Geology of the Great Southern Basin, NV-CA Spring Field Course, March 2009 Instructors: Dr. Mary Beth Gray, Dr. Carl Kirby, Dr. Kaustubh Patwardhan Students:

Geology of the Great Southern Basin, NV-CA

Spring Field Course, March 2009

Instructors:Instructors:Dr. Mary Beth Gray, Dr. Carl Kirby, Dr. Mary Beth Gray, Dr. Carl Kirby, Dr. Kaustubh PatwardhanDr. Kaustubh Patwardhan

Students: Amy Jewett, Anne Strader, Cara Porteus, Students: Amy Jewett, Anne Strader, Cara Porteus, Cullen Kortyna, Erin Donaghy,, Emily Bitely, Eva Lipiec, Cullen Kortyna, Erin Donaghy,, Emily Bitely, Eva Lipiec, Ed Bauer, Eric Lynch, Jeremy Byler, Kait Fleming, Kristi Ed Bauer, Eric Lynch, Jeremy Byler, Kait Fleming, Kristi Grandy, Lauren Hall, Lily PfeiferGrandy, Lauren Hall, Lily Pfeifer

Enthusiast: Wesley SiglEnthusiast: Wesley Sigl

Pre-trip preparation at Bucknell:Viewing 3-D images of Death Valley

Loading the limo: 6 AM at Bucknell

All bright-eyed…..for a few minutes anyway….

Passing time at the Newark airport

Grand Canyon

Lake Mead

The Las Vegas “Strip”

Angular Unconformity at Furnace Creek

Dante’s View

Looking Northwest from Dante’s View

bajada

Badwater Alluvial Fan

Salt deposits

Salt deposits at BadwaterSalt deposits at Badwater

A doubting geologist testing for halite

Dr. Gray explaining desert pavement

282 ft below sea level

Sea level sign

Old Lake Manly Shoreline deposit

Funeral Mountains

Artists’ Drive – Funeral Mountains

Looking for the dip in the road…

Exploring a trench in an alluvial fan

Dr. Gray describes the development of a fanhead trench

Finding slickenlines in the alluvial fan

Corkscrew Mountain

The 27-mile one-way gravel road to Titus Canyon

A stop at Red Pass along the way

Still on the road to Titus Canyon

Leadfield mine workings

Finally there!

Taking care of Eric

Not a fold!

Figuring out that therocks are overturned

Petroglyphs at Klare Spring

Petroglyphs at Klare Spring

Unconformity?

No, it’s an overturned anticline.

see?

Dr. Gray describes the faulting in the Bonanza King Formation

Mystery breccia near theMystery breccia near themouth of Titus Canyonmouth of Titus Canyon

Mystery breccia near themouth of Titus Canyon

still a mystery…

kangaroo rat – 1/10 life size!

provisioning at Beatty, Nevada

Lathrop Wells cinder cone - mined for scoria

Crater Flats cinder cones

Climbing Black ConeClimbing Black Cone

Taking in the view at the summit of Black Cone

Dr. Patwardhan shows the group a volcanic bomb

Pyroclastic Eruption!

lava flow

Yucca Mountain

Cinder cones in front of Yucca Mountain

Red Cone

Black Cone Little Cones

lunchtime rest

going down Split Cone in Death Valley

Shoshone roadcut: tuff and obsidian and faults, oh my!

Dissected alluvial fan coming from the Panamint Mountains

6,000 year-old Ubehebe Crater

warning signs…

oops…..

Rapid descent into Ubehebe Crater

A slower ascent out of Ubehebe Crater

Eric explains the igneous rock composition/texture diagram

On the road to “The Racetrack”On the road to “The Racetrack”

“The Racetrack”

granitegranite

playa lakegranite

“The Racetrack”

“The Racetrack”

When you’re at the Racetrack……When you’re at the Racetrack……

…you might as well race!

(rock win)

(geo student fail)

There are always members of the press at sporting events!

Holy polygons, Batman!

1.5 ft long Chuckwalla at The Racetrack

Mosaic Canyon

Mosaic Canyon

Roadblock in Mosaic Canyon

Stovepipe Wells

Stovepipe Wells Dune field

Thirsty geologist

Nevada Test Site

Helicopter at the Nevada Test Site

Moving target!Moving target!

The end to another great Bucknell Geology Spring Break Trip!