High school students take on Tucson

Published on March 4th, 2010

By PATRICK MCGINNIS

Carol Hernley next to a large Geode from Brazil. (Courtesy Photo, Dani Hess)

Patrick McGinnis, Glynn Smith, and Craig Bailer taking pictures of rock formations in Chiricahua National Monument (Courtesy Photo, Darin Gilman)

Adam Low holding a Gneiss Rock from the Catalina Mountains in Tuscon. (Courtesy Photo, Dani Hess)

Our high school geology class recently went on a class trip to Tucson, Ariz. We arrived in town on Saturday, Feb. 6, and stayed until Saturday, Feb. 13. Allen Marquette, a paleontologist, and a veteran of the Tucson gem and fossil show came along and was able to inform us whenever we came across an unfamiliar geological formation. While we were there, we visited many of the natural phenomena that are unique to southern Arizona. We were also able to see fossils and rare minerals from all over the world at the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil show.

On Feb. 6, we arrived in Tucson and went immediately to Gates Pass, in the Tucson Mountains, where we took a hike up some steep hills and were able to see exposed rock formations and the large saguaro Cactus that is native to the area. The next day, we went to Chiracahua National monument in southeastern Arizona.

While we were there, it actually started snowing, this caused us to cancel plans for camping that evening. The next day, Monday, we went to a couple of hotels that had various rock, mineral, and fossil sellers. We were able to see many rare mineral formations. Afterward, we went to Kartchner caverns, a large "living" cave complex that is a part of the Arizona state park system. On Wednesday, we went and took a trip to Peppersauce caverns within the Coronado national forest. There were no strict regulations like there were in Kartchner caverns, so we were able to spend the day exploring the cave system, and we had a wonderful time.

On Thursday, a geologist with the Arizona Desert Museum took us on a day-long tour of the Tucson and Catalina mountains. We explored fossil beds, old mine locations, and the key locations that helped us understand how the area formed. On Friday, the chief geologist for Rosemont Mining Company showed us a proposed site for a new open pit mine. He explained the process of creating the mine, and how they would work to take care of the environmental implications of the mine. Later that afternoon we took a tour of an already existing open pit mine, the ASARCO Mission mine where we saw the processes involved in pulling copper out of the ground, crushing and processing it for transport to market.

Overall this was a very informative and educational trip for us, and we all have benefited from the knowledge gained.

Kartchner Caverns

SHERIDAN JOYCE

The Kartchner caves were discovered in 1974 by a couple of cavers, and turned in to a national park in 1988. These caves are unique because they have not been affected by humans very much due to the very strict rules when entering the caves. To get in you have to go through several air tight chambers and one chamber that mists with water so you are the same humidity as the cave. You also need to roll up your coat to prevent lint and no cameras are allowed so you don't feel inclined to swing around taking pictures.

There were lots of cool formations such as soda straws, multi-colored strips called bacon, stalactites, stalagmites, and lots of other formations. The guides were very strict about not touching anything but the handrail and path, and did not like to answer most questions. All in all the Kartchner experience was something I won't forget.

Gem Show

GERALD CUNNINGHAM

This geology trip was amazing. There were lots of things to learn and things I had never seen before. The gem and mineral show that we went to was huge; there were all kinds of things to buy or just to look at. This show was all over the city of Tucson there was white tents set up and big buildings set up. Certain buildings or groups of tents had a different variety of things like some had fossils and some had more crystals there was also one that had lots of African dealers that had different beads and trinkets.

One of the buildings we went to had a giant crystal that was 7 to 8 feet tall and weighed several tons this quartz crystal was price and $2.5 million and it was back in a special room that was all set up for some of the biggest clear quartz crystals you can imagine. There were a few other ones that were giants too and had special features that made them interesting.

At the next show we went to there was all kinds of fossils and gem stone dealers. There was this very nice man that explained to us how he and his company found these fossils and gem stones. The gems that they were making were actually parts of a fossilized ammonite that had all the colors of the rainbow and they cut and polished these shells and made some awesome looking jewelry. This gem was one of three types that were made out of organic material and it makes it very valuable.

Another amazing thing to look at was the fossils that were at these places. There were full dinosaurs and full mammoths and giant sloths. These things were huge. There were also other fossils that were found in rocks that were amazing how they were preserved and how they look after so long. Most of the fossils that were in the rock were fish or little sea creatures that had died and got covered on the bottom of an ocean long ago. Then when we find them there is no water in sight and it really makes you think how they got there and people will tell you there was a sea there millions of years ago.

Copper Mines

SAM MARCHANT

On Feb. 12 our geology class viewed the proposed Rosemont copper mine area and the working ASARCO copper mine. The Rosemont mine promises to be the most environmentally conscious mine on the planet. The area that they want to mine is on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains. The area where the core of the mine is proposed to be claims a total of 1,968 acres of land. The land proposed to be mined is a great example of a healthy desert ecosystem. It has beautiful vistas from the tops of the hills, lush desert vegetation and multitudes of wild animals. Rosemont knows that they have to leave as little a footprint as possible on the land. We learned that the demand around the world for copper is increasing fast as our society continues to need more renewable power sources. For example a hybrid car uses 10 times more copper than a conventional car, and an all-electric vehicle uses 100 times more copper.

My fear is that the Rosemont mine will turn into another ASARCO Mission mine. The ASARCO mine is a perfect example of the destruction caused by open pit mines. It is one of the largest mining operations in the United States producing around 100,000 tons of copper a year and there are an expected 510 million tons remaining. The main pit is huge, its 2.5 by 1.5 miles, and 1,000 feet deep. The whole experience of seeing the mine made me sick to my stomach. The company had turned a true ecological disaster into a tourist attraction. On the bus ride back to the visitors center the tour guide started "bragging" about how rare and old some of the saguaro cactus are on the property, he followed up the statement by saying "well, in about 10 to 20 years this entire area will be covered by 50 feet of waste rock," all with a smile on his face. They did say they would move the cactus to another location, but I felt this was an example of how nature is marginalized to make money.

Chiricahua National Monument

DARIN GILMAN

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Tucson was go to Chiricahua National Park. Chiricahua National Park was activated 1923 and the Civil Conservation Core built most of the buildings and trails that exist today. We hiked the Echo Canyon trail with a park ranger that showed us all the sweet rock formations. It was an amazing experience with all the wild and magnificent rock formations that exist within the park. Chiricahua was an old volcano that exploded 27 million years ago that was 1,000 times greater than the Mount St. Helens eruption. We were walking through the ancient fallout of this volcano and the spires and plateaus that we saw were absolutely incredible. It was an indescribable experience walking through such terrain, not to mention that it snowed in while we were visiting the park. It was truly a once lifetime experience.

Darin Gilman, Sam Marchant, Gerald Cunningham, Sheridan Joyce and Patrick McGinnis are students at the Cordova High School and can be reached at 907-424-3266.