Associate Professor Sidney Hemming is now accepting applications for the Geological Excursion to Mono Lake, California field trip scheduled for Spring Break 2010. The field course follows in the footsteps of Professor Nick Christie-Blick's popular Geological Excursion to Death Valley, next scheduled for Spring 2011.

The excursion is aimed at first-year and sophomore students with little or no prior background in the Earth and environmental sciences, striking a balance between the examination of modern phenomena and examples from the geological record, and with emphasis on developing interpretations from observations.

The field trip will focus on the geology of the Mono Basin and adjacent areas in the eastern Sierra -- a chance to see geology in action, and to look back through geological time, in an area of outstanding vistas and natural beauty. The terrain is spectacular due to the uplift of mountain blocks with respect to structural valleys along faults, a process that started some 35 million years ago as a result of stretching and thinning of the crust in this region, and continues today.

The field trip area contains diverse geological features, including faults, volcanoes, glacial valleys, moraines, lake terraces and outcropping lake sediments, as well as the famous tufa towers. Mono Lake is also an important example of water demands and environmental issues, and the class will examine examples of these and other features, focusing on the processes at work, the geological history and, in some cases, competing interpretations of geological history. Emphasis in the field will be the observations upon which the interpretations are based. The intent of the excursion is to show students some fabulous geology while taking a well-earned break from spring classes. Among planned diversions, those wishing to do so will be able to take a dip in the hot springs not far from our base at the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL).

Visit the Geological Excursion to Mono Lake website for more information.