Reminder! Exploring the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges: An Invitation to the Fall Meeting of the Far West Section Meeting

If you ever wanted to get out and see some of the great geological sites in California, and wished you had a knowledgeable guide and mentor to explain what you are seeing, check out this wonderful opportunity coming up on October 8-10, 2010: The Field Conference of the Far Western Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, sponsored by California State University, Fresno. You don't have to be a teacher or a member to attend, and students of the earth sciences are especially encouraged to join us. There is plenty of time to register. Here are some of the field trips that are lined up:

Saturday Field Trips:

Topographic Evolution of the Kings River Canyon: Fluvial, glacial and Hillslope Erosion in Response to Late Cenozoic Uplift and Climate Change (Greg Stock, Park Geologist, Yosemite National Park)

Coeval mafic-felsic magmatism in the intrusive suite of Yosemite Valley (Kent Ratajeski, University of Kentucky)

Emplacement of oceanic lithosphere into the western Sierra Nevada and its welding into continental basement by batholithic emplacement (Jason and Zorka Saleeby, Cal Tech)

Growth and internal evolution of Jurassic and Cretaceous magmatic plumbing systems: an examination of the tilted Jurassic Guadalupe Igneous Complex and comparison to the Cretaceous Tuolumne Batholith (Scott Patterson, USC, and Keith Putirka, CSU Fresno)

Southern Diablo Range geology: Recorder of past subduction and current active tectonics (John Wakabayashi, CSU Fresno)

Sunday Field Trips:

Anomalous subsidence and uplift along the southwestern Sierra Nevada in relation to underlying mantle dynamics (Jason and Zorka Saleeby, Cal Tech)

Ice Age (Middle Pleistocene) Fossils at the Fairmead Landfill, a Visit to the Madera County Fossil Discovery Center (Bob Dundas, CSU Fresno)

Geology and Natural History of the McKenzie Table Mountain Preserve (Craig Poole, Fresno City College, and Chris Pluhar, CSU Fresno)

Friday and Saturday Trip:

The San Andreas fault in Central California (Ramon Arrowsmith, Arizona State University)

Presenters:

Friday Evening:

Chris Pluhar (CSU Fresno), Table Mountains and Tectonics, What Canyon-Filling Lavas of the sierra Nevada Reveal About Miocene California

Saturday Evening:

Jason Saleeby (Cal Tech), Sierra Nevada Geology from the 225 km Mantle Seismic Discontinuity to Mt. Whitney Summit Elevations

Our invitation extends to anyone who is interested in learning more about California geology. These conferences are wonderful ways to get familiar with the geology of a fascinating region, the western coast of the United States. Special discounts are offered to students, and costs are low for this kind of opportunity. We will also have a vast array of California and Nevada geology field guides and other resources available for sale. You do not need to be a member of the NAGT to participate. Information and registration forms can be accessed on the Far Western Section website. For questions and more information, please contact conference coordinator Paul Troop.

A GREAT Opportunity to see some of the best of California's Geology

If you ever wanted to get out and see some of the great geological sites in California, and wished you had a knowledgeable guide and mentor to explain what you are seeing, check out this wonderful opportunity coming up on October 8-10, 2010: The Field Conference of the Far Western Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, sponsored by California State University, Fresno. You don't have to be a teacher or a member to attend, and students of the earth sciences are especially encouraged to join us. Here are some of the field trips that are lined up:

Saturday Field Trips:

Topographic Evolution of the Kings River Canyon: Fluvial, glacial and Hillslope Erosion in Response to Late Cenozoic Uplift and Climate Change (Greg Stock, Park Geologist, Yosemite National Park)

Coeval mafic-felsic magmatism in the intrusive suite of Yosemite Valley (Kent Ratajeski, University of Kentucky)

Emplacement of oceanic lithosphere into the western Sierra Nevada and its welding into continental basement by batholithic emplacement (Jason and Zorka Saleeby, Cal Tech)

Growth and internal evolution of Jurassic and Cretaceous magmatic plumbing systems: an examination of the tilted Jurassic Guadalupe Igneous Complex and comparison to the Cretaceous Tuolumne Batholith (Scott Patterson, USC, and Keith Putirka, CSU Fresno)

Southern Diablo Range geology: Recorder of past subduction and current active tectonics (John Wakabayashi, CSU Fresno)

Sunday Field Trips:

Anomalous subsidence and uplift along the southwestern Sierra Nevada in relation to underlying mantle dynamics (Jason and Zorka Saleeby, Cal Tech)

Ice Age (Middle Pleistocene) Fossils at the Fairmead Landfill, a Visit to the Madera County Fossil Discovery Center (Bob Dundas, CSU Fresno)

Geology and Natural History of the McKenzie Table Mountain Preserve (Craig Poole, Fresno City College, and Chris Pluhar, CSU Fresno)

Friday and Saturday Trip:

The San Andreas fault in Central California (Ramon Arrowsmith, Arizona State University)

Presenters:

Friday Evening:

Chris Pluhar (CSU Fresno), Table Mountains and Tectonics, What Canyon-Filling Lavas of the sierra Nevada Reveal About Miocene California

Saturday Evening:

Jason Saleeby (Cal Tech), Sierra Nevada Geology from the 225 km Mantle Seismic Discontinuity to Mt. Whitney Summit Elevations

Check out the Far West Section NAGT Website, the Far West Section blog, or contact Paul Troop for more details (registration information will be posted soon). Meetings of the Far West Section are economical ways to see a lot of California, Nevada and Hawai, usually less than $150, and lodging in the Fresno area is economical. Our invitation extends to anyone who is interested in learning more about California geology. These conferences are wonderful ways to get familiar with the geology of a fascinating region, the western coast of the United States.

(Cross-posted at Teaching the Earth Sciences)

New Geoblog Debuts: Teaching the Earth Sciences

As you may have seen from my biography, I am the past-president of the Far West Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). The section includes California, Nevada and Hawaii. When they put you out to pasture, it turns out you still get to do things...I am now the webmaster (for better or worse), and someone thought the section should have a blog for rapid dissemination of announcements and deadlines and that sort of thing. So I get to do that too! It debuts today, as the Teaching the Earth Sciences blog. I only have a few posts up so far, but it should be growing in time. You'll be able to check on award and scholarship deadlines, academic openings, publications, and conference announcements, as well as anything we find of interest to teachers of the earth sciences. I would be grateful for ideas and polite critiques!

NAGT is a great organization, especially the Far West Section. They have one or two conferences each year somewhere in the three-state region, and the conferences including field trips and teaching seminars, and attending these events has been some of the geologic highlights of my life. I've been able to tour Death Valley, the Mojave Desert, Anza Borrego, Hawaiian Volcanoes, the Klamath Mountains, Mount Shasta, the eastern Sierra Nevada and the Long Valley Caldera, the Black Mountains near Lake Mead, Sequoia, Yosemite, the Mother Lode, the Marin Headlands, Cambria and Big Sur, and Lake Tahoe. I've been in gold mines, tourmaline mines, caves, coal pits, and I've found all manner of minerals, fossils and rocks that have enriched my teaching career. All of these tours include geologic guidebooks, which are for sale to anyone, and they are a great resource (check out the publications list here). They also provide scholarship support for students in our region, and recognize an Outstanding Earth Science Teacher of the Year as part of a national program.

The national NAGT also has many resources available on the web for teachers, and there are nine more sections around the United States and Canada in addition to our Far West Section. Check it out, if you are a teacher now or are thinking of becoming one. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the earth sciences.