Field Geology and the Newark Basin/GSA Abstracts w/Programs

Field investigations of structural and stratigraphic expressions of Mesozoic rifting on the New Brunswick campuses of Rutgers University

Abstract--The New Brunswick campuses of Rutgers University provide ample opportunity for geologic, geophysical, and geomorphic field exercises. The campuses are located in the heart of the Newark basin, which is a Mesozoic half graben that formed during the break-up of Pangea. The geology of the New Brunswick campuses is well known as a result of the Newark Basin Coring Project and detailed mapping that preceded site selection of the core holes. The lacustrine Passaic Formation displays a hierarchy of Milankovitch cycles, which are well expressed in the Rutgers core hole located on the New Brunswick campus. Students in the Field Geology course use the core data to project stratigraphic contacts from the core hole to the surface, and then map these contacts to recognize intrabasinal normal faults and associated structures. Key outcrops in the Rutgers Ecological Preserve are located using a topographic base map with an overlay of the trail system produced by the students using the tape-and-compass mapping technique. In the course of this mapping project, students also conduct fracture studies on pavement surfaces. Fractures have also been studied in the Geophysics course using seismic anisotropy: refraction data for this exercise were collected using a Bison 12-channel seismogram, an electronic total station, and GPS receivers. Students in the Field Geology course also measure a detailed stratigraphic section of a portion of the Passaic Formation. The same section is also used in our Introductory Geology Lab to introduce fundamental stratigraphic concepts, which the students use to study Triassic climate change. Introductory Geology students also go on a walking tour during which they examine building stones and geomorphic features (streams, floodplains, terraces, and catchments) of the campus. The Introduction to Research course for first-year Douglass College women has used a pond (Passion Puddle) as the focus of a historic and geomorphic research project.

In all these courses, the field data collected by the students using traditional and advanced methods are processed, analyzed, and manipulated in the departmental computer lab. Students learn how to prepare their data for professional presentation in the form of journal-style reports and computer-drafted maps, cross-sections, stratigraphic sections, graphs, and stereographic projection plots.

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