Download MINERALS FIELD TRIP

MINERALOGY FIELD TRIP
North Carolina and Georgia
September 29 to October 3, 2009
INTRODUCTION
As an important part of the class, you are required to participate in a field trip to
the region around the common border of Georgia and North Carolina. The field trip will
be lead by Dr. Jim Vogl. You will use the department vans to get there and will prepare
some of your own meals (breakfast and lunch) and eat out for others (dinners). Expenses
will be kept to a minimum, and will depend on the cost of gas, camp fees, food, entrance
fees for museums etc. Dr. Vogl or I will give you a better estimate closer to the trip, but
in the past these expenses have ranged around $20. Your food will be additional.
Everyone in the class is required to go.
The trip has several objectives: to provide you with experience of seeing rocks in
their native habitat, to let you try to identify minerals in the wild, and to give you a taste
of geologic field work (yes - geologists still work in the field!!!). The area contains
numerous good exposures of a variety of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks.
These rocks contain both common and rare minerals, and some may be difficult to
identify. Identifying the minerals will be an important part of the trip, but not as
important as a complete and accurate description of the minerals, including their textures,
physical properties and assemblages. These descriptions will be how you ultimately
identify the minerals.
This trip will be more than just “show and tell” – you are responsible for
keeping a neat and organized field book. The field book will represent how you will
be evaluated for the trip, which represents a fraction of your lab grade. Ask yourself the
following suggested questions and any others that you may think of. Then try to find the
answers by discussing (not asking) the questions with other students, either TA, or Dr.
Vogl. Write in your notebook while you make observations, think of additional
questions, and formulate possible answers. At a minimum, your description should
include the location of the outcrops (we will have maps available) and the minerals,
rocks, and structures that you find there. You should include a sketch, with a scale, of
every outcrop you take notes on- photographs can also be quite useful. Include pictures
of minerals, rock, and outcrops and label them. If you take pictures, keep track in your
notebook of what you have photographed. Otherwise, you may not remember once they
are developed/printed. Your notebooks should be field books, ie. write in them in the
field - there is no point in writing information in the books once you have returned home.
Suggested Questions:
• Where are we?
• How many different types of minerals are in the rocks?
• How many different types of rocks are present?
• What are the characteristics of the minerals? Describe their textures, physical
properties, and how they make up the rocks.
• What large scale structural features are visible in the outcrops?
• Are there any other interesting or unusual features?
Your field book should be a small, waterproof, bound engineering style notebook.
These books are available at the bookstore. Your notebook should be organized as a road
log for each stop and it should include a thorough description of each outcrop.
YOUR NOTEBOOKS ARE DUE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3th – THE LAST DAY
OF THE FIELD TRIP
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EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES:
You might find some or all of these supplies useful. The bold items are very
highly recommended (i.e. required). Space in the vans is likely to be limited so pack
sparingly.
(1) Personal items:
Warm Clothes – the temperature can drop below freezing some nights
Cool Clothes
Rain gear
Sturdy shoes (flip flops are not allowed in the field)
Hat
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Bug spray
Sleeping Bag (a warm one – not a flannel one with pictures of Barbie or
ducks!)
Tent
Flashlight/Lantern
Toiletries: Soap, toothbrush, etc.
Towel
Necessary medicines
Food for breakfast and lunch. We will stop at grocery stores in the
evening after leaving the field, so you only need to purchase food
for the following day. Dinners will be at restaurants.
Camera
(2) For field work
Rock hammer (do not bring carpenters’ hammers – the steel is not
tempered and will shatter on the rocks)
Hand lens
Notebook
Pens and pencils
Eye Protection (Safety Goggles- Chem lab glasses work fine)
Sample bags
Mineral identification sheets/books
Information about the field area
(3) At all times
A sense of humor
Flexibility
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