Park Service geology report on Tumacacori

The National Park Service has released a Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) report for Tumacacori National Historical Park (TUMA) in Arizona. The report is a companion document to the previously released digital geologic map data and aids in its use for resource management. [right, cross section Geologic structural cross-section showing the Mount Benedict horst block and normal faults that separate the uplift from the Santa Cruz Valley to the west and the Santa Cruz River and Nogales International Airport to the east. This cross section is located approximately 500 m (1,500 ft) southwest of the Guevavi Unit. Normal faulting in the Basin and Range Province juxtaposed older Jurassic igneous rocks in the Mount Benedict horst (map units Jm and Jb) against younger Tertiary (Paleogene and Neogene) rocks in the basin (e.g., map unit Tnl). Graphic by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University). Section and caption from NPS]

The GRI report is written for resource managers to assist in resource management and science-based decision making, but may also be useful for interpretation. The report discusses potential geologic issues facing resource managers at the park, distinctive geologic features and processes present within the park, and the geologic history leading to the park’s present landscape. A map unit properties table summarizes the main features, characteristics, and potential management issues for all of the rock units on the geologic map.

Origin of the Colorado River system

Abstracts from the workshop on the Origin and evolution of the Colorado River system, have been published by the USGS. [right, credit Grand Canyon NPS]

A 2010 Colorado River symposium, held in Flagstaff, Arizona, involved 70 participants who engaged in intense debate about the origin and evolution of the Colorado River system. This symposium, built upon two previous decadal scientific meetings, focused on forging scientific consensus, where possible, while articulating continued controversies regarding the Cenozoic evolution of the Colorado River System and the landscapes of the Colorado Plateau-Rocky Mountain region that it drains. New developments involved hypotheses that Neogene mantle flow is driving plateau tilting and differential uplift and new and controversial hypotheses for the pre-6 Ma presence and evolution of ancestral rivers that may be important in the history and birth of the present Colorado River. There is a consensus that plateau tilt and uplift models must be tested with multidisciplinary studies involving differential incision studies and additional geochronology and thermochronology to determine the relative importance of tectonic and geomorphic forces that shape the spectacular landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, Arizona and region. In addition to the scientific goals, the meeting participants emphasized the iconic status of Grand Canyon for geosciences and the importance of good communication between the research community, the geoscience education/interpretation community, the public, and the media. Building on a century-long tradition, this region still provides a globally important natural laboratory for studies of the interactions of erosion and tectonism in shaping the landscape of elevated plateaus.

CRevolution 2—Origin and evolution of the Colorado River system, workshop abstracts, USGS OFR 2011-1210, http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20111210

Active Metal and Industrial Mineral Underground Mines in the United States, 2007-2009

The USGS released 3 annual reports on Active Metal and Industrial Mineral Underground Mines in the United States, for the years 2007, 2008, and 2009. No mines are reported in Arizona.

According to the latest report, "Total domestic mining and waste removal for nonfuel mineral materials production at underground operations was 138 million metric tons (Mt) in 2009. Crude ore mined at these underground operations was 136 Mt. The balance was waste removed, including ore and waste from development. Total underground mining for industrial minerals amounted to 123 Mt, nearly all of which was crude ore. Underground mining for metal ores and waste removal amounted to 15 Mt, of which 90% was crude ore."

Emergency declaration for Schultz post-fire flood area

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a Declaration of Emergency on Friday, in support of Coconino County response, recovery and mitigation efforts to protect property and infrastructure in the Schultz Flood area, in the Flagstaff area.

The declaration was signed in response to a heavy monsoon rainstorm that dropped more than 1 inch of rain within 15 minutes in the Timberline, Hutchison Acres and Wupatki Trails neighborhoods on Sept. 13, 2011, causing significant street flooding and damage. Flood waters also undermined the utility of previously placed protective structures. Major construction is required to restore them to their pre-disaster condition.

These neighborhoods are among the areas where monsoon season flooding has been most prevalent since the Schultz Fire of 2010. [right, home owners efforts to divert flood waters, Aug, 2010. My photo]

Gov. Brewer is authorized under state statute to declare a state of emergency and release an initial $200,000 from the Governor’s Emergency Fund. This money will be used to pay for emergency response costs and to repair public infrastructure, such as the roads that suffered damage as a result of this event. These funds are not available to repair individual homes.

Coconino County continues to supply sandbags to property owners in high flood-risk areas. Residents with questions can call the Schultz Flood hotline at 877-679-8390.

[taken from the AZ Div. of Emergency Mgmt, Emergency Information Network]

Tiny quake in NW Arizona

There was a small earthquake last Thursday on what appears to be the southern extent of the Hurricane fault in northwestern Arizona.

[right, star marks epicenter, amidst historical earthquakes in the region. Credit, USGS]

NPR's Science Friday broadcast from Flagstaff, Sept 23

NPR's popular "Science Friday" show will broadcast from Flagstaff, this Friday, Sept. 23. Host Ira Flatow will interview Arizona scientists on topics including Wildfires in the Southwest, Flagstaff Festival of Science, Formation of the Grand Canyon, and Astronomy Conducted from Lowell Observatory. Topics and guests listed below, or visit http://www.sciencefriday.com/ for more information.

Managing Forests To Manage Wildfires

William Wallace Covington
Regents' Professor of Forest Ecology
Executive Director, The Ecological Restoration Institute
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona

Mary Lata
Fire Ecologist
U.S. Forest Service / USDA
Flagstaff, Arizona

Paul Summerfelt
Firefighter, Type 1 Team Incident Commander
Wildland Fire Management Officer
City of Flagstaff
Flagstaff, Arizona

Solving The Riddle Of The Grand Canyon’s Formation

Karl Karlstrom
Professor, Structural Geology and Tectonics
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ivo Lucchitta
Emeritus Scientist, USGS
Research Associate, Museum of Northern Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona

Richard Young
Professor, Geological Sciences
State University of New York, Geneseo
Geneseo, New York


Flagstaff Throws A Party For Science

Bryan Bates
Professor, Environmental Studies
Coconino Community College
Flagstaff, Arizona

John Grunsfeld
Physicist, Former Astronaut
Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
Still Cataloging The Skies, Long After ‘Planet X’

Jeffrey Hall
Astronomer
Director, Lowell Observatory
Flagstaff, Arizona

More quakes this week near Lake Mead

We had a magnitude 2.1 quake at Lake Mead this morning around 7:22 am local time (only half an hour ago as I write this. Monday saw two other similar small events.

I spoke to an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation last week who said there is a semi-regular schedule of larger releases of water along the river to meet user needs. I've speculated that there seems to be a pattern of small quakes early in the week under and around Lake Mead.

[top right, Wed's quake; bottom, Monday's quakes. Credit, USGS]

Limited blogging while on vacation

If you noticed that I have not been blogging much in recent days, it's because I'm at our family cabin outside Yellowstone until the end of the month. We do have a phone but the dial-up modem transfer rate is running about 2 kbps, which means it takes forever to send or receive anything online. [right,view from the front porch]

I have at least a dozen topics ready to post, but may wait until we head to town for supplies and then upload them all at an internet cafe.

Atmospheric rivers

Southern Arizona got more than half its rain last winter from one atmospheric river event. Wikipedia describes an atmospheric river as a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. There are apparently only 3-5 active in the atmosphere at any given time, but they move an estimated 90% of the north-south water vapor transport. [right, atmospheric river hitting the US West Coast. Credit, National Weather Service]

I say this because Marty Ralph from NOAA is visiting the University of Arizona this week to give a seminar on the topic. Jonathan Overpeck of the UA Institute for the Environment says Marty is one of the lead wizards behind the discovery of atmospheric rivers as a relatively common phenomena that are responsible for a surprising number of west coast, and western floods, plus more around the globe. And he’s determined with colleagues that they are predictable. A major discovery in the field of weather, climate and natural hazards.

DR. F. MARTIN (MARTY) RALPH
Chief, Water Cycle Branch,
NOAA/ESRL/Physical Science Division
Boulder, CO
"Atmospheric Rivers"
Thursday, September 15, 4:00–5:00 PM, ILC Building, Room 150, Univ. of Arizona
See http://www.geo.arizona.edu/events/colloquium.html for talk schedule

Moderate quake in Colorado River delta

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit northern Baja this afternoon at 1:18 PM local time, about 36 miles southwest of San Luis, Arizona. As I write this, there were no reports of it being felt in Arizona.

USGS puts 90,000 historical topos online for downloading

The USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) is converting historical printed topographic quadrangles to an electronic format (GeoPDF). This scanning and processing effort serves the dual purpose of creating a master catalog and digital archive copies of the irreplaceable collection of topographic maps in the USGS Reston Map Library as well as making the maps available for viewing and download from the USGS Store. The loading of the more than 200,000 historical maps to the USGS Store has begun, and there are currently 90,000 GeoPDF maps available to download and view.

