On this, the 125th Anniversary of the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS), we are celebrating the work of hundreds of geoscientists who struggled to understand and reconstruct Arizona’s geologic past. As part of that celebration, we are dedicating this issue of Arizona Geology to a retrospective display of articles published since the onset of our first formal publication serial, the Bulletin, in 1915. Because Arizona Geology is a vehicle for non-technical articles for a general audience, we largely focused on materials published over the past 42 years as part of our FieldNotes-Arizona Geology newsletter series.
The Arizona Geological Survey roots go back to the Arizona Territorial Legislature of 1888 and their appointment of Territorial Geologist John Blandy. From this auspicious start came the present-day Arizona Geological Survey (1988 to present) and its predecessor agencies: The University of Arizona Bureau of Mines (1893 - 1915), Arizona Bureau of Mines (1915 - 1977), and the Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology (1977 - 1988).
In 1915, the University of Arizona Bureau of Mines established its first publication serial, the Bulletin. From 1915 to 2000, more than 200 Bulletin volumes were published and a number of other serials launched, including, Circulars, Contributed Reports, Contributed Maps, Digital Geologic Maps, Digital Information, Miscellaneous Maps, and Open-File Reports, among others.
As part of our outreach to the general public, the non-technical, quarterly newsletter FieldNotes was launched in March 1971 by Acting Director R.M. Edwards. The goal was to inform the interested public of the nature and scope of geology and geologic research in Arizona. In fall 1988, FieldNotes was renamed Arizona Geology to complement a name change from the Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology to the Arizona Geological Survey. Forty-two years after the onset of FieldNotes, AZGS still regularly produces articles for the general public. Our publication trajectory has gone from a printed quarterly newsletter to a more responsive, and we hope, more timely, e-magazine approach.