Directed field-intensive investigation of locations in North America significant to the development and understanding of geological principles and theories. Prerequisites: prior or concurrent enrollment in a geology class and consent of instructor. 1 credit hour.

Instructors: Dr. Scott M. White & Dr. Alicia M. Wilson

Text: Glazner, A.F. and Sharp, R.P. (1997) Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley
Mountain Press Publishing Company, Inc., Missoula, Montana, 329 p.

The Death Valley-Mono Lake fieldtrip is part of a series of annual Spring break fieldtrips begun under the auspices of the USC Geology Club in 2002.  The trip is open to any undergraduate interested in geology/earth sciences.  Most of the participants are geology majors, but several non-majors join the trip each year from fields as diverse as physics, English, and pharmacy.  This year, the considerable distance involved made flying to Las Vegas and renting vans from there the only feasible arrangement.

This trip was made possible by financial support from the Department of Geological Sciences and contributions from individual participants.

The itinerary for the trip was planned by the students themselves, and directed most of the intellectual content of the trip with assistance in logistics from the instructors.  Each student researched the geology of one fieldtrip stop under the guidance of the instructors.  At each stop, a student expert explained  the significance of the geology to the others.