Resize Text: Lon Abbott and Terri Cook. Mountain Press Publishing, PO Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806 (www.mountainpress.com). 321 pages; 2007; $18 (plus shipping and handling; softbound).
Those who have visited northern Arizona have had unusually fascinating geology around and beneath them, whether they were aware of it or not. This relatively new offering in the Geology Underfoot series by Mountain Press Publishing makes this abundantly clear. Like others in this series, the book is divided into a group of twenty or so vignettes, each describing the geology of a particular site that exemplifies some aspect of the area's geology, in this case that of northern Arizona. Consequently, the book can be used as a guide for the geologically interested tourist, an introductory text of sorts for the field-oriented geology student, or simply an interesting and good read.
The area described in Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona is that part of Arizona north of an east-west line drawn a little south of Payson, covering almost exactly the north half of the state. The sites chosen as illustrative of the area's geology span a very broad period of time as well as geologic processes and include such famous places as the Grand Canyon, the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Meteor Crater, and the Petrified Forest. The book begins with a preface that contains a useful timeline linking geologic time to main geologic events and the book's specific vignettes. This is followed by an eight-page overview of the geology of northern Arizona, setting the stage for what is to come.
Chapter 1 describes the great transition from the Colorado Plateau to the Basin and Range Province, using outcrops at Pearce Ferry on the edge of Lake Mead to illustrate this great change in both landscape and geology. Various geologic aspects of the general Grand Canyon country are covered in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 7 dealing with what can be seen at Toroweap overlook, the Colorado River and Glen Canyon Dam, Antelope Canyon, and the great canyon itself. The monuments and canyons of Arizona's northeastern corner are discussed in Chapters 6 and 9, and an interesting dinosaur footprint locale at nearby Moenavee is described in Chapter 8. A cluster of sites represent the general Flagstaff-Sedona area and include the San Francisco Volcanic Field (Chapter 11), the surprising waterfall along the Little Colorado River at Grand Falls (Chapter 12), the well-known red rocks around Sedona (Chapter 13), and even the great copper mine at Jerome (Chapter 17). Moving east on Interstate 40 from Flagstaff, two sites, the famous Meteor Crater and the Petrified Forest, are discussed in Chapters 14 and 15, respectively. The book's final chapters describe the areas around Montezuma Castle National Monument, Tonto Bridge State Park, and the Mazatzal Quartzite where it is exposed in a series of isolated islandlike outcrops between Payson and Show Low. The book closes with a glossary of geologic terms, a listing of sources of more information (arranged by vignette), and an index.
Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona is particularly well illustrated. It contains “Getting There” maps for each site, clearly drawn illustrations of what one can see or how a particular feature formed, and many good black-and-white photographs. The book is well edited, clearly written, and obviously designed to serve a broad audience. There is not a great deal of information of specific interest to the mineral collector, but for those active in the area, this book certainly furnishes quick, easy-to-understand geologic descriptions for areas in which many of northern Arizona's collecting localities are located. Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona is recommended for anyone visiting the area who has an even mild curiosity about how and why things geologic came to be as we see them today.
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