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Complete Environmental Field Camp, Check!

This will be my last post about my field camp experience! I can’t believe it’s already done! Some days definitely dragged longer than others, but overall this last two and a half weeks spent in South Dakota went by unbelievably fast! I am excited to get on the road and embark on my own adventure down in Colorado where I’ll be hiking and camping for ten days. I think it’ll be a great way to wrap up my time away from home before I go back to working full time and having real adult responsibilities.

20160529_141214The weekend was basically spent doing a wrap-up of assignments and taking a few, small hikes. Right in the middle of Rapid City, there is a nice sized hill that has trails all over it, so that little bit of hiking and some ice cream made for a pretty good weekend. On Monday, we hit the ground running. We spent a lot of time looking at slope and dam stability. The morning was dedicated to observing a slope failure in the Deadwood Formation in the Black Hills. This small circular arc failure resulted in a scarp about 5 feet in height. We created a cross-section of the slope failure based on measurements in the field, and then we created a pace compass map of the whole area that was displaced. DSCN0568The failure that we inspected was a small part of what seemed to be a large complex of failures that has caused damage to the highway running alongside it. Afterwards, we inspected a small earthfill dam near Lead, South Dakota. This dam was carved into a Tertiary intrusion, and it was poorly designed to say the least. Our inspections led to a reconstruction design for the dam that would improve the safety of the dam and the surrounding area. This was good experience for problem solving and critical thinking.

On Tuesday, possibly my favorite day, we went to a Superfund site called Gilt Edge Mine. 20160531_111821It’s an old, abandoned mine that was used sporadically from the 1870s up until the 1980s when it was acquired by a mining company and became completely opened up. The mining company used a cyanide drawing method to retrieve the gold, and it ended up contaminating billions of gallons of water with acid rock drainage (ARD). In the 2000s, the EPA declared it a Superfund site, and remediation planning began almost immediately. In the beginning it was estimated to be a $27 million project, but now the estimated final cost is about $200 million!! The treatment plan that is in place is to remove all contaminated waste rock, sludge, and tailings, and place them in the old mining pits, which will then be capped. 20160531_104830The mining site is an absolute beautiful disaster, and the head engineer at the site described it as “the perfect example of how not to remediate.” The project has become a lot more complicated as more contamination is found. The EPA has a mandate to try new, innovative designs. These costly experiments have caused the treatment of Gilt Edge to go on for a while. Going to the mine and conversing with the engineers really motivated me to continue on the path I’m on in education! I said possibly, but this was definitely my favorite day.

Today is just a wrap-up of assignments and saying goodbye to my fellow classmates. This whole experience has taught me a lot about the field and about myself. Thank you to everyone who helped support me through this journey, and I’m excited to be home and share more stories of my adventures!

Week Two of Field Camp (Already!?), Check!

Another week has passed by since I last posted, and it just flew by! I only have three more days of field work until the camp is complete! When I started this journey, I thought for sure these weeks would drag because doing school work in the summer is not my favorite cup of tea. To my surprise, I really don’t feel like I’m doing schoolwork. This camp has done an excellent job of combining field work with real life applications for hydrology, and I know that the work I’m doing here will be beneficial for my future career in Earth Sciences! Not to mention, it has made me a lot more confident in my decision to be an Earth Science major. This week was much harder work than last week, but it was also more rewarding.

DSCN0540Mapping, mapping, and MORE mapping! That is what this week consisted of. We had to make three geologic maps this week of different places in the Black Hills. On Monday, we mapped a place called Nemo, South Dakota. The area we mapped was a ethylene dibromide contamination site. As my first official mapping experience, this was by far the hardest day for me. It was really difficult to just be thrown out into the field. It also made me realize that I’m a pretty fast learner, and I picked up a lot of mapping techniques from my teammates. Another problem with this mapping area, along with many others in the Black Hills, was the vegetation cover. It made following contour lines and orienteering on the base map very challenging. That being said, I discovered orienteering is a hidden talent of mine, and this will be super helpful in the future!

