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GEOLOGY 350Y - Field Studies, Geological Mapping, May 1 - 13 (incl)

  Landsat Image of the Field Camp Area, Coniston, Sudbury
(Ramsey Lake, lower left)

PRELIMINARY NOTICE - Nov 22 2002

     Departure

       The excursion to Sudbury will leave PROMPTLY from the rear loading dock of the B & G Building at 8.00 A.M., Thursday May 1st. Each student is required to fill out a standard University  'Release and Assumption of Risk'   form. This should have been done at the time the course fee is paid to the departmental secretary. If you haven't done so, please do see the secretary. Do not forget to bring your OHIP card - in case you should need medical attention.

      Participants:
      If your name is not on the following list, contact Dr Church.
 
 

      TENTATIVE Program

      Geology students  will map several areas of deformed and metamorphosed rocks of the Southern and Grenville Provinces. The georegistration of maps, photographs, and satellite and magnetic images to be used in the mapping part of the course will be carried out using the computers in room 53. A series of labs for this purpose will be organised throughout the year.Click here to go to the georegistration instruction page.

      Geology
        En route to Sudbury a stop will be made between Parry Sound and Pointe au Baril to examine the nature of the Parry Sound shear zone and the shear pods of  the southern Britt zone of the Grenville Province. Time permitting, we will also examine the Alban quartzites and the high P/high T Burwash migmatites.
         The first two days of the course will involve a traverse of the Sudbury basin to a point south of the ‘Grenville Front’ near Long Lake, and a traverse across the Espanola - Whitefish Falls area. (Geology of the Sudbury Region.) The third day will be dedicated to the geology of the northern Grenville Province. These three days, as well as the first day of travel, will be considered instructional days, and as such will provide an opportunity to study the key rock types (Whitewater series, Sudbury Irruptive, ‘trap’ dikes, Nipissing diabase, Sudbury diabase, Grenville diabase, high and low metamorphic grade Huronian metasediments, ‘older’ and ‘younger’ Grenville Front granites, etc) of the Sudbury region, and the structural history of the Southern and Grenville Provinces. They will also provide the context (big picture!) for an examination of the various geophysical data sets (seismic, magnetic, gravity) currently available for the Sudbury region.  For the next two days students will collectively map two areas of deformed Huronian rocks in the Coniston area, and during this time receive instruction in basic orienteering and the use of their GPS units with georegistered airphotos. The remaining time will be partitioned to allow students to map areas  pertinent to the resolution of several outstanding issues concerning the geology of the Sudbury region.

      Student evaluation

             Following the instructional stage, students will map as individuals and no further direct instruction will be provided during this part of the course. Nevertheless, for safety reasons, students will form mapping teams. (There are 13 students and two instructors, and the function of the 'instructors' at this stage will be safety surveillance and the correction of any serious locational problems - students walking off the limits of the airphoto, etc!!) On the last day of the course, students will be tested on their ability to map a relatively small test area (the same area for all students), and will also be given an evening oral examination covering all aspects of the course.  The overall evaluation will therefore be based on three components: the notes and maps (40%),  the mapping test (40%), and the oral examination (20%).


Tentative Course schedule (revised Nov 22 2002):

       Geology students

Thu   May 01    Travel to Sudbury
Fri     May 02   The Sudbury Basin and Southern Province to the Grenville Front (instructional day)
Sat    May 03    The Espanola/Whitefish Falls/Cutler region (instructional day)
Sun   May 04    Group mapping exercise, Garson (instruction day)
Mon  May 05    Group mapping exercise, Coniston (instructional day)
Tue   May 06    Mapping (Brodil, Ramsey Lake, Garson, Creighton)
Wed  May 07    Mapping
Thu   May 08    Mapping
Fri     May 09    Mapping
Sat    May 10    Mapping
Sun   May 11    Mapping/Write report
Mon  May 12    Field test and examination
Tue   May 13    Return to London.

       The course is subject to student evaluation, to be carried out on the evening of May 12th.


