Plate Tectonics

Southeast Arizona

"Tectonics of southeastern Arizona", by Harald D. Drewes is a great resource on plate tectonics of my area. 

 

My town is located on the lower right side of the map in these images. It is interesting to think the tectonics of these plates shaped Arizona and my town so long ago. Thrust faults have been very active in this part of the state. 

The Arizona Seismic Belt sees many 3.0 earthquakes with a 5.0 popping up around every ten years. According to information from the University of Arizona's, Arizona Geological Survey there are about 100 active faults in Arizona. 

The only article I could find about tectonics near my tiny town was the same one I used last week to report the earthquake near Duncan, Arizona. The earthquake happened along an ancient Quaternary fault in southeast Arizona. 

As I have reported in a past GeoJournal, Arizona does have active volcanic fields as well, but the tectonic activity of the state are pretty mellow. We don't expect to see any activity for a thousand years or so.