Tuesday was another mapping day. This mapping location was an abandoned lead-iron mine that had produced high concentrations of heavy metals in the surface water and sediment in the mining area. The mine was called Belle Eldridge Mine near Deadwood, South Dakota. The topography of this site presented a challenge for mapping. The day consisted of a lot of climbing ridges and finding our way down valleys just to climb again. DSCN0546We even ran into a few snakes on the climb!! It was a real field experience I’d say. It even rained a little bit, very fitting for an environmental geology field camp. (Although we have had GORGEOUS weather overall!!) Along with the mapping, we also did some monitoring of the surface water at the old mining site. We collected pH and specific conductance in a few places, and then we were able to compare the water before and after the addition of the outflow from the mine. Once we collected all this data, we had to write yet another report. The amount of reports I’ve written in these past two weeks has probably exceeded all the reports I’ve written in college thus far! It’s a pretty heavy amount of writing, but it has definitely given me valuable experience in scientific reports.

Wednesday was a break from all the mapping (thank goodness!!), and we ended up driving to the Badlands. I’ve been to the Badlands before, but for this field camp we went to the south portion, which was far less busy. 20160525_121349It was pretty cool to walk around and climb a bit on the structures. Thursday was (go figure) another mapping day. This day was different from the rest because it involved a lot of inferring contacts and sighting attitude measurements due to the lack of close outcrops. Along with mapping, we also performed more stream gaging near the headwaters of Rapid Creek. It was a really humbling experience to see the small spring at the start of this massive river that runs through all of Rapid City and flooded in 1972 causing so much damage. I thought it would be something more substantial than the trickle that it was. It just put into perspective what “starting small” really means. Friday was a tourist day which consisted of visiting Mount Rushmore (of course!) and looking at some old mines in the area that caused contamination. DSCN0556

Today has been set aside as a work day to catch up on all of the reports and maps that we are responsible for. It was really nice to have a day to catch up on everything, and I really appreciate the professor that runs this camp because he cares about his students and the work that he does. Like I said in the beginning, I can’t believe my field camp is almost done! It has been so rewarding and I have learned so much this far! I have also met a few really great people that I hope to keep in contact with throughout my time in Earth Science!

I will probably only have one more post after this, so for those of you reading this, try to soak it all in just as much as I am! 🙂

Week 1 of Field Camp, Check!

Hello all, I have officially been an inhabitant of Rapid City, South Dakota for a full week! Yesterday, someone else from out of town even mistook me for a local! I even went to a local brunch restaurant this weekend and stubbled upon a cute festival downtown. You could say I’ve become quite adapt to my surroundings. My first week of field camp is entirely complete, and I can’t believe how fast this amazing experience is going! I only have a little over a week left, so I am trying to eek out every bit of fantastic out of this experience that I can. I left all my eager readers on Tuesday of this week when we (as field campers) finished driving around in vans to see different parts of the stratigraphic column here in the Black Hills. Although that was very exciting and a good refresher of all the rock types and their identifying features in the field, the rest of this week was more up my alley, if you know what I mean. We partook in research that had to do with water! Groundwater, surface water, hazards, and contour mapping! All of this was done in only three, short, beautiful days. I suppose I should start with Wednesday because that’s where I left off.

DSCN0449Wednesday was a day in which we spent assessing flood hazards. In June of 1972, there was a terrible flood in Rapid City. The creek that meanders through the city flash flooded in the middle of the night. This devastation caused the loss of over 200 lives, injured thousands, and demolished tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the area. The problem that we were assessing on Wednesday was all of the new developments on this flood plain. Since the river will most likely flood in the same area as before, we went around town viewing and discussing that costs and benefits of the new developments. Most of the developments we saw were parks and other easily evacuated areas. This is probably the best way to develop the floodplain. In other areas, the government had built grandiose indoor swimming pools, ice rinks, and hotels that sat right next to the river. DSCN0445This is clearly a danger, and they didn’t learn their lesson enough the last time. The problem is this flood was characterized as a “500 year flood,” but there has been evidence found against this. After touring the floodplain, we saw Canyon Lake, a lake that overflowed and added to the flood. There is now a large spillway attached to this lake in response to the flood. The final stop was Pactola Dam. This Dam was created before the flood in 1972, and the majority of the rainfall during the flood occurred downstream from this location which was good because if the rainfall had been upstream, the damage would have been much worse. The dam was absolutely gorgeous, and we spent a fair amount of the afternoon there before heading back to the dorms for dinner and homework.

