2 credits, Spring 2009
Instructor: Craig Jones, BESC 440C, x2-6994, cjones@cires.colorado.edu
TA: Will Levandowski, BESC 462D
Most of the class will be a week-long field trip over spring break; we usually leave the Thursday before spring break. In 2009, this should be 19-28 March . If you cannot make that trip, you cannot take this class.
Organizational meeting: Friday, January 23 1-2 pm, BESC 145. If you cannot attend, please contact me!
Prerequisites: GEOL 2700 and one of: GEOL 3120, 3320 or 3430.
A page discussing annotated bibliographies and another discussing the one page summaries are available.
W. Scott Baldridge, Geology of the American Southwest, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0 521 01666 5, 280 pp., 2004.
Handy recent overview of the geologic history of the region. Most of you would probably find this handy as background, and it also forms a source of references for greater detail such as you will need for your presentations.
This is dominantly a camping trip. We will spend four nights camping, then a night in a motel, then another 4 nights camping. Camps will range from perhaps 7000' down to near sea level; nighttime temperatures will generally be near or below freezing outside of Death Valley. Daytime temperatures can range from hot (90° possible in Death Valley) to cold (subfreezing) and weather can be sunny to rain to snow. We will usually try to camp in campgrounds, but a few nights might be spent in open country camping. We will travel in 3 4WD Suburbans with radios and laptops showing local geologic maps. There will be occasional hikes, so have at least one set of sturdy footwear.
We provide:
You bring:
Coolers should be available a day or two before the trip; each food group can then load them up. Block ice generally lasts longer than cube ice. Removing the bag around the ice makes it easier to drain the cooler. Stiff boxes are better for groceries than bags; the department has had some plastic boxes in the past (we will check on those).
Our routine is usually to get up around sunup, have a simple breakfast (cereal, fruit, bread, hot water for drinks or hot cereal, not a full hot breakfast), pack up, drive and look at things, eat a picnic lunch at a spot that suits us, drive and look at more stuff, stop for gas somewhere during the day, and then camp before sundown. Food will be bought before the trip for the first 4 nights (5 lunches, 4 breakfasts and dinners), then again in town (Laughlin or Barstow, most likely) for 4 more nights. Don't expect to be able to hit a minimart in the evening for supplies! We are often far from such facilities. I expect to have two cooking groups (this is easier than trying to plan on cooking for 16 at once); we'll set up these groups at our logistics meeting the week before leaving.
Food items commonly overlooked include salt and pepper, paper towels, dish soap, parmesian cheese, toothpicks, salsa, toilet paper, and other spices for certain meals. (Sometimes there is salt and pepper and dish soap from previous trips, check with the TA). Best to plan meals with the survival of your food in mind: probably most perishable for the first dinner, least for last.
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C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Last modified at April 1, 2009 9:59 PM