Ask a Geologist Common Q&A
My mother, Mary Backus, passed away on February 8 , 2018. She was born In Douglas, AZ in 1920. Her father, Murray Patterson and his uncle Oliver Patterson both homsteaded land in Apache, AZ. In 1928, they moved to Mesa, AZ. My mom has talked about how her family still owns the mineral rights of the property where they lived. They had a very large ranch and a small Adobe home. Since she passed away my brother has been working on getting her estate in order. He has not found any paperwork about these mineral rights. Is there an agency we can contact to see if she still has these mineral rights?
Thank you,
Nancy
Submitted on Tuesday, June 26, 2018
AZGS Answer
Hi Nancy,
This might be a tough problem to solve. I suggest starting with the Cochise County Assessor. I doubt that your search will end there, but if you know the precise location of the property that is a good place to start. You can view the Cochise County Assessor page at https://www.cochise.az.gov/assessor/home. You might pursue the issue with the Cochise County Recorder, too. ( https://www.cochise.az.gov/recorder/home)
Second, you might reach out to the Bureau of Land Management for information on the land management status of the land. If the federal government was ever involved, BLM would/should have records of any transactions. You can reach them by phone at 602.417.9200. You will need a precise location of the land or the landowners name to pursue this with BLM.
Good luck with your hunt.
Mike
Question: Is it true that heat demagnetizes magnets? I don't understand how the earth's core can be magnetized if it is so hot. And, how is the core solid if it is so hot. Shouldn't it be a liquid? Thank you.
AZGS Answer
Heat can damage or reduce the magnetization of bar magnets. As you heat a magnet the atoms move more rapidly and randomly disrupting the magnetic domains.
The Earth's core - a region of iron alloys - consists of a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. Earth's geomagnetic field stems from moving currents in the liquid outer core. The geomagnetic strengthens and wanes and reverses direction.
This model shows the physical relationship between the solid inner core and the liquid outer core. The enormous pressure on the inner core prevents it from becoming a liquid.
Question: Is it true that heat demagnetizes magnets? I don't understand how the earth's core can be magnetized if it is so hot. And, how is the core solid if it is so hot. Shouldn't it be a liquid? Thank you.
AZGS Answer
Heat can damage or reduce the magnetization of bar magnets. As you heat a magnet the atoms move more rapidly and randomly disrupting the magnetic domains.
The Earth's core - a region of iron alloys - consists of a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. Earth's geomagnetic field stems from moving currents in the liquid outer core. The geomagnetic strengthens and wanes and reverses direction.
This model shows the physical relationship between the solid inner core and the liquid outer core. The enormous pressure on the inner core prevents it from becoming a liquid.
AZGS Answer
Paula: Check out the link below. It stems from Bulletin 180 and it contains a section on clays with a short note on pg 332 describing pottery clays in Arizona. http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1005/bul...
I hope this helps.
Mike
I'm a retired geologist originally from New York, now a full time potter living in Peoria, AZ. I'm interested in collecting clay in the field, mostly for use in glazes. Are there any resources (maps, organizations, active mines, websites, etc) that might give me some leads. Thanks!
AZGS Answer
Great question. Let me do some digging and see what I can come up with. Mike
Good morning,
Does your website provide a statewide list of Arizona underground injection control wells? If so, how can I find it?
Thanks for the info! Sarah
AZGS Answer
Sarah, We do not collect that sort of information.
I suggest that you contact:
Arizona Dept of Water Resources; or Arizona Dept of Environmental quality
One or both should be able to help.
Mike
: Is it possible that the malleability of the Brawley Spreading Zone hides the continuation of the San Andreas to the Imperial Fault? Glenn
AZGS Answer
Hi Glenn,
The San Andreas fault system includes the Imperial Fault, south of the Salton Sea. The fault system bends near the Salton Sea resulting in extensional stresses (pull-apart) in the southern end of the Salton Trough (Sea). Further south in the Gulf of California, the San Andreas system transforms into a spreading center. (That is not shown on this illustration.)
