Field Experiences in Geology - University of Kentucky, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Field Experiences in Earth and Environmental Sciences at UK

Working outdoors is one of the great aspects of being a geologist. How many majors or careers are there where you HAVE to work outdoors and even get paid for it!? There are a number of field experiences within the Department where students can travel, see North America, and learn something as well.

FIELD COURSES

GLY 230/235 Fundamentals of Geology: these courses introduce students to the techniques and methods for geological mapping. Large chunks of class time are spent in the field in central Kentucky mapping in flat-lying Ordovician carbonate strata and in the Kentucky River Fault zone. In GLY 230, we spend many fine fall days tramping about in the woods near the Kentucky River.

GLY 323 Field Geology: this is the mother of all field experiences for the geology major. A capstone course taken in the summer of a student’s junior or senior year, the course pulls together all the methods learned in the classroom in other core courses. UK’s “Field Camp”, as it is also known, is held in Gunnison-Crested Butte area of southwestern Colorado, high in the Rocky Mountains. UK has held a field camp in Gunnison for over 50 years. Most geologists will state unequivocally that field camp was the most thrilling experience they had as a college student. Learn more about UK’s Field Camp.

FIELD TRIPS RELATED TO COURSES FOR GEOLOGY MAJORS

GLY 220 Physical Geology: this first course (4 cr) for geology majors makes a one day trip exploring the fossiliferous limestones, faults, and karst features of the Bluegrass region.

GLY 420G Structural Geology: a 3-day weekend field trip was made in March 2003 to Central Alabama to map the Sequatchie Anticline

GLY 450G Sedimentary Geology: the Friday afternoon laboratories in this course involve examination of stratigraphic and facies relationships, and depositional structures, in central Kentucky. If schedules permit, a Sed-Geo regional weekend field trip is piggy-backed with the Ig-Met field trip.

GLY 461 Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology: An annual 4-day field trip to the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mtns. of western North Carolina is used to explore classic Appalachian geology in one of the world’s most thoroughly studied mountain belts. We camp in Great Smoky Mtns. National Park and in campgrounds in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina.

GLY 585 Hydrogeology: a 3-day weekend field trip is made in the late spring to western Kentucky to examine hydrologic features in the Land-Between-the-Lakes area.

FIELD TRIP COURSES

GLY 395 Bahamas Field Trip: Professor Frank Ettensohn takes students to the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas to explore modern carbonate depositional environments - a modern analog for the depositional setting of the limestones that underlay central Kentucky. But don’t be misled by the location! San Salvador (the landing site of Christopher Columbus) is an undeveloped island with no fast food or exotic resorts. Students spend the week diving on the coral reef, wading in the surf along the white sand beaches, mucking about on the tidal flat or in knee deep mud in the shallows, and exploring caves. This course is usually offered in alternate years. The field trip is also offered to freshman as part of the UK Discovery Seminar course series.

GLY 480/782 Geological Field Trip: this annual right-of-spring trip is made the week after final exams in May. The itinerary for the trip rotates each year among various regions, and has included:

-Trips to the barrier islands of the Georgia coast and to the Mississippi Delta region along the Louisiana Gulf coast to examine modern clastic depositional processes;

-New England and the Adirondacks to explore different aspects of the North American geology not present in the southeast;

-Ontario, Canada, to explore the Canadian Shield.

This annual trip is led in alternate years by Profs. Paul Howell or Dave Moecher.

FIELD-BASED RESEARCH PROJECTS

Undergraduate and graduate students at UK complete research and thesis projects that generally involve field-based research. These projects have been based in diverse locations from the Lexington area to Colorado or Canada or the Blue Ridge Mtns.