Spring 2005 FIELD CONFERENCE, February 11-13 El Camino College, Torrance at the Desert Studies Center, Zyzzx, California
On February 11, 12, and 13, 2005, El Camino College hosted the National Association of Geoscience Teachers Far Western Section Spring 2005 Conference at the Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx, California. Four faculty members from El Camino College’s Earth Science Department planned and organized the conference. Joe Holliday was responsible for the event logistics, Chuck Herzig coordinated the field trips and workshops, Jim Noyes edited the guidebook, and Lynn Fielding was responsible for the conference registration and publicity. Together, they had the assistance of three other faculty, Steve Koletty, Matt Ebiner, and Bruce Fitzpatrick, and four earth science majors, Becky McDaniel, Becky Sarellano, Alejandro Tiburcio, and Shirleen Kayhani, to help make the conference a big success!
Lynn Fielding, Becky McDaniel, and Jim Noyes helped coordinate the Spring conference. The Friday evening social was a great opportunity to get to meet the conference attendees and the event organizers. Earth science professionals from coast to coast were represented as 73 attendees, 10 field trip and workshop leaders, 5 guests, and 11 staff members came from not only the various regions of California, but North Carolina, Montana, Utah, and Nevada.
Dormitory style rooms at the Center provided accommodations for the majority of participants. A few participants stayed in one of several motels in Baker, California, located eight miles away from the Center. Catered breakfasts and dinners were served at the Desert Studies Center by chef Eric Lindemann. Bag lunches were provided on Saturday and Sunday to ensure that no one went hungry during the field trips and workshops. The Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx is a wonderful location for field work and a very picturesque location in the Eastern Mojave.
Located at the western boundary of the Mojave National Preserve at Soda Dry Lake, the Desert Studies Center was the starting point for the four area field trips on Saturday. Ted Weasma, of the Mojave National Preserve, led the Geology and Mining Activity in the Standard Mining District, San Bernardino County, California field trip. It focused on the history of mineral exploration and development in the area and included a stop at the old town site of Rosalie, a settlement surrounding the Copper World Mine smelter. The mill site for the Copper World Mine was a stop on Ted Weasma’s mining and geology field trip.
Bob Reynolds, of LSA Associates, was the trip leader for the Historical Geology of the Eastern Mojave Desert and the Sequence of Sedimentary and Structural Events. This trip featured the Grand Canyon sequence at Mountain Pass, dinosaur tracks, Halloran area geology, Miocene tracks, the Shoshone area, and Mid-Pleistocene tracks.
The multipurpose room at the Center provided space for socializing, listening to speakers, and enjoying meals. All photographs and artwork by Lynn Fielding.
Dee Trent, of Citrus College, and Rick Hazlett, of Pomona College, together coordinated the Eastern Mojave Desert Geology Tour which featured Seventeen Mile Point, Cima Volcanic Field, Kelso Depot, Cedar Canyon, Mid - Hills, Hole-in-the-Wall, and the National Park Service Visitor Center, as well as an overview of the major geologic highlights of the Eastern Mojave Desert.
Robert Fulton, of the Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx, and John Dohrenwend, of Southwest Satellite Imaging, merged their field trips due to the similarity in routing of the two trips. Geomorphic Quaternary Landscape Evolution and Climate Change and its Influence on the Distribution of Biota, was the tile of Rob’s trip which focused on East Mojave natural history from a multi disciplinary approach. John’s field trip, Neogene Volcanism and Landscape Evolution of the Cima Area, Mojave Desert focused on volcanism, the evolution of the Neogene landscape, and the formation of desert pavement.
Doug Morton, of the United States Geological Survey, was the key note speaker on Saturday evening. His talk was entitled, Evolving Trends in Geology and Earth Science. On Sunday, Dee Trent, and Rick Hazlett, led the second part of their Eastern Mojave Desert Geology Tour which featured the Vulcan Mine, Granite Cove, the University of California Research Station, rock art, and a return to Zzyzx via Interstate 40. In addition, Eric Riggs, of San Diego State University, conducted a workshop on Integrated Field Work and Improving Deep Content Knowledge of Geologic Change Through Time. Furthermore, faculty from California State University, Long Beach presented Results of 3 Years of the Geodiversity Enhancement Program (GDEP). This program is designed to recruit under-represented groups into the geosciences and the workshop included a discussion and the presentation of student work.
The Spring 2005 Conference was a successful due to the teamwork of the El Camino College Earth Science faculty and students, the support of the staff at the Desert Studies Center, the field trip and workshop leaders, and the conference participants. Hopefully, many of the nearly 100 conference participants will chose to attend the Fall 2005 meeting to be hosted by Porterville College in October and earth science professionals will be able to reunite with new and old friends in the near future.
Submitted by Lynn Fielding
Fall 2004 FIELD CONFERENCE, August 5-8 Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA
HILO AND THE VOLCANOES OF HAWAII
About 25 members made the voyage across the Pacific Ocean to the meeting in Hilo, Hawaii. The field trip on the first day included a tour of theLava Trees State Park (tree molds in ancient basalt flows), and the Puna Geothermal Field, which provides a quarter of the Big Island’s electricity needs. The trip was led by Neil Marshall.
The keynote speaker at the evening banquet was Don Swanson of the Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory, who spoke on his experiences with Hawaiian Volcanoes over the last few years. His presentation included spectacular photographs of lava flows, followed from their sources at Pu'u O'o and Kilauea, to their end at the Pacific shoreline. The Saturday field trip included stops at a black sand beach, a tour of the sea cliffs at South Point, the southernmost part of the United States, and an exploration of Chain of Craters Road, which crosses many of the most youthful flows in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Stops along the road included Hilina Pali and the Devils Throat, and the 1969-74 Mauna Ulu flows. Lava had been pouring into the sea during the week prior to the meeting, but unfortunately had ceased by .the time the conference began.