Thursday and Friday were both gorgeous days, and we spent them measuring water levels and gaging streams. Thursday we stayed at the school. We spent the morning measuring water levels in the well field on campus and creating a potentiometric surface map. The afternoon was spent running a well pumping test and collecting measurements. The weather was gorgeous that day, and even when we were running tests for over an hour, everyone got to enjoy the sunshine! Friday we gaged streams and measured spring discharge. DSCN0482This involved a lot of moving around, going from upstream to downstream, and using new tools (at least new to me). Along with gaging streams, we also measured pH, temperature, and specific conductivity of the streams and springs. After the day was done, we had some free time to jump in a calm area in the stream and get our feet wet for a little bit. Our task was to understand the springs more. They occur between the Spearfish Formation and the Minnekahta Limestone because it is here where an aquifer meets a confining layer, causing the water to be discharged in areas where it can. The amount of dissolved solids in the streams depends on the limestones and gypsum rich formations that it flowed through before being discharged. All of this information was discussed and so much more! It is great to be able to learn from such an accredited and respected professor who knows so much in his field (Dr. Arden Davis).

This weekend we had to work on all of our assignments. Since my group wanted to use this weekend to explore the Black Hills, we buckled down and worked a lot on Friday night. All of which paid off. During my free time this weekend, I was so incredibly fortunate to be able to go see Crazy Horse and hike up Harney Peak!! The Native American Monument is truly and inspiration and such an enduring family effort. DSCN0499I was also pushed out of my comfort zone to drive to Crazy Horse alone. It was a spur of the moment decision, and I am so glad that I got to experience it while growing in my independence! The hike up Harney Peak was difficult in this altitude that I still haven’t become acclimated to, but it was so rewarding! This Peak is the highest point in South Dakota(7,242ft), and from the top you can see four states. It was a truly amazing hike, and it really made me appreciate the Black Hills so much more.20160522_115829 20160522_131058 received_10209226522563098 I can’t wait to see what is next for me in the field camp! Whatever happens, I have already come a little way in the last week. I was so nervous at the beginning of this because I’d have to make new friends and try new things. Now I’m taking selfies with Native American Memorials and hiking seven miles with a group of people I have just met! This has been so great, and I’m ready for more!

Field Camp: The First Couple Days

I have chosen to take the non-traditional route for field camp at Ohio State and attend a camp elsewhere. Currently, I am in Rapid City, SD taking part in an environmentally based field camp through South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The road getting here was a long one (16 hours of driving about 1,084 miles, two time changes, and numerous rest stops), but the reward has been well worth it thus far!

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I arrived to school on Sunday, May 15th (a day before camp started), so I took the extra time to walk around and familiarize myself with campus and the area. This did not take too long because the school has about 20 buildings and spans about half a mile. After becoming more comfortable with campus and meeting some new people, the day was done.

Monday morning was the official start of camp. We all met in a classroom, introduced ourselves, and listened to a lecture on the general geology of the Black Hills. After a brief refresher on using the Brunton Compasses, we ate lunch and headed to the field. The remainder of that day was spent getting in and out of the vans to look at different exposures of the stratigraphic column in the Black Hills. The youngest formation we saw exposed was the Belle Fourche Shale created during the Cretaceous Period. We then took a bunch of road stops, and ended on the Minnelusa Formation which formed during the late Pennsylvanian.

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Belle Fourche Shale Exposure

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Minnelusa Sandstone from 100 yards away

Tuesday, today, was a continuation of yesterday. We went to multiple road cuts, and we continued to go back in time through the stratigraphic column of the Black Hills. We started with the Minnelusa, then we went back to the Maddison Limestone Formation. This formation is most known in the area because it is a massive aquifer, one of the largest in all of the Black Hills. The karst topography of this layer causes sinkholes and rapid ground water transfer. This has a big effect on the contamination rate and treatment plans for the water in the Maddison (or Pahasapa) Limestone. Under the Maddison lies the Engelwood, Whitewood, and Wennigeg Formations which we only discussed briefly because they are not exposed as nicely (they are slope formers, not cliff formers). Under these layers we were able to see the Great Unconformity: an angular unconformity between the Deadwood and Box Elder Formations. We learned a lot about what layers are confining layers (shales typically), what layers make good aquifers (sandstones and limestones typically), and more about the stratigraphic column here in South Dakota.

