Jump to navigation

The University of Arizona Wordmark Line Logo White
Home

 

 

FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn     Donate

Search form

  • Minerals
    • Mining in Arizona
    • King Copper
    • Gold Prospecting
    • Industrial Minerals
    • Mineral Rights
    • Mining Scams
    • Potash Case Study
    • Ask a Geologist
  • Publications
    • All Publications
    • Recent Publications
    • Document Repository
    • Map & Database Services
    • Geologic Report Index
    • Geologic Map Index
    • Photo Gallery
  • Center for Natural Hazards
    • All Natural Hazards
    • Earth Fissures & Ground Subsidence
    • Landslides & Debris Flows
    • Floods
    • Severe Weather
    • Problem Soils
    • Volcanism
    • Earthquakes
    • Radon
    • Homeowner's Guide
    • Ask a Geologist
    • Arizona Council on Earthquake Safety
  • Outreach & Geoheritage
    • Arizona Geoheritage
    • Educator Outreach
    • Public Resources
    • Ask a Geologist
    • Photo Gallery
  • Energy
    • Energy Resources
    • Geothermal
    • National Geothermal Data System
  • Basin Analysis
  • About
    • About AZGS
    • Projects
    • Events
    • News
    • Contact
    • Ask a Geologist
    • Staff
    • Services
    • Partners & Funders
    • Employment
    • AZGS Smartsheets
  1. Home
  2. Outreach & Geoheritage

Arizona Geoheritage

Arizona’s Grand Canyon and Madrean Sky Islands epitomize the evolving geoheritage concept; ‘geologic features with significant scientific, educational, cultural, and/or aesthetic value’ (from Geological Society of America position statement).

The Arizona Geological Survey identifies and characterizes Arizona’s geoheritage sites as part of our charge to ‘encourage the wise and prudent use of Arizona’s lands and mineral resources’. And there is no shortage of potential sites. A deeply abridged list of geoheritage sites includes: San Francisco, Uinkaret and San Bernardino volcanic fields, Grand Falls, Wupatki and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, the Chiricahua Mountains, Salt River Canyon, the Colorado, Gila, Verde, and San Pedro Rivers, monoclines of northern Arizona, the Virgin River Gorge, and the Kofa, Mohawk, and Gila Mountains of southwestern Arizona.

In 1990, Larry Fellows (Arizona State Geologist) launched our Down-to-Earth series (DTE) of geology booklets for the Arizona public and its guests. In 2016, we published the 22nd volume, ‘A Guide to the Geology of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona: The Geology and Life Zones of a Madrean Sky Island Arizona’ by John Bezy. All but one of the DTE’s are free to download at the AZGS Online Document Repository.

Our new AZGS Photo Gallery, now approaching 500 entries, is dedicated to showcasing the breadth and diversity of Arizona’s geoheritage sites.

 

Story Maps

  • A Geologist in Grand Canyon Storymap

    Join Arizona Geological Survey geologist Steve Rauzi and a team of Conoco geoscientists as they raft through Grand Canyon examining the Precambrian Chuar Group.

    Peering upriver of Vasey's Paradise.
  • Arizona's San Pedro River Storymap

    The San Pedro River is Arizona's last undammed river. Joe Cook and his colleagues at the Arizona Geological Survey recently mapped the extent of Holocene channel and floodplain alluvium there.

    View of the north along a sweeping bend of tall cottonwoods lining the edge of the modern San Pedro River channel

"Down to Earth" Field Guides

  • Guide to the Santa Catalina Mountains

    A non-technical treatment of the geology and ecology of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson, Arizona. Natural landscapes have distinctive personalities.

    Pima Canyon, Santa Catalina Mountains
  • A Guide to the Geology of the Sedona & Oak Creek Canyon

    The Sedona-Oak Creek Canyon area offers some of the most unique and spectacular geologic features in northern Arizona. Photo by Don Graham.

Share This On

  • email
  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • twitter
  • google+

FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn


520-621-2470 | 1955 East 6th Street, P.O. Box 210184, Tucson, AZ 85721

The maps, reports, and other information and content on this website are provided as a public service for informational purposes only.  Accuracy is not guaranteed, and the information contained or linked on this website should not be relied on except as general information.  The University makes no warranties or representations of any kind, and specifically disclaims all warranties including the warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.  Users are responsible for verification of all facts and information to their own satisfaction.


© 2025 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona.