Dear members,
We will be hosting a geology field trip to western and central Massachusetts on Saturday October 22, 2016. The trip will be from 7:00 to ~19:00
Part of the northern Appalachian mountain range crosses this part of MA and represents the remains of an ancient mountain range that rivaled the present day Alps and Himalayas in scale. Prior to the Middle Ordovician period (about 470 million years ago), this region was the eastern coastline of ancient North America (Laurentia) with an ocean called Iapetus to the east with numerous island arc systems (volcanