Field Methods in Active Tectonics Information Guide

Zion, Death Valley and Panamint Valley

Department of Geological SciencesUniversity of Colorado, Boulder

Table of Contents

Contact Information

Drivers and Vehicle Policies

Itinerary

Departure Day

Caravan travel and cell coverage

University of Colorado Vehicle Policies

Campgrounds

Cooking and Food

What to Bring

Weather

Standards of Conduct

Alcohol and Drugs

Sexual Harassment and behavior

Noise

Contact Information

Course InstructorProfessor Karl MuellerPhone 303 552-7067Karl.Mueller@colorado.edu

Phil OrlandiniTeaching Assistantomero.orlandini@Colorado.EDU303 506-4340

Bob AronoffPeer Learning AssistantRobert.Aronoff@Colorado.EDU443 621-2598

Geology Department Front OfficeCarmen Jusczyk (replacement)Phone: 303-492-2330CarmenJ@Colorado.edu

Department ChairProfessor Shemin GePhone 303 000-0000Shemin.Ge@colorado.edu

CU Campus Police Department303 492-6666

National Park Service – Death ValleyVisitor Information (760) 786-3280Or call 911

Drivers and Vehicle Policies

Drivers should be registered to drive and their licenses on file in the geology department. In case of emergency, other students may drive. Follow rules on paperwork in each vehicle, use my CU travel credit card for all gasoline purchases, contact rental agency, AVIS if other costs such as tires are required. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed at any time in any vehicle.

Itinerary

Day one (Friday before Spring Break)Load up vehicles on east side of Benson starting at 8:00 I want to be on the road by 9:00AMDrivers pick up vehicles at 7:00 from AVIS rental agency on SW corner of Foothills Parkway and Baseline. Drive to Zion, work on Hurricane Fault, camp at Watchman Campground.

Route is as follows. Take I-93 from Boulder to Golden, then I-70 westbound towards Grand Junction. After about 500 miles, take I-15 in Utah south towards Las Vegas. Turn off near Hurricane, Utah for short exercise on normal faults. Two days later, drive on to Death Valley on I-15. After passing through Las Vegas on I-15, merge right onto exit 33 towards NV-160 W/Blue Diamond Road. Keep right at the fork and merge onto NV-160 W/Blue Diamond Road. Continue to follow NV-160 westbound. Drive NW to Pahrump NV and turn left onto NV-372 W (in Pahrump). Continue onto CA-178/Charles Brown Hwy, then turn right onto CA-127 N/CA-178 to Shoshone CA. Sleep at Shoshone that night at trailer park. Bathrooms will be available.

Note that the itinerary may be altered depending on weather and other circumstances.

Day two (Saturday). Field exercises and hike in Zion National Park. Normal faults, geomorphology of slot canyons, etc. See instructions for hike on exercise rubric.

Day three (Sunday). Drive to Shoshone California, sleep in RV park that night. Excursions in and around Tecopa area that afternoon to look at seismites and slumps associated with earthquakes.

Day four (Monday)Overview of Southern Death Valley fault system and Confidence Hills; examine rock fabrics at southern corner of Mormon Point, hike along Willow Creek fault zone cutting Holocene alluvial deposits. Drive to Badwater and walk onto playa surface and examine liquefaction features along roadway just south of parking area. Other stops possible depending on interest. Mars-like ventifacts or Tertiary extensional basin stratigraphy. Camp that night in Furnace Creek Campground. Toilets and water available in campsite. Showers, a store and restaurants available at Furnace Creek Resort.

Day five (Tuesday)Drive north to the northern Death Valley fault zone and hike to Red Wall fan north of Titus Canyon. Map the fault zone in the morning, return to cars around 1:00-2:00PM or so. Drive around towards Rhyolite and take the Titus Canyon Road through the Titus Canyon Narrows. Exercise on megabreccia. Return to Furnace

Creek Campground that night. Possible late afternoon trip to Holocene explosive volcanic crater if we have time (and get up early enough that day).

