providing transportation as well as soda and water. Pancho Garza, P.E. and Wayne Harrison, P.G. will be discussing the SR 87 landslide remedial repairs, investigation and monitoring.Please RSVP , Bonnie Whitley by Wednesday August 12th.
Hope to see you there!
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Few Things of Interest
As always, there is a lot of good stuff over at the Arizona Geology blog, so I encourage a visit. But, I have to repeat something I saw over there:
The Arizona Guardian online newspaper, is prominently displaying a YouTube video of Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen in a committee hearing, with the caption:
On June 25th the senator voiced support for opening up uranium mining in Arizona and countered environmentalists by assuring them that the the Earth has been around for "6,000 years..." and has lasted that long without environmnental laws. She said it twice.
Thankfully she's not my representative (she represents Snowflake), but I'm really disturbed that someone with views like this legislates in Arizona. It's really no wonder that the state governement is in such bad shape right now.
And because I don't want this post to be a complete downer - the following is a time-lapse video from the International Space Station of an incredible eruption of the Saraychev eruption last month in the Kuril Islands (north of Japan). This one is big enough to make for nice sunsets world-wide for a while (though it's still too early to determine if climate will be affected).
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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
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
Friday, June 5, 2009
Next Meeting: Thursday June, 11 - AEG President Mark Molinari
The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at Pizzeria Uno in Tempe. The social hour begins at 6 PM dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "Practical Applications of Airborne LiDAR Data for Environmental and Engineering Geology Projects" presented by Mark Molinari, L.G. Mr. Molinari is the 2009 AEG President and we are happy to have him in from Washington. Hope to see you all there! Thanks to Yellow Jacket Drilling for sponsorship!
Please RSVP to Pancho Garza, by Monday, June 8, 2009.
2) Don’t forget. It's time for elections to happen once again.
So, nominations are open - I've listed the responsibilities of officers below. I have agreed to return as Chair, Pancho Garza has agreed to return as Vice-Chair. Ben Ciampa has agreed to return as Treasurer and Gregg Mitchell has agreed to return as Student Liaison. The non-utilized Field Trip Coordinator is currently vacant, but not terribly important - Pancho is currently picking up those duties with a planned field trip later this summer.
This leaves the position of Secretary. Unfortunately, Heather Hespeler cannot continue in this role. Thankfully, Bonnie Whitley with GTI has agreed to take over.
So, if you want to nominate yourself or someone else (hopefully with their knowledge) for any position, go ahead - but we do currently have people in place to fill the roles that need filling.
The elections will be at our next meeting on Thursday evening. Most likely they will be voice vote unless we have multiple candidates and need a more private way.
Chair – coordinate officer duties liaison with national, attend AEG Board meetings, and manage preparation of annual report including financial report. Coordinate meeting sponsorship and Arizona Section website. Prepare newsletter.
Vice Chair – coordinate speakers and topics for all meetings, have discussions with members to see what kind of topics they are interested in hearing about, and help out with meeting setup
Treasurer – manage chapter’s bank account, collect/deposit/manage money collected at meetings/events, and prepare annual financial report.
Student Liaison – correspond with students at U of A, ASU, NAU, and organize student night.
Secretary – coordinate meeting locations and food, send out meeting announcements, receive and tally RSVP’s.
Field Trip Coordinator – organize at least one field trip per year for AZ AEG members and anyone else interested.
Things of Note
I've been rather quite around here for the past few weeks, so below are some links to catch you (and me) up with some happenings that may be of interest (as usual, the excellent blog, Arizona Geology is a huge source).
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