Field Trips
Pre-Meeting
Emerald Crystal Pockets of the Hiddenite District, Alexander Co., NC
Ed Speer (ed@SpeerHammocks.com).
9 April 2008. One day.
Transportation, Continental breakfast, lunch and refreshments included.
40 participant maximum. $99.
Join us for a unique opportunity to visit the only operating emerald mine in the US and NC’s premiere gem locality: the world-famous Hiddenite District. The type locality for hiddenite (discovered 1879), this district has also produced North America’s 20 largest emeralds—we’ll be visiting the site of 15 of those emeralds, including the largest: a 1,869 carat crystal found in 2003! A new 5-acre, 50-ft deep pit on the North American Emerald Mines property offers exposures never before seen in the district. Emeralds occur in open pockets in late- to post-metamorphic Alpine-type quartz veins. Pockets range from <1 to >200 ft3 and are often 2/3 filled with breakdown crystal breccia. Migmatitic(?) biotite gneiss host rocks are derived from Cambrian(?) meta-siltstones that have undergone multiple continental-collision deformations. Geology, mineralogy, tectonics and mining history will be covered. No emeralds will be on display. Collecting in pit allowed. Participants must provide their own hard hat and sturdy boots.
Pre-Meeting
Inner Piedmont Geo-traverse from the Brushy Mountains to Lincolnton, North Carolina: Architecture of the Cat Square and Tugaloo Terranes
Robert D. Hatcher, Jr. (bobmap@utk.edu), UT - Knoxville; Arthur J. Merschat, William G. Gilliam, Heather E. Byars.
7-9 April 2008. Two days, two nights.
Transportation, two nights lodging, two lunches, and two breakfasts are included in the field trip fee.
35 participant maximum. $185.
The field trip will depart from Charlotte on 7 April and return to Charlotte on 9 April.
The objective of this field trip is to examine the key elements—boundaries, plutonism, metamorphism, and deformation—of the Cat Square terrane in a NW to SE traverse across the NC Inner Piedmont. We will compare the lithostratigraphy of the Tugaloo and Cat Square terranes, examine rocks of the Brindle Creek fault zone, evidence of the close temporal relationship of Devonian plutonism and metamorphism in the IP, and the significance of the Newton window in the eastern Inner Piedmont. Day 1 will begin near Lenoir in the western Inner Piedmont to examine Tugaloo terrane rocks, followed by a traverse across the Brindle Creek fault zone into the Cat Square terrane. We will then move SE into the Cat Square terrane to examine several internal components, then return to Morganton. Day 2 will focus on Cat Square and Tugaloo terrane rocks, and the Brindle Creek fault framing the Newton window. Exposures will include the Brindle Creek fault, the Vale charnockite xenolith in Walker Top Granite, and Tugaloo terrane rocks inside the Newton window. Transportation, two nights lodging, two lunches, and two breakfasts are included in the field trip fee. Limited to 35 participants.
Pre-Meeting
The heart of Carolinia: Stratigraphic and Tectonic Studies in the Carolina Terrane of Central North Carolina
James Hibbard (jim_hibbard@ncsu.edu), NC State University; Jeff Pollock, Matt Brennan, and John Allen.
7-9 April 2008. Two days, two nights.
Transportation, two nights lodging (M,Tu), two continental breakfasts, two lunches, morning and afternoon snacks, and a wine tasting included.
20 participants maximum. $197.
Download the field trip guide (PDF, 212 mb)
Participants will visit the Carolina terrane in central North Carolina - the heart of Carolinia, an amalgamation of peri-Gondwanan terranes along the east flank of the southern Appalachians. The trip will address two timely concerns - the stratigraphy and the tectonics of the Carolina terrane. Day 1 stops will focus on recent stratigraphic and structural controversies within the Albemarle Group; it will include stops at i) a new Ediacaran fauna locale, ii) along northerly segments of the Gold Hill fault zone, and iii) at igneous rocks related to the rifting of Carolinia from Gondwana. Day 2 stops will concentrate on central and southerly segments of the Gold Hill fault zone and the nature of rocks to the west of the fault zone.
Pre-Meeting
Floodplain Geomorphology and Depositional Environments of Congaree National ParkDavid C. Shelley (David_Shelley@nps.gov), Congaree National Park; Dr. Art Cohen, Bradley Johnson.