No Arizona maps have been added to the archive yet. [right, 1961 Baynesville, KS, 1:24,000 quad]

[taken in part from the USGS news release]

Potash company revises disclosures after challenges

The British Columbia Securities Commission challenged Vancouver-based Passport Potash over statements they made about their potash project in Arizona's Holbrook basin. In response, Passport issued a press release describing changes they subsequently made in their disclosures to address the issues.

Mining Weekly reports that the regulatory agency "had a problem with the way the company presented the findings of a 2008 Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) report [right] on the Holbrook basin, saying it came across as an estimate of potential as a resource." They further said:

The BCSC also raised issues with various instances where the company claimed to have 2.5-billion tons of potash, based on the AZGS report on the Holbrook basin, instead of using the 0.7-billion to 2.5-billion range the report cited. Also, the report was for the entire basin, while Passport only owns around one-quarter of the land area, with a deal currently under way to lift this to 32%.

Passport went on to say, the BCSC was concerned that the company was omitting some of the risks associated with the Holbrook project, particularly related to the fact that the property is located close to the protected Petrified Forest National Park.

Among other actions, Passport Potash removed a slide from a presentation and provided clarification on how they are using AZGS Open file Report 08-07:

The Company would like to clarify that the percentage of the land held by the Company refers only to the surface area of the land held within the basin. The isopach map, which the AGS [AZGS] included in their report, shows that the thickness of the potash beds within the basin on which the Company's properties lie can vary from 10 to 30 feet.

-- The AGS report provides two estimates for the total volume of the potash
contained within the Holbrook basin. The estimates were calculated using
different volume estimation methods. The lower of the estimates, which
the author of the report notes is the preferred estimate, shows that the
resource volume ranging from 682 million to 2.27 billion metric tons at
average grades ranging from 6% to 20%, while the higher of the estimates
shows the resource volume ranging between 775 million to 2.85 billion
metric tons at average grades ranging from 6% to 20%.
-- The potential quantity and grade of the potash from the AGS report is
conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define
a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will
result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
-- The potential quantity and grade of the potential potash deposit
delineated by the AGS report has been determined solely from historical
exploration records.

The company also released results from five new core holes from their exploration drilling program:

Each hole intersected potash at depths ranging from 1123.5 to 1590 feet deep. The best interval averaged 24.0% KCl over 4.5 feet in which is included a 0.5 foot section containing 41.1% KCl.

All of the Company's available assayed holes and their respective locations may be viewed on the map available at the following link: http://www.passportpotash.com/nrdr2.html.

Our weekly Lake Mead earthquake

It really is starting to seem like we get a small magnitude earthquake around Lake Mead along the Arizona - Nevada border almost weekly. I need to look at the records over the past 6 months to see if there is a pattern here.

Anyway, there was a magnitude 2.2 event just over the line in Nevada at 11:08 AM today.

Superfund clean-up at Dewey-Humboldt

EPA will start conducting "interim Superfund cleanup activities at some of the worst areas in Dewey-Humboldt for seven weeks" beginning tomorrow, according to the Prescott Daily Courier. [right, Humboldt smokestack. Credit, http://www.dhironkingsmelter.info/]

"The Superfund contaminants at Dewey-Humboldt emanate from the defunct 182-acre Humboldt Smelter and nearby defunct 153-acre Iron King Mine. The EPA declared them a Superfund site in 2008."

Residents at a Wednesday public hearing raised concerns about the human health impacts of the sites and "also expressed concern about the lack of fencing on the mine and smelter sites, which are privately owned by several people and corporations."

The Courier story provides a brief history of the mining history and details on EPA's fall work plans.

Chile mine rescue leader to speak at Mine Inspector's conference

Richard Soppe of Center Rock Industries, who was responsible for the internationally renowned Chilean mine rescue, will be the featured speaker at the Arizona Mine Inspector’s Annual Fall Mining Conference Kick-Off Dinner, October 12th at the Phoenix Airport Marriott located at 44th Street and the 202 Freeway, beginning at 5:00 PM.

State Mining Inspector Joe Hart says "The third annual Fall Mine Conference is an opportunity for all mining sectors to come together in one place for the common goal of safety."

On August 5, 2010, thirty-three Chilean miners were rescued 68 days after a cave-in nearly killed them. After weeks of fear, desperation and finally hope, the miners were pulled out one by one in a capsule that carried them through a narrow tube of solid rock — An amazing and unprecedented 23-hour marathon of rescues. The men emerged to tears and embraces from relatives, and cheers, as tens of millions of people watched on television around the world to see a joyful end to the longest known ordeal of men trapped underground.

