Week Three

This week was a crazy one! From mapping solo, core lab, a midterm, and south cross section there was hardly time to be stressed!

Our first solo mapping area, was an interesting one.  The challenge of the area was not in the elevation changes but in the structures observed. We also made our very first stratigraphic column. Learning to measure true thickness of a unit with a Jacob’s staff and our trusty Brunton’s gave new reinforcement to the ability to observe bedding thicknesses. After an office day of finishing our cross-sections and office maps, we got ready for a trip to Salt Lake City.

In Salt Lake, we were graciously shown around the core facility. What a grand tour we had! From observing ancient spider tracks, to seeing the preparation of fossils was awesome! The facility houses over half a million feet of core all donated by companies to be studied by geologists that come from all over the world. We studied core from a Wolverine well ( I know, I know, Michigan still sucks) showing the reservoir Navajo sandstone. This discovery of hydrocarbons was one of the largest in recent times. Looking at the very porous, permeable sandstone, you could see the oil inside. The aroma of hydrocarbons was not one you could ignore even after all these years. When first described, the building had to be evacuated and ventilated from the fumes. We were shown the lab where they prepare the excavated fossils. They use a tiny little drill and make very slow progress to ensure the safety of the bone. The whole process was really intriguing and made me realized I’m very interested in the paleontology field!

We finished the week with a cross-section. Students from University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh joined us on the mapping. Because it was over such an expansive distance, it was only a strip map which was different from what we have had been doing. The strip map maps just the contacts along the cross section line to be able to interpret the subsurface strata and the deformation. Well data from the very same core we described was provided to help us along.

On Sunday, there was a retirement party for Dr. Wilson to celebrate her career as a exceptional professor and mentor. Hot dogs and hamburgers on the Wasatch plateau for a wonderful party! The party let us have some fun before the first midterm ending the first half of field camp. It’s going by so quick that it doesn’t seem that it could be halfway over already.

Off to study the evidence of Lake Bonneville, the Wasatch Fault, and Little Cottonwood Canyon!