GEOL 101
Oral Report
Field Geology
Geological evolution of the Champlain Valley
Oral and written reports due: November 19th
Summary:
This final geological report will take the form of both an oral presentation in the
computer lab using POWERPOINT software and a short 5-8 page written report. Both are on the
same subject. Each oral presentation will consist of a team of 2 people. Please use the assigned
working groups. The length of each presentation will be 20 minutes maximum.
Goals:
The goal of the project is to answer the topical question given to you in class. Each
group will be assigned a different question. You should plan on evaluating the various
geological models of common features in the context of the observations and concepts we have
explored during the semester. Your presentation should incorporate some of the geological
features you have seen this semester and any of the models and processes we have discussed. It
should not be a repetition of everything you observed and interpreted at every locality. Rather
you should be selective and only choose information relevant to your topic, such as a few of the
stereonets, maps, cross sections, diagrams etc. that formed part of your previous labs, but it
should be summarized and directed towards the main questions you are given.
As you explore your topic, please consider the following questions to help guide you:
1) If you were given a specific type of feature, what are the characteristics of the feature? What
kinds of observations are used to characterize it? How does it form? Identify at least two
models (or variations of one model) that explain the processes involved in the formation of
the feature.
2) If you were given a process, what are the various steps involved in the process? How is the
process studied? What kinds of observations are used?
Deliverables:
1) Oral Report: You will receive two grades: One for your individual performance and
the other as a group. The first grade will reflect how clearly you present the material you talk
about during your part. The second grade will reflect how smoothly the transitions are between
speakers in your group and how coordinated and complete the presentation is.
2) Written Report: Each person is responsible for writing their own report.
The Oral Presentation (20 minutes per group):
Use approximately 18 slides in your powerpoint presentation. Any more and you will go
over the time limit. So that’s a little over a 1 minute per slide. We will review the salient
elements of using the software in class, including how to scan and import images into it. Each
person in the group should speak at least once. It is up to you to decide how you want to break up
the talk. PLEASE PLAN ON PRACTICING YOUR PRESENTATION AT LEAST TWICE AS
A GROUP. Experience indicates that the groups who perform the best are those who practiced.
Here is a suggested presentation outline:
1. TITLE SLIDE
1
GEOL 101
Oral Report
Field Geology
2. INTRODUCTION
-Describe the purpose of your study and any field sites or locations you will use.
-Clearly state the specific questions you are addressing and explain how you will answer
them.
3. OBSERVATIONS (DATA)
-Describe the relationships, patterns and geometries from any of the places we have
visited. Stick only to the features most relevant to your questions.
4. ANALYSIS
-Describe at least two possible models that address either how your feature formed or the
processes involved. Evaluate both and indicate which one works best and why.
-Present your analysis of features observed in the field, including stereonets, sketches,
profiles, maps or calculations.
5. INTERPRETATION
- Answer the questions posed in the introduction.
6. CONCLUSIONS
- Summarize the observations you relied on, the main findings of your study, and the
answers to the questions posed at the beginning of your talk.
7. REFERENCES
Tell us which sources you used. You must include author, date, publisher, source of the
raw data for each. The sources of the data or models must be either published sources (i.e.
journal articles, magazines or books), or the online sites I have given you.
Questions:
1) X: What is rock cleavage and how does it form? How is rock cleavage related to other
features such as faults and folds?
2) X: What processes were involved in forming the Champlain Thrust? How are features in
the hanging wall similar and different than in the footwall?
3) X: What does the sedimentary stratigraphy of the Champlain Valley (sometimes called a
rift-drift sequence) tell us about the evolution of the northern Appalachian region and its
changing environments? What types of changes are recorded in the sequences?
4) X: How do folds form? What processes are involved and what is the relationship
between folds and other types of geological features in the Champlain Valley?
5) X: What are the relationships among faults, fluids and the formation of veins? Why are
faults commonly associated with veins and mineral deposits?
6) X: How do the sequences of thrust faults and folds called fold-thrust belts, form? What
are the characteristics of Vermont’s fold-thrust belt?
7) X: What is a foreland basin? What kinds of features commonly form in these types of
basins in response to mountain building events? What does the development of these
features tell us about mountain building events?
2
GEOL 101
Oral Report
Field Geology
8) X. How might the geometry of faults and/or folds influence the exploration of subsurface
resources such as water, oil, gas and minerals? For example, if a stratigraphic section is
tilted, faulted, and/or folded, how might that change the way in which we look for surface
features?
The Written Report:
1) Aim for 5-8 written pages using font 12 and Times New Roman or a comparable style.