Submitted by Garry Hayes
Spring 2004 FIELD CONFERENCE, FEBRUARY 27, 28, 29 Southern California Earthquake Center and University of Southern California
LOS ANGELES and PALOS VERDES PENINSULA, CALIFORNIA
The Spring 2004 FWS NAGT conference was a great success. Participants braved the rush hour traffic to arrive Friday evening for registration, a light dinner and talks from the USC department chair and the director of the Southern California Earthquake Center (the meeting sponsors). The talks focused on new directions for undergraduate education, in particular geosystems education.
The Faults of Los Angeles Field trip, led by James Dolan, was a comprehensive overview of the faults in the Los Angeles Basin. The first part of the trip consisted of following the Raymond-Hoi- lywood-Santa Monica fault system from Hollywood to the Veterans Administration buildings in West Los Angeles. The last part of the day involved views of the Newport-tnglewood-Rose Canyon Fault System south of interstate 10 and a portion of the Sierra Madre- Cucamonga Fault system exposed on the east side of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Steve Lund led a spectacular trip to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Starting at the Korean Friendship Park Steve gave an overview of the geologic history of the peninsula. At White Point participants learned about the spas that once adorned the beach. Extensive discussion was devoted the White Point sewage outfall. The trip continued with a visit to Marineland. In 1982, the park was closed so real estate developers could cash in on a prime location for condominiums.)t was quickly discoveredthiifthe area was riddled with faults and not suitable for large-scale building. This site has an excellent sea cave that carves into a fault zone. The day concluded with a trip to Cabrillo Beach and the Cabrillo Marine aquarium.
Tom Henyey began his tour of the Palos Verdes Peninsula by sharing the natural history of the region. Tom showed evidence of the Palos Verdes fault and how it has transformed the region. A short hike into George F Canyon revealed the tectonic upheaval of the region via outcrops of Catalina Schist (115- 120 million years old) excavated from depths of 50km. Later the group stood along the cliffs of Point Fermin. The group was surprised when they were shown the remains of a street at the bottom of the cliff. Point Fermin is another testimony to the dynamic nature of Los Angeles geology. At White point Tom showed the group a spectacular recumbent fold as well talking about the area's rich abundance of diatomite. The story of oil in Los Angeles cannot be told without talking about diatomite. Everyone on the tour went home with a souvenir after a stop at Ladera Linda Park, a former quarry rich in fish scale fossils and other geologic surprises.
The weary travelers were greeted with recorded Mariachi music and food at Margarita Jones restaurant for the Spring 2004 banquet. Lucy Jones from the USGS office in Pasadena shared her insights about earthquake prediction. She reviewed many of the major challenges that face earthquake scientists and she devoted special discussion to prediction traps. Her comments also focused on the Keilis-Borok earthquake prediction for Southern California.
On Sunday the field trips continued. Some went to the La Brea tar pits, others to look at the Southern California Integrated GPS Network, and others to the Caltech Seismology Lab. Some teachers chose to attend an all day workshop where they learned hands on activities they could use in their classrooms to teach about earthquakes.
We would like to thank the following people for their help in making this years conference happen - we couldn't have done it without them. The organizers would like to recognize the USC Department of Earth Sciences for sponsoring the Friday night reception and light dinner. The staff and administration of the Southern California Earthquake Center provided support for materials and snacks for the Saturday and Sunday field trips. Certain individuals: Aris Gust Aspiotes, Ken Austin, Mark Benthien, Dana Coyle, James Dolan, Kurt Frankel, Sally Henyey, Tom Henyey, Lucy Jone$, Tom Jordan, Nan~ King, Shoshana Levin, Nate Lorentz,Steve Lund, John Marquis, John McRaney, Glenn Song, Vardui Ter-Simonian, Keith Stark, Brion Vibber, Margaret Vici, Shelly Werner. Lastly we would like to extend our appreciation to Brigitte Dillet, Gary Haye$ and Ian MacGregor for supporting the planning process for the Spring 2004 meeting. Remarks by: Ilene Cooper and Robert de Groot Southern California Earthquake Center
FALL 2003 FIELD CONFERENCE, SEPTEMBER 19, 20, 21 Western Nevada Community College, Carson City, Nevada
CARSON CITY, NEVADA
The Fall 2003 field conference of the Far Western Section of NAGT took place from September 19th to September 21st at Western Nevada Community College, in Carson City, Nevada. Fifty-five people attended the Conference. The weather was wonderfully warm.
The Conference began with a Friday night BBQ catered on the college campus. The BBQ was followed by a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Price (Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, State Geologist) on the "Current Geological Issues in Nevada: Gold, Earthquakes, and Nuclear Waste - What More Do You Want?" Finally, registrants were able to visit the new observatory on the college campus.
On Saturday, conference participants attended one of three full day field trips. DD Lapointe and Jonathan Price of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology lead a field trip to explore the "Geology along the Loneliest Highway." This field trip took participants along highway 50 between Carson City and Sand Mountain. Another field trip, lead by Dr. Richard Schweickert (University of Nevada, Reno) studied "Natural Hazards around Lake Tahoe". More specifically, Dr. Schweickert presented his new research on tsunamis around Lake Tahoe. Finally, a third field trip, conducted by Alan Ramelli (University of Nevada, Reno) traveled along the "Carson Range Frontal Fault System."
The Saturday night banquet took place at Walley's Hot Springs, a great spa located right on the Carson Range Frontal Fault. The gazebo provided a perfect place to relax and enjoy the unusually warm temperatures outside. The food was wonderful as well (probably one of the best banquets I have been to). The banquet was followed by announcements from our sec- tion president, Gary Hayes, who presented the OEST award to Joan Hacken Carter of Branham High School in San Jose, California. Then, Winnie Kortemeier presented the traditional Brunton Compass Award to Deanna Kei- rstead.
