Earth Fissures in the News
Geologic Hazards
Arizona Geological Survey Publishes Earth Fissure Viewer
A new Google Maps based interface for viewing earth fissures in four Arizona counties has been launched by the AZGS. Earth fissures are a serious geologic hazard in Arizona where they have been known to […]
Available Resources
Suggested Guidelines for Investigating Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Hazards in Arizona
From the AZGS Document Repository: These guidelines provide professionals evaluating site-specific conditions in areas known or suspected to be subsiding with a standardized minimum level of investigation for land-subsidence and earth-fissure hazards. The guidelines do […]
Geologic Hazards
Arizona Geologic Survey Releases Earth Fissure Maps
Yesterday the Arizona Geologic Survey (AZGS) released the first two of their 1:12,000 series earth fissure maps to the general public. The mapping program, perhaps the first of its kind in the country, came about after an earth fissures opened up in 2005 near Queen Creek, AZ, southeast of metropolitan Phoenix received much media attention. As a result, the Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2639 of the 2006 Legislative Session that tasked the AZGS with mapping earth fissures and providing the data to the State Land Department for eventual delivery to property owners in Arizona. More after the break. (At left, the Apache Junction study area map, AZGS)