Remember, short papers mean that every paragraph you write must make a specific point that is
relevant to the aim of the paper. There is no room for meandering commentaries or other filler
material.
2) Everyone should turn in a separate report.
3) You may include any of the diagrams you used in the oral report (be sure to provide any
references for the diagrams that are not your creation).
4) Potential organization:
Abstract (a 250 word (or less) summary of the main points in your paper)
Introduction
Locations and purpose of study
Identify the specific question you will answer and explain your approach to answering it
Observations
Describe data from any site we visited and how the observations relate to the question.
Interpretations
Answer the questions and provide an explanation of your analysis
Conclusions
References
Cite any sources of information you used.
Figures with captions
Resources:
Please use the online sources listed here. To cite these in your report, you must include
(in this order) the authors, the date, the title of the site or published work, the publisher or other
source of the raw data, the page number or the http link. Any other sources you use must be
either published sources (i.e. journal articles, magazines or books).
Plate motions
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/geophysics/visualizations/PTMovements.html
This site has many links that provide information on plate motions and paleogeography for
different time periods. Check out the Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America
link. Also check out the links on Accretionary Tectonics and Exotic Terrains.
Appalachian Mountain Formation
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/cbentley/gol_135/billy_goat/readings.htm
This site provides a model for how the Appalachians formed. It includes a review of the Taconic
and Acadian Orogenies from the perspective of Virgina.
http://www.jamestown-ri.info/acadian.htm
3
GEOL 101
Oral Report
Field Geology
This site explains the various orogenies that affected the Appalachians
http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/Departments/InvertPaleo/Trenton/Intro/GeologyPage/Geologic%20
Setting/tectonicsetting.htm
This site has some good images and animations of the Appalachian mountain-building events.
Rift-drift to collision
http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html
This site goes through the various stages of rifting followed by collision and mountain building
(called the Wilson Cycle).
Thrust belt terminology
http://courses.eas.ualberta.ca/eas421/lecturepages/thrust.html
This link has definitions for any kind of thrust-fold relationship conceivable.
Mountain building (orogeny) and tectonics
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/platetec/orogeny.htm
This site explores the types of plate motions and features associated with making mountains.
Fault Bend Folds
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/faculty/RWA/movies/
This site is the one we used in class. It shows movies of a fault bend folds and duplexes.
General information on faults, folds and other features
http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/structure/learnstructure/index.htm
http://earthsci.org/processes/pro.html#geological_structures
These are links to online courses, including at the University of Leeds. Check out the chapters
on faults, folds and “the basics”. The fold chapter includes the flexural slip and flexural flow
mechanisms. The fault chapter includes fault bend folds (under ‘thrusts’).
Rock Cleavage and Metamorphism
http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens212/metatexture.htm
This link has good sketches and definitions of the features associated with rock cleavage, which
falls under the more generalized term ‘foliation.’
http://earthds.info/pdfs/EDS_06.PDF
This document contains good summaries of metamorphism, including the formation of cleavage
(foliations).
http://www.whitman.edu/geology/winter/
This site has is a powerpoint slide show on how to classify metamorphic rocks (look at chapter
22)
Erosion and foreland basins
http://earthsci.org/processes/pro.html#geological_structures
This site describes all the different types of unconformities common in foreland basins.
4
GEOL 101
Oral Report
Field Geology
http://www.priweb.org/ed/earthtrips/northeast/cent_NY/taconic.html
This site describes the unconformities visible in New York State and their significance.
http://nceg.upesh.edu.pk/GeologicalBulletin/Vol-38-2005/Vol-38-2005-Paper11.pdf
This is a paper that describes an unconformity related to the collision of the Himalaya
http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bitstream/246246/173895/1/19.pdf
This one describes unconformities related to an arc-continent collision in Taiwan
http://www.mines.unr.edu/geology/faculty/jthomepage/GEOL_755_files/Buckhouse%20755_Fo
reland%20Basin%20Presentation.pdf
This is a powerpoint presentation of foreland basins in the Rocky Mountains and how they form.
Fluids, veins and faulting
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~erict/Fault.html
This site has animations of fluids in fault zones.
http://offices.colgate.edu/bselleck/Publication%20PDF/IOGA2010.pdf
This site has information on fluids and veins in the Utica Shale, New York.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v437/n7055/full/437046a.html
This site is an article in the journal Nature that describes fluids in faults.
http://virtualexplorer.com.au/special/meansvolume/contribs/jessell/lectures/lec5a.html
This site is complex but has some good information on veins.
http://intl-elements.geoscienceworld.org/content/1/1/31.full
This article explores fluids and faulting.
5