The banquet was followed by a presentation on the "Geological Evolution of the Lake Tahoe Basin" by Dr. Richard Schweickert. Richard presented the results of his recent research on Sunday activities included two field trips and one workshop. One field trip, lead by Curtis Kortemeier of Carson High School, took participants around Carson City to explore faults and rock falls in Carson City. The other field trip, conducted by Forrest Hopson of Geological Information Services, went out to look for petrified wood and fossil fish around Hazen.
The conference was well attended considering conference numbers in the last few years. All feedback was very positive and enthusiastic.
Finally, I want to thank all of the people who made this successful conference possible.
Brigitte Dillet, conference organizer
SPRING 2003 FIELD CONFERENCE, MARCH 21, 22, 23 Chaffey College Geology Department, Rancho Cucamonga, California
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA
This spring conference was quite successful. Approximately 53 professionals and students attended the conference hosted by Chaffey College. Friday night featured a light supper of barbequed beef, potato salad, deviled eggs, and condiments prepared expertly by Gail Marlow Dickey. Many alumni took this time to visit old haunts on campus with the collection storage room as the highlight. Conference T-shirts featured a topo map of Pisgah; all were sold and some additional ones were special ordered. Marlin Dickey presented an impromptu discussion of the 1969 floods. After dinner we adjourned to a large lecture hall to hear Larry Monroe, Bureau of Land Management Geologist who discussed the Mojave Desert. His talk gave a clear picture of the complexity and riches of the Mojave Desert and included some mining stories. These stories were of special interest to the few Chaffey Earth science students that also attending his presentation.
Saturday started bright and early as we staged the late registrations and fieldtrip departures at the Ontario Airport Marriott. Marlin and I had a great time leading the trip to Pisgah. The dissected pyroclastic cone afforded the opportunity to see its internal structures. Many participants collected bombs and the lava tubes were especially interesting. Returning from Norman Meek’s trip to Afton Canyon, participants raved about the fantastic views of Lake Manix shorelines. The hike up to the upper shore shingle beach afforded a grand view of the down cutting that drained this lake. Thank you for putting together such a great trip for us at the last minute Norm. Dee Trent and Ted Reeves led a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. The geology and mining history were unfolded with a flare that only Dee has. Participant Bernie Pipkin also added to the enjoyment of all on that trip. Sally McGill led a fantastic trip to see the Landers Earthquake fractures and Blackhawk Landslide. Participants said the best part of the trip was seeing the outstanding examples of earthquake movement.
The Saturday banquet was an intimate gathering of 34 geologists, students, and other interested people. After a surprisingly good chicken dinner, outgoing president Gene Pearson said some inspirational words and discussed the goals of NAGT. He then introduced incoming president Garry Hayes. As Garry took office, he gave an unscripted but very well deserved tribute to his former teacher and mentor, Marlin Dickey. He credited Marlin’s Pisgah trip as a turning point in his college career. Garry’s sentiments were echoed by many other Chaffey alumni who fondly remember Marlin’s geology classes. The NAGT Brunton compass was presented to Zach Freeman, Chaffey’s recent transfer student to Cal State San Bernardino. Zach is a deserving and bright student. Our dinner speaker was Dr. Tanya Atwater who drove through horrendous traffic to join us. Thank you Tanya for braving the road between Santa Barbara and Ontario! The highlight of her presentation was the tantalizing new animations that are available on her web site. Tanya also has facilities to help any of us do our own animations; contact her via email at UC Santa Barbara.
Sunday started out just a bright but not quite as early. Two field trips departed that morning. Sally McGill continued to instruct us about fault features but these were a bit closer to home. The fault offset at the Bledsoe Gulch stop was particularly exciting. Jane Warger from Chaffey College led a trip to Mill Creek to collect rocks on Sunday. She was surprised at how many people wanted to go; this was Jane’s first experience with NAGT and she handled the trip like a seasoned veteran. If anyone left a box of schist and a hammer please contact me; we still have them.
Hosting this conference has been a great experience and I must say that it wouldn’t have gone so smoothly without the wonderful support of everyone at Chaffey. Gail Dickey helped in many ways including the final shirt design, Friday’s great supper, and last minute registrations. Jim Lowman sacrificed his sleep Saturday morning to help with registration. Marlin and I would like to thank everyone who helped and everyone who came.
Judy Ann Lowman, Conference Co-Director
FALL 2002 FIELD CONFERENCE, SEPTEMBER 20, 21, 22 California State University, Sacramento and U. S. Geological Survey
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
The Fall 2002, Far Western Section of NAGT was September 20-21 at California State University, Sacramento. The conference was co-hosted by the United States Geological Survey and the Geology Department. Thirty seven people attended the Conference.
The Conference began with a Friday night BBQ, along the American River. The California gold rush began when gold was discovered, in 1848, just a few miles up stream from our gathering. After dinner, Charlie Alpers delivered a fast paced talk on mercury contamination from historic gold mines in the Mother Lode of California.
Saturday morning participants chose between two field trips. A third trip to examine pollution in the Sacramento River Delta was cancelled because of very low conference attendance. One trip, led by Mike Hunerlach explored the legacy left by hydraulic mining in the Sierra Foothills north of Sacramento. Mike’s trip looked at hydraulic operations from the famous Malakoff Diggings to lesser known deposits near Dutch Flats. A highlight of this trip was panning mercury from the concentrate still found in an EPA “remediated” drainage tunnel.
Walt Swain led a field trip to various toxic waste remediation sites around the Sacramento urban area. He was able to gain access to a number of sites that most people can not visit. Probably the most famous (infamous ?) of the sites was the Aerojet property. At Aerojet rocket and jet engines were cleaned with solvents that were “disposed” of in unlined ponds. Remediation of the ground water and soil is a classic example of our modern techniques for cleaning this kind of environment.
