Field Guide to the Dutchess County, NY, Barrovian Sequence

Donna Whitney
,
University of Minnesota, William Peck, Colgate University


Summary

This is a field guide used for a field trip to explore the Barrovian sequence in Dutchess County, NY.

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Context

Audience

This guide is designed for a sophomore or junior level required course in petrology.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

How the activity is situated in the course

This is a stand-alone field trip that can be used to illustrate geology talked about during lecture.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

The goals of this activity are to show students real-world examples of geology talked about in class.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Other skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

This is a field guide with road log to the classic Barrovian sequence in Dutchess County, New York. The field trip starts near Poughkeepsie, NY, and ends near the Connecticut border. The guide will lead you to key outcrops starting at the protolith, with one stop each in the chlorite, biotite, garnet, lower staurolite, upper staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite, and silimanite-kspar zones in the regionally metamorphosed pelitic sequence. Files include the road log with stop locations and descriptions, a regional map, and Google Earth .kmz file.

Determining whether students have met the goals

Students have met the goals of this activity if they are actively participating and engaged in the field trip.

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Teaching materials and tips

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