ABSTRACT Rampart craters are omnipresent features on volatile-rich solid planetary surfaces. This raises the question whether, and how many, rampart craters are present on Earth. We reviewed the terrestrial impact crater record with regard to possible rampart morphologies and present detailed morphological analyses of these terrestrial craters here. Our results show that the Ries crater in Germany, Bosumtwi crater in Ghana, Tenoumer crater in Mauritania, Lonar crater in India, and Meteor crater in the United States are terrestrial rampart craters. The Ries and Bosumtwi craters can be classified as double-layer ejecta (DLE) craters, whereas Tenoumer, Lonar, and Meteor craters can be classified as single-layer ejecta (SLE) craters. Tenoumer and Meteor craters show rampart as well as common lunar-like ejecta characteristics within their ejecta blankets and, thus, appear to be hybrid craters. In addition, we discuss seven crater structures that show at least some morphological or lithological peculiarities that could provide evidence for possible ejecta ramparts. Considering the low number of terrestrial impact craters with well-preserved ejecta blankets, the relatively high proportion of rampart craters is astonishing. Obviously, the formation of layered or rampart craters is a common and not a rare process on Earth.

ABSTRACT The Grand Canyon is perhaps our planet’s most widely recognized and single most important geologic landform. The goals for this trip are to give participants an understanding of the canyon’s formation and its dynamic hydrologic system. While our destination is clear, the journey will also provide opportunities to discuss Arizona’s larger geologic setting within the Basin and Range, Transition Zone, and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces. Stops and discussions will include: (1) geologic setting and groundwater environment of the Phoenix basin; (2) Cenozoic landscape development of the Transition Zone; (3) Montezuma Well, a unique arid-land spring contained within a travertine mound; (4) ascent of the Mogollon Rim, the state’s second largest landform and entryway to the Colorado Plateau; (5) the San Francisco Volcanic Field and surrounding volcanic features, including Sunset Crater, a late Holocene scoria cone; and (6) multiple stops in Grand Canyon National Park to discuss its varied geology. The principal focus here will be on evolving concepts of the canyon’s formation since the time of John Wesley Powell, including the flurry of research results proffered in the past 20 years. Participants will walk the Trail of Time, Earth’s largest man-made geologic exhibit at over 2 km. Another equally important discussion will cover the modern hydrologic system of the canyon, which yields a tenuous supply of potable water from a single inner-canyon spring for over six million annual visitors and 2,500 full-time residents. The National Park Service has prioritized the replacement of the Trans-Canyon Waterline due to climate change concerns.

ABSTRACT Every astronaut who walked on the Moon trained in Flagstaff, Arizona. In the early 1960s, scientists at the newly formed United States Geological Survey (USGS) Branch of Astrogeology led this training, teaching geologic principles and field techniques to the astronaut crews. USGS scientists and engineers also developed and tested scientific instrument prototypes, and communication and transportation technologies that would aid in lunar exploration. Astronomers and cartographers based at the USGS and Lowell Observatory, using telescopes at Lowell Observatory and the U.S. Naval Observatory, also played a key role, preparing lunar navigation charts and landing site maps. This historical and educational field trip will take participants along a historical path to some of the key sites where the Apollo astronauts trained. Field trip participants will see: (1) Grover , the geologic rover simulator on which the Apollo astronauts trained, which is on display at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center; (2) telescopes at Lowell Observatory used to map the lunar surface, as well as some of the original airbrushed maps; (3) the Bonito Lava Flow training area at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument; (4) the Cinder Lake crater field, which was created in 1967 to simulate the lunar landscape for training astronauts and testing equipment; and (5) Meteor Crater, the best-preserved exposed impact crater on Earth. During this field trip we celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable events and most significant achievements in the history of humankind. We hope that the sites we visit will connect participants with the experiences of the astronauts and the excitement and inspiration of the origins of human space exploration. We also hope to communicate the historical significance of these sites, facilitate continued visitation of the sites (e.g., through class field trips), and educate the broader scientific and science education communities about the role that Flagstaff scientists and engineers played in the Apollo expeditions to the Moon.

ABSTRACT The San Francisco volcanic field stretches from Williams, Arizona, in the west, to northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, on the east. Within the ~5000 km 2 area, more than 600 volcanoes are primarily monogenetic and basaltic, but silicic stratovolcanoes and domes are present as well. This field guide focuses on five broadly basaltic cones (Government Prairie vent, Red Mountain, SP Crater, Colton Crater, and Sunset Crater) and two silicic volcanoes (Kendrick Peak and San Francisco Mountain) in the field, with an emphasis on the different kinds of volcanic activity represented and the petrological variations. Hazards assessment indicates that is it possible for future eruptions to affect Flagstaff, but the probability is low. As information in this guide indicates, hazard assessments need to be improved to encompass a wide range of eruption types, and additional data are needed to improve models of the rate of volcanic activity and how the locus of activity has shifted over time.

