Shortly before the Fall semester began, Kacey Lohman, Adam Simon, and Peter Knoop lead the students on a field trip through Michigan and Ontario. The trip left Ann Arbor, MI on Saturday, 27 August, and returned on Friday, 2 September; beating the Labor Day rush as we headed south, back to Ann Arbor, while everyone else was headed north.
2016 Michigan-Ontario Photos and Videos
We spent time near Elliot Lake examining diamictites and stromatolites that record oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere, in Sudbury exploring evidence of a giant asteroid impact and the resulting ore deposits, and in Michigan’s UP investigating historic iron mining, banded-iron formations (BIFs), and Cambrian-Ordovician sedimentary environments in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. As on all of our field trips, students were encouraged to look at the rocks and develop their best scenarios for their field observations. Students also learned how to pack up camp really quick in the dark to avoid a thunderstorm, how to make wonderfully delicious shish kabobs over the camp fire, and spent a lot of time discussing life and career paths with the faculty. The trip provided a wonderful opportunity to connect the students to the geologic events that make humans possible and enrich the fabric of modern society.