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Sinkhole near Box Elder Creek in Custer Gap

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Maddison Limestone atop the Englewood confining layer

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The Great Unconformity between the Cambrian Deadwood Sandstone and Pre-Cambrian Box Elder Quartzite

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Fold in the Minnekahta Limestone Formation

So far so good with this field camp stuff! We have learned a lot of general information about the area, but I am so excited to start learning about the nitty gritty water details! This camp has already made me think twice about what goes into the streams that eventually seep into the water table, but I am so excited to be challenged more in my thought process these next couple weeks!

Structure Field Trip: The Beginning of a Great Thing

The structure field trip this year led my classmates and I to Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. We had four days full of drive-by geology, adventure pants (or hiking pants), and shivering. Lots of shivering.

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Our first day was spent traveling in a group of vans. Seven hours of close quarters, Electric Dance Music, and bad rock puns is really the only way to start off a geology field trip. After relishing in the warmth of the first night spent in a motel, we headed for our first outcrop. This was our first real experience using the Brunton Compasses in the field. As the group of 40 of us stood on the side of the highway staring at the rocks, I can only imagine the thoughts of those passing by. With the sun shining on us and our Bruntons and field notebooks in hand, we tackled the task of taking numerous attitudes of bedding and cleavage. After eating lunch at a state park, and hearing a little bit about raptors, we all headed back to take more measurements. We spent all day at this location in Kingsport, Tennessee. After being outside all day, sitting in the car and driving to North Carolina was both necessary and appreciated.

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Our first night in the tents was about to ensue. After gathering our tent group and opening the tent bag, it took all three of us a few seconds to realize that we had no poles. Here we are, the three of us girls, freezing cold, standing in the spitting rain with a tent and no poles. You can imagine we weren’t really sure how to deal with this, so we laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. We then started the frantic search for a solution. Luckily, an extra tent was brought just in case a group of scatter-brained geology students made a silly mistake (thank goodness!). Once we were sure we had a place to sleep, we sent up the tent and started to make dinner. That night it switched from blustering wind to rain to some kind of snow. All the while, we huddled around the fire sharing stories and making memories. When I got into my sleeping bag that night, I was wearing every article of clothing I brought. I still shivered.

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The next day involved a lot of travel, a lot of getting in and out of the vans, and a whole lot of geology. Our first stop was at Linville Falls, North Carolina. Here is an exposed area of a thrust fault. We saw Mylonites formed in extreme conditions, crenulation foliation and lineation, and lots of gneiss. After Linville Falls, we headed to a few stops along the roadside. My favorite locality was during this expedition. This massive out cropping showed tilted bedding with en echelon veins along the bedding planes. In the metaconglomerate layer there was deformation to mineral grains that gave the top-to-the-right sense of shear. It was really amazing to be able to see the structures that we had talked about in class in a real life setting. This field experience made the structures easier to understand and remember.

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Once we got to the campsite that night, we set up tents and enjoyed each others company. The second night in the tent was both better and worse than the first. It was worse because it was colder. The temperature reached about 20ºF, and when we woke up, there was a layer of frost INSIDE the tent. It was better because at this point in the field trip I was so exhausted that I couldn’t stay awake, and I slept right through the intense shivering and numb toes. The last day of the field trip we stopped a few times in the morning to see some foliated gneiss on top of the Blue Mountain Ridge, and we also saw a really ridiculously deformed locality. It had a definite syncline, but everything passed that was a mess of faults, cleavage, bedding, and the effects of erosion. This out cropping proved to be the messiest, and also most interesting of what we saw. After this, we headed to the vans for the drive from Virginia to Columbus.

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This field trip was a really bittersweet experience. It was truly amazing to be able to apply real classroom concepts to the field. Talking and connecting with my classmates was also a really enjoyable experience. After this field trip, I am bummed that I won’t be attending the same field camp as my intelligent and  awesome classmates. That being said, I am excited to jump into my field camp at South Dakota, as it will be a sincerely challenging and rewarding event.