The source of volcanic material in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation on the Colorado Plateau has long been speculated upon, largely owing to the absence of similar-age volcanic or plutonic material cropping out closer than several hundred kilometers distant. These strata, however, together with Upper Triassic formations within El Antimonio and Barranca Group sedimentary rocks in northern Sonora, Mexico, yield important clues about the inception of Cordilleran magmatism in Triassic time. Volcanic clasts in the Sonsela Member of the Chinle Formation range in age from ca. 235 to ca. 218 Ma. Geochemistry of the volcanic clasts documents a hydrothermally altered source region for these clasts. Detrital zircons in the Sonsela Member sandstone are of similar age to the clasts, as are detrital zircons from the El Antimonio and Barranca Groups in Sonora. Most noteworthy about the Colorado Plateau Triassic zircons, however, are their Th/U ratios, which range from ~1 to 3.5 in both clast and detrital zircons. Thorium/uranium ratios in the Sonoran zircons, in contrast, range from ~0.4 to ~1. These data, together with rare-earth-element geochemistry of the zircons, shed light on likely provenance. Geochemical comparisons support correlation of clasts in the Sonsela Member with Triassic plutons in the Mojave Desert in California that are of the same age. Zircons from these Triassic plutons have relatively low Th/U ratios, which correspond well with values from El Antimonio and Barranca Group sedimentary rocks, and support derivation of the strata, at least in part, from northern sources. The Sonsela Member zircons, in contrast, match Th/U values obtained from Proterozoic through Miocene volcanic, volcaniclastic, and plutonic rocks in the eastern and central Mojave Desert. Similarly, rare-earth-element compositions of zircons from Jurassic ignimbrites in the Mojave Desert, though overlapping those of zircons from Mojave Desert plutons, also closely resemble those from Sonsela Member zircons. We use these data to speculate that erosion of Triassic volcanic fields in the central to eastern Mojave Desert shed detritus that became incorporated into the Chinle Formation on the Colorado Plateau.

Arizona has a wide variety of geological features relevant to planetary geology. The “Holey Tour” is a 2 d field trip (Phoenix-Flagstaff-Phoenix) that introduces participants to crater forms (hence the “holes” of the tour), including a maar, karst sinkhole, pit crater, cinder-cone craters, a volcano-tectonic depression, and the classic impact structure Meteor Crater. The Apollo astronaut field training site near Flagstaff is examined, which includes a terrain that was artificially generated to simulate a cratered lunar surface. In addition, planetary volcanism is discussed with stops that include a shield volcano, composite cone, silicic dome, and cinder cones; considerations include key variables in volcanic morphology, such as lava composition and rates of effusion. The general geology of Arizona is discussed throughout the trip and includes parts of the Colorado Plateau, the Basin and Range Province, and the Central Highlands (also called the “transition” zone). The trip can be adapted to meet the needs of any group, from secondary school students to established planetary scientists.

Catastrophic and unusual events on Earth such as bolide impacts, megafloods, supereruptions, flood volcanism, and subice volcanism may have devastating effects when they occur. Although these processes have unique characteristics and form distinctive features and deposits, we have difficulties identifying them and measuring the magnitude of their effects. Our difficulties with interpreting these processes and identifying their consequences are understandable considering their infrequency on Earth, combined with the low preservation potential of their deposits in the terrestrial rock record. Although we know these events do happen, they are infrequent enough that the deposits are poorly preserved on the geologically active face of the Earth, where erosion, volcanism, and tectonism constantly change the surface. Unlike the Earth, on Mars catastrophic and unusual features are well preserved because of the slow modification of the surface. Significant precipitation has not occurred on Mars for billions of years and there appears to be no discrete crustal plates to have undergone subduction and destruction. Therefore the ancient surface of Mars preserves geologic features and deposits that result from these extraordinary events. Also, unlike the other planets, Mars is the most similar to our own, having an atmosphere, surface ice, volcanism, and evidence of onceflowing water. So although our understanding of precursors, processes, and possible biological effects of catastrophic and unusual processes is limited on Earth, some of these mysteries may be better understood through investigating the surface of Mars.

Depth-dependent variations in the structure and composition of continental crust can be studied via integrated investigations of isobaric terranes. In this contribution, we summarize three isobaric terranes in Archean to Proterozoic crust. In western Canada, 35–45-km-deep lower crust is exposed over an area of more than 20,000 km 2 . The Upper Granite Gorge of Grand Canyon, Arizona, provides a transect of 20–25-km-deep middle crust. The Proterozoic basement of central Arizona represents an isobaric exposure of 10–15-km-deep middle crust. Isobaric terranes yield a conceptual image of continental crust that can be compared to seismic images, xenolith data, and drill core data to clarify rheology, coupling/decoupling of crustal levels, and the interplay between deformation, metamorphism, and plutonism. General observations include: (1) The crust is heterogeneous at all levels and cannot be accurately modeled as a simple progression from quartz-rich to feldspar-rich lithologies or from felsic to mafic bulk compositions. (2) The crust is segmented into foliation domains that alternate between steeply dipping and shallowly dipping. (3) Magmatism is expressed differently at different depths due to different background temperatures and a general upward distillation from mafic to felsic composition, and may be the most important control on crustal architecture and rheology. The strength of continental crust (and its potential for low-viscosity flow) is not simply a function of temperature, depth, and compositional layering, but is controlled by the size and distribution of rheological domains. The rheological character of a particular layer can vary in space and time at any crustal level.