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The flexibility of van travel through geology-rich areas allowed for numerous unplanned roadside stops. Many of these included exposures of spectacular features (echinoderm fossil beds, densely-packed extinct fusilinids, beautiful picture stone, ancient landslide deposits) not seen in the Midwest. The roadside stops often included a chance to collect unique specimens, a luxury not afforded in the National Parks. Evenings were spent discussing the day’s findings and comparing notes on fine Mexican cuisine (our crew cut a wide swath through the Mexican eateries of southern New Mexico and West Texas).
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Professor Ray Rogers and Instructor Jeff Thole of the Geology Department led a trip to New Mexico and Texas, which included 14 students from a number of disciplines.
The trip began with a visit to White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The group then traveled to the Guadalupe Mountains near Carlsbad, New Mexico, to investigate the well-preserved Permian Reef Complex and the famous Carlsbad Caverns. The trip continued south through Texas and the Davis Mountains en route to Big Bend National Park. Three days were spent in and around Big Bend, exploring the geology and biology of one of our least visited national parks.
View Pictures from the trip
(click on the picture to see more photos from that day)
January 11 |
January 12
White Sands National Monument |
January 13
McKittrick Canyon |
January 14
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
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January 15 |
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January 17 |
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Associate Professor and Chair of Geology Ray Rogers specializes in taphonomy, the study of how biological remains become fossils. In April 2005, he discovered that climate played a crucial role in preserving dinosaur fossils on the island of Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa. In April 2003, Rogers and his colleagues documented the first clear-cut evidence for cannibalism among dinosaurs on the island of Madagascar. He has received a grant from the National Geographic Society to study early dinosaur evolution in Zimbabwe.