Eastern Illinois University Geology Field Camp

Black Hills, South Dakota
June 1 - July 12, 2008
6 Credit Hours

Program Description

The 35th EIU Geology Field Camp will be stationed on the campus of the Black Hills State University, located at the northern edge of the Black Hills in Spearfish, South Dakota.  This 6-week field course annually provides a rigorous and rewarding learning experience to 18-24 students, most of who come from colleges and universities other than EIU.  The course is designed to meet the undergraduate geology field camp requirements (6 credit hours) of most college and university geology programs.  We emphasize traditional field mapping techniques using the brunton compass to map geology onto topographic base maps and construct geologic cross sections.  In addition, students learn to make detailed rock formation descriptions, measure and construct stratigraphic sections, interpret aerial photographs, and use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and laser range-finder mapping instruments.   Projects involve Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, Paleozoic and Mesozoic folded and faulted sedimentary rocks, Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks, and Quaternary glacial deposits.  Economic geology is also studied through visits to abandoned pegmatite mines, an active gold mine, and field discussions of coal deposits and oil traps. 

The Black Hills are an ideal location for conducting a geology field camp because of the variety of accessible rock types exposed.  However, in order to provide students with an even more comprehensive sampling of western United States geology, the field camp also spends 10 days studying the geology of Wyoming.  On this trip, major geologic provinces such as the Laramide Rocky Mountains, the fold-thrust belt Rocky Mountains (Sevier Orogeny), the Yellowstone Hot Spot, and the Basin and Range are visited, thus complementing our work in the Black Hills.  Highlights of the Wyoming trip include studying the geology of:  Devil's Tower, the Powder River Basin, the Big Horn Mountains, Tensleep Nature Preserve, the Big Horn Basin, Sheep Mountain Anticline, the Heart Mountain Allocthon, the Absaroka Mountains, Yellowstone Caldera, the Grand Tetons, the Gros Ventre Slide, Fremont Glacial Lake in the Wind River Mountains, and the Leucite Hills.  In Yellowstone National Park, students assist faculty from EIU and Wilkes University collecting data as part of an ongoing caldera monitoring study.
 
The EIU Geology Field Camp usually spends 5-6 days/week out in the field.  A typical day involves 8-10 hours in the field, several miles of hiking at elevations of 4000' or more above sea level, and evening work in the dormitory to complete projects.

Click here for a detailed itinerary of the 2008 EIU Geology Field Camp

Transportation

All students are required to meet at Black Hills State University on Monday, June 2.   Transportation to South Dakota from EIU will be provided to all interested students at no extra cost.  Students who wish to travel from EIU on Sunday, June 1 can be picked up at the Champaign airport, or train or bus stations in Mattoon.  Those that elect to drive to EIU will be provided with secure parking.  Students can also arrange to be picked up in towns along our route to South Dakota and the Rapid City, SD airport.  Personal vehicles are allowed, but all field work and travel during the field program will be in EIU vehicles. 

Lodging and Meals

Lodging is provided for students during the entire program including the trip out and back from EIU.  At BHSU students are required to reside in double occupancy dormitory rooms.  During the Wyoming trip and while traveling to and from EIU, students will stay in hotel rooms and cabins.  At Tensleep Nature Preserve, 2 nights are spent in platform tents with cots.  While at BHSU, 3 meals a day will be provided, including bag lunches for in the field.  Students are responsible for their own meals during most of the Wyoming trip and while enroute to and from South Dakota.

Prerequisites

Introductory Geology, Historical Geology, Mineralogy, Petrology, and Structural Geology are required courses.  Geomorphology, Sedimentation, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology are strongly recommended.  In special cases, permission of the Field Camp Director is required.

Fees and Application

The cost of tuition, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses for the course is $3100 for non-EIU students and $2730.10 - $3070 (dependent upon EIU enrollment date) for EIU students.  In order to apply, complete the application form and mail it along with a $100 check (payable to Eastern Illinois University) to the address shown below.  This check is a deposit to secure your enrollment, and will be credited towards your balance.  Please apply by April 1, 2008.  Qualified students are admitted on a first-come first-serve basis, so please apply early.  Full payment is due by May 1, 2008.  Students who withdraw after April 15, 2008 will be refunded all fees except for a $50 processing fee.  Those students who withdraw after May 1, 2008 will forfeit the $100 deposit.  Withdrawals must be in writing.

Inquiries Regarding Course Content
Craig A. Chesner, Field Camp Director
phone:  217/581-6323
e-mail:  cachesner@eiu.edu

Inquiries Regarding Application
Susan Kile
phone:  217/581-2626
e-mail:  skkile@eiu.edu

Mail Applications To
Geology Field Camp
Department of Geology/Geography
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Avenue
Charleston, IL  61920