The evening steak banquet at the CSUS student union had a number of highlights. Jeff Grover was the presenter for the Robert Wallace Webb award. The award is given periodically. The RWW award is named for one of the founders of the Far Western Section of NAGT who was a long time professor at UC Santa Barbara. The award was last given in 1998. This year the award went to Paul Bauer from Cuesta College. Paul is a Councilor-At-Large on the national executive committee of NAGT. He is a Past President of the Far Western Section and recently finished as the section Publications Officer. Jeff reviewed Paul’s qualifications for the award given for a “long record of sustained excellence of teaching and long record of exceptional service to the geological community”. Among other things, Paul hosted a very successful NAGT conference at Cuesta College. Congratulations Paul.
The after dinner speaker on Saturday night was John Izbicki. John reported on his work studying chrome, arsenic, and other contaminants in ground water systems in the Mojave Desert. Careful geochemical studies are helping USGS scientists distinguish between natural and anthropogenic contaminant sources.
Most everyone had gone home by Sunday morning so two workshops were cancelled and the remaining workshops were combined. The workshop participants learned how various measuring and sampling activities are conducted in the CSUS well field and in the American River.
The conference was very poorly attended but all present thought the program was interesting and went very well. I want to specifically thank Walt Swain of the USGS, who is responsible for the field guide book and the speakers program. Many others contributed to produce this conference and I thank them all.
Greg Wheeler, Conference Director
SPRING 2002 FIELD CONFERENCE, APRIL 5, 6, 7, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
The Spring 2002 NAGT-FWS conference was held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The last time UNLV hosted a section meeting was in the fall of 1986, and it was our pleasure to invite the section back to our campus and our region after this long hiatus.
The meeting began on Friday afternoon, April 5, with registration and an opportunity to explore the Department of Geoscience and the UNLV campus - an oasis of culture and intellectual inquiry in an erg of hedonistic distractions. Along with the city of Las Vegas, the UNLV campus and the Department of Geoscience have been growing rapidly. The department now has sixteen student-friendly faculty members, several of whom served as field trip leaders for the conference. We've significantly ratcheted up our instrumentation and research profile over the past few years, having added, among other state-of-the-science facilities, an 40Ar/39Ar geochronology lab. We offer B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in geology, and we're located in one of the most geologically interesting regions of North America; a wide range of accessible rocks is exposed right in our backyard. And we don't have any of that messy Franciscan mélange to confuse our students. Send us your best and brightest!
Some of the conference participants joined some of the UNLV students and faculty in our bi-monthly, Friday afternoon beer-on-the-balcony. One conference participant was overheard to say "Beer on campus!….Now I know I'm not in California." The evening ended with an outdoor buffet of barbecued chicken and ribs in a grove of trees on campus. It was a cool, delightful evening of schmoozing with old friends and meeting new ones.
On Saturday participants chose from among four all-day field trips, all of which were led by UNLV faculty members. The most popular trip, led by Russell Shapiro, was focused on the geology and paleontology of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in the southern Death Valley region. Gene Smith led a trip that examined the volcanic geology of Southern Nevada, and I led a trip in which the participants explored the Frenchman Mountain-Rainbow Gardens area east of Las Vegas. The fourth Saturday trip departed from the traditional format of professional-meeting field trips. Rather than the leader revealing the geologic history of the area, on this trip the participants collectively reconstructed the complex geologic history of the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona. This inquiry trip was led by UNLV faculty members Rod Metcalf and Andrew Hanson, along with Randy Reed of Shasta College (a UNLV alumnus).
The traditional conference banquet followed on Saturday evening in the UNLV College of Hotel Administration. Next to Geology (of course), Hotel Administration is one of the high profile programs at UNLV. Eager-to-please hotel students served as bartenders, chefs, and waiters. Exercising the conference organizer's prerogative (and having a captive audience), I delivered the after-dinner talk, which was titled "Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, and Pleistocene Ground Sloths of Nevada." Although Barney Pipkin is reported to have dosed off during the talk, at least some of the untenured faculty in my department who were in attendance assured me that most of the audience stayed awake and that they were held spellbound by my gripping account of Nevada's fossil record of Pleistocene sloth bones and tracks, and the surprising connections between these fossils and Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain.
On Sunday there were three half-day field trips. UNLV Ph.D. candidate John Van Hoesen led a trip into the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area on the west side of Las Vegas. Russell Shapiro and I led a fossil-collecting trip. On this trip we first visited an exposure of Lower Cambrian Bright Angel Shale at Frenchman Mountain where we collected trilobites; we also visited a Pennsylvanian locality along I-15 northeast of Las Vegas where we collected corals, brachiopods, crinoids, and fusulinids. Directions to these sites are provided in the Field Trip Guidebook. The third option on Sunday was a breakfast cruise on Lake Mead, led by Rik Orndorff. This trip was especially designed for the less ambitious participants who were seduced into partaking in some of Las Vegas's famous diversions the night before.
Forty-nine people attended the conference. The field trip guidebook, Geology of the Southern Nevada Region, will be available for purchase from the Far West Section while supplies last. I am sincerely grateful to my co-organizer Rik Orndorff for compiling and editing the guidebook on a very short time schedule, to Michelle Baker for handling all of the administrative details, to all of the field trip leaders, and to Gene Pearson, Brigitte Dillet, and the rest of the NAGT-FWS Board for their sound advice and encouragement.
Stephen M. Rowland
FALL 2001 FIELD CONFERENCE, September 14-16, U.S. Geological Survey and San José State University.
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA
The September 14 to 16 conference was jointly hosted by the United States Geological Survey and the Geology Department at San José State University. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Co-coordinators Leslie Gordon and Phil Stoffer (United States Geological Survey) and Deborah Harden (San José State University) the conference was highly successful. The tragic events of September 11 provided many challenges for the coordinators. After discussing many possibilities it was decided to hold the conference as scheduled. All registered participants were contacted by email or telephone. New speakers were secured because scheduled speakers were unable to secure flights to San Francisco. Although a few registrants chose not to attend, over 130 individuals did participate and found the conference provided some stability at the end of a traumatic week.
