Hello guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Welcome back to my blog! I know it has been a while since I posted, but I’m excited to be back here writing! Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite parts of being a geology student at Amherst: the field trips! During GEOL-111, Introduction to Geology, we went on numerous field trips, practically every other week during our lab section, and for GEOL-112, Surficial Earth Dynamics, we got to go on a few trips as well!
When I was taking Introduction to Geology last semester, almost half of our labs ended up being field trips! The geology department has a number of vans that they take students out in and we get to explore the Pioneer Valley area in a way that we couldn’t through only using the bus system. Often these field trips had a packet of questions to go along with them that related what we were looking at back to things we discussed in class. I always really enjoyed these trips because they helped me better visualize the topics that we were covering and helped me increase my depth of understanding.
One of my favorite Introduction to Geology trips was when we went to the Connecticut River! We got to see a ton of sedimentary rocks that were deposited by the river, as well as, instances of uplift and erosion. We talked about taking strike and dip measurements, as well as, making geologic maps. Walking out through the woods towards the river was such a great time because we got to chat with other people and be outdoors. The view of the river with the autumn leaves in the background was absolutely gorgeous, and we got to see ripple marks that had been preserved within the rocks. After we finished at the river, we went back toward the vans and on the way saw a bunch of dinosaur footprints that had been preserved in the rock along the river. It was such a magical experience, and it made Introduction to Geology one of my favorite classes!
For Surficial Earth Dynamics, we got to go on a weekend field trip to Plum Island this April! We saw different coastal processes along the Atlantic Ocean, as well as, different sediment deposits. One of the best parts of the trip was seeing a beach filled with glacial till sediment that had been deposited by a glacier thousands of years ago. The beach was covered with rocks of all sizes and types and we took some to time to look for especially cool and colorful rocks. We also spent some time playing near the waves, as well as discussing why the beach looked the way it did and going over different vocabulary that described the island. It was overall a great experience, and I’m so grateful that I got to explore this little island.
I highly recommend taking Introduction to Geology to everyone because of these field trips. It’s so cool being able to explore the valley and learn more about why the Earth is the way that it is. You end up making so many friends in these classes, as well as, seeing things that you never had before. I’m especially looking forward to taking Structural Geology in the future because we are able to go on so many cool field trips since the lab section for that class is four hours instead of two hours