      Travel to Sudbury
        We will travel to Sudbury in several 7-seater vehicles, and since we are 15 students +  4 faculty + equipment, space will be at a premium. There will be room in the vans for only one normal size 'soft' suitcase per person (no guitars, drum sets, giant boomboxes, etc); please try therefore to minimize your luggage. If you wish listen to music while travelling, please bring your own head-set radios. The van radios will be turned on only at the discretion of the driver. It would be appreciated that students not hassle the driver in this regard.
        Students may travel to Sudbury in their own vehicles, but all travel during the field camp period must be in the departmental vehicles.

      University Regulations
        The University insists that SMOKING and DRINKING OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE VANS. Do not even bother to ask! Beverages containing alcohol must be very securely packed away in your bags. Furthermore, "if students wish to consume alcoholic beverages it is to be done on their own time and not any time during the course program."

        University regulations also require that students wear hard hats and safety glasses when in the field, e.g. hard hats when examining unstable road sections, safety glasses when hammering rocks. Hard hats and safety glasses will be provided by the department.

        Potential Problems
    1) The field course program is predicated on the assumption that the weather will be constantly sunny. There is a chance however that some mapping days will be lost to heavy rain. This is not the result of disorganization on the part of the instructional staff!
        2) Some students tend to imbibe overly large volumes of alcohol in the evenings, are hung over the next morning, and as a result tend to be less than enthusiastic when in the field or when receiving instruction.  You are therefore encouraged to be moderate in your consumption of alchohol - self-inflicted injury will engender no sympathy! Repeat offenders will be sent home by bus.
        3)  All rooms at the motel are equipped with television sets.  Some students have difficulty disciplining themselves with regard to when and for what duration the TV should be turned on. Students who watch TV into the early hours of the morning sometimes have difficulty getting out of bed at the required time each morning.
        4) The instructors rise at 6.00 am, have their evening meal between 7.00 and 8.30 pm, and retire at 10.00 pm. There are therefore only two small windows of time in the evening between 5.30 and 7.00 pm and 8.30 and 10 pm that allows for discourse between instructors and students concerning the days activities. In this respect, please give consideration to the fact that the instructors also get tired after a long day.
        5) The computer equipment may malfunction, there may be unforeseen software problems, some students may be inadequately prepared to use the computers or the software, and some students will be reluctant to devote the necessary evening time to using the computers. The GIS component of the course is therefore not guaranteed.
        6) This is a field course and it is desirable that students not be distressed by having to be outdoors all day and having to walk long distances.  We recognise that a student may discover at any given moment that field work is really not their "cup of java"! Nevertheless, it is important, particularly if the weather is poor, that group morale be maintained. To this end, any complaint, legitimate or not, should be addressed promptly to the instructors and not allowed to fester. We would prefer that field camp be a relatively pleasant experience, notwithstanding that it is an examination course and not a holiday.

      Accomodation
        Students will be accomodated in one of the residences at Laurentian University.
        Students who live in the Sudbury area and who intend staying at home during the course should make this fact known to Dr. Church.  The rules concerning morning departure (see below) will still apply.
      IMPORTANT: We have conducted field camp in the Sudbury region for many years.  We have been charged a very reasonable room rate on the understanding that we do not damage property and do not disturb other guests.  This is very important at a time when it is proving difficult to control the cost of field camps. Consequently, we are obliged to comport ourselves in a manner such that we draw no complaints from other residents. This means no noisy parties, no drunkenness, no water bomb wars, no more than six people in a room at any one time, no smoking, and rooms to be kept reasonably tidy  (reasonable to be determined by the residence staff).

      Meals
        The residence does not provide cooking utensils, and if you wish to use the residence kitchen to prepare your own meals, including lunch, you should bring a small saucepan/bowl/plate/cup/ KFS/dish cloth/drying cloth. A visit will be made to a grocery store at the end of each day. If many students choose to prepare their own meals, cooking may have to be be done in 'sittings'.  It would be polite in this case to remove your garbage when finished and to keep the kitchen area cleaned as it is used.  Meals can also be taken on campus, but not, apparently, on the weekend.
        Regrettably, other than under very special circumstances, the rental vans will not be available "on demand" to provide a limousine service.

      Morning Departures
        Departure time for the field each morning will be at 8.30 am prompt. Students should therefore be showered by 7.30 am, have completed breakfast by 8.15 a.m., and be at the vans by 8.25 am.