The conference began Friday afternoon and participants visited the United States Geological Survey displays, laboratories, and map sales areas. A successful “rock, mineral and fossil swap” was conducted with many specimens exchanged. After an excellent Italian-themed dinner, Robert Christiansen from the United States Geological Survey gave an excellent presentation on “The Greater Yellowstone Geoecosystem”.
On Saturday participants could chose from among four all-day field trips. Russ Graymer (United States Geological Survey) led a trip to the “East Bay” with stops to view recent landslides in Fremont, offsets along the Hayward Fault in Hayward and other geological features in the Berkeley Hills. Gerald Weber (University of California, Santa Cruz), Alan Allwardt (Consultant) and Marjorie Schulz (United States Geological Survey) led participants to Santa Cruz to study elevated terraces and discuss methods of dating terrace deposits and then north along the coast to Ano Nuevo State Preserve to analyze sediments and fault features exposed in the sea cliffs. William Elder (National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area) led participants to the geology of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area stopping at exposures of the Franciscan melange and younger sediments within the area. The fourth trip was led by Andrei Sarna-Wojcicki (United States Geological Survey), David Andersen and Richard Sedlock (San José State University). The participants studied coastal processes and geologic hazards along the coast from Half Moon Bay to Fort Funston.
After a gourmet Chinese buffet dinner participants viewed an excellent slide presentation on “Satellite Imagery of Faults, Fold Belts and Volcanoes: A global sampling” by Michael Rymer of the United States Geological Survey.
The conference concluded on Sunday with three more field experiences and two workshops. Some participants chose to tour the R/V Polaris and the USGS Marine Facility at the Port of Redwood City with Cynthia Brown, Francis Parchaso, Tara Schraga and Mary McGann of the United States Geological Survey. Others studied the Calaveras and San Andreas faults in the vicinity of Hollister, California with Deborah Harden (San José State University), Heidi Stenner (United States Geological Survey) and Imogene Blatz (Saratoga, CA). John Williams (San José State University) led a trip studying the engineering geology and natural hazards on the San Francisco Peninsula. In addition to the field trips, two workshops were held at the United States Geological Survey. Ellen Metzger (San José State University) and Rick Carreiro (BAESI lead teacher) led a workshop on the “Best of BAESI ~ the Bay Area Earth Science Institute” and John Vogel (United States Geological Survey) led a workshop titled “GIS in the classroom, using USGS digital data”.
The field trip guidebook for the conference was jointly published with the USGS as Geology and Natural History of the San Francisco Bay Area, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2188. In addition to the 6 field trip guides and road logs, the volume includes invited articles about the natural history of the Bay Area. Full-color, comb-bound, paper copies of the guidebook can be purchased from NAGT-FWS Publications http://geosun.sjsu.edu/NAGT/publications.html.
Electronic copies of the guidebook are available online at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/bulletin/b2188/.
SPRING 2001 FIELD CONFERENCE, April 20-22, POMONA COLLEGE. CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA A small but hardy group of meeting participants (fifty-two pre-meeting registrants) braved a very late winter storm to attend the spring meeting at Pomona College. Note to future meeting organizers - don't assume the weather will be good in late April and don't try and compete with a Cordilleran GSA meeting! The meeting started on Friday evening with a fascinating talk by Ann Blythe (USC) on "The Structural and Topographic Evolution of the San Gabriel and San Benardino Mountains". Ann's talk set the scene for our field trips into the San Gabriels and gave us plenty of geological data to mull over as we spent the weekend getting to know the fastest growing mountains in the US! On Saturday Rick Hazlett (Pomona College) led a trip through Cajon Pass to explore the San Andreas Fault. The snow thwarted exploration much past Wrightwood but I am assured by those that went on the trip that they were still treated to some spectacular field sites. Dee Trent (Emeritus, Citrus College) and Jon Nourse (Cal Poly, Pomona) took a large group to look at the hydrology, faults, geology and mining history of Upper San Antonio Canyon. The inclement weather meant that we couldn't make the scheduled ski-lift trip to the upper reaches of Mt. San Antonio but the experience of getting snowed on in the morning and basking in the sunshine during the afternoon almost made up for this. The views were spectacular and Jon and Dee's insight into the complex geology and mining history of the area were appreciated by all. Larry Herber (Cal Poly, Pomona) managed to avoid the weather problems with his trip that focussed on the Front Range of the San Gabriels and included visits to ancient landslides and fault outcrops. The Saturday evening banquet was held at the Claremont Inn. Ron Blom (JPL) gave an excellent talk on "Routes in the Southern Arabian Peninsular" and told us about how space science has helped him and his colleagues to track down the lost city of Ubar in Yemen. He had some spectacular slides from that country and, as if all that wasn't enough, gave away samples of frankincense! Our scheduled Sunday morning ride on the Mt Baldy ski lift, which was to be followed by a hike to the summit, was another casualty of the weather. Instead, Dee Trent and Rick Hazlett led a trip into Icehouse Canyon to look at metamorphic petrology and study some of the more recent processes at work in the canyon. Amazingly, Dee managed to get this trip into the guidebook prior to publication so if you purchase the guidebook you get a bonus field trip! Also on Sunday morning Don Lofgren, Director the Raymond M. Alf Paleontological Museum, gave a tour of the museum. The tour included a behind the scenes look at the paleontological work that high school students carry out at the museum, that is housed in the Webb School in Claremont. This museum is an absolute gem and houses one of the best fossil trackways exhibits in the country. Unfortunately the Research in the Undergraduate Curriculum workshop that was to be led by Linda Reinen and Eric Grosfils (Pomona College) was not held because of last minute registrant cancellations. I am extremely grateful to Dee Trent and Rick Hazlett, who put together the field trip guidebook and to all the field trip leaders. I also have to give a very special thank you to Matthew Campbell and Lori Keala, the Pomona College Geology Department technician and secretary who put in a tremendous amount of time and effort into making the meeting a success. K. Sian Davies-Vollum
FALL 2000 FIELD CONFERENCE, SEPT. 8-10, FEATHER RIVER INN, BLAIRSDEN, CALIFORNIA These conference reports probably should be written by someone other than the
conference organizer, since they tend to convey the notion that the conference was
perfect in every way. From the point of view of the organizer, of course, the conference
was a huge success as long as no disaster occurred. So I guess the 2000 Fall Conference
was a great success! There were several barely averted disasters: bulk mailing of the
registration materials delayed their delivery by several weeks; the Storrie forest fire
burned to the edge of Jason Mayfield's field trip in the Feather River Canyon; it rained all
day on Sept. 1, one week before the conference was to start ("it never rains here in
September"); and the field guides were delivered on Sept. 5, only 3 days before the
conference began. Well, you guessed it: 124 registration forms were returned in time for
the conference, exhausting available housing at the Feather River Inn; the Storrie fire was
declared officially out the evening before the conference started; the weather was fine
throughout the conference; and 124 field guides were distributed to receptive field trip
participants.
