GEOS May Term Field Trip - Two Billion Years of Earth History Along the Colorado River Corridor
Group at overlook in Dead Horse Point SP.
May 24, 2014
Prof. Fred Soster and Prof. Jim Mills co-led a May Term field trip (May 24-June 10, 2014) to study features representing the two billion years of geologic history of the Utah and Arizona area as revealed by erosion due to the Colorado River and its tributaries. The 18-day trip transected much of the Colorado Plateau, visiting areas like Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Monument Valley, Goosenecks of the San Juan River SP, Glen Canyon Dam/Lake Powell Recreation Area, Grand Canyon NP, Sunset Crater NM, and Petrified Forest/Painted Desert NP (among others). They and the 13 students on the trip used these spectacular settings as a springboard to promote conversations about the origin and evolution of the rocks and landforms in the region and the geologic processes that created and sculpted them. Highlights of the trip included a whitewater rafting trip down the Colorado River from Moab, UT to Hite, UT (through remote parts of Canyonlands NP), and several extended hikes into the Grand Canyon.