I am very interested in the mineralogy of pegmatites. I live in the northwest valley. Coukd you please tell me, where would the closest pegmatite be, that I could study? Peter
AZGS Answer
Peter, Decades ago, Richard Jahns, published a bulletin on pegmatites of the White Picacho District northwest of the Phoenix Basin. The map below shows his 'Arizona Pegmatite Belt'. That phrase did not find favor with geologists and has fallen out of use. But he did identify a number of pegmatite deposits.
You might also look at Ken Phillips short paper on beryl, which commonly occurs in some pegmatites. He includes a coarse map showing beryl location in central an northwestern Arizona.
The third edition of 'Mineralogy of Arizona' might be a good place to start your search. The book is still in press or you might find it at your library.
Jahns (1952) http://repository.azgs.az.gov/uri_gin/azgs/dlio/84
Phillips (1986) http://repository.azgs.az.gov/uri_gin/azgs/dlio/1607
Good luck with your study.
Mike
Question: Despite doing some research, I still don't fully understand where lava and magma come from or how it's formed. Is magma or molten rock to be found everywhere on Earth below a certain depth and only forms lava or volcanos where cracks puncture the surface? Or does some kind of super heated pressurized material turn into magma when it's pushed up through the mantle? Is magma everywhere or only formed under specific conditions near the surface? I've never been able to get this question satisfactorily answered. I hope you can help. Antonio
AZGS Answer
Antonio,
Good question! It has taken a lot of scientific brain power to answer the question of 'how does magma form'. The manner in which we use the terms magma and lava can be confusing; molten rock is referred to as magma when in the Earth's crust or mantle; and as lava when exposed on the Earth's surface.
The melting temperature of rocks in the upper part of Earth's mantle, where most magma forms, is in the neighborhood of 1,100 Celsius. So you either have to bring the temperature in the upper mantle to that level; or, you reduce the pressure - which promotes melting; or, you add water which acts as a flux to lower the melting temperature of the rock.
The lower crust and mantle include radiogenic elements such as potassium, uranium, thorium. Radiogenic decay of these elements releases heat. When added to the primordial heat of Earth's formation, the temperature is sufficient to melt small quantities of upper mantle rock.
Adding water to the mix, which occurs along zones of subduction - where oceanic crust sinks back into the mantle - increases the likelihood of melting. Water acts as a flux, lowering the melting temperature of the rock. The volcanic chain referred to as the 'Ring of Fire' forms adjacent to subduction zones as a result of water released from the sinking oceanic crust being introduced into the mantle and inducing melting. Molten rock, i.e., magma, is less dense and more buoyant than the surrounding rock, as a result magma rises through Earth's crust. Most magma is trapped in the crust, but some erupts onto the Earth's surface as lava.
There, I've synthesized 100 years+ of geologic studies of magma formation into 4 short paragraphs. The attached image shows the likely zones of melting of mantle rock.
I hope this helps. MC
Hello, I'm interested in doing some modest prospecting for metals in Maricopa and Yavapai Counties. Can you help with information on metallic mining districts in the two counties? Will
AZGS Answer
Will, We can indeed provide information on metallic mining districts in the two counties, and for that matter all of Arizona. But first, a word of warning: you need to recognize that mining claims may already exist for areas previously mined and for lands that may show no evidence of mining. For private lands, you would require the owners permission. For federal lands, check with the Bureau of Land Management in Arizona for current mining claims. For state lands, please get with the Mineral Management program of the Arizona State Land Dept. regarding mining claims and prospecting.
Over the years, the Arizona Geological Survey and its predecessor agencies have published dozens of reports on mineral resources of Arizona.
- Gold Placers and placering in Arizona
- Gold Prospering – links to 8 publications
- Geology and Mineral Resources of Arizona 6-parts ~350 p.
- Mine Index for metallic mineral districts of AZ
- Metallic mineral districts & production in Arizona w statewide map
This is by no means everything we possess on mineral resources, but it is a good start. All of our publications from 1915 to 2018 can be discovered and downloaded free of charge from our AZGS Document Repository.