The historic Feather River Inn proved to be the perfect venue for a rniddle-size FWS
conference, with beautiful grounds, accommodating staff: great food, and rustic, 1915-era
cabins. Registration, efficiently handled by Della Brooks, preceded an outdoor BBQ
Friday evening, after which the leaders of the seven field trips illustrated trip high lights.
This series of brief presentations took place in the Dance Hall, thoroughly decorated by
maps and volunteered posters, and housing displays and publication sales by the
California Division ofMines & Geology (CDMG; Lena Dida, Christy Hunter), the USGS
(Leslie Gordon), the FWS (Paul Bauer), and Modesto JC (Paul Troop).
Saturday morning saw field trips leaving for the Quincy-Lake Almanor area
(neotectonics of the Sierra Nevada-Basin and Range boundary, led by John Wakabayashi
and Tom Sawyer); the Red Clover Creek- Thompson Peak area (age and origin of the
Lovejoy Basalt, led by Dave Wagner, George Saucedo, and Trobe Grose); the Big Bear
Lake-Silver Lake area (mafic Devonian island-arc deposits, led by Woody Brooks); and
the Jamison Lake- Wades Lake area (silicic Devonian island-arc deposits, led by Steve
Silva). About 115 persons participated in these trips; a smaller number repeated the
exodus from the Feather River Inn Sunday morning, participating in field trips to the
Round Lake area (Cretaceous tonalite stock and dike swarm, led by John Lull); the North
Fork Feather River (Feather River peridotite, led by Jason Mayfield); and the Verdi
Range (mafic Jurassic island-arc deposits, led by Bruce Pauly). Without exception, the
field trips received glowing reports, and these ten trip leaders, responsible for the corpus
of this conference, are to be congratulated. Also to be thanked are the many volunteer
drivers, and Cal State Hayward, the conference host, for providing a half dozen vehicles
and student drivers.
No FWS conference can claim to be complete without the gala Saturday night banquet
and speaker. Despite his roasting by Woody Brooks, we were most fortunate to have
Prof. Eldridge Moores treat us to an animated, wide-ranging presentation on the tectonic
development of the Pacific margins of the three Americas. Brian Dreyer was presented
with a Brunton compass as Cal State Hayward's outstanding geology student.
I am most grateful to those at the CDMG who made possible preparation and
distribution to field trip participants of the richly illustrated field guides and companion
papers, especially Gary Taylor, Lena Dida, and Peggy Walker. If you don't have a copy,
look for CDMG Special Publication 122, "Field guide to the geology and tectonics of the
northern Sierra Nevada". Paul Bauer, Cuesta College, has 30 copies for sale to NAGT
members at $30 each.
Finally, I must praise Phil Garbutt and Diane Williams, staff members in the Cal State
Hayward Geological Sciences Department, and my wife, Della Brooks, for exemplary
contributions to organization and conduct of the conference
Spring 2000 Conference - California State University Northridge
The NAGT-FWS Spring 2000 Field Conference "The Incredible Cenozoic Geologic History of Southern California" was hosted by the Department of Geological Sciences at California State University, Northridge, April 14-16. Among the 259 total participants were 75 students, 34 K-12 teachers, and 80 college faculty.
Activities got underway on Friday night with attitude adjustment and exhibits from the Dibblee Geological Foundation (Helmut Ehrenspeck), the Jet Propulsion Lab (Rich Alvidrez), the Southern California Earthquake Center (John Marquis and Katrina Hafner), the California Division of Mines and Geology (Ted Smith), the National Science Foundation (Dottie Stout), and the NAGT-FWS (Paul Bauer).
After a light dinner of hors d'oeuvres prepared by the CSUN University Club, Dr. Kerry Sieh from Cal Tech presented a talk titled "The Growing Role of Geologists in Mitigating Earthquake Hazards". Dr. Sieh showed spectacular photographs from recent earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan that emphasized the need for geologists to educate public and private entities about earthquake hazards. Dr. Sieh cited a positive example from San Bernardino's Valley College where he headed a team of geologists who excavated trenches, located active strands of the San Jacinto Fault, and estimated the earthquake hazard. Their report convinced school officials to develop plans for replacing buildings on active fault traces with open space, and locating new buildings away from the faults to minimize potential damage.
After the traditional pre-trip gourmet breakfast, participants then boarded busses and vans for Saturday field trips. Doug Yule led a field trip that traversed this famous plate boundary from Palmdale to the Cajon Pass. The primary focus of this field trip was to visit the trench sites at Pallett Creek and Wrightwood in the center of this segment. Other stops included visits to the 1941 landslide escarpment at Wrightwood, earthquake-damaged trees near Wrightwood, and alluvial fans beheaded by Cajon Creek.
