Trip to geologically diverse sites in Missouri complements classroom learning
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Written by: Richard C. Lewis
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When you’re a geology student, you live for field trips.

Earlier this month, a group of University of Iowa juniors and seniors, along with two faculty members in the University of Iowa Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, ventured to sites in southeast Missouri to do what they enjoy most: Examine rocks up close and in the setting in which they were birthed and shaped over eons.

For these geology majors, the three-day excursion was a critical outdoor complement to the terminology and concepts they’ve been learning in the classroom.

The trip allowed students “to take a lot of the science and see how it’s working in the real world,” says Kate Tierney, lecturer in earth and environmental sciences and faculty organizer of the department’s student field trips, which include this annual outing, EES 3001, as well as for-credit treks to Big Bend State Park in Texas, the Bahamas, and other geologically rich locales.

In Missouri, the students clambered over gargantuan boulders more than a billion years old in the aptly named Elephant Rocks State Park, got down on their bellies to examine a formation of volcanic rocks since carved into a watery labyrinth at Johnson’s Shut-In State Park, and examined sheer dolostone walls along roads throughout the region.

Tierney chose Missouri due to the state’s rich geological tapestry, its ancient and hugely violent volcanic activity, and its easy driving distance. The field trip gave students the opportunity to get a feel for geological history as it unfolded, much like peeling back chapters in a very old book.

“It sticks with you when you see it,” says Matt Trembath, a senior and U.S. Air Force veteran from Promise City, Iowa.

Another senior, Kendall Ritchie, clearly was in his element. After all, Ritchie, from Davenport, Iowa, asked for a rock hammer on his fifth birthday. He has been passionate about geology ever since and has a personal rock collection of 140 specimens, which he added to with a purchase at the Missouri Mines State Historic Site, where the group stopped on its way to the geological formations.

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Hayes and fill in the trench where the ground wires are anchored.
UI geology student Orion McCullough-Smith examines a rock at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park in Missouri.
Mike Simon, a UI senior majoring in geology, takes notes in a special waterproof notebook used by geologists in the field.
Orion McCullough-Smith steps around jagged, craggy rocks at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, which is part of the St. Francois Mountains, known for their exposures of igneous rocks.
UI senior Sarah Hansen takes a break from negotiating the uneven, sometimes slippery formation at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.
It’s a hands-on affair when UI geology students go into the field to study concepts they have learned in the classroom.
Orion McCullough-Smith chats with Ingrid Ukstins at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park. About 1.5 billion years ago, this park and southeast Missouri were part of a landscape dominated by volcanic calderas, some of which were up to 15 miles in diameter.
Mike Simon pokes around the trail at Elephant Rocks State Park. Giant granite boulders are scattered throughout the park. The largest, called “Dumbo,” is 27 feet tall, 34 feet long, 17 feet wide, and tips the scales at a hefty 680 tons.
Matt Trembath, a UI geology major and U.S. Air Force veteran, peers down at his fellow geology students at Elephant Rocks State Park.
Kate Tierney gestures to geology student Megan Koch as other students take in the surroundings at Elephant Rocks State Park.
Geology students Diana Edmond (left) and Leigha Meredith (right) peer out on to a quarry at Elephant Rocks State Park.
Who knew rocks can be so much fun? Kate Tierney, and Matt Trembath negotiate passage among gargantuan stones at Elephant Rocks State Park.
Break time: Faculty and students in the pause for a snack at Elephant Rocks State Park. The park is considered a geological classroom where visitors can see and touch some of the oldest rocks in the south-central and eastern United States.
The rocks are big and they are old. Once the granite boulders are formed, atmospheric weathering continues to modify their shapes and surfaces even today.
Geology majors in the get down on their bellies and use loupe magnifiers to examine minerals and crystals in rocks at Elephant Rocks State Park. The rocks’ composition yields insights into the geological processes that have shaped them.
Faculty and students examine specimens found along the ground at the entrance to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.
Kate Tierney uses a loupe magnifier to examine minerals and crystals in a rock at the entrance to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park in Missouri. Kendal Ritchie, from Davenport, Iowa, is in the background.
Geology students scatter amid the jagged, labyrinthine formation at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.
Ingrid Ukstins negotiates a gap among the serrated rocks at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park in Missouri. One of Ukstins’ research specialties is volcanism, and she has studied volcanic activity worldwide
Kendal Ritchie uses a loupe magnifier to examine minerals and crystals in a specimen at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park in. Ritchie says he has wanted to study geology since he was a child; he asked for a rock hammer on his fifth birthday.
Mike Simon, gazes at specimens at the Missouri Mines State Historic Site.
Ruiyuan “Amy” Huang (left) and Orion McCullough-Smith gaze at specimens at the Missouri Mines State Historic Site.
Students in the Earth and environmental sciences department examine a specimen at the Missouri Mines State Historic Site.