Arizona Geological Survey at the University of Arizona

09/13/2026

Dr. Ellen Wohl’s brief, 3-minute video describes her book, “Landscapes on Fire: Impacts on Uplands, Rivers, and Communities”. Published in the American Geophysical Union Special Publications Series in 2024. A primary goal of the text is to address the need for interdisciplinary research in developing a fuller understanding of wildfires on natural, biological and human ecosystems. Her work has important implications for the Arizona landscape.

To review the 3-minute Youtube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GABViiNF8&list=PL7Ihm2Mh3MZ5RVTkvtadu5K12GmEMd70R&index=5 .

09/12/2026

New Mexico’s Elephant Butte Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the state, is a shadow of itself in the face of 20-year+ drought in southwestern U.S. In the early 1940’s Elephant Butte held more than 2-million acre-feet. In September 2026, the reservoir is 1.4% full with about 27,850 acre-feet of water.

IMAGE of Elephant Butte Reservoir in 1994, 2013, 2026, courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison. You can read the full account at https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/elephant-butte-reservoir-runs-low/

09/11/2026

NEW geologic map of western Arizona’s Arrastra Mtn. NE quadrangle by Mako & Neely (2026).
From the Introduction, “The Arrastra Mountain NE quadrangle covers the central and northern flanks of the Poachie Range between the Santa Maria River and B***o Creek. The geology is dominated by Meso- to Paleoproterozoic intrusive rocks, with two narrow NE-striking belts of Proterozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks, some Neogene volcanic flows and pyroclastic rocks, minor Neogene basin-fill deposits, and scattered surficial deposits. In this report we discuss geologic relationships observed during recent mapping and present new analytical data associated with the recent mapping efforts.

You can download the geologic map, pamphlet, and GIS database at https://library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/ADGM-1787783721828-907

09/10/2026

We are excited to share that AZGS will receive an additional $1.5 million to advance geothermal research state wide, as part of Governor Hobbs’ Arizona First budget. ​This funding builds on an existing $1 million commitment from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Resiliency. These investments will accelerate geothermal data collection and analysis, helping reduce exploration uncertainty and attract geothermal developers to invest ​and deploy ​in Arizona.

Read more here:

AZGS receives additional $1.5 million for geothermal research Today Image Regional map showing Arizona is geologically similar to its surrounding states which already have geothermal power development. Estimated temperature at 4km depth from Aljubran, M.J. and Horne, R.H., 2024, Thermal Earth model....

09/10/2026

The American Geophysical Union published a report in 2024 addressing ethical principles for climate intervention research. The 27 page report was released in 10 languages, Arabic to Russian, and of course, English. Download here: https://agu.mediavalet.com/portals/ethicalframework

IMAGE: This graphic illustrates climate intervention technologies and methods identified by the report’s authors.

From the report’s preamble, “Climate intervention, also known as geoengineering or climate engineering, is the deliberate large-scale intervention in Earth’s climate system to counteract global warming.1, 2 Climate intervention includes primarily carbon dioxide removal (CDR) techniques, which address the root cause of climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and solar radiation modification (SRM) techniques, which offset the effects of greenhouse gas concentrations by preventing Earth from absorbing as much solar radiation.

The urgency to address climate change has led to rapidly growing interest in climate intervention research. However, both CDR and SRM techniques, as well as other methods, present opportunities and risks and thus require additional governance and ethical frameworks at local, regional, and global levels.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists, takes the position that a robust body of scientific evidence about climate intervention, guided by an ethical framework, should be consulted as society weighs its options for addressing climate change. Therefore, AGU has facilitated the development of this Ethical Framework for Climate Intervention Research.3

Citation: American Geophysical Union. Ethical Framework Principles for Climate Intervention Research. ESS Open Archive. October 17, 2024. https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.172917365.53105072/v1.

09/09/2026

Following up on yesterday’s post of the Upper Santa Cruz River Basin, southern Arizona with the geologic map by Page and others (2023). For a high resolution download,https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3490/sim3490_sheet1.pdf

Citation: Page, W.R. and others, 2023, Geologic map and hydrogeologic investigations of the upper Santa Cruz River basin, southern Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3490, 2 sheets, scale 1:50,000, 73-p. pamphlet, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3490.

09/08/2026

From the U.S. Geological Survey, “Geologic Map and Hydrogeologic Investigations of the Upper Santa Cruz River Basin, Southern Arizona”, geologic map and report. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sim3490

From the abstract by Page & others (2023), “This report includes an updated geologic map and cross sections of the upper Santa Cruz River basin, southern Arizona. The map and cross sections describe the geometry, thickness, and structure of the Miocene to Holocene units which form the main aquifers in the basin. The report also includes results of new hydrogeologic studies including (1) mapping and defin¬ing depth to bedrock based on geophysical data in the map area to better define the geometry and structure of the basin aquifers, (2) describing newly recognized hydrologically sig¬nificant faults in the Peck Canyon and Sopori Wash areas, and (3) evaluating groundwater sources and hydrogeology of the Potrero Creek wetlands.”

Photograph - Looking south across the southern end of Peña Blanca Lake. The red rocks in the foreground are tuffaceous deposits of the Oligocene Montana Peak Formation. The light-colored cliffs in the background are a pumice-bearing tuff of the Oligocene Atascosa Formation. Photograph by Mark W. Bultman, U.S. Geological Survey.

Location map.

Citation: Page, W.R. and others, 2023, Geologic map and hydrogeologic investigations of the upper Santa Cruz River basin, southern Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3490, 2 sheets, scale 1:50,000, 73-p. pamphlet, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3490.

09/07/2026

Nice piece by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on volcanism of the Pleistocene Springerville volcanic field of eastern Arizona.

09/06/2026

From our geologic postcard series; rock-art at Sears Point in the Sentinel volcanic field of south-central Arizona. For the entire series: https://azgs.arizona.edu/photo-gallery

09/05/2026

Another great geo-postcard from our colleagues in New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources .