Adirondack Mountains & Thousand Islands Region, New York

Geology Field Camp

Summer 2008

The State University of New York at Oswego
Department of Earth Sciences
 

View of the Snowy Mountain range from Chimney Mountain, central Adirondacks, New York.

Download the field camp flyer here

We encourage all interested people to view the slide show provided so you will get a better understanding of the goals and objectives of the SUNY-Oswego Geology Field Camp.

Field Program Slide Show

Locations: Thousand Islands and Adirondack Mountains, NY
Dates: May 28 - June 28, 2008
Course and Credits:  GEOL 481, 6 undergraduate credit hours; GEO 581, 6 graduate credit hours

Students working in the Thousand Islands region and Adirondacks.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

The SUNY-Oswego geology field program encouraged applicants from universities and colleges that have a required field component (field camp) in their undergraduate curriculum.  All students are expected to have a strong background in geology.  This may include completion of Physical Geology plus some upper level geology courses such as:  Historical Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology, Sedimentary Geology (Sed.-Strat.), Paleontology, Tectonics, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Structural Geology.

APPLICATION FORM

The application form can be printed from the above  web page and mailed, or you can copy the page, fill it out, and send it as an attachment to:  dvalenti@oswego.edu 

DESCRIPTION AND GEOLOGIC SETTING

The Oswego State University geologic field camp was designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn how to conduct geologic field research under rugged and rustic condition.  The field program is centered around research project, where students participate in original research directed by the camp faculty.  Many students go on to present the results of these projects at regional geology conferences.   

The locations for the field program are driven by scientific field problems that need to be addressed.  This year, the program is split between two areas in northern New York State:

1) The first part of the field experience will be held in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River valley.

2)  The second part of the program will be located in the central Adirondack Mountains.
 

The Adirondack Mountains, Thousand Islands, and Tug Hill Plateau regions, of northern New York and surrounding areas provide an opportunity for the study of some classic problems in North American geology while learning techniques in geologic field research.  Much of the field study will be located within the limits of the  Adirondack Park which forms the six million acre centerpiece of New York State's environmental planning and natural resource management policy, and represent a bold experimental model for large-scale land use planning and ecosystem preservation for the 21st century.  The Adirondacks occur in a deeply exhumed structural window that peers into the Grenvillian crust of eastern North America.  The highlands are composed of a well exposed suite of igneous plutons, metasedimentary, and metavolcanic rocks that vary in age from about >1.3 to 1.0 billion years old.  The Adirondacks are flanked by lower to lower to middle Paleozoic strata of the Appalachian basin (Thousand Islands and Tug Hill region).  While in the Thousand Islands area and the Adirondacks students will be challenged with mapping sections of ductile shear zones, plutons and their marginal facies, sequences of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks, and clastic-carbonate sedimentary rock sequences.  Students will be instructed in field kinematic analysis of mylonite zones, fault, fold and fracture analysis.  Representative suites of thin sections and hand samples will be available at the camp for student inspection.

CAMP FACILITIES AND LOGISTICS

Field camp students will arrive at Oswego State University at 8AM the first day of the program.  Following a brief orientation, the group will depart by van for the Thousand Islands-Tug Hill Region of New York the same day.  Accommodations during the field program include large camp tents provided by the university, portable eating and cooking facilities, and a portable work facility.  Occasionally, small backpack camps are established in remote areas in the Adirondack Mountains to complete field work, and the program utilizes a 16' motorboat while working on the many lakes and rivers in the region.

FIELD CAMP INSTRUCTORS

Alec Gates:  Professor of Geology, Chair (Rutgers University), Hard-rock structural geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, stratigraphy and tectonics.

This year we are adding a new faculty member to the program with more than 25 years of field experience.  Dr. Alec Gates has worked in the southern and central Appalachians, Maine, Colorado and the Hudson Highlands (NY) to the field program.  He serves as the lead geologist for mapping projects associated with state park lands in parts of New York State, and is one of the principle founders of the Highlands Environmental Research Institute.

 

Dave Valentino:  Professor of Geology & Director of Field Studies (SUNY Oswego): Structure, igneous and metamorphic geology, stratigraphy and tectonics.

Dave Valentino brings experience to the Oswego Field Camp more than 20 years of professional geological mapping in the Piedmont of the central and southern Appalachians, the Hudson Highlands and Adirondacks of New York.  Formerly he worked for the PA Geological Survey as a field geologists, and he currently does geological mapping for the NY Geological Survey in the Hudson Highlands, NY.

Jeff Chiarenzelli: Associate Professor of Geology (St. Lawrence University) Structure, igneous and metamorphic petrology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, mineralogy and tectonics.

Jeff Chiarenzelli has spent most of his professional career conducting field studies in hard-rock geology.  Jeff brings to the camp more than 25 years of field experience in the Adirondacks and the NWT, Canada.

Gary Solar:  Associate Professor of Geology, Chair (Buffalo State), Hard-rock structural geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, stratigraphy and tectonics.

Gary Solar is a field geologist who brings more than 15 years field experience to the Oswego Field Camp. He has worked extensively mapping in the metamorphic and igneous rocks of central and coastal Maine, in addition to mapping in the central Appalachian Piedmont.

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TUITION AND FEES

In-state

Undergraduate In-state program fee:  $2800

Graduate In-state program fee:  $3450

The program fee includes six credit hours from SUNY Oswego, instructional costs, subsistence, lodging, travel, and limited supplies.  Students are responsible for their own travel expenses to and from Oswego campus. Medical insurance coverage during the field camp is required.

Out-of-state:

Out-of-state students have several options to consider:

Undergraduate Out-of-State program fee:  $4350

Graduate Out-of-State fee:  $4450

 

For more information contact:
Dr. David W. Valentino, Director of Field Studies

Department of Earth Sciences
Oswego State University of New York
Oswego, New York  13126

Office:  315-312-2786
Dept.:  315-312-3065

E-Mail: dvalenti@oswego.edu

This information is made available by the Department of Earth Sciences at SUNY Oswego. Copyright © 2007 by D.W. Valentino. For further information contact:  Department of Earth Sciences, 307 Piez Hall, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. 315-312-2798.  Send questions or comments to dvalenti@oswego.edu.  This page was last updated November 1, 2007