Day six (Wednesday)Mapping project along Furnace Creek Fault zone. Take paved road from Furnace Creek Resort (190) towards Badwater and park about a mile south of T intersection between Hwy 190 and Badwater Road. Map fault scarps and alluvial deposits towards the south along rangefront, eat lunch at or around parking lot for Golden Canyon. Finish mapping just north of Gower Gulch. Drive around to top of Golden Canyon for view of incised stream channel associated with stream capture, then drive to Dantes View overlook above Death Valley for spectacular views. Return to Furnace Creek Campground that night visiting flexural slip thrust faults in Texas Spring Syncline along the way.

Day seven (Thursday).Drive to Panamint Valley in morning. Be sure to gear down on road leading into the valley from Towne Pass! Drive south on Panamint Valley road towards ghost town of Ballarat. Begin mapping project along flank of Panamints. Sleep at Panamint Springs campground that night. Restaurant and showers available.

Day six (Friday)Second day of mapping in Panamint Valley. Examine detachment fault in afternoon. Possible hike to headwaters of Panamint Spring in afternoon. Start driving back to Boulder that night, hopefully making it to Mesquite before too late in the evening. Stay in hotel in Mesquite that evening.

Day nine (Saturday) Return to Boulder, clean and return vehicles to motor pool. Collapse, recover and start doing all the homework you’ve blown off for the previous week.

Departure Day

Drivers will pick up vehicles at 7:00AM from AVIS. Vehicles will load up on the east side of Benson parking lot. We will need to get coolers, water jugs, etc loaded onto vehicles from equipment bay. TA’s will prep this gear prior to leaving.

Caravan Travel and cell coverage

We will drive as a group to Zion and then on to Death Valley. Please observe the speed limit and stick together. I’ll give out a list of everyone’s cell phones. Be sure to bring your car-phone charger on the trip. There will be cell phone coverage for most of the drive out and back, but none when we are out and about in Death Valley, although Furnace Creek does have coverage. There is no coverage in Panamint Valley.

University of Colorado Vehicle Policies

Vehicle policies include sticking together as a group and using my CU travel credit card to purchase gas. Everyone is expected to treat the vehicles with care, as the cost of repairs to these vehicles must be borne by the department’s field budget. You should always do a head count to make sure we are not leaving anyone behind on any of the stops including gas stops. Absolutely no alcohol is allowed in the vehicles at any time during the trip. Failure to abide by this rule will lead to dismissal from the class.

Campgrounds

We are staying at several campgrounds during the trip. The first night is at a nice campground at the entrance to Zion National Park. Stores and restaurants are available in town and there are toilets at the camp. The next night is at a trailer park in Shoshone. Toilets available and tent camping sites. Also a warm swimming pool, so bring your swimsuits. Nudity is not allowed. The next three nights are at Furnace Creek, a drive in campground with water and toilets, plus nearby amenities such as restaurants, store, showers and even a pool. Showers cost 5.00 per day. Panamint Springs is a campground with rudimentary showers, water and toilets. A restaurant is also available. Please abide by drinking rules at restaurant, beer only and limit yourself to the equivalent of two 12 oz bottles or one Panamint schooner.

Cooking and Food

Food depends on whether you want to cook on department stoves during the trip (we will provide stoves and fuel), or whether you want to eat at restaurants during the trip. Eating at restaurants is obviously easier but more expensive (and the food is pretty mediocre). If you do decide to cook, you will need to organize yourself into groups and plan your own meals. You will need to purchase food and ice in Boulder before you leave; the stores along the way offer little in the way besides snacks and junk food. The department also has cooking gear, utensils, etc. The cooking groups will need to work with the TA’s prior to the trip to make sure they have everything they need. The department will supply coolers and water jugs. Be sure to check whether the cooking gear is clean before you go. If not you can use the dishwasher in the basement of Benson to clean everything.

You are responsible for eating breakfast and lunch on your own (and dinner for those of you who are cooking). I recommend buying all this food in Boulder before you leave, there is little opportunity to do this on the trip. We will however stop at convenience stores when they are available on the drive out and back. We will bring three large coolers on the trip.