The August 5 collapse brought the 125-year-old San Jose mine's checkered safety record into focus and put Chile's top industry under close scrutiny. Many believe the collapse occurred because the mine was overworked and lacked essential safety features. Our mission in the great state of Arizona is to strive toward our collective goal of zero accidents for active and abandoned mines and to provide a commitment to train and bring our miners home safely to their families each night. Our staff works so that we will never have to experience such a tragedy or any other in the great State of Arizona.

Joe invites everyone to join him and meet these amazing rescuers and hear their compelling story.

Please fax Laurie Swartzbaugh at 602-542-5335 or via lswartzbaugh@asmi.az.gov to RSVP. Please mail your check for $80.00 no later than October 5, 2011 to the State Mine Inspector, 1700 W Washington, Suite 403, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

Florence copper opponents focus on water issues

Real estate developers whose properties surround the proposed underground in situ Florence Copper Project, formed the opposition group Protect Our Water Our Future, which made a presentation to the City of Florence, arguing the project will threaten groundwater in the area. [right, groundwater cross section through copper deposit. Credit Curis Resources, via POWOF presentation]. Curis disputes many of the claims.

Upcoming public hearings on Curis Resources proposal to change their project area zoning back to commercial/industrial to allow the in situ copper recovery project to go forward:

1st Hearing with the Planning and Zoning Commission -September 15, 2011. (Anthem at Merrill Ranch Sun City Community Center –3925 North Sun City Boulevard at 5:30 PM)

2nd Hearing with the Planning and Zoning Commission–October 6, 2011. (Town Hall Council Chambers –775 North Main Street at 5:30 PM.)

Town Council hearing–November 7, 2011 (Town Hall Council Chambers –775 North Main Street at 6:00 PM.)

Park Service land acquisition plans for Petrified Forest

The following is taken from the National Park Service's FY12 budget plan. The first part of the land acquisition of the Paulsell Ranch was just announced. It is not explicitly stated what property is included in the second phase of 21,669 acres. Another NPS budget document refers to the Twin Buttes Ranch on the west side of the park. That 64,000 acre property is under option to Passport Potash. [right, private and state trust lands inside the park boundaries are shown in pale yellow. Credit, NPS]

Fiscal Year 2012 National Park Service Federal Land Acquisition Program

Park Area: Petrified Forest National Park Priority: 4
Location: Northeastern Arizona
State/County/Congressional District: State of Arizona/Apache and Navajo Counties/Congressional District No. 1

Land Acquisition Limitation Amount Remaining: There is no limitation.

Date Acres Total Amount ($000)
FY 2012 Request 26,496 $5,475
Future Funding Needed 21,669 $6,350


Description: The Act of December 3, 2004 (Public Law 108-430), revised the boundary of the park to include an additional 125,000 acres of land, of which approximately 76,473 acres are privately owned. The act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to acquire such privately owned land from a willing seller, by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange. Since enactment, no funds have been appropriated for land acquisition in the expansion area. The Service’s budget request for 2011 includes $7,540,000 for the acquisition of a portion of the lands added to the park in 2004.

Natural/Cultural Resources Associated with Proposal: Petrified Forest National Park contains globally significant fossil from the Late Triassic Period. The park is a virtual laboratory offering opportunities for paleontological research and visitor understanding that are unparalleled. The conservation and protection of the fossil resources, especially petrified wood (critical park resource) is the reason for the original establishment of the park, while the protection of vast cultural resources (the secondary unit resource) is a major focus and the intent of later expansion legislation.

Threat: Direct threats to natural and cultural resources in the proposed expansion area include theft and vandalism of fragile and non-renewable archaeological and paleontological sites and resources. Although these occurrences are all within the parks congressionally approved administrative boundary, the park currently has no jurisdiction over these lands and therefore non-renewable paleontological and archaeological resources are unattended and subject to ongoing theft and vandalism.

Need: The requested funds will be used to acquire six tracts totaling 26,496.16 acres and comprising the Paulsell Ranch that is presently owned by the Hatch Family Limited Partnership. The ranch was added to the park in 2004 by P.L. 108-430 and is rich in archaeological and paleontological resources. The ranch contains several areas (e.g., Billings Gap) with globally significant paleontological resources that compliment those in the park and numerous historic cultural sites including rock art panels, as well as structures from the Puebloan period in the Southwest. This property also includes nine miles of the Puerco River Riparian area that provides crucial habitat for many of the species found in this area from insects and rodents to raptors and migrating elk. Federal acquisition of this property would result in greater, proactive resource protection and preservation of this significant landscape. Protective measures include vehicle, horse, and foot patrols by Law Enforcement Rangers, remote monitoring through the use of surveillance equipment, as well as site inventory and monitoring by resource management staff.

