Freshman and Sophomore Programs

Environmental and Geological Field Studies in the Rocky Mountains Instructor(s): C. Page Chamberlain Prerequisites: None
The Rocky Mountain area, ecologically and geologically diverse, is being strongly impacted by changing landuse patterns, global and regional environmental change, and societal demands for energy and natural resources. This threeweek field program emphasizes coupled environmental and geological problems in the Rocky Mountains and will cover a broad range of topics including the geologic origin of the American West from three billion years ago to the recent; paleoclimatology and the glacial history of this mountainous region; the long- and short-term carbon cycle and global climate change; and environmental issues in the American West that are related to changing land-use patterns and increased demand for its abundant natural resources. These broad topics are integrated into a coherent field-study by examining earth/environmental science-related questions in three different settings: 1) the three-billion-year-old rocks and the modern glaciers of the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming; 2) the sediments in the adjacent Wind River basin that host abundant gas and oil reserves and also contain the long-term climate history of this region; and 3) the volcanic center of Yellowstone National Park and mountainous region of Teton National Park, and the economic and environmental problems associated with gold mining and extraction of oil and gas in areas adjoining these national parks. Students will complete six assignments based upon field exercises, working in small groups to analyze data and prepare reports and maps. Lectures will be held in the field prior to and after fieldwork. Note: This course involves one week of backpacking in the Wind Rivers and hiking while staying in cabins near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Students must arrive in Salt Lake City on August 31. (Hotel lodging will be provided for the night of August 31, and thereafter students will travel as a Sophomore College group.)

C. Page Chamberlain received his Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Harvard in 1985. He was a professor at Dartmouth College for 14 years before moving to Stanford in 2001. He has served as chair of the department of geological and environmental sciences, and is now a professor in the new department of environmental earth system science. His research is in the broad area of isotope biogeochemistry, and it focuses on a wide variety of problems, such as the link between climate and the origin of mountainous regions, the relationship between surface processes and tectonics, the chemical weathering of rocks, and isotopic studies of bird migration and the paleoecology of California condors. He has worked extensively in the northern Appalachians, Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Tibet and the Himalayas, and the Southern Alps of New Zealand.