Final Thoughts

....... I will add something later, just finished this so wanted to put it in ............. Working on this site........



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Picture from our last hotel before getting to College Station. Thanks to the people at Super 8 in Clayton, NM for the Welcome and those really are soft beds.

The Long Drive

On Sunday, we made the long drive from Clayton, NM to College Station. It was an interesting drive. A little bit of boredom ( what do you want its a long drive ), a little bit of napping, a couple of interesting videos on Rocks and the Earth, some questions from Jack to test our knowledge and some observations on more morphologies from Rick. No pictures. Reminded me of our first drive when leaving College Station though we now knew each other. Maybe a little too well :-)
We were also given instructions for our last meeting together for Monday morning. Too bad we can't keep rock hammers, they were fun to use.

Great Sand Dunes and Capulin Volcano

Very early morning today, we need to finish up at Sand Dunes then head to Spanish Peaks and finally to Capulin volcano.
We split up into groups and set about our experiments. We tested stream velocity and for surges.



Rick explained how to determine the slope of the dunes and the sections we needed to test.



We notices lots of patterns in the water and even some hematite flowing within it. We also saw where the vegetation began within this park.



We then headed off to the Spanish Peaks and to specifically look at the dykes that formed there. The dykes run vertically and have been weathered to a certain degree. One is called the Devil's staircase.



We then drove on to our final destination of the day. We were going to the Capulin Volcano. Along the way we saw outcroppings of lava. We were shown a video at the visitor center on how this region formed. Capulin Volcano is a cinder cone volcano. When we reached the top, we were able to go into the volcano, only a small amount, and then walked around the top of it. There were some great views from the top but only when I was able to get close to the edge :-)

Falls and Amethyst hunting and a taste of Great Sand Dunes

The day after visiting the Slumgullion Earthflow, Ron took us to the Continental divide. He talked about how one side leads to Pacific and other to Atlantic. He showed us a measuring station. Rick also mentioned how the water would travel ;-)



We then headed to a nearby waterfall. We talked about some of the morphology found at this location. We saw topple rocks and hexagonal configurations of the soil due to dessication. We saw some landslides and the waterfall. We looked around and noticed the whole section was within a caldera. Lake City and the surrounding areas are enclosed within several calderas in this region of the country.



We went for lunch in Creede, CO and visited a nearby close mine. There were quite a few mine leavings that we checked for amethyst. Rick was nice enough to let us try for a while. For the time we were there, you could hear the rock hammers at work. I was too busy breaking rocks that I did not take pictures but will try to get some from others. :-)
I got quite a few pieces with galina and pyrite. I was working with Kelly to find the elusive amethyst so we both got plenty of sample of those two minerals. She was the one that found our small sample of amethyst. Thanks Kelly. Quite a few of the others got the same minerals as we did, some in greater quantities than others.

The Great Sand Dunes were are next destination for the day. Fran and Carolyn talked about the experiments we would perform. We all wrote our instructions and data tables in our notebook. Unfortunately, our trip was rained out but we will try tomorrow. We did get a chance to visit the main building and found out a few things about the Great Sand Dunes.

Slumgullian Earthflow and Mine

We went to visit the earthflow in the morning. Ron Kaiser, from the Texas A&M Water Management Hydrological Science program, was our "tour guide" for Lake City. He took us by Lake San Cristobal and explained the importance of the water to Lake City.



The original plan was to use the Brunton compass to measure the slope when we got to the earthflow but it had been raining too much. We still went around the site and investigated the terrain and the resulting morphology. We could not believe that some people actually have built homes right at the foot of the earthflow. There is a very important reason for checking the geology of a given area whenever you plan on building.



When we left the Windy Pass Overlook, we stopped off at the foot of the earthflow to get samples of the soil. There were some nice crystals of selenite that we found in the soil.



After lunch, we were taken to the Hard Tack Mine. Robert took us through the mine and explained the different parts of it. He explained the different methods the miners used to get ore from the mine and transporting it out.

Visit to Black Canyon

Black Canyon was the destination of the day. Black Canyon was another awe-inspiring landscape but again a little unnerving. The bus took roads that seemed narrow and very far from the ground. But at the end, we were able to experience the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This is a very deep and sometime narrow canyon. We visited several places to look down at the canyon and to discuss the intrusions found throughout the canyon. Rick explained how the canyon developed and the significance of the morphologies.



