The 2022 Arizona Geological Society Spring Field trip, “Mountains, Mines and Structural Settings of the North and Central Altar Valley, Coyote Mountains to Sierrita Mountains, Pima County, Arizona” was held April 16. Forty-two people attended the day long field trip led by Jay Chapman, Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming and Dan Aiken.

Starting and ending at the historic King’s Anvil Ranch in the Altar Valley, poster sessions were held at four additional sites with outcrops to view and collect samples. Other speakers included Phil Pearthree, Gordon Haxel, Larry Dykers, Linda Sheehan, Laural Goodwin, John Stitzer, Stephen Richard, Floyd Gray and Bob Schmaltzel. All of those participating enjoyed the great field trip and look forward to attending another AGS field trip this fall.

Since 1996 the Arizona Geological Society (AGS) has presented scholarships to outstanding students at the state's three major universities, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. 

This year we had a number of outstanding applicants for both the J. Harold Courtright and M. Lee Allison Scholarships, which made our job of selecting the best candidates very challenging.

Eytan B. Orent,  a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arizona, received the 2021 J.Harold Courtright Scholarship.  Eytan's research involved studying U(-V) deposits in the La Sal District along the Utah-Colorado border and their relationship to fluid flow within the Paradox Basin.

Lauren J. Reeher, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arizona, received the 2021 M. Lee Allison Scholarship.  Lauren's research involves studying crustal stress conditions during the Laramide on the Colorado Plateau.

Old Dominion Mine and Smelter, circa 1901

The Arizona Geological Survey has recently published a Contributed Report, Geology and History of the Globe-Miami Mining Region, Gila and Pinal Counties, Arizona, which examines the economic geology, ore production and mining history of the Globe-Miami area.

The Globe-Miami mining region of Gila and Pinal Counties comprises the northwest vertex of Arizona's Copper Triangle.  Copper production from the Copper Triangle totals about 37.3 billion pounds, or 13.6% of the total historic U.S. copper production.  Globe-Miami encapsulates four separate mineral districts renowned for their copper mineralization and production.

Long-time AGS member Dr. Carl J. Bowser passed away in Tucson on June 26, 2021 owing to cancer. Carl was a Professor and Emeritus Professor at the Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison. When he moved to Tucson, he got involved in AGS and served on the AGS Board. Volunteerism ran deep as he and his wife Judy were active volunteers and sponsors of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. There are no details yet on a memorial service.

The Arizona Daily Star Opinion team will host their weekly reader chat on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2pm with special guest Michael Conway, PhD, research scientist at Arizona Geological Survey. Mike will address your questions about geologic hazards that potentially threaten people and property in Arizona, including landslides, earth fissures, recent wildfires, and flood/debris flow events. If you'd like to join in on the conversation, email coordinator Sara Brown at sbrown@tucson.com and she will email you the Zoom link. Or alternatively, the meeting ID is 935 4617 8115, password: 346308.

Bob Downs, Univ. of Arizona Mineral Museum Curator & Prof. of Geosciences, is leading the effort to build out a University of Arizona Gem & Mineral Museum (UAGMM) at the former Pima County Courthouse in downtown Tucson. Building renovation is well underway with the museum scheduled for a soft opening at the Courthouse in Jan. 2020.

Two of the museum’s chief organizers, Eric Fritz (Mgr.) and Les Presmyk (Mining Engineer & mineralogist), approached AGS’s Jan Rasmussen (former Curator of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum in Phoenix) and AZGS’s Mike Conway about helping design an exhibit focusing on the geology of Arizona.

Jan and Mike have begun pulling together ideas for an Arizona geology narrative – one idea involves building a digital display showcasing Ron Blakey’s marvelous paleogeographic reconstructions of the Colorado Plateau and environs, complemented by geologic scenes, lithologies, and interviews as the cornerstone of the exhibit. 

HELP! But we want your help in gathering ideas on the elements of narrative (with visuals) expounding on Arizona’s geologic history. In short, we want your ideas, sketches, brainstorms, and musings to help us rough out a draft design by mid-July 2018 – 3 weeks away!  This is an important opportunity for you to influence a future wide audience about Arizona geology.

LOGISTICS

Arizona Geology Exhibit. Approximately 75 square feet is set aside for an Arizona Geology exhibit. An additional 15 square feet is provided for a porphyry copper display. (Will Wilkinson. FMI retired, is taking the lead here.)  

Audience. UAG&MM organizers anticipate a largely non-science audience of considerable age range and with limited knowledge of geologic concepts.

Timeframe. Time is short. AGS & AZGS representatives meet with the UAG&MM design team in mid-July, so the sooner you share your ideas the sooner we can begin evaluating them.  

Financial Resources.  Bob Downs, Eric Fritz and others in the management will pursue the financial resources for final exhibit design and construction.

How to help! Please send your ideas, sketches, and experiences gleaned from other mineral or natural history museums to Mike and Jan at the e-mail addresses below. We can meet to brainstorm ideas before the July 3 AGS meeting to discuss ideas.

Articles contained within the Arizona Geological Society Digests 1 through 22 are now available on-line at our publications page.  Our out-of-print Digests are available to the public, While our in-print Digests are only accessible to AGS members. 

Anyone who is interested in purchasing Printed Copies of In-Print AGS Digests can do so on-line or contact the AGS Secretary for more details.  Copies of current AGS Guidebooks and Digests are also for sale at a reduced price at AGS monthly dinner meetings.