2 credits, Spring 2023
Check out the announcement of the course
Instructor: Craig
Jones, BESC 440C, cjones@colorado.edu
Office hours Tuesday 11:30-12:30, Wednesday 1-2 pm
TA: Lindsay Harrison. BESC 462D, Lindsay.Harrison@colorado.edu.
Office hours TBD.
Next regularly scheduled meeting: All done in 2023 [time slice diagram/description due 4/10].
In addition to formal office hours, class members are welcome to drop in as needed but encouraged to set up an appointment if you want to be sure of finding someone. We can also meet over zoom.
Most of the class is a ten day field trip over spring break, from the Thursday before (3/23 in 2023) break to the Saturday at the end of break (4/1 in 2023). If you cannot make that trip, you cannot take this class. You are the one responsible for making arrangements with other classes that may meet on the 23rd or 24rth. The earlier in the term you do this, the more likely you are to avoid a serious conflict (e.g., missing a required exam with no possibility of a makeup). Some other professors (outside Geological Sciences) have let me know that they do not regard this as a "legitimate" excuse for absence and so are not likely to make any accommodation for this class. You will want to know of this early in the term so that, if necessary, you can drop one class or the other. To participate in the trip, the department requires that a waiver form be filled out: https://www.colorado.edu/geologicalsciences/content/field-trip-participant-notice-risk-and-waiver.
Grading and work expectations:
Materials to be submitted:
- First version of annotated bibliography
- First version of one page summaries
- Final version of on page summary, figures for guidebook, and final version of bibliography
Grading
- First submissions are not graded, but submitting these materials after the deadline will lower the course grade
- The final one page summary is graded on proper layout (e.g., including appropriate citations to literature, proper grammer and spelling, organization and clarity) and degree of synthesis.
- The final bibliography is graded on completeness (e.g., all citations in the one page summary and figures are found here) and proper format (so each reference should include authors, title, journal or book source, volume if appropriate, pages, year, and DOI if available). Grading also includes the quality of annotations and extent of literature digested. The bibliography can (and should) include papers examined but not necessarly cited in the summary.
- Presentations in the field are graded on accessibility, use of location, use of figures, degree of synthesis (e.g., listing two papers conclusions one after the other gets a lower grade than identifying the source of the difference in the differing conclusions), and being able to place a locale into a broader tectonic or geologic context.
- Participation along the trip is considered in the grade (so asking questions, being involved in discussions, etc.)
DRIVERS: We will need drivers! In the past, drivers had to present their license to the front office (usually the undergrad program assistant) and get a certificate of completion of the online Skillsoft defensive driving course. (Certificate is available from the My Profile dropdown menu on the Skillsoft page). However, word in 2023 was that driving vehicles from Enterprise only required a valid driver's license.
Prerequisites: GEOL 2001 or GEOL 2700 and one of: GEOL 3120, 3320, 3430 or 4241. GEOL 2700 is strongly recommended.
A page discussing annotated bibliographies and another discussing the one page summaries are available.
As a reminder, the standard campus statements about accommodations are online here. Be sure to contact the instructor if any of the issues in these materials is relevant for you.
W. Scott Baldridge, Geology of the American Southwest, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0 521 01666 5, 280 pp., 2004.
Handy 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 van/camping trip. There is a lot of driving so we can really get our hands around the tectonic evolution of the region. We will spend four nights camping, then a night in a motel, then another 4 nights camping. Currently, we will end up in a motel in Laughlin for our motel night. 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 3-4 4WD Suburbans with radios and laptops and iPads showing local geologic maps. There will be occasional hikes, so have at least one set of sturdy footwear.
We provide:
You bring:
Note that the outdoor program has rentals of some of these items. Reservations usually are allowed 30 days in advance. If you are in need of clothing or footwear to take this class, let the instructor know; there are some funds that probably can help address such an issue.
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, though the supermarket is in Bullhead City) 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 or three 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.
Field etiquette: Certain misadventures in the past indicate that some information should be clearly presented to the class. We are NEVER allowed to collect vertebrate fossils (I do not have a collection permit for any of the places we visit). We are not allowed to hammer on rocks or collect any samples in national parks or monuments (nor, usually, in state parks). So rockpicks stay in the cars in those locations. If in doubt, ask, and if you can't ask, don't collect. Elsewhere (generally BLM land) we can hammer on rocks and collect rock samples or non-vertebrate fossils. Cell phones should be OFF while we are travelling during the day; the exception is at lunch or at fuel stops so long as you do not delay our departure by using the phone (e.g., making a phone call and then, as we are about to leave, running in to use the toilet). Class is in session from the time we assemble to leave in the morning to when we roll into camp in the evening. In campgrounds, we need to be good neighbors to other campers: quiet time is usually 10 pm to 6 am. Mature behavior from all class members is expected. Even when we are camped alone, be considerate of other class members. The last one ready to leave in the morning should be the instructor. Misbehavior can be rewarded with a bus ticket back to Boulder and an "F" in the class.
What's here now:
C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Last modified at April 16, 2023 3:53 PM