Friday, October 24, 2008

Happy birthday, Earth!

Happy 6011 th Birthday Earth -- The earth was born October 23 4004 BC.

Arizona Geology: Happy birthday, Earth!


Have a late Birthday party this weekend.

Harry Allen.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Verde Valley Field Trip


Last weekend we had another amazing field trip lead by Paul Lindburg. This one was on the Verde Valley Geology. Paul puts on a great trip and explains the geology to all levels in the club-- both the professional geologists and the enthusiast proto-geologists learned from his explanations. More than 24 people showed up for the all-day venture from Jerome to Page Springs.
We will have one more trip in his series -- the Sedona /Oak Creek Canyon section. More on that trip later.
Harry Allen

Friday, October 17, 2008

Hot news from USGS

The USGS released a fact sheet on the Geothermal Resources. If they were near the big population centers we could have lots of power and hot water for everyone -- as they do in Iceland.

USGS Fact Sheet 2008-3082: Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States

Harry Allen

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Dinosaurs trampled dunes in Navajo Sandstone

Look for tracks on your next trip to the Arizona Strip.

Coyote Buttes has Dinosaur tracks in the inter dune areas of the Navajo sandstone near the AZ UT border.

Arizona Geology: Dinosaurs trampled dunes in Navajo Sandstone

Harry Allen

NAU geology talks on age of grand canyon

Nancy Riggs sent us notification of the up comming talks at NAU

"The age and development of the Grand Canyon has recently become a hot topic, with a paper in Science and abundant media attention.
This week and next (Oct. 23) the Department of Geology will have two speakers with contrasting views of the Canyon's history.This Thursday, please come to hear Karl Karlstrom, from University of New Mexico, at 4 PM in Geology 103.
His talk is titled Debate about the age of the Grand Canyon: Hypothesis for tectonic influences on carving of the <6 Ma Grand Canyon.Next Thursday we will host Carol Ann Hill from teh USGS Denver.
Dr. Hill's talk is Evolution of Grand Canyon from the Laramide to the present: Some new ideas, and is also at 4 PM in Geology 103.Attached please find the Science paper by Hill and colleagues (Polyak et al., 2008) and Karlstrom's perspective (Karlstrom et al., 2008) in Geology.�
we have pdfs of several other relevant papers; please let me know if you would like any of them (including comment/replys to the Science article)."

Harry Allen

Friday, October 10, 2008

Colorado Plateau

November 16 1-2:30 Sharlot Hall -- Ron Blakey and Wayne Ranney will give a talk on theit new book about the paleogeography of the Colorado Plateau. If you want to get a copy of their book in advance you can get it fron the Grand Canyon Association:

Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau: Grand Canyon Association Books & More

Should be a great talk . It would be best to get an advance reservation for a good seat. Call Sharlot Hall at 928-445-3122.

Harry Allen

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Prescott N.F Geologic map

For all you map geeks out there-- there is a new Central Arizona geologic map avaiable from the USGS.

It is just great. It has all the new mapping on one big sheet as well as all the radiogenic dates, wells, linaments, faults ,dips,and correlations.

All the local geology on one really large sheet for only $7.00.

Product Details
If that does not work here is the link to the usgs store where you can search for the Prescott National forest geologic map
http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/start.do


Harry Allen

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Why geologists only get better with age

Good news for all us retired geologists.

The more rocks you see --the better geologist you become.

Highly Allochthonous : Why geologists only get better with age

Retired Harry

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Verde Valley Geology Meeting

Paul Lindburg will give a talk on the Geology of the Verde Valley at the Prescott Library at 6:30 this coming Wednesday, October 8. Paul is a well-known geologist, the first to decyper the history of the Jerome copper deposits. He led a Club outing last May to Jerome where he made some very complicted geology clear to both geologists and non-geologists thanks to posters, drawings, and an amazing 3-D model. This time he is moving on to the Verde Valley, with its faults, lake beds, salt deposits, and lava flows. The talk will be complimented by a field trip to the Verde Valley on Saturday, October 18.

Debbie Allen

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Plate Tectonics and the History of Geology Class

Terry Steinborn and Harry Allen are doing an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) class on the history of geology and how it evolved into the Plate Tectonics theory --which is the "Theory of Everything Geologic."
Call 717-7634 to register for the class. It will be Thursdays 9-11 am at Sharlot Hall Museum starting on October 23 It is six weeks long and ends after Thanksgiving on Dec 4th.
Good news -- No Tests.