After Black Canyon, we headed to Lake City. We stopped along the road to discuss several landslides that had occurred in the region.



We also stopped to take pictures of the hoodoos and retrieved some rock samples. Several of us found some peacock ore, welded tuff, gneiss, and sedimentary rock. Closer to Lake City, Rick explained the calderas found in this region.

Grand Mesa and Netra's Crazy Landslide Tour

Today started off great. We went from Ouray and towards Grand Mesa. Along the way to our next destination, we stopped a couple of times to see deposits of Mancos shale. At one point, we were taken to Paradox basin which is made of shale and informed that there were probably fossils. We started searching everywhere almost like kids doing an Easter egg hunt :-)



Most of us found something that may have been fossils and for the ones that had not, Jack was nice enough to share some he had found. Thanks Jack!
Grand Mesa was spectacular. I think I am going to run out of adjectives on this trip. Dan drove the bus to the top and we were able to see the whole of Grand Mesa. We saw a landslide that had recently occurred from our vantage point along with other physical weathering.





We stopped by a lake for a group picture and a tribute to one of our sponsors.


We also stopped on the side of the road to investigate some debris flows.



Afterwards, we headed to Netra's landslide slide. It is one of his research projects. This was actually a grueling trek across scrub, stinging nettles, boulder fields, loose soil, then a "small" climb (150m?), across broken trees and finally the top, sort of. There were a few spills, a few scrapes but all in all in seemed my colleagues were happy of their reaching the top.

My Day at Ouray

I had most of Monday for myself. I ate a good breakfast and then basically just bummed around a bit. I worked on some picture captions and updated the previous post a little more. It wasn't really frightening on the 4X4 trip. It was more unnerving :-)
After working on pics, I headed out to walk by the stream that was right behind our rooms. I took a pleasant stroll and, now I can't help myself, collected some rocks. I think I found a few that had gold but of course it wasn't gold, it was pyrite :-( But it still looks cool!
At five, Rick showed us a few slides to help us comprehend a little more about systems and how they relate to what is around us and specifically for geology. Fascinating stuff! Will see if i can post his slides later.
Jim was able to share the picture of the bear we saw on our arrival to the hotel. Here it is along with a few other pictures of what we could see from our rooms.

4X4 Tour of the Red Mountains

After a frightening experience (at least for me ;-)) of hanging out of an open jeep to go up the side of a mountain, we reached a couple of summits and took some pictures. We took a group picture at our last stop, Lake Como

Location of Lake Como using Google Earth, click on it and you can see where it is and the dark blue dots indicate part of our path.

I took quite a few pictures as we went up. The views were AWESOME.



We were able to see a lot of mechanical erosion, especially paths left behind by glaciation and avalanches, that have taken place on the mountains.

Trip through and around the San Juan Mountains

We traveled from Albuquerque, NM to Ouray, CO. Along the way, we encountered quite a few different morphologies. Rick made quite a few stops so we could see and experience these different structures. We encountered a majority of limestones, sandstones and shales. We saw a lot of examples of physical weathering especially some create examples of land clearing through avalanches.



During our trip, we came across the Badlands. I can understand now why they are considered a difficult terrain. No wonder pioneers traveling across the West would not like to travel this land.



I must admit that parts of the trip made me a bit uncomfortable since the drop to the bottom would have hurt. And of course, Rick was nice enough to mention that I had a problem with heights.



A couple of videos from today's trip.

White Sands and Valley of Fires

We went straight from Alamogordo to White Sands. It was a fascinating place. It was full of sand but not the one I am used to. It is actually made up of gypsum instead of silica, like the sand found in Galveston. The term sand refers to particle size and not composition. We had a great time and we got an Awesome group picture. Jack sacrificed himself by not being in the picture so he could be the photographer. THANKS JACK!





On our way to the Valley of Fires, we started seeing some evidence of the 1,000 year or so old volcanic lava flow. Lots of black sections in the landscape due to the pahoehoe lava flow. We were to walk through the Malpais nature trail but a storm hit us, carrying hail even.

