New England Field Geology

Catalog description

How do geologists know what happened on earth thousands to millions of years ago? What is their evidence? Can our own observations, measurements, and analyses provide new insights and context for understanding the past? Through field trips and seminar discussion, this course will provide an introduction to geological field methods and an overview of the geologic history of the region in and around Rhode Island. In addition to field trips that focus on regional bedrock geology and developing mapping skills, the course will also involve field trips that develop field skills for investigating Pleistocene glacial deposits and Holocene soils. The course will introduce field methods, field mapping, structural analysis, and soil and site evaluation. The course will require attendance of weekend field trips, maintaining a detailed field notebook, making three geological maps, seminar participation, and writing one final report.