GEOLOGY FIELD STUDY - SEPTEMBER 2022
Explore the geology of Harney County. In this three-night program, participants will learn about the Steens Mt. and geothermal activity in South Eastern Oregon desert.
Program, meals and lodging included in price of $550 per person.
- DATES: September 22 - September 25
(check in before 5 pm on Sept. 22; check out Sept. 25 after breakfast) - MEALS: Breakfast served at 7:00 am, pack-away lunch for the field, dinner served at 6pm.
- AMENITIES: There are various bathroom stops along the way.
Led by Michael Cummings
Michael is a retired Professor of Geology from Portland State University and has a long history with Malheur Field Station. He has been leading university and general-interest geology trips in the Northern Great Basin for decades.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
SEPT 22 THURSDAY
- Arrive anytime, unpack into E-Dorm. Meet at Malcolm Hall in the AV room at 5pm
- Evening session at the station
- Dinner at 6pm in Dining Hall
- Introduction to the geology of SE Oregon
SEPT 23 FRIDAY
NORTH OF BURNS ON HWY 395
- Breakfast at 7:00 am in Dining Hall at MFS – depart for field trip to:
- Accreted terrains and evolution of western margin of North American during the Mesozoic
- Dinner Creek Welded Tuff (16million) and its local relation to older rocks (Silvies River valley)
- Divine Canyon Welded Tuff (9.7 million) and the younger westward trend of rhyolites
- Prater Creek Welded Tuff (8.0 million) and the newly discover caldera source west of Hines
- Rattlesnake Welded Tuff (7.0 million) and characteristics of zones in welded tuffs
- Dinner at 6pm in Dining Hall at MFSEvening session:
- Columbia River Basalt Group (CRGB) and its relation to rhyolite centers in Eastern Oregon. Newly defined extent of the Picture Gorge Basalt, a member of the CRBG.
SEPT 24 SATURDAY
CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF STEENS MOUNTAIN
- Breakfast served at 7:00am in Dining Hall at MFS – depart for field trip to:
- Explosion structures in Steens Mountain Basalt flows near the crest of Steens Mountain
- Steen Mountain front and active faults
- Mickey Springs – silica sinter deposits formed between about 30,000 and 18,000 years ago
- Hot spring ecosystems
- Pluvial Lake Alvord and shoreline features
- Borax Lake – construction of a biomorphic mound and silica sinter from hot spring activity
- Dinner served at 6pm in Dining Hall at MFSEvening session:
- Brief wrap up of what we’ve seen
SEPT 25 SUNDAY
Check out after breakfast, end of program