9 April 2008. One day.
Participants will be responsible for their own food and water.
14 participants maximum. $49.
Congaree National Park (www.nps.gov/cong) encompasses a spectacularly-preserved mosaic of Late Quaternary floodplain deposits that are home to the largest, last, and best preserved example of old-growth bottomland forest in the Southeast. This field trip will focus on features and environments in the northern Congaree River Floodplain, with an emphasis on interrelationships between geology, hydrology, and forest ecology. The morning will involve a canoe tour of Cedar Creek, a major floodplain tributary and South Carolina’s only stretch of Outstanding National Resource Waters. The afternoon will start as a hiking / hand auger tour of Holocene peat and muck deposits of a groundwater rimswamp, with detailed pollen, stratigraphic, and petrographic data available for discussion. Participants will then hike ~1.5 miles to examine a subtle but stratigraphically and ecologically distinct (Holocene?) alluvial fan. Participants will be responsible for their own food and water, including a sack lunch and fast food dinner. There are no concessions at or near the park, but the vans will stop on the way to and from the park. Participants should bring insect repellent, a change of clothes, wear shoes that attach to your feet (no flip-flops), and be prepared for wet, muddy conditions hiking in the rimswamp.
Post-Meeting
Depositional Environments from the Newport River to Cape Lookout, North Carolina
Antonio B. Rodriguez (abrodrig@email.unc.edu), Institute of Marine Sciences, UNC – Chapel Hill; Brent A. McKee, C. Robin Mattheus.
12-13 April 2008. Two nights, three days.
Transportation, lodging, and food included.
15 participants maximum. $325.
On this trip, participants will visit the fluvial, deltaic, estuarine, barrier-island, and tidal-delta depositional environments around Carteret County, North Carolina. Stops are arranged along depositional dip. Day 1 begins with a float down the Newport River where the participants will tour a typical coastal-plain fluvial system and view morphologic and sedimentologic changes in the floodplain, bay-head delta, and estuary. On day 2, participants will travel to Core Banks to explore a transgressive barrier, Cape Lookout to observe and discuss a shoal that extends across the continental shelf, and Shackleford Banks to hike across a high-elevation dune field. If inclement weather strikes, participants will explore Bogue Banks on day 2, including Bogue inlet and tidal-delta complex, prominent ridge and swale topography at Pine Knoll Shores and Emerald Isle, and the narrow parts of the barrier at Indian Beach and Salter Path.
Post-Meeting
This field trip is available to both meeting participants and guests.
Wine Country North Carolina: Vineyards, Soils, and Climate
John Chadwick (djchadwi@uncc.edu),
and Missy Eppes, UNC Charlotte.
12 April 2008. One day.
A bag lunch and vineyard restaurant dinner are included.
20 participants maximum. $107.
On this trip, participants will visit the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina, an important wine-producing area of the region. Participants will tour and sample the wines of several vineyards and wineries, and hear short lectures from wine growers and geoscientists about the soils and climate that create the perfect grapes. A bag lunch and vineyard restaurant dinner is included. This is an ‘accompanying persons’ field trip, but is open to all GSA participants.
Educator Workshop
Post-Meeting
Teaching Evolution Using State Standards
Co-sponsored by Southeastern Section of the Paleontological Society and Southeastern Section of National Association of Geoscience Teachers.
Michael A. Gibson (mgibson@utm.edu) and Lionel Crews, UT - Martin, Ann Holmes, UT - Chattanooga.
12 April 2008. One day.
Evolution is generally taught as a biology topic in K-12 programs and most college level pre-service teachers only get the genetic “microevolution” side of evolution. But the pervasiveness of evolution is one of the most fundamental concepts that span all sciences! Evolution is change and change occurs on all scales of space and time, thus all sciences are fundamentally about change. Why is evolution only taught as a biological phenomenon when it cuts across sciences and is also a major part of history, sociology, psychology, etc.? The Teaching Evolution Workshop treats evolution from the broader science perspective by providing interdisciplinary scientific breadth on content basics and newest trends in geological, cosmic, and organic evolution. The format consists of a combination of lectures, hands-on resources, tested activities, and useful classroom teaching tips.