How to be a field geologist: an in-class exercise to introduce students to basic outcrop analysis part of Activities
This in-class exercise is designed to give students practice analyzing outcrops before they go on a field trip. First, students watch a short video tutorial on analyzing an outcrop. Then, they are given a color ...

Aerial photo interpretation and mapping - Bayou Meda anticline, Arkansas part of Activities
Multi-day project using aerial photography and field observation to map and interpret a megascopic anticline/syncline pair exposed in the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas. This exercise involves two classroom ...

Bedrock Geology Mapping Exercise part of Activities
As a final exercise in a course on Geological Maps, students conduct a field mapping of a one square mile area over a weekend. Back in the classroom, students are introduced to ArcMAP and Illustrator, with which ...

Red Canyon Terrace Project part of Activities
This project is designed to give students: (1) experience in mapping the details of surficial geologic deposits (Qal), (2) an understanding the geomorphic relations among surficial deposits and ...

Field Trip to Enfield Glen, NY Finger Lakes Region part of Activities
This is a 2.5 hour field trip in which students search through strata of the Upper Devonian Catskill Delta for paleocurrent indicators that allow them to infer paleogeographic differences between Devonian and ...

Mapping commingled magmas, Eastern Head of Isle Au Haut, Maine part of Activities
This is a week-long bedrock mapping project on Isle Au Haut, in Penobscot Bay, Maine, with three to four field days followed by 1-2 lab days. The bedrock is Silurian gabbro and granite that commingled in a magma ...

Outcrop Mapping at Woodall Shoals, South Carolina-Georgia part of Activities
Students work in groups of 3 or 4 to map relatively small parts of the outcrop at Woodall Shoals, which serves as a model of a complexly deformed high-grade metamorphic terrain. With the benefits of 100% exposure ...

Field Exercise in Stratigraphy/Paleoecology part of Activities
This field activity for GEOL 320 "Paleobiology" is designed to turn what could have been a "look-and-see" fossil collecting trip into one where genuinely interesting hypotheses/questions are ...

A field trip to explore rock formation and tectonics of southern California part of Activities
In this contribution, we provide an example of a one-day trip to examine Proterozoic metamorphic and Mesozoic intrusive igneous rocks that are easily accessible along and near roads in southern California. The ...

A Cross-Section and Geologic History from Field Data Collected by Second Year Students in the St Francois Mountains of Missouri part of Activities
This field activity takes place during a 3-day field trip to St Francois Mountains, Missouri. Students use their field data to construct a cross-section through a portion of the field area.

Snow Pit Stratigraphy part of Activities
This is the first exercise in a course titled Snow Dynamics and Accumulation. It asks student groups to describe snow pits and the variability in those snow pits in space. It can be used to understand the temporal ...

Mapping Bedrock Outcrops with Stride & Compass and a GPS Unit in a soil and forest mantled landscape part of Activities
Students take a two mile hike along a trail in a forest and map bedrock exposures. The project takes place over a few days. Students will need 2-3 hours to collect the data in the field, and another 2-3 hours to ...

The Amazing Race Geocache part of Activities
This hands on activity sends participants along a pre-determined course, using handheld GPS units, clues, and math skills to search out visual locations. Students compete in teams using basic functions of a Garmin ...

Sedimentary Petrology Field Trip to Gravel Quarry near Rotterdam Junction, NY part of Activities
Sedimentary Petrology: one field trip involves visiting an exceptional glacial outwash gravel quarry, where students measure, identify and count clast types, measure cross-bedding directions, and examine the early ...

Exploring the building stones of downtown Seattle part of Activities
Students explore the building stones of downtown Seattle in order to obtain practice in rock identification.

A Traverse Through Time and Space: A Paleoenvironmental Analysis of Devonian Strata in New York State part of Activities
This is a field-based mini-project that requires students to synthesize their field data to 1) determine the depositional environments both across New York State (from the Catskills, NY to Rochester, NY) during ...

Fauna of Waulsortian Mounds part of Activities
This is a field trip to local exposures of potential waulsortian carbonate mud mounds. The students will prepare by reading 1-2 publications on the subject and then we will travel to see and collect samples from ...

Stream Dynamics and the Urban Environment part of Activities
This field activity focuses on stream dynamics and urban development. Students determine stream discharge and observe riparian conditions for a local wadeable urban stream. After the field trip, students delineate ...

Coyote Creek Geologic Map part of Activities
Students are required to make field observations, collect data and then create a detailed geologic map and report for a small area (approximately 1 sq. mile) on the edge of the Tularosa Basin in south central New ...

Integrated Field Project in Structural Geology and Sedimentology/Stratigraphy part of Activities
By combining the curricular and learning objectives across traditionally separate undergraduate courses in Sedimentology/Stratigraphy and Structural Geology, Lafayette College has developed an innovative year-long ...