The 2002 GPS Postdoc Field Trip to Death Valley

By Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences

Group picture taken in front of the Tufa towers formed during the Pleistocene in the former Searles Lake. Participants from left to right: Nadine McQuarrie, Thom Rahn, Todd Ehlers, Whitey Hagadorn, Jean-Luc Margot, Tara Wolf, Chad Trujillo, Kari Cooper, Eric Cowgill, Juliette Artru, and Eric Lambin. Not shown, Julianna Fessenden. These towers were formed by CaCO3 precipitation at artesian springs where calcium rich waters percolated into a hyper -alkaline lake. The towers record ancient microbial communities that fed on these calcite rich structures.

The 3rd annual GPS Postdoc Field Trip took place the weekend of March 8-10, 2002, in Death Valley National Park. Participants (including significant others) were Juliette Artru, Eric Lambin, Kari Cooper, Eric Cowgill, Todd Ehlers, Whitey Hagadorn, Jean-Luc Margot, Nadine McQuarrie, Thom Rahn, Julianna Fessenden, Chad Trujillo and Tara Wolf. Within the group we had strong expertise in structural geology, paleontology, volcanology, geochemistry and planetary sciences to bring about animated discussions regarding regional geology, ecology, and nighttime star/planet gazing.

Specific destinations and discussions of this trip included: Tufa Towers in the Trona Pinnacles area (discussion led by Thom Rahn), Mosaic Canyon (discussions on shear zone evolution, sedimentary erosion/deposition and dolomite formation led by Whitey Hagadorn, Eric Cowgill, Todd Ehlers, and Nadine McQuarrie), Ubehebe Craters (discussion led by Kari Cooper), Death Valley and Garlock Fault systems (discussion led by Nadine McQuarrie and Eric Cowgill), turtleback formations (Nadine McQuarrie and Eric Cowgill), hypersaline pools and evaporites surrounding Badwater, and Precambrian glacial diamictites (with a discussion of snowball Earth by Whitey Hagadorn). A nice overview of the geological evolution of western North America was led by Nadine McQuarrie and some impromptu stops to discuss roadside formations brought an element of discovery to the trip. Also, Jean-Luc Margot and Chad Trujillo brought out a Questar telescope, loaned to us from the Astronomy Department, on Friday March 8th in the Wildrose Campground, allowing us fine views of Saturn and its satellite Titan as well as Jupiter (w/ moons), Mars, Venus the Orion Nebula and numerous other clusters, star pairs, etc.

Diverse topics which prompted lively discussions and debate around the campfire included: strategies for job interviewing and negotiations, mentoring students and laboratory personnel, women in science, dealing with the two-body problem and creating a successful laboratory. The informality of an all-postdoc scholar group allowed for increased participation among the members where understanding of the geology was enhanced due to increased question/answer sessions among the members.

The postdoc fieldtrip is an annual event sponsored by the Department of Geological and Planetary Sciences. The first year's group traveled to Owens Valley, the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains, the second visited the metamorphic core complex of the Whipple Mountains in Southeastern California, and this year we explored the rugged beauty of Death Valley. We would like to thank Dept. Chair Ed Stolper for supporting these trips and allowing the postdocs the opportunity to learn a little about each other and experience amazing geology along the way. We would also like to thank Marcia Hudson and Carolyn Porter for their help and guidance regarding the logistics of the trip.

Juliette Artru, Eric Cowgill, Jean-Luc Margot, and Chad Trujillo discuss the formation of the western wall of Mosaic Canyon. Conglomerate clasts and asymmetric boudins make up this wall with a series of weathering events, floods, and continued faulting causing this wall to continually change.

Kari Cooper leads a discussion of the formation of the Ubehebe Crater. The crater is the largest of a series of craters that form the Ubehebe volcanic field at the northeastern end of the Cottonwood Mountains. The sedimentary rocks exposed in the walls of the crater range from 12.1 to 6.2 Ma, the volcanic tuff from the eruption is thought to be several thousand years old, but is the exact date of the last eruption is debated.

Nadine McQuarrie leading a discussion on the historical events of the local geological features. Discussion held on Panamint Mountains overlooking Death Valley and the Funeral Mountain range. The valley was created from a series of normal faults uplifting Precambrian sediment layers.

Eric Cowgill points out the ductile structures and a series of faults on the eastern wall of the Mosaic Canyon. Mosaic Canyon is one of the youngest faults in the Tucki Mountain detachment system formed during the Cenozoic extension. The grayish layer above Eric's head is the upper Proterozoic Noonday Dolomite marbles thought to form during the snowball Earth. Conglomerate clasts and asymmetric boudins dated from the mid-Miocene make up the western wall of this canyon.

Natural bridge in the Copper Canyon Turtleback. Copper Canyon drains an embayment composed of Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks, correlated with the Furnace Creek Formation. These turtleback surfaces are attributed to compressional folding of regional thrust faults, uparching of shallow pluton intrusions, and/or differential erosion of sedimentary deposits.

Last updated: Tue Oct 09 19:19:18 -0700 2007

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