Geology Field Camp 2008, Humboldt
State University
General Information – Check back for updates
Dates: May 25th to July 5th, advance party leaves Arcata
May 21st; first camp meeting 5:00 May 25th
Cost: The cost of field camp will be approximately $2550 which includes the cost of six units of summer semester tuition for California residents plus an additional fee to cover the expenses of food for six weeks
and class-related travel in State vehicles (mandated by law). The cost in excess of actual tuition ("fees" in the CSU system) will be
added as a miscellaneous fee to be paid to the HSU Cashier during the summer semester
registration period.
Staff: Brandon Schwab, HSU Prof., bes21@humboldt.edu
Ken Aalto, HSU Prof., kra1@humboldt.edu
Teaching
Assistants: Stephen Tillinghast & Jessica Shaw
Camp manager: Colin Wingfield
Cook: Katherine Lee (Yea!)
Location: Roberts Mountains, Nevada approx. 50 miles WNW of Eureka, NV along highway 50 ('The loneliest highway in America').
Main study area will be essentially adjacent to camp. The landscape features high desert terrain with scrub juniper and
sage. Temperatures shouldn’t exceed the
high 80’s for most of the camp. Night
temperatures will be cold at the start of camp and occasional snow is a
definite possibility. The base camp is
situated on Birch Creek north of highway 50 at an elevation of about 6360 ft.
Schedule: We spend the
first half of camp (Schwab) working on two projects focused on economic geology and mapping Tertiary volcanic units. The second half of camp (Aalto) will focus on mapping Paleozoic rocks in the Roberts Mountain Allochthon. Each week,
we work for 6 days on projects, unless there is a field trip day, followed by a
day off (Fridays, so that you can do business in town if need
be). Potential field trip sites include
metamorphic core complex rocks in the Snake Range (plus Lehman Caves and
Wheeler Peak scenic areas), the Ruby Mountains, and an
operating open pit gold mine. Many
other possibilities exist in the region.
Reports on various projects will be due during camp. Some
computers will be available for report preparation.
Equipment: See attached list. HSU
provides Brunton compasses and HCl, but you’ll need your own hammer, hand lens,
notebook case, and an assortment of drafting gear. A tent (think about possible snow and high
winds, i.e., no fiberglass tent poles), good sleeping bag (nights start out cold!), parka, hat, a gallon worth of
canteens, and comfortable, broken-in tough boots are musts.
Grading and registration:
HSU students
register for Geology 471, 472, and 473 for summer semester, 2008.
Other CSU students
can do this by obtaining an intersystem visitor form from their admissions
& records office. However, course
codes and exact information on the misc. fee will not be known until mid-spring
semester. Students from other
institutions must contact the HSU office of enrollment management for
registration information at:
www.humboldt.edu
Geol. 471 (1
unit): grade for short project(s)-determined by teaching staff during camp.
Geol. 472 (4
units): assessment of your individual performance and field skills-determined
by teaching staff at end of camp.
Geol. 473 (1
unit): individual reports for major projects-determined by profs after camp.
Advance/return party: The advance party will leave from
HSU on Wednesday May 21st in order to set up camp. In exchange for your help setting up camp,
we will provide you with transportation to and from camp and food until camp
starts. We need several volunteers,
especially ones who have completed the defensive driving course, to come
along. This is a great way to keep your
costs down. Other folks have to make
there own way to camp via private vehicles (Parking space is a bit limited at
the site). Four wheel drive is not
needed to reach the base camp site (as long as it is dry!).
California residents should get a
Defensive Driving Card-- you cannot drive a California State Vehicle without
it! Keep an eye out for announcement of
the spring DD classes at any state institution.
Barton, H. N., Day, G. W., Detra, D. E., O’Leary, R. M., 1986, Analytical results and sample locality map of rock samples from the Roberts Mountains, Eureka County, Nevada: U. S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 86-0224, 12 p.
*Best, M. G., Christiansen, E. H., Deino, A. L., Gromme, C. S., McKee, E. H., Noble, D. C., 1989, Eocene through Miocene volcanism in the Great Basin of the United States: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Memoir 47, p. 91-133.
*Burchfiel, B. C., Royden, L. R., 1991, Antler orogeny: A Mediterranean type orogeny: Geology, v. 19, no. 1, p. 66-69.
*Chadwick, R. A., 1985, Overview of Cenozoic volcanism in the west-central United States: Flores, R. M., Kaplan, S. S., editors: Cenozoic Paleogeography of the West-Central United States: Rocky Mountain Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, p. 359-382.
Clark, D. L., Ethington, R. L., Age of the Roberts Mountains Formation (Silurian?) in the Great Basin: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 75, p. 677-682.