      Equipment
        The department will provide aerial photos, notebooks, compasses, GPS units, magnets, hammers, hard hats and  safety glasses; for which the students will sign. (Although a deposit is not required for the use of the equipment, students will be required to replace lost or damaged equipment.) Students should provide their own WATCHES, HAND LENS, and an ultrafine point, waterproof, PERMANENT marking pen (Steadtler or Sharpie) capable of writing on mylar sheets and the plastic surface covering the aerial photos. Bring at least TWO markers of different colour - if you bring only one you will inevitably mislay or lose it within the first two or three days in the field!! (Bring three markers if you are the kind of person who mislays pens easily!) You are also required to bring pencils, ball-point pens, coloured pencils, ruler, square, sample bags, boots (perhaps also spare shoes/boots, running shoes, soccer shoes),  warm clothing (+ thermos?), and rain clothes (ponchos).
        IMPORTANT: you must wear an outer shirt or field jacket, e.g. a Brunton jacket, that is red or orange in colour (NO greens, blues, or blacks). This will increase your visibility and make it easy to find you should you get lost.


    Bears

    The field area you will be working in is mostly open ground with minimal tree cover such that moving humans and animals are easily seen from a distance.   If we can afford it, a Cobra MicroTalk2 or equivalent communicator will be provided each team. Please feel free to bring your own,  if it will make you feel more secure.
    There is also the likelihood (depending on the year) that you may see a black bear (see http://www.nature-net.com/bears/black.html), wolf, or coyote, and while in the vast majority of cases these animals will try to avoid rather than approach you, there remains the possibility that a bear will wish to share your lunch. Furthermore, should you run into bear cubs, the bear sow could be dangerous (but see below), for which reason you should promptly remove yourself from the vicinity of the cubs - don't hang around to take photographs! In consideration of these eventualities, however unlikely, we will provide you with a spray deterrent. The following is taken from the web site of the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture at:

                                     http://www.bear.org/species/blackbear/bearH000.html

    "Black bears can injure or kill people, but they rarely do. When pressed, they usually retreat, even with cubs. Attacking to defend cubs is more a grizzly bear trait. (Grizzlies live only in Alaska, northern and western Canada, and the Rocky Mountains south to Yellowstone.) Black bear mothers often leave their cubs and flee from people, and those that remain are more likely to bluff-charge than attack. Still, it is prudent to use extra caution with family groups that allow close approaches because mothers are generally more nervous than other bears. Nevertheless, chances of being attacked around campsites by any black bear are small. During a 19-year study of bear/camper encounters in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, only two injuries were reported in 19 million visitor-days. The study included the year 1985 when bear nuisance activity was at a record high. The two injuries were by one bear on September 14 and 15, 1987. The bear was killed the next day."  "Unprovoked, predatory attacks by black bears are rare but highly publicized. Such attacks have accounted for all 23 deaths by non-captive black bears across North America this century. Most occurred in remote areas where the bears had little or no previous contact with people, rather than in and around established campsites. The worst attack occurred in Ontario in 1978 when a black bear killed and partially consumed three teenagers who were fishing. Predatory attacks by black bears are usually done without bluster or warning. People involved in such attacks can improve their chances by fighting rather than playing dead. Deaths from such attacks average a little more than one every four years across the United States and Canada." "Fortunately, black bears usually use at least as much restraint with people as they do with each other. Unlike domestic dogs, which often are territorial and aggressive toward 
strangers, black bears typically behave as the subordinate toward people when escape is possible." "Black bears that want our food sometimes use threats or bluffs to get it, as has been reported by campers, picnickers, and backpackers.
    The most common behavior of this sort is blowing, which may be accompanied by clacking teeth, lunging, laid back ears, slapping the ground or trees, and/or a short rush. The same behavior is used to scare other bears from feeding areas. The sounds and actions are all done explosively, with effective results. However, it is rare for a black bear to attack a person during or after such a demonstration. All blowing bears observed by the author retreated when pursued. A less common sound is the resonant "voice" of a bear. This is used to express intense emotions (fear, pain, and pleasure), including strong threats. Black bears with ready escape routes seldom use this threat toward people. Grunts are used in nonthreatening communication to cubs, familiar bears, and sometimes people."
    See also http://www.bear.org/species/blackbear/bbslideshow/index.htm

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