Sul Ross State University Field Camp Information      TWO MORE SPOTS!!

Instructor:  Ms. Jesse Kelsch, MS  (email: jkelsch@sulross.edu; 432-837-8657)

Dates:  The class will be offered by SRSU during the Summer I term, 2013 (June 4 to July 9)

Course Number:  GEOL 3601; Credit: 6 semester hours

Costs:                                                   Resident                                              Non-resident

                Tuition                                  $1356.50                                              $3462.50

                Field course fee                    $1340.00                                              $1340.00

                $200 deposit required by April 15 (deposit applies to Field Course fee)

Prerequisites:                

- Structural Geology

- Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (Sed/Strat)

No exceptions will be made regarding prerequisites.  Your transcript is required to register.

Cap:  18 students

Location:  The SRSU 2013 Field Geology course will start and end at the Alpine campus in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.  The course departs Alpine for a 3.5-week-long driving loop through northern New Mexico from the Guadalupe Mountains to Taos to the Jemez Mountains; will return to Alpine for two nights July 2 & 3; and wraps up with a loop and field exercise in Big Bend National Park to the south, with two or three final nights in Alpine to complete and hand in all assignments.  The major exercises include:

• Geologic mapping of Mesozoic-early Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rock on the margin of the Rio Grande rift at the northern Jemez Mountains in NM
• Geologic mapping of deformed Mesozoic rocks near the southwest Jemez Mtns
• A tour of the late Tertiary volcanic complex that is the Jemez Mtns volcanic field, including Bandelier National Monument, the Valles Caldera and Jemez Springs
• Examination of a glacially formed landscape on Wheeler Peak near Taos, NM
• Geologic mapping of Quaternary deposits in the southern Rio Grande rift
• Measured sections within Cretaceous carbonate sequences and Tertiary volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks
• Examination of the Permian Reef facies of the Guadalupe Mountains and consideration of sequence stratigraphy
• Investigation of early Tertiary igneous history in the Big Bend region of west Texas

Logistics:

• You are responsible for your own personal camping gear:  tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, camp chair, flashlight(s), etc., plus your own cup and/or coffee mug (all other kitchen gear is provided.)  We will be car-camping so you can even bring a pillow, but try to sensibly minimize your personal-gear footprint as there will be 21 of us.  There will be a cook traveling with us who will set up a camp kitchen and provide us with three meals a day plus a few snacks. 
• Also, you must bring your own personal gear for comfort and safety:  sturdy, broken-in hiking boots, plenty of good socks, outdoor clothing for all-day sun and for cool summer nights at ~7,000 ft amsl and for rain; waterproof shoes both for fluvial geomorphology work (wading in a shallow stream) as well as recreational swimming at the reservoir where we’ll be camped for 10 days.  Sunscreen, a large-brimmed hat, and refillable water bottles are also important.  (You MUST carry at least a gallon of water into the field with you each day.  There are no refill sites in our remote field areas.)  Camelbak or similar bladder-type backpacks work well, as do Nalgene or Klean Kanteen bottles. 
• There may be laundry facilities available on one or two of the days off, so you might also bring quarters and soap.
• You also need to bring gear to operate as a field geologist:  a map board, colored pencils, quality mapping pencil(s), a scale and protractor, grain size card, a back pack, and rock hammer.  A useful field pouch to hang on your belt next to your hammer holster is VERY handy as well.  (Plateau Designs of Flagstaff, AZ has been providing sturdy cheap field pouches to field camp students for a couple of decades.)  What will be provided to you:  an empty Rite-in-the-Rain field book; a collection of literature pertinent to our traverse; stereonet paper.  Bruntons and hand lenses will be checked out to you at the beginning of the course, to be returned in exchange for your letter grade at the end of field camp.  Also, a copy of “Geology Field Methods” by Tom Freeman will be available for purchase when you arrive in Alpine for $15.  You can pick one up early (FreemanT@missouri.edu), or find Compton’s “Geology in the Field,” which costs a bit more but is the classic.   
• Campground fees, food and entrance-fee costs when we are on the road (30 days) are provided.  Students are responsible for their own board and lodging during a two-night break in Alpine in late June as well as two nights in Alpine at the start of the session before we depart, and two or three days in Alpine at the end of the session when we return.  SRSU dorm rooms will be available for rent to visiting students for the Alpine nights, and Alpine has a few nice campgrounds as well.

Registration:  If you are not a Sul Ross student, you’ll have to apply to SRSU through ApplyTexas.  Contact Lori Conant, Earth and Physical Sciences department secretary, for assistance in how to proceed, as well as whether there are places left.   lconant@sulross.edu; 432-837-8259