Drowley, D., Ketner, K. B., 1983, Mid-Paleozoic age of the Roberts thrust unsettled by new data from northern Nevada; discussion and reply: Geology, v. 11, no. 10, p. 617-618.
Finney, S. C., Berry, W. B., 1997, New perspectives on graptolite distributions and their use as indicators of platform margin dynamics: Geology, v. 25, p. 919-922.
---- , Ethington, R. L., 1992, Mixed shelf-to-basin graptolite and conodont faunas in the Ordovician Vinini Formation, Roberts Mountains, Nevada; evidence that the Roberts Mountains allochthon is not exotic: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, Rocky Mountain Section, v. 24, no. 6, p. 11.
---- , Perry, B. D., Emsbo, P., Madrid, R. J., 1993, Stratigraphy of the Roberts Mountain allochthon, Roberts Mountains and Shoshone Range, Nevada, in Lahren, M. M., Trexler, J. H., Spinosa, C., editors: Crustal Evolution of the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada, p. 197-230.
Gans, P. B., Miller, E. L., 1983, Field Trip 6: Style of mid-Tertiary extension in east-central Nevada: Geologic Excursions in the Overthrust belt and metamorphic core compolexes of the intermountain region, Guidebook, Part I: Special Studies, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey, Salt Lake City, p. 107-160.
Harry, D. L., Sawyer, D. S., Leeman, W. P., 1993, The mechanics of continental extension in western North America: Implications for the magmatic and structural evolution of the Great Basin: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 117, no. 1-2, p. 59-71.
*Jansma, P. E., Speed, R. C., 1995, Kinematics of underthrusting in the Paleozoic Antler foreland basin: Journal of Geology, v. 103, p. 559-575. [complex discussion of the structure]
Johnson, J. G., 1966, Middle Devonian brachiopods from the Roberts Mountains, central Nevada: Paleontology, v. 9, part 1, p. 152-181.
*Johnson, J. G., Pendergast, A., 1981, Timing and mode of emplacement of the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Antler orogeny: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 92, no. 9, p. I648-I648-I658.
---- J. G., Ketner, K. B., 1983, Mid-Paleozoic age of the Roberts thrust unsettled by new data from northern Nevada: Geology, v. 11, no. 1, p. 60-62.
Ketner, K. B., Murphy, M. A., Power, J. D., Johnson, J. G., 1984, Evidence for Late Devonian movement within the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Roberts Mountains, Nevada; Discussion and Reply: Geology, v. 12. no. 7, p. 445-446.
*Maher, B. J., Browne, Q. J., McKee, E. H., 1990, Chronology of Tertiary igneous and hydrothermal events, Roberts Mountains, Eureka County, Nevada; in Cuffney, B., editor, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin, p. 48.
*Matti, J. C., McKee, E. H., Silurian and Lower Devonian paleogeography of the outer continental shelf of the Cordilleran miogeocline, central Nevada: Paleozoic Paleogeography of the Western United States: Pacific Coast Paleogeography Symposium I, p. 181-215.
*McKee, E. H., Noble, D. C., 1986, Tectonic and magmatic development of the Great Basin of western United States during Late Cenozoic time: Modern Geology, v. 10, p. 39-49.
*-----, Barton, H. N., Ponce, D. A., Benjamin, D. A., Johnson, F. L., 1988, Mineral resources of the Roberts Wilderness study area: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1731-K, p. K1-K10.
Merriam, C. W., 1940, Devonian stratigraphy and paleontology of the Roberts Mountains region, Nevada: Geological Society of America Special Paper, 114 p.
*-----, Anderson, C. A., 1942, Reconnaissance survey of the Roberts Mountains, Nevada: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 53, no. 12, p. 1675-1727.
Miller, D. M., Todd, Y. R., Howard, K. A., editors, 1983, Tectonics and Stratigraphy of the Eastern Great Basin: Geological Society of America Memoir 157. [general regional review]
Murphy, M. A., 1969, Sequence of units in the upper plate of the Roberts Mountains thrust fault, northwestern Roberts Mountains, Nevada: Geological Society of America Special Paper, p. 212-213.
Murphy, M. A. , 1970, Preliminary submission for the selection of a type-section for the Silurian-Devonian boundary in the Roberts Mountains area of central Nevada, U. S. A.: Episodes, v. 1970, no. 4, p. 342-360.
Nichols, K. M., Silberling, N. J., Depositional and tectonic significance of Silurian and Lower Devonian dolomites, Roberts Mountains and vicinity, east-central Nevada; in Stewart, J. H., Stevens, C. H., Fritsche, A. E., editors, Paleozoic Paleogeography of the Western United States; Pacific Coast Paleogeography Symposium 1, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Section, p. 217-240.
