EESC 2200x Fieldtrip
Date/Time: Saturday, March 31. 8 AM Sharp! Rain or shine.
Meeting Place: College entrance at 116th Street and Broadway.
Return time: approximately 6 PM.
Mandatory attendance, except you may substitute a research
paper (pdf).
The fieldtrip will include the sediments and volcanics of northeastern
NJ, the faults and metamorphic rocks of the Hudson Highlands, and the sediments
near New Paltz, NY.
We will make use of a compass to orient ourselves with respect to north
and to measure strikes and dips of sedimentary strata. The Dept. of Earth
and Environmental Sciences will lend you one, if you need one (but it requires
a deposit). Instruction on how to use a compass will be given to those
needing it during the field trip.
You should bring a copy of the site map, guide
and geologic time scale with you on the field trip.
Mark strike and dip measurements on the map, and note the geologic period of
each of the sites on the time scale.
Geologic
Map of the United States.
Please bring:
- $40.00 compass deposit, preferably a check payable to "Columbia University",
which will be returned at the end of the fieldtrip (provided you return
the compass!);
- Sneakers (or boots);
- Outdoor clothing suitable for cool autumn weather;
- Raincoat (if rain threatens);
- Lunch and a beverage (no alcohol, please!); and
- Pencil.
Sites
- Roadside outcrops (Morningside Park, near Amsterdam Ave. at Morningside
Ave.).
- Orient yourselves with the compas.
- Look at rock. What kind?
- Identify minerals in rock.
- Note this area is topograhically high.
- Note grooves on smooth-top outcrop near northernmost park entrance. What
made them?
- Ft. Lee Historic Park (Fort Lee, NJ).
- Orient yourselves with compas.
- Is this the same kind of rock as morningside?
- Look across the river.
- Where's Morningside?.
- What's between this place and Morningside.
- Where is the cliff?
- Alpine Boat Basin (Henry Hudson Drive, Palisades Interstate Park, Alpine, NJ).
- What kind of rock on the top of the cliff?
- What kind of rock on the bottom?
- Are the sediments flat-lying? Or is there a dip?
- How big are the grains in the sediment?
- Roadside outcrops (Route 59, west of Route 303).
- Note red color of sandstones. Why?
- Note detrital mica particles.
- Note direction of dip of sediments.
- Monsey Glen Park (Monsey, NY).
- Note the layers of conglomerates within the red sandstones. How big are
the clasts (pebbles, cobbles, or boulders)?
- Note that the layers are rather irregular. Why?
- What about the colglomerate boulders along the path. Are they the
same rock?
- Conglomerates (Route 202 and Old Route 202, Suffern, NY).
- How big are the clasts in the conglomerates (pebbles, cobbles, or boulders)?
- Measure strike and dip of sediments.
- Kakiat Park (Route 202, Suffern, NY).
- What kind of rock is in the stream bed?
- What kind of rock is on the hill side?
- What kind of geological feature separates them?
- Lunch at the Summit of Bear Mountain (Bear Mountain State Park,
NY).
- Note the kind of rock near the base of the mountain.
- What kind of rock is at the summit? Is it different than at the base?
- Why is bear mountain topographically high?
- Look at the surrounding mountains and comment on their shape.
- Where is the Ramapo fault? Can you see where it crosses the Hudson River?
- Find a sandstone boulder at the summit. How did it get there?.
- Silvermine Picnic area (7 Lakes Dr., Harriman St. Park).
- What kinds of rock?
- Find the Mine. What do you look for?
- What was being mined? Use magnet!
Updated
January 16, 2007
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