Department of Geoscience
Field trip 1: Death Valley, February 23 - February 25 (Friday to Sunday)
Field trip 2: Overton Wash, Northern Muddy Mountains, April 14, Saturday
Description of Field trip 1: Death Valley, February 23 - February 25 (Friday to Sunday)
• Field trip preparation: Check with Mike on the preparations that you need to make before the field trip
Remember: we will camp for two nights: so you need warm cloths, warm sleeping bags, etc.
Remember: we will walk for some distance, so you will need approriate boots, etc.
Remember: If you have never camped before, please make sure to talk to Mike during the lab hours and get the list of things you need for the field trip
• Tentative Itinerary
Friday, February 23:
1:30 pm leave UNLV. Drive west on the Blue Diamond Highway, over the Spring Mountains and into Pahrump, NV. Turn west toward Shoshone
Stop # 1: Road cut east of Shoshone
Exercise: Sketch units and faults exposed in the road cut. What kind of rocks exposed here? What types of faults?
Stop #2: Friday night campsite: Old Tecopa
From Stop #1 we will head southwest to Tecopa, CA, and south to our campsite. Make camp (probably in the dark), make dinner, etc. We will set up a camp fire and possibly have a discussion on the snowball Earth and related topics after dinner
Saturday, February 24:
Up at 6:30 am; breakfast; get ready to go by 8:00 am
Stop # 3: Emigrant Pass--Cambrian Carrara Formation
From our campsite, we will return to the highway and head east to a road cut in Emigrant Pass;
Discuss the Cambrian Carrara Formation, stromatolites, oncoids, and carbonate depositional environments.
Stop # 4: Sperry Wash: Kingston Peak and the Noonday Dolomite
From Stop #3 we will head west to CA highway 127 and turn south towards the Dumont Dunes area. Turn east towards Dumont Dunes and stay north of Sperry Wash at the bend in the road
We will walk through an exposed section of red, iron-rich sediments within the Kingston Peak Formation (hopefully we will see the flowers as well). Think about the depositional environments--what energy level would be required to deposit these sediments?
We will also walk up-section to look at the glacial diamictite and its overlying Noonday Dolomite, one of the Neoproterozoic 'Cap Carbonates' that bears the information on the 'snowball Earth' phenomenon
From the Dumont Dunes area we will return north on CA highway 127 to Shoshone and turn west onto highway 178
Stop # 5: Shoreline Butte, Lake Manly
Brief stop to observe and discuss the strandlines of Lake Manly and evidence for wetter times during the Pleistocene
Stop # 6: Badwater: Lowest point on land in the western Hemisphere (282 feet below sea level)
Restroom stop
We will discuss a little more on Lake Manly
Badwater Turtleback: the origin of the Badwater Turtleback, Quaternary (Neogene) faults, and alluvial deposits. Do you still remember Steno's principles for sedimentary strata?
Stop # 7: Natural Bridge Canyon: Badwater Turtleback
We will drive a a little north, and then hike up to see the Natural Bridge. Discuss the Badwater Turtleback
Return to highway 178 and drive north along east side of Death Valley. Turn right on highway 190 towards Furnace Creek Ranch
Brief stop at Furnace Creek Visitor Center for tourism, get permits.
Restrooms
Stop # 8: Saturday night campsite: Mystery stop (or somewhere else)
Make camp, dinner, etc.
Sunday, February 25:
Up at 6:30 am; breakfast; break camp by 8:00 am
Stop # 9: Mosaic Canyon: Erosional cycles and karstification
We will hike up into Mosaic Canyon and examine evidence of erosion and karstification.
Stop # 10: Mesquite Sand Dunes
Discuss the origin of sand dunes (sand seas?)
Stop # 11: Alluvial Fan stop
Discuss the controlling mechanisms of alluvial fan deposits and desert pavement. Think about how did the desert pavement form
Stop # 12: Ubehebe Crater
Discuss tectonic setting and regional volcanism, magma composition, and erosional features of the crater
Exit the Park at Grapevine on Highway 267, continue north to Scotty's Junction, and follow U.S. Highway 95 back to Las Vegas
Please be sure to collect all your belongs and pick up any trash left in the vehicles