Noble, P. J., Finney, S. C., 1999, Recognition of fine-scale imbricate thrusts in lower Paleozoic orogenic belts; an example from the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Nevada: Geology, v. 27, no. 6, p. 543-546.
Nolan, T. B., 1974, Stratigraphic evidence on the age of the Roberts Mountains thrust, Eureka and White Pine counties, Nevada: Journal of Research of the U. S. Geological Survey, v. 2, no. 4, p. 411-416.
Riedell, B., 1996, Roadlog for Trip A; Great Basin porphyry deposits; the Mount Hope porphyry molybdenum deposit, Eureka County, Nevada; in Green, S. M., Struhsacker, E., editors, Geology and Ore Deposits of the American Cordillera: Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, p. 101-110.
Rigby, J. K., Murphy, M. A., Gabelia, 1983, A new Late Devonian lyssakid protosponge from the Roberts Mountains, Nevada: Journal of Paleontology, v. 57, no. 4, p. 797-803.
*Roberts, R. J., Montgomery, K. M., Lehner, R. E., 1967, Geology and Mineral Resources of Eureka County, Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines Bulletin 64, 152 p.
*Ross, C. S., Smith, R. L., 1961, Ash-flow tuffs: Their origin, geologic relations, and identification: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 366.
Rowley, P. D., 1998, Cenozoic transverse zones and igneous belts in the Great Basin, western United States: Their tectonic and economic implications: in Faulds, J. E., Stewart, J. H., editors, Accomodation Zones and Transfer Zones: The Regional Segmentation of the Basin and Range Province: Geological Society of America Bulletin Special Paper 323, p. 195-228.
*Smith, R. L., 1960, Zones and zonal variations in welded ash flows: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 354-F.
*Speed, R. C., Sleep, N. H., 1982, Antler orogeny and foreland basin: A model: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 93, p. 518-528.
*Speed, R. C., Elison, M. W., Heck, F. R., 1988, Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the Great Basin: in Ernst, W. G., editor, Metamorphism and Crustal Evolution of the Great Basin, Rubey Volume v. 7, p. 573-605.
*Stewart, J. H., 1978, Basin-Range Structure in western North America: A Review: Geological Society of America Memoir 152, p. 1-31.
*-----, J. H., Walker, G. W., Kleinhample, F. J., 1975, Oregon-Nevada lineament: Geology, v. 3, p.265-268.
Stewart, J. H., Carlson, J. E., 1976, Cenozoic rocks of Nevada: Four maps and brief description of distribution, lithology, age, and centers of volcanism: Nevada Bureau of Mines ang Geology Report No. 52, 54 p.
Stewart, J. H., Stevens, C. H., and Fritsche, A. E., eds., 1977, Paleozoic paleogeography of the western United States: Pacific Section, SEPM, 503 p. [contains a number of regional review papers concerning stratigraphic setting]
*-----, Moore, W. J., Zietz, I., 1977, East-west patterns of Cenozoic igneous rocks, aeromagnetic anomalies, and mineral deposits, Nevada and Utah: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 88, p. 67-77.
Wells, J. D., Elliott, J. E., Obradovich, J. D., 1971, Age of the igneous rocks associated with ore deposits, Cortez-Buckhorn area, Nevada: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 750-C, p. C127-C135.
Winterer, E. L., 1968, Tectonic erosion in the Roberts Mountains, Nevada: Journal of Geology, v. 76, no. 3, po. 347-357.
*Zoback, M. L., McKee, E. H., Blakely, R. J., Thompson, G. A., 1994, The northern Nevada rift: Regional tectono-magmatic relations and middle Miocene stress direction: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 106, p. 371-382.
* If you only have time to read a few articles, the starred items would be good ones to read.
Personal Mail
Eureka is the
nearest town and our source of supplies. In order that any individual can pick up
mail, all correspondence should be addressed to you as follows:
Your name
c/o HSU Geology Camp
General Delivery
Eureka, NV 89316
(Note: UPS and
FedEx do not deliver to post office addresses!)
Field Camp Equipment List
Camp is not near convenient shopping, so you should plan to bring with you all of the materials and equipment you may need for the six week camp. There are shopping possibilities (for gear) in town, but selection is limited and prices are much higher. The list below includes basic field equipment for which individuals are responsible. The department will supply Bruntons, topographic maps, air photos, pertinent literature, etc.
Geological Equipment
Rock Hammer and holster – get a good quality hammer that will be comfortable to use and that will last a long time.
Hand Lens – Hastings triplets are very good quality but expensive ($35); you can get by with a $6.00 lens from the bookstore. 10X magnification is a good choice.
