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One of The Museum of Northern Arizona’s current exhibits spotlights the famous Grand Canyon Dragon Map created by George Billingsly, and others, and evaluates its history and ongoing impact on scientific and other communities. One such impact was the framework Billingsly and his team laid for a new team of United States Geological Survey researchers who are working to create a more detailed, comprehensive geological map of the Grand Canyon and its surrounding area.

Ryan Crow, Ph.D. is a research geologist at the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center here in Flagstaff. On January 12, Crow will give a talk at the Museum of Northern Arizona in conjunction with The Grand Canyon Dragon Map exhibit. The talk will be centered on the history of geologic mapping in and around the Grand Canyon, including ongoing efforts he and a team of researchers are conducting to create a new map, along with the insights and impacts that come with geologic mapping in this region.

Crow said that after getting his undergraduate degree in geology from the University of Colorado, he worked as a research associate creating animations and interactive displays that would go in visitor centers and natural history museums and would show how landscapes evolved geologically through time. In doing that, Crow was set to make an interactive display for Grand Canyon National Park when he connected with some researchers working in the Grand Canyon.

“They invited me on a river trip through Grand Canyon, which I did, and I just became completely enamored with Grand Canyon’s lava dams and the whole story of how a series of lava flows had poured into the canyon and backed up the Colorado River,� Crow said.

So, Crow pivoted. He left his job to study with Karl Karlstrom, who focused much of his career on the Grand Canyon, Crow said. While getting his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico, Crow focused his studies on lava dams and how quickly the Colorado River had been carving into bedrock. Now, at the USGS, Crow co-manages a geologic mapping project focused on the Colorado River with research geologist P. Kyle House, Ph.D.

As part of this mapping project, Crow, House and their team build upon a foundation laid by a creator of the famous Grand Canyon Dragon Map, George Billingsly, and use new technologies and techniques to unveil insights to the geologic makeup of the Grand Canyon and its larger area.

Crow explained that Billingsly was working at the Museum of Northern Arizona for about 10 years when he produced the famed Dragon Map before starting his work for the USGS developing geologic maps in the same group.

“He produced about 70 geologic maps of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona,� Crow said. “He did just a ton of great traditional geologic mapping with a series of other geologists.�

Crow also said that Billingsly had a lot of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support, which became increasingly important for geologic mapping.

“We do the geological mapping and produce the cartographic map that could be hung on a wall, but there are also databases behind it, and now you kind of need trained geographers or GIS specialists to do that, so he had a number of those who worked with him,� Crow said. “But he was leading the charge.�

“A geologic map is never done,� is a saying Crow said is common in geologic mapping, and the fieldwork and rock dating Billingsly did in the Grand Canyon established a sort of first pass on geologic mapping in the region.

That saying holds especially true in the Grand Canyon, Crow explained.

“There are places that you can’t get to, and increasingly there are new data sets that allow you to produce better maps and new techniques that allow you to learn more about the rocks or the geological features in a map area,� Crow said.

Now, as Crow and House’s team works to develop a more comprehensive database of the greater Grand Canyon region, a key aspect of their work involves combining updated technology with more traditional field methods like those Billingsly employed.

Crow said their current team of USGS geologic mappers are particularly focused on the Colorado River downstream from Grand Canyon as well as compiling mapping from several geological features that hadn’t been included in the Dragon Map, such as The Uinkaret volcanic field in Western Grand Canyon (which was the source of lava dams) and The Grand Wash Cliffs (which mark the transition between the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province).

Despite being fully retired, Crow said Billingsly stops by the USGS Flagstaff office regularly to chat, and often comments about how useful helicopter support was for his geologic mapping processes. While technological developments have opened several doors as far as employing different techniques to gather information relevant to creating these geologic maps, Crow said the current team isn’t really able to utilize helicopters much like Billingsly did.

“They had funding that allowed them to fly him around the park, so he would fly places where, you know, you’d have to get a rock climber to get to, and sometimes they’d just leave him there for a while and come back and get him,� Crow said. “That’s not something we’re doing a lot of now, the park is very cognizant of the impacts on visitor experience and the noise associated with helicopters � and there’s a significant expense associated with them as well� it is higher than it used to be.�

New technologies that Crow said his team employs include multi-spectral satellite imagery, which allows researchers to discern a lot about rocks and geologic features of an area without having to physically be there. He also explained that the USGS is encouraging LiDAR data collection, which the team also utilizes in their geologic mapping efforts.

LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging, Crow explained, and it involves flying over the Earth’s surface in an airplane equipped with a pulsed laser and reporting how long it takes for the laser to come back to the airplane.

“The output is a very detailed elevation model,� Crow said. “In some of these elevation data sets� I have one up on my computer right now� you can see trails and you can see bushes.�

Even with the increased accuracy of remotely sensed data sets, Crow said it’s still really important to get out on the field and see the rocks in person. Though, Crow said those technological developments allow teams to focus their precious field time in places where certain details may remain unclear.

Technological developments have also allowed for Crow and House’s team to use a new GIS system that’s on a server, so now multiple people can interact with the same database at the same time.

“So instead of having one geological mapper leading the construction of the geologic map, we have teams of mappers where one person might just be focusing on faults and another person might be focusing on a particular unit,� Crow said. “In our case, we’ve got a person focused on faults and another person focused on our landslides and rockfall deposits, so they’re able to all contribute real-time to the same thing and we see each other’s work.�

Compared to when Billingsly first started, Crow said maps are typically fully digital now. Digitizing a map allows researchers to include extra information about features in the map that particular groups of people may extract and utilize, such as for assessing hazards like earthquakes or volcanic activity or for identifying resources like groundwater and drinking water.

The USGS Group of mappers is developing such a database of the entire Grand Canyon Region, building on Billingsley’s framework, and integrating even more detail.

“We stand on the shoulders of the people that came before us,� Crow said. “So our group here in Flagstaff is trying to do their best to produce the best geologic maps we can, but there are a lot of people like George that did great work in the past and you build on that.�

However, Crow said the team is also working on a simplified version of their digital map, which would be able to be hung on a wall, and used in places like schools or museums.

Crow also noted that his and House’s team is also working to curate a geologic map-based river guide project that will help rafters learn about geology while on the river.

“Each page will feature a geologic map on one side and descriptions of key features visible along that section of river,� Crow said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the history of geological mapping in the Grand Canyon region is encouraged to visit The Grand Canyon Dragon Map exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona, which will be Folks are also encouraged to attend , which will explore the USGS’s long history of Geologic Mapping in the Grand Canyon region� including George Billingsly’s impact� and discuss the new work being done by the USGS’s Flagstaff team to learn more about the region’s geologic makeup. General Museum of Northern Arizona admission fees apply for this presentation.