What to Bring (see detailed list for specifics)

You should bring appropriate gear for the trip. This should include gear for sleeping (sleeping bag, pad, tent and ground cloth), hiking (hiking boots, long pants and shirt, sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, day pack, water bottles – 3 liters), cell phones and car chargers, FM transmitters (vehicles don’t have Ipod connections). Clothing should include several short and/or long sleeved shirts, a sweatshirt or warm jacket and long pants. Be sure to bring a headlamp or flashlight. Bring a swimsuit if you want to jump in the pool in Shoshone and Furnace Creek, a towel for the showers and appropriate toiletry items including sunscreen and chapstick. Please contact me if you have other questions about what to bring. Do not bring large wall tents or camp chairs. Try to pack your gear into small duffles or other carriers; DO NOT bring large expedition type packs as they are harder to fit into vehicles.

We will provide basemaps for the exercises during the trip, but you will want to bring pencils, a sharpener and erasers. I’ll supply map boards, mylar, rubber bands and clips, etc. A clipboard will be required for each mapping group of three students.

Weather

Weather has varied dramatically on this trip, from very warm bright sunny days to cold rain and snow. Dress accordingly but a good guess is that it will be warm to hot in Death Valley and Panamint Valley and cooler in Zion.

Photography

Death Valley is enjoying a “super bloom” this year with millions of wildflowers erupting in bloom in various parts of the park. Although the bloom at lower elevations will peak before we arrive, you might want to bring a camera to photograph this once in a lifetime experience.

Standards of Conduct

The Department of Geological Sciences is committed to providing students and faculty with a learning and working environment that is safe and that does not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. I expect the highest level of respect for all individuals and property. As a university field trip, you are subject to all the rules of the university, including the honor code. The following rules are in place for the well-being and safety of all members of the field trip and are strongly enforced.

Students must never hike or map alone. Stick with your mapping partners during the field exercises and don’t wander off alone on any part of the trip. No bouldering or rock climbing of any kind is allowed on the trip, please use common sense while

hiking and traversing the field areas. If you are concerned about hiking in any of the field areas, please let me know and I will work to accommodate your requests. I will fix hand lines in a couple of areas to facilitate access to outcrops. If you are not completely comfortable with climbing these free, let me know and I will set up a belay for you. If you are uncomfortable with that, let me know and I can bring down rocks or images for you to look at that will not affect your grade. I am hyper concerned about safety on this trip, so please pay attention to my warnings and behave appropriately!

Alcohol and Drugs

The abuse of alcohol and other drugs seriously interferes with the educational mission of this class and poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of participants on the field trip. Failure to follow these rules can lead to a drop in your grade, or being dismissed from the class. In some circumstances you may be asked to leave the field trip and provide your own transportation back home to Boulder. Specific policies are as follows.

Illegal drugs are prohibited. Although weed is legal in CO, it is not in the other states we will visit. Getting caught with this in a National Park is a Federal offense (e.g. a felony) with likely jail time and huge fines. Please leave your bud and bongs at home in Boulder.

State drinking laws must be obeyed, drinking by anyone under the age of 21 is strictly prohibited

Hard liquor and alcoholic punches are not allowed anytime during the trip

Moderation, total respect for others and common sense is expected for anyone who drinks alcohol

Drinking alcohol in the vehicles and driving after drinking any amount of alcohol is prohibited

No one is allowed to be legally intoxicated. In California this is a blood alcohol content of 0.08. For a 160 lb male this is three beers, for a 120 lb female this is two beers.

You are thus allowed a maximum of two beers per evening during the trip. A giant Panamint schooner counts for two beers.

Sexual Harassment

We are committed to keeping the field trip free of sexual harassment. This includes unwelcome sexual advances as well as any other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Any behavior that creates an offensive, hostile, intimidating, or

abusive environment will not be tolerated and should immediately be brought to the attention of the faculty member or TA’s. Although field trips are a ton of fun, we will be in close contact with one another in cars and tents and it is important to respect one another, regardless of their gender. If someone reports an offense I am obligated by law to report it to the department and CU, which makes for a mighty uncomfortable meeting with the departmental chair and harassment office once we return home.

Noise

Load noise or rowdy behavior is prohibited anywhere in camp between 9:00 PM and 8:00 AM. This is not only for the benefit of members of the class but also for other people staying in the campsites we are staying at. The National Park Service and Camp Hosts take a dim view of rowdy and noisy behavior. And I run these trips every year and do not wish to risk having my access to these amazing parks restricted!