So, I made it to Montana after 34 hours of sitting in the car. We took a detour to Chicago, since we had never been. I got to see Lake Michigan and eat Chicago deep dish pizza. It was pretty nice. We walked around Lake Michigan to a man made beach and watched seagulls for a while. Then, we headed for Mount Rushmore. We ended up going through Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Minnesota, and then Montana (not exactly in that order) which was nice because I have never seen most of the states just listed. We saw Mount Rushmore, which wasn't really as impressive as I thought it was going to be. It was a lot smaller than I imagined. Also, we saw the Crazy Horse Memorial that they are still working on. It was pretty big.
After we got to Montana, we checked into the dorms. Yesterday was the first day of field camp. I actually was able to keep up with the group but lacked my knee brace. :( I paid for that today. I saw four rattlesnakes yesterday and two eagles. I also saw deer and antelope. There are a lot of critters out here. I don't know how I feel about the mapping portion yet. My lines are off and we have to make a cross section that's due Monday. I'm not sure mine is going to be correct. I'm a bit nervous about it but my classmates have been really helpful and we've had study sessions to go over what we've done so far. I'd say that we've hiked about 10 or so miles so far but that has been over anticlines and synclines...so very steep hills. One was almost the size of a mountain. It's wearing on me but I think I'll be better for it in the long run. My hiking poles are definitely proving to be really useful! They saved me from falling on my butt so many times today.
Today, I saw two snakes. One was a pretty big rattlesnake that almost struck at a classmate of mine. He didn't rattle at first and he was hiding under a rock that my classmate walked over. Thankfully, my classmate wasn't injured and was able to move quickly away from the snake. It was a bit scary. The second snake was in brush and rattled to let us know...so there were no issues.
We've seen Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary rock so far. There's been an abundance of sandstone, shale, limestone, conglomerate, and volcanic tuff. It's been amazing to see the different rock types. Limestone has been really soft and easy to identify...even without acid. It's a grayish color that can be scratched easily with a rock hammer. I need to find a way to take pictures so that I can show everyone when I get home. The anticline is really big and really interesting. It folded into a syncline, which I had also never seen in person before.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Greatly Amused...
I was greatly amused when I saw this in traffic:
I figured it was worth sharing. :)
I figured it was worth sharing. :)
Friday, April 17, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I'm Brilliant
I went to the orthopedist today to get his opinion on my injury. After a three hour long wait just to get back to a room and a couple of x rays, the doctor decided that I dislocated my patella and I've managed to tear the tiny ligaments around the patella. He advised me to wear a special brace that holds my knee cap in place. It hurts SO badly! I really want to take it off but I can't. This injury is going to take six weeks to heal and I will have to go physical therapy. I don't know how excited I am about that. However, I'll be very happy if this heals before I leave for field camp. So, I will do what I have to do. Blarg.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Today
So, I missed the geology field trip that my structural class went on today. I emailed the professor to remind him about the doctor's note I handed him a week earlier. I now have to do a second presentation in addition to the one that I'm giving this week, which I really need to work on tomorrow. I don't know if I have to do a second research paper or not, probably. Blah. I hate writing research papers. This doesn't include the fact that I have no idea what's going on in structure half of the time so I am scared to present a paper and a presentation to be critiqued by an expert. My mineralogy professor said last semester that I didn't have enough confidence in myself while presenting. I don't think that's true because I think I just get very nervous. Anyway, my leg hurts and I'm on pain medicine...so I'm going to go to sleep now.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Rocks made of Quartz, hornblende, biotite, and muscovite
More lineations, lenses. This rock is composed of quartz, hornblende, biotite, and muscovite.
Lenticular Lenses and Foliation off of Buford Hwy
Lenticular Lenses and foliation off of Buford Highway.
Rocks Show Blasting/Drilling/Lineations
Markings made from blasting and/or drilling. Lineation of the rock as well.
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