Field notebooks – you will probably need 4 or 5 notebooks; "Rite in the Rain" type is best.
Pencils – 0.5mm mechanical pencils are fine. Bring 3H or 4H lead to avoid smears. If you bring regular pencils, don’t forget a pencil sharpener or sandpaper. Bring lots of extra pencils!,these are easy to lose.
Erasers – Pelikan T20 (Yellow) is good for ink; Eberhard Faber 52S50 is good for pencil.
Permanent Ink Pens – for making maps and cross sections. Pigma Micron Pens are best (about $3 each). At least three sizes needed
Felt marking pen – waterproof; Sharpies are best. You may want fine tip pens in more than one color for marking on acetate overlays, as well as a coarser point for marking rockspecimens.
Correction fluid (white out) – for correcting errors in paper or on maps.
Map case – some suitable method for protecting and carrying maps and air photos in the field. Ask folks who have been to field camp for suggestions.
Mylar - (optional) frosted one side for map overlay
Daypack – for canteens, lunch, rocks, etc.
6" clear plastic ruler - w/cm.
Plastic triangle – 8", either 45° or 30° (optional)
Protractor – get a small, good quality one for plotting strikes and dips in the field. A protractor/ruler combo is nice
Colored pencils – minimum of 12 colors, medium or soft; thin lead type is better than fat lead type.
Canteens – at least enough for 3 quarts of water. Camelback type bags work well but can develop leaks – bring extra bags or a repair kit
Compton’s book, Geology in the Field -- REQUIRED
General textbooks, such as a structure book and stratigraphy book, may be useful to you.
Knife – Pocketknife or Leatherman
Boots – well broken in; Vibram soles are best; an extra pair of boots or heavy hiking shoes is advisable; extra laces. Rubber mud boots are nice if it gets rainy/snowy
Heavy socks – at least a week’s supply. Avoid all cotton; synthetic–cotton blends are best
Extra shoes or sandals – comfortable ones for around camp
Hat – a must for protection from the sun
Chapstick, sunscreen, and good quality skin lotion – it will be hot and dry part of the time we are in camp. Your Humboldt skin will not be accustomed to the very dry conditions!
Personal Equipment
necessities as well as optional "comforts"
Clothing suggestions: long, tough pants, such as Levis, are best in some areas; shorts are adequate for some of the terrain we will be mapping. There will be lots of sun and daytime temps. may be over 90° toward the end of camp. However, it may snow early on, so bring clothes for extremes.
Security for personal items is each individual’s responsibility; you may consider whether you really want to bring expensive digital cameras, laptops, binoculars, etc. to a fairly rigorous, hot, dusty environment. In general, we recommend not bringing expensive, fragile stuff. Field camp is a tough place to keep things clean and safe.
Tent – bring a rope and some steel stakes – it will get windy. Avoid flimsy tents or tents with fiberglass poles, they break. A high quality, med size (3 to 4 person) tent is best.
Folding cot, foam pad or air mattress – whatever you will be comfortable sleeping on (this is for six weeks, folks!)
Rain gear – rain or snow could definitely happen. If fact, plan on it!
Folding chair – inexpensive and light
Flashlight – and some extra batteries
Cup, bowl, plate, plastic drinking glass, eating utensils – Camp has a limited supply of these
Tupperware or similar sandwich box – if you don’t like metamorphic sandwiches or mashed peanut butter and jelly goo balls.
Sleeping bag – night temperatures may vary from 15° to 65° (F).
Clothes – jacket, and personal items necessary to keep you happy and comfortable for six weeks; it may get quite cold, so be sure to bring plenty of layers to keep you comfortable.
Pocket hand warmers – great for keeping hands warm on cold days
Ice chest – (optional); you cannot use camp refrigerators or coolers for personal goodies!
Stationary and stamps – (optional)
Cracked heel lotion – Cracked heels are painful and take a long time to heal. This stuff is good for keeping your hands from cracking too!
First aid kit – Personal-size; include some moleskins for blisters (optional)
Insect repellant – there will be ticks, some mosquitoes, and possibly no see ‘ums
Sewing kit – for repairs; duct tape is also useful (optional)
Health and car insurance cards – You did get health insurance, didn’t you?
Extra car keys – if you bring your car
Sunglasses – one or two extras are a good idea
Spare contact lenses or glasses – if you wear them
Money – for laundry, etc.; we cannot cash personal checks!!
Camera and film – a cheap one with 100-speed film works fine (optional)
Biodegradable soap and shampoo – towels too
You may want to bring softballs, Frisbees, playing cards, etc. We don’t work all the time.
THINGS NOT TO BRING (ABSOLUTELY!!):
GUNS
PETS
ROCK CLIMBING EQUIPMENT
FIREWORKS
