Field Trips

An important part of an education in geology is spending time in the field to gain a better understanding of both modern and ancient examples of the geologic concepts we learn about in the classroom and through research. Dr. Grammer has several field trips he tries to take students and industry geologists on every couple of years. Below are some photos albums from field trips and fieldwork.

Utah/Southwest Trip

The southwest is known for having beautiful scenery and it’s a great place to study ancient sedimentary rocks. For this field trip, the group was based in Bluff, Utah with easy access to both national and state parks in the region including Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Goosenecks State Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Monument Valley. One highlight of this trip was spending the day hiking into the Raplee Anticline near Mexican Hat, UT and looking at the facies and sequence stratigraphic hierarchy exposed by the San Juan River cutting through the rock. After hiking into the anticline, the group rafted down the San Juan River to get a big picture view of the structure and the surrounding stratigraphy.

Lectures along the San Juan River

Group picture at Arches National Park

Hiking to Delicate Arch

Dead Horse Point State Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Looking at phylloid algal mounds along the San Juan River

Stopping along the river during our rafting trip

Hiking into the Raplee Anticline

Using the Gigapan to take high resolution images of Goosenecks State Park

Goosenecks State Park

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Bahamas

The Bahamas provide accessible and diverse modern analogs of carbonate depositional environments. For the trip, the group was based on a boat and traveled to locations around Great Bahama Bank for a week. Stops included ooid sand shoals, reefs, tidal flats, karst features, and carbonate sand dunes.

Standing on top of an ooid sand shoal

Home for the field trip

Exploring shallow environments on smaller boats

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Taking cores from modern tidal flats

Taking cores from modern tidal flats

Taking cores from modern tidal flats

Taking cores from modern tidal flats

Looking at karst features on the island

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Sand ripples visible during low tide

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Guadalupe Mountains

 

The Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas are an amazing example of ancient Permian Reefs and the surrounding depositional environments. For this field trip the group was based in Carlsbad, NM and spent time stopping at outcrops around the main mountain range as well as hiked the Permian Reef Trail.

 

Looking at the Guadalupe Mountain Range

Teepee structures in the intertidal to supratidal facies of the Yates Formation

Views of McKittrick Canyon from the Permian Reef Trail

El Capitan at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Viewing the full mountain range from the salt flats

Stops along the Permian Reef Trail

Enjoying the view from the Reef Trail

Student lectures in the field

Teepee structures outside of Carlsbad Caverns

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Arkansas/Missouri

 

Many of the theses in Dr. Grammer’s group in recent years have focused on the Mississippian Limestone, which can be found throughout the Mid-Continent. Both subsurface and outcrop studies have lead to fieldwork in the Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma tri-state region.

 

Mississippian Outcrops

New road cuts expose tripolite

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