Estimated O&M Costs/Savings: An estimated $315,000 would be needed to manage and maintain this land and provide, via an agreement with the State, management of State lands currently checker boarded with NPS land.

This acquisition, in partnership with The Conservation Fund, will serve to protect riparian habitat and watershed resources and to preserve the extensive and undeveloped natural landscape.

[Thanks to Jarrod at NestedQuotes.ca for passing along the link to this report.]

Details emerging on Petrified Forest acquisition of Hatch/Pursell ranch lands

The purchase of the Hatch/Paulsell ranch lands for addition to Petrified Forest National Park was the #4 priority on the National Park Service's Federal Land Acquisition FY2012 Priority List.

The list describes the acquisition as comprising 26,496.16 acres spread across 6 tracts. The estimated cost is shown as $5,475,000, although news reports say NPS paid about $8 million for the surface rights only.

Jarrod, who is following the Holbrook basin potash play on his Nested Quotes website, has posted the first map showing the possible extent of the Paulsell Ranch lands involved in the sale. In an email Jarrod said he has a map from one of other ranches in the area that showed an area marked as the Paulsell Ranch which works out to about 26,000 acres. He added that as a layer on his online interactive map viewer. Those lands are shown in darker yellow on the top map at right.

Interestingly, most of the lands are the same as leases held by Denver-based Prospect Global Resources (owner of American West Potash) [bottom right in purple].

A news article published last week before the sale announcement, quoted park superintendent Brad Traver saying they had met with American West Potash president Pat Avery about minimizing mine operation impacts on the park, including helping determine the location of the mines surface facilities. The Arizona Journal quotes Traver saying, “He (Avery) invited us to participate in the design process for the mine’s facilities on the surface, which was pretty extraordinary, I thought."

A 1999 article in High Country News describes the purchase of the 60,000 acre Paulsell Ranch by Marvin Hatch and partner Terrance "Shorty" Reidhead for $3.3 million and their plans to create the "International Petrified Forest" as a private tourist attraction.

The Dept. of Interior FY2011 budget proposal asked for $7.5 million to buy both the Twin Buttes and Paulsell ranches to add to the Park. Passport Potash has a lease-purchase option for the Twin Buttes ranch for a reported $20 million.

Lunar north pole mosaic from ASU

NASA stitched together 983 wide-angle photos from ASU's Lunar Orbiter Reconnaissance Camera (LROC) to create the crispest ever mosaic of the moon's north pole.

[right, photo credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]

No mineral rights with Petrified Forest land deal

The Holbrook Arizona Journal reports that the National Park Service bought the surface rights but not the mineral rights for over 26,000 acres of the privately owned Hatch Ranch lands to add to Petrified Forest National Park. The park and the ranch lands are underlain by one of the largest potash deposits in the nation, which is being actively explored for potential development. [right, AZGS's thickness map of potash deposit in Holbrook basin. Petrified Forest NP boundaries in blue (park lands) and green (expanded boundary surrounding private and state lands)]

According to the paper,

[Park Superintendent] Brad Traver said the park has purchased the surface rights to the Hatch Ranch only; the park does not own the mineral rights to the land, which leaves the door open for the Hatch Family Limited Partnership to enter into mineralization agreements with any of the potash operators currently exploring the area for future mining.

Principals of the Hatch Ranch could not be reached to learn of their plans for the property’s mineral deposits.

No maps of the acquired lands have been released yet but the paper described them as:

The Hatch Ranch is located south of Interstate 40 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The ranch begins east of Puerco Pueblo and Blue Mesa, excluding section numbers 11, 7, 1, 31 and 29, to the east and north of Puerco Pueblo; and sections 19, 31 and 33, east of Blue Mesa. A few sections of the ranch are located south of the railroad to the west of Newspaper Rock, including sections 7, 8, 19, 30, and a portion of 31.

Congress expanded the park boundaries in 2004 but never provided funds to acquire the private or state trust lands within the new boundaries. Since then, the value of the potash under the lands has soared, which in turn has tripled or quadrupled land prices in the area. About a quarter of the potash underlies national park lands and another quarter is under the private and trust lands within the expanded park boundaries. We estimate the value of the potentially recoverable potash at current prices as hundreds of billions of dollars.