Gene Fritsche and Karen Savage led a field trip which examined 80 million years of deposition and tectonism including: submarine-fan deposition in a basin along the western margin of the North American plate; uplift and basin filling with shallow-marine and non marine sediments; interaction with the Pacific plate, producing stretching and clockwise rotation of the crust, deposition of deepening marine sediments interbedded with volcanics; and finally deformation and uplift of the Santa Monica Mountains as the rotating crust was squeezed against segments to the north, creating abundant folds and faults.
Ali Tabidian and Dick Squires led a field trip which explored the complexity of environmental issues concerning the water resources of southern California, with visits to several major water facilities in the Simi and San Fernando Valleys, including wastewater treatment and drinking water filtration plants, spreading grounds and artificial recharge activities, well fields, groundwater-reservoir remediation stripping towers, and water blending facilities.
The Saturday evening banquet was held at the AirTel Plaza Hotel a few miles from the campus. Ted Reeves, Chaffey HS, was presented with the FWS OEST Award and Kathryn van Roosendahl was presented with a FWS Brunton compass as Cal State Northridge's outstanding geology student. The video "Geology Goes Hollywood", a wonderful look at geology through the movie lens, produced by Dottie Stout and her daughter Deborah Steller was accorded enthusiastic reviews.
The featured speaker, Dr. Tanya Atwater from UC Santa Barbara, gave a multi-media presentation, "Sliding and Spinning - How Our Plates Have Moved over the Past 30 Million Years". With slides and computer animations, Dr. Atwater described the recent plate tectonic history of Southern California and, especially, the evolution of the San Andreas fault system. She showed how many of our favorite rocks and landscapes formed as a result of this rich tectonic history and described the modification of these landscapes by Ice-Age sea-level and climate fluctuations. Finally, Dr. Atwater previewed an ongoing multi-media project designed to bring local geological information and excitement into area schools.
Sunday morning Peter Weigand and Karen Savage led a field trip that examined the varied geology between the San Fernando Valley and Palmdale on Highway 14, with stops at renowned Vasquez Rocks and the San Andreas itself and a return through Soledad Canyon. Rock types observed included marine and terrestrial sedimentary and both extrusive and intrusive igneous with ages ranging from Precambrian to Pleistocene. Geologic structures observed included reverse, normal, and strike-slip faults, anticlines, and synclines; and the San Andreas fault.
Jon Sloan led a field trip aboard the 76-foot-long Research Vessel Yellowfin operated by the Southern California Marine Institute. Participants sampled the substrate and organisms of a submerged Pleistocene beach located in the San Pedro Channel using several different types of oceanographic gear. They also observed the latest in GPS navigational aids in use aboard the R/V Yellowfin.
Vicki Pedone and Gerry Simila were the presenters at "Hands-on Earth Science: Get Down and Dirty!", a workshop designed to give participants classroom material and experience with exercises designed to ignite and engage student interest in Earth Science. Participants used clay and foam board models and squeeze boxes to illustrate extension, compression, shear, transtension, and transpression.. Participants also used web-based exercises to investigate several aspects of seismology, such as recurrence interval and location of epicenters, and to determine plate motions using GPS measurements.
The weekend was a great success. This Conference was truly a group effort; besides the exhibitors, presenters, leaders of the activities and field trips, and folks who fed us, I would like to thank the Geology students and Department office staff who helped in a wide variety of ways, Rodger MacGowen of the Office of Academic Technology who created many guidebook figures, and workers at the University copy service, QuickCopy, for all their efforts. The NAGT Far Western Section's 1999 fall field conference was held on September 17th through 19th at the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, California. Fifty-nine geoscience professionals, students, and guests participated in field trips and attended oral presentations during the two-day event.
The group gathered Friday evening at the student center to enjoy a barbecue dinner prepared by Dan Catanio and the Northwest Food Service staff. After dinner, Juan de la Fuente spoke about the Whitney Creek debris flow of August 1997. Using a combination of overheads and a striking video with aerial and ground-based photography, Juan discussed the initiation of the flow and its transport and subsequent deposition of rock and mud atop the Whitney Creek alluvial fan. For those who had never seen a debris now "in action" -- carrying boulders the size of small cars at 5 meters per second as though they were chunks of driftwood -- the video was spellbinding. The section’s management meeting followed Juan's presentation and concluded the evening.
On Saturday morning, participants again gathered at the student center for a light breakfast and then boarded vans for one of the two field trips. The first, led by Tim Wallin, drove west into the Klamath Mountains to study the remains of an ancient intraoceanic convergent margin preserved in the rocks of the Yreka and Trinity terranes. Tim's presentation summarized the results of studies that he and his co-workers from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas have carried out in the Klamaths during the past decade. His interpretation of this geologically complex region prompted lots of spirited discussion on the outcrops.
The second group, led by Bill Hirt, drove east to examine volcanic and glacial Features on and around Mount Shasta. The morning’s stops afforded participants opportunities to explore ancient debris avalanche deposit and basaltic flows and cone that predate the modem stratovolcano. From a vantage point on the Whaleback, Bob Christiansen pointed out the Rainbow Mountain volcanic center east of Mount Shasta. Between 0.8 and 1.1Ma, he explained, a stratocone comparable to Mount Shasta grew where only a hilly upland remains today. The ancient cone has been recognized, in part, because of the distribution of U-shaped valleys that were carved by the glaciers that once mantled its slopes. In the afternoon, the party drove across Mount Shasta's eastern and southern flanks to examine the lava and pyroclastic flow deposits that have built the mountain during four distinct eruptive episodes.
The Saturday evening banquet was held at the Mount Shasta Resort in Mount Shasta City. Priscilla Dawson, whose late husband Paul taught geology at College of the Siskiyous for nearly 25 years and received the Robert W. Webb award in 1984, shared the evening with some of the many friends she and Paul had made in the section. Lit Lipski was honored as the College's outstanding geology student, and awarded a Brunton transit that she has since had engraved to commemorate the occasion. Bob Christiansen, who has studied Mount Shasta in collaboration with Dan Miller and other colleagues from the USGS for twenty-five years, closed the evening with an outstanding presentation covering the geologic setting, eruptive history, and potential hazards of this massive Cascade peak.
