Upon arrival in the field,students will participate in basic orientation exercises including detailed
safety briefings. The main field course will take place in three different areas of eastern California.
Mapping days
On each mapping day, students will participate in a morning briefing, head into the field area to
participate in mapping projects, and work on report writing or map production in the evening.
Students will participate in camp maintenance and food preparation on a rotating group basis.
Area 1- Cerro Gordo,CA
Students will map bedrock geology of a fold-and-thrust belt. They will identify rock types and their field relationships, construct cross sections at multiple scales,and create a geological map. Students will observe faults, folds, pervasive deformation structures,sedimentary sequences,and complex igneous units.
Area 2 - Panum Crater,CA
Students will map a young rhyolitic eruptive center.They will identify different eruptive units,
! observe and interpret ductile and brittle rock fabrics,and construct a conceptual model of the evolution of Panum Crater during its life cycle.
Area 3 - Lundy Canyon, CA
Students will map surficial sediments and geomorphic features related to multiple cycles of
glaciation, Pleistocene lake levelfluctuations,delta formation,and range-front normalfaulting.
They will create a detailed geomorphic-geological map and investigate the relationships between 1 peak glaciation,lake level high stand,and long-term uplift of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Rest days
Approximately one day per week, students will participate in a short morning field exercise and
then travel into a nearby town to wash clothes,rest, and participate in voluntary short field
excursions in the region. After spending the night in proper accommodations, they will return to the field and participate in afternoon field work.
Final field tour
The last days of the field camp will be used for regional field excursions, which will challenge the
students to integrate their field experiences into an overarching picture of the geological evolution of the East Sierra Nevada region.
Camp participation
The essential skills of independent field work include the ability to cook, clean, perform tasks that benefit the camp as needed,and maintain good work ing relationships with other camp members. Students will participate in food preparation, cooking, and dish washing on a rotating group basis.
