Sunday Field Trip Leader

Bob Hatcher, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Author Profile

Summary

This field trip is one that I frequently take undergrad and grad students on, as well as other professionals and nongeologists. It is taylored to the audience. There are some superb teaching opportunities on the trip, both with respect to structural geology on the meso-scale and macroscale, as well as tectonics.

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Context

Audience

See above

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Classroom discussions of faults and preferably folds and cleavage, although that frequently does not happen because of he scheduling of other field trips.

How the activity is situated in the course

It can occur anytime near the middle of the course, with assignments of measuring the different components of folds to characterize them in space, describing fold geometry and mechanisms; determining the minimum displacement on a major thrust fault by looking at the distance from the exposed trace of the fault along the mountain front, then additional exposures around a large window in the thrust sheet.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Structural measurements
Fold mechanics
Fault mechanics

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Visualization of structures in 3D.
Interpretation of small- and large-scale structures.

Other skills goals for this activity

Recording data in a field book (or in an electronic device).

Description and Teaching Materials

Field guide for the field trip.





Teaching Notes and Tips

Assessment

Lecture exams and lab exercises and exams.

References and Resources