The sound you hear is the hail striking the bus.


But we got to see some of the landscape and collected a few samples of lava rock :-)

Carlsbad Caverns and Trip to Alamogordo

We visited Carlsbad Caverns today to study the different structures found in the caverns. I have visited the caverns before but not with the knowledge I have gained so far from G-Camp. Now I understand the changes that occurred to form the stalactites, stalagmites and other structures. I can actually wonder at the chemistry involved and hopefully use it in my classes in the coming year.



I thoroughly enjoyed my tour through the caverns and hopefully you can see some of the speleothems with the pictures I took (and I took quite a few). Just click the ones below to get to the rest.



After Carlsbad, we traveled to Alamogordo in New Mexico. There is some very interesting geology that we saw along the way. Rick and Jack described the conditions that were needed to explain these subsurface structures

Longhorn Cavern and Enchanted Rock

Today was Great! We drove from Galveston to Longhorn Cavern and were met there by Dr. Mathewson, from the first day. He was going to be our guide for our trip through Longhorn Cavern, remember his presentation from Monday. He showed us the different structures and possible explanations for them. I recorded his tour presentation, audio only, and I will load it up later.




After Longhorn Cavern, we traveled to Enchanted Rock and climbed to the top. Rick explained the intrusions due to fractures, exfoliation of the granite and discussed the batholith and lacolith. It was great fun going to the top. As for chemistry, some of the dark markings on the granite are due to manganese (II) oxide. First time I see it, used to manganese (IV) oxide.

Exploring Galveston

Today we traveled around Galveston to explore the different morphologies that can be seen. We went over to the seawall and Rick explained some of the history and the current state of erosion here in Galveston.



We performed some experiments to determine the wave height and the wave length of the incoming waves. We also calculated the speed of the longshore current. (pictures and video coming soon)

The group went onto one of the levees to look at its construction and makeup.

Traveling to Galveston from College Station

After a night's rest at the Holiday Inn, we took off on the bus to Galveston and visited different sites along the way. Rick described the cuestas found in College Station. I'm taking making marks on the GPS along the way so I can show our total route later. We headed to Baytown and saw evidence of subsidence.



A couple of videos where Rick and Jack answered questions from teachers



Passed through Bolivar peninsula and noticed the huge erosion at the beach. Look at the picture to see where the boat ramp used to be. We took the ferry (that was cool, never been on one) to to take us to the Galveston side and stopped at our destination, the Texas Clipper III, which was where we spent the night.

Dr. Mathewson's Presentation and Intro Presentation

This evening we walked over to the Geosciences Building to see two presentations



Dr. Mathewson did a presentation on the Longhorn caverns (which we will visit on Wed.) He described the different processes that went into creating the caverns. Here is the presentation, it has been protected from any changes so students and professor gets credit (just open as read only)

Had a pre-test to test our "Earthly" knowledge. And then a quick run down of the trip by Dr. G and then a quick lesson on science by Dr. V. I still have no idea how I got picked out of 300 or so applicants ;-)

Arrived at College Station and Received Stuff

First day (afternoon) of G-Camp. Arrived at Holiday Inn and met Dr. G, Jack, Fran, Carolyn and other participants. Met Gus but then again I went to pick him up at San Antonio so we could travel together to College Station. Filled out some paperwork and got a huge tub of stuff to use during trip. Here is a pic (click on it)



Will meet later to go to college for a quick intro and lecture. Laters.

Links for my fellow Teachers' Blogs

Howdy All,
Just one more day till our G-Camp experience begins. Just wanted to put in a quick post that I am adding links to my colleagues' blogs. They are on the right hand side, under Links for G-Camp.
See Ya All on Sunday :-)

Greetings to my fellow G-Camp Participants

Howdy All,
Just wanted to make a quick comment to say Hello. I created this Blog for others to see what we did during the summer but we can also use it to comment to each other. So, please leave a comment and maybe we can stay in touch and get to know each other this way as well.

See ya soon,
Efren

Created a Google Map for Field Locations

I created a Google Map with starting Field Locations. I will be modifying the map as soon as the G-Camp begins and throughout the trip.


View Larger Map

Website for Details on Field Locations