"Summer rocks!"
Enrollment opens tomorrow for the summer session at NOVA. We've got a diverse suite of geology field courses on tap -- if you're interested in the geology of the mid-Atlantic region, consider some of these options (half of them taught by me, half taught by my colleague Ken Rasmussen).
Triassic-Jurassic rift valley of northern VA. One full day trip Sat., July 19 to the Manassas/ Leesburg/ Haymarket area to study the geology of the Mesozoic rift basin. Stops will consider quarry and roadside outcroppings of rocks, dinosaur tracks, stratigraphy and structures. GOL 135, section 066: 1 credit.
Geology of Sideling Hill & Paw Paw, MD/WV. One-day field trip Sat., May 31. The course will examine the geology of the dramatic Sideling Hill roadcut on Interstate 68 in western Maryland. Exposed there are Devonian sedimentary rocks that have been folded by the Appalachian mountain-building event. We will also visit the entrenched meanders of the Potomac River known as the Paw Paw Bends, and observe folding mechanisms in the Brallier Formation at the C&O Canal's Paw Paw Tunnel. GOL 135, section 071N: 1 credit. More details
Miocene fossils of Calvert Cliffs, MD. One full day trip Thursday, 5/29 to the Calvert Cliffs of southern Maryland. This field trip will consider the Miocene fossils, sedimentation, stratigraphy, and paleoenvironments exposed along the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay. GOL 135, section 062N: 1 credit.
Bedrock geology of Washington, DC. One-day field trip Sat., June 7. This trip will focus on the land upon which the capital city is built, including exposures in Rock Creek Park, Georgetown, and Adams-Morgan. Includes discussion of oceanic sediments, the Rock Creek shear zone, igneous rocks emplaced during Appalachian mountain-building, Cretaceous river gravels, dinosaur bones and recent faulting. GOL 135, section 073N: 1 credit. More details
Building stones of the National Mall, DC. One full day walking tour Sat., June 7 of the National Mall in Washington, DC. This urban walking tour will consider the geologic and architectural history of the DC Mall region, and the rocks used in federal buildings and monuments located there. GOL 135, section 065N: 1 credit.
Geology of Shenandoah National Park, VA. One-day field trip Sat., May 24. This field trip will examine the geology of the Shenandoah National Park in VA from the granites underlying Old Rag to the lava floods of the Catoctin Formation and include an overview of the tectonic setting of the Park including the Formation of the Appalachians, an event that completed the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea. GOL 135, section 060N: 1 credit. More details
Building stones, quarries, & outcrops of Baltimore, MD. One full day trip Sun., August 3 to Baltimore, MD's metro area & historic marble quarries. This urban-quarry-outcrop tour will consider the geologic and architectural history of the region, and the rocks used to construct the buildings and monuments located there and in DC. GOL 135, section 068N: 1 credit.
Geology of the Billy Goat Trail, C&O Canal NHP, MD. One-day field trip Sat., August 2. This field trip will examine the geology of Maryland's Bear Island, considering the metamorphic and igneous rocks exposed by the river, sedimentary deposits, and the cutting of Mather Gorge and Great Falls by the Potomac River. Note: This trip involves strenuous hiking over very rough terrain. GOL 135, section 061N: 1 credit. More details
Mid-Atlantic field geology (for educators & others). Second summer session: Thursdays 2 - 8:20 PM. A 4-credit lecture-lab-field "hybrid" course ideal for local geoscience educators and others interested in mid-Atlantic geologic history. Considers local outcroppings of WV-VA-DC-MD strata as a natural "field laboratory" for understanding how geologists reconstruct earth history. Meets the lab science requirement. GOL 295, section 060N: 4 credits.
Natural history and environmental processes of the Chesapeake Bay. A 2-day (Mon., July 7 and Mon., July 21) oceanographic field course that considers the natural history and modern environmental processes of the Chesapeake Bay includes outside readings, on-campus lecture/lab, coastal studies, and a boat trip on the Bay. GOL 299, section 061N: 2 credits.
Snowball Earth. The Pleistocene Ice Age was the proving ground for our species. But an earlier episode of glaciation, dubbed Snowball Earth, stretches our conception of what the limits of climate change are: the ice reached from the Earth's poles to its equator! Scientists infer that the freezing event was ended due to volcano-induced global warming. The course examines the geologic, chemical, and biologic evidence for Snowball Earth. This course meets 8/4 to 8/10: three evenings (MWF, 6-9pm) and one Saturday field trip to local Snowball glacial deposits. GOL 299, section 071N: 2 credits. More detailsLabels: appalachians, geology, nova, teaching
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