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
On Sunday morning, participants again gathered for breakfast and then bearded vans for one of two final field trips. The first group led by Sue Cashman and Don Elder, drove west into the Klamath Mountains to examine the La Grange detachment fault. Stops on this field trip afforded participants opportunities to study typical rocks from the fault's upper and lower plates, as well as to examine the trace of the Fault and the overlying epithermallv-altered rocks where they are exposed in the adit of the Richter Mine. The second group, led by Juan de la Fuente, traveled up onto the northern side of Mount Shasta to study the features produced by the Whitney Creek flow of August 1997. Juan's first stop gave participants an opportunity to examine the two-meter thick deposit produced where the flow surged across Highway 97. The party then drove to the Bolam Creek trailhead and hiked up to view the upper part of the Whitney Creek Canyon. Here, just below Whitney Falls, the flow had deepened the channel and excavated some of the material seen deposited on the alluvial fan below. The conference ended early Sunday afternoon as the field trip groups returned to the College and participants headed home.
To everyone who participated in the conference, especially those made presentations, led field trips, or drove vans, I want to express my gratitude for making the weekend such an informative and enjoyable experience.
Bill Hirt
Weed, California
SPRING 1999 CONFERENCE--DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
One hundred geoscience instructors and friends attended the NAGT Spring, 1999 field conference held at the Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, eastern California. The conference was hosted by Gerald Licari, and John Grimmer from the Geology Department at East Los Angeles College. Joan Licari, from the Earth Science Department at Cerritos College, Norwalk California was enlisted in field trip development and leadership and preparation of the field guide. Nan Gehring (sales manager) and Amy Mulcaly (catering) of Furnace Creek Ranch did an outstanding job, made more difficult by changing weather conditions that required last minute changes in plans.
Activities began Friday, March 19, 1999 with check-in and a slide presentation by Gerald Licari, on the Lower Cambrian Proterozoic in the Death Valley region, an extension of his doctoral project in which investigated the biogeology of the Mesoproterozoic Beck Spring Dolomite. The presentation was held in the date orchard under the towering palms and a star-studded sky. The scheduled location of the Friday night lecture, the National Park auditorium, had to be abandoned due to a power failure.
Three field trips were held on Saturday, March 20th. The Paleozoic-Precambrian transition field trip, led by Bennie Troxel and Gerald Licari, visited Lower Cambrian sites in the Nopah Range. Participants observed stratigraphy, sedimentary structures and collected vertical worm Lubes, Scolithus. The county grader had recently plowed the shales of the Olenellus zone in Emigrant Pass, and most participants collected trilobite cephalons. At least one whole trilobite was found.
In the west end of the Nopah Range, stromatolites and horizontal burrows were observed in the lowest member of the Neoproterozoic Johnnie Formation. These metazoan trace fossils are probably the oldest in the Proterozoic. Bennie Troxel described the unexplained hill-sized mounds and vertical tubes in the laminated dolomicrite of the Noonday Dolomite, stratigraphically below the Johnnie Formation.
The field trip ended at the Beck Iron Mine in Beck Canyon where the Pahrump Group was first described. Participants collected magnetite samples for laboratory use.
A second field trip to study the classical localities in the central part of Death Valley was led by Joan Licari. Emphasis was on the geomorphology and structures of the region. This trip was particularly designed for those who had never visited Death Valley or those wishing to rekindle memories after a long absence. Participants visited Mosaic Canyon, Mesquite Dunes and Salt Creek Hills during the morning. Desert pupfish were numerous in Salt Creek and wind erosion was experienced, first-hand, at the dunes as winds began to blow and clouds gathered to the west over the Panamint Range. In the afternoon, discussions included faults, structure and stratigraphy in the areas extending from Zabriskie Point, south to Mormon Point.
Economic activities in the Death Valley region were the focus of a third trip led by John Grimmer. This trip, as originally planned, was to visit the Bull Frog Mine at Beatty. However, this operation closed during the summer prior to the field conference. Benjamin Licari, development manager at the Briggs Mine near Ballarat, volunteered to show off this modern leach heap gold mine in Panamint Valley. Participants were treated to a detailed examination of the quarry led by the Briggs chief geologist, including a well exposed detachment fault in the quarry wall.
Benjamin Licari, a member of the State Mining and Geology Board, led a lengthy question and answer presentation that described mine operations and environmental concerns of Canyon Resources, corporate owner of the mine. Participants were also treated to a massive explosion, freeing ore in the quarry. The field trip then continued from Panamint Valley across to the eastside of Death Valley, under the leadership of John Grimmer.
The banquet Saturday evening was to be a barbecue under the stars in the date orchard. However, because of high winds during the afternoon, the banquet was rescheduled indoors at a later time that evening. We were fortunate that Bennie Troxel, -co-leader on the field trip to the Nopah and Kingston Ranges, was available as the featured speaker Saturday night.
By the time Troxel was to speak, the winds had abated. Conference participants, sitting on tables and benches in the date orchard, were treated to a discussion of the history of thought and research on the geology of the Death Valley region. Troxel described the interplay of men and ideas that gave rise to the present, but still evolving, view of Death Valley geology. Bennie Troxel began his geologic career working under Lauren Wright for the California Division of Mines--a collaboration that has lasted for over forty years.
Three earth science/geology majors from East Los Angeles College, Angel Hernandez, Adrianna Gonzales, and Derick Fernando, were indispensable in assembling the field packets, preparing handouts, and registering participants. Derick Fernando was awarded the Brunton Compass as the outstanding geology student at East Los Angeles College. He is transferring to Harvey Mudd College in Fall of 1999.
- Gerald Licari
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