Field Geology (GEOL454-6)
Department of Geology
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

a summer field course conducted in the mountains and intermontane basins of Montana and Wyoming

Introduction and General Information
Prerequisites
Costs
How to Apply
Field Course Schedule
Academic Requirements
Equipment and Things to Bring
Photos
Course-related Web Sites

Areas visited during SIU Field Geology Course

Badlands National Park	Red Lodge, Montana	Black Hills
Butte Mines, Montana	Beartooth Range, Montana	Devil's Tower, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park	Glacier National Park	Bitterroot Range, Montana

The Black Hills Red Lodge, Montana Dillon, Montana Devils Tower, Wyoming Yellowstone National Park Glacier National Park

Field geology class examines valley glaciation features along Rock Creek, Beartooth Mountains, Montana, from a vantage point on the Bull Lake terminal morraine.

Introduction and General Information...

about the course...

Geology 454, our 6-week, 6 semester-hour Field Geology course has been taught annually since 1970. We require this course of our B.S. degree candidates, and at the same time welcome applications from geology majors at other institutions. During most summers, about half of the class consists of students from ten colleges and universities across the nation. The instructional staff typically comprises from two to three full-time faculty members and one graduate Teaching Assistant. Course registration is normally limited to no more than 30 students.
...its purpose...

The primary job of the Geology 454 faculty is to teach people how to operate as field geologists. We do a lot of instructing on the outcrop and conduct 9 separate field exercises that range from one to four days in duration. Most projects include basic geological mapping and require the completion of one or more cross-sections.
and the facilities...

The class spends about 60% of the summer at the Yellowstone-Bighorn Research Association (YBRA) field station near Red Lodge, Montana (http://www.ybra.org). Its excellent permanent facilities include cabins, wash houses, study halls, and a lodge/dining room - home of outstanding family-style meals. We also work out of the University of Montana-Western (UM-W) at Dillon for nine days. Camping is limited to about 10 days during road trips. 

View to the northwest along the Beartooth Front from the YBRA field station. The Lodge is in the distant foreground.

Well, maybe your department, a grad school, or a future employer requires you to take one. If not, there are still good reasons to have a summer field course under your academic belt. Field geology offers students the opportunity to apply what has been learned in the classroom to real geological problems. Unless you already have fairly extensive field experience you should emerge from the course with a much deeper and more realistic appreciation of problems attending the collection, analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of geological information.

In the field, rocks look different than they do in textbooks or on lab benches. A valuable aspect of the field course is practice in approaching an outcrop and knowing what to do next. Even an incorrect solution to a field problem or a faulty interpretation of a geological event is of value because it prepares the way for a better solution or interpretation next time. As you get better at your job through practice, you gain confidence in your abilities. For this reason, a field course must stress individual effort and personal initiative. Students usually work in teams, primarily for safety, and we all realize that a good deal of learning can be derived from discussing ideas with classmates. But it is your own interpretation of the geology, developed from your own investigation, that will be of most value.
We work in - and see - a lot of great geology...

The SIUC course (GEOL 454) begins in Carbondale, and we learn about Mid-continent tectonics, geomorphology, and sedimentation on the drive west. The first detailed outcrop geology comes in the White River Badlands and the Black Hills where we spend three days in rocks ranging in age from Proterozoic to Miocene. From our Red Lodge and Dillon headquarters we map in Archean to Cenozoic material ranging from high-rank metasediments and ultramafics to marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks. Map areas around Red Lodge best illustrate Laramide thick-skinned structural styles, whereas those around Dillon emphasize classic thin-skin tectonic style. We reconstruct Pleistocene glacial events from our own field maps, interpret stream capture sequences along the Beartooth front, and apply first-hand observation to depositional problems in the Bighorn Basin. On a major excursion from red Lodge, we travel through Yellowstone National Park, up the west side of the Sawtooth Mountains into Glacier National Park, and return to Red Lodge across the western edge of the northern plains.

 

Sun River Canyon, Sawtooth Mountains, Montana. This area is characterized by thin-skinned thrust faulting and valley glaciation.

What are the prerequisites?...

Participants must have completed courses in physical and historical geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and structural geology. Course experience in stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geomorphology is recommended but not required. Most students take our field course between the third and fourth (junior and senior) years or during the final summer prior to graduation.

and the costs ?...

Estimated basic costs of the field course from June 16 through July 29, 2008, are listed below. We do not expect additional increases, but this Web page will be updated immediately should they occur. The cost of mandatory medical insurance has NOT been included in these figures. 

2008 Estimated Basic Costs - as of January 2008
Tuition	*$1269.00
Transportation Fee	250.00
Room and Board at YBRA and University of Montana-Western	805.00
Miscellaneous fees, supplies	**120.00
_________________________________________________
Total Estimated Basic Costs	$2,444.60

Notes concerning costs:

1. *Tuition is for Illinois residents and non-residents and is based on six semester-hours credit. Fees for items or services other than transportation are not charged for this course. SIUC students pay a lower tuition depending on the year they enrolled at the university.

2. **Miscellaneous costs include camping fees, parking fees and costs of supplies used for general instruction.

3. The total basic cost estimate does NOT include the price of travel to and from Carbondale, mandatory medical insurance, camping equipment, personal items, entertainment, and meals not provided by YBRA and UM-W. Costs for meals on the trips from Carbondale to Red Lodge and return, and meals on the western Montana trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are estimated to be $350.00, assuming a rate of $25 per day for 14 days.

 

How to apply...

Just drop us a note, by post or e-mail, expressing interest in Geology 454 (Field Geology). We'll send you an application form and the latest word on dates and costs. If you prefer, you may download the application form in Adobe PDF format using the following link: Field Course Application

In either case, you will need to have a Faculty member e-mail or mail a brief letter of reference to the Field Course Director (address below).

Need Adobe Acrobat? Download
a free copy here.

Please fill out the application and mail it back to us. We can also answer any additional questions.
Address inquiries to:

Field Course Co-Director E-mail: eferre@geo.siu.edu Department of Geology Southern Illinois University Carbondale Carbondale, Illinois 62901 E-mail: geology@geo.siu.edu Phone: (618) 453-3351 FAX #: (618) 453-7393

 

Department of Geology, SIUC

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

South Dakota

Montana

Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park

Badlands National Park

The Black Hills

Devils Tower

Western Montana College

YBRA Field Station

Comments and questions related to departmental information: geology@geo.siu.edu
Comments and questions related to web server: webmaster@science.siu.edu

Return to Geology home page.

SIUC / College of Science / Geology / Field Geology 454-6
URL: http://www.science.siu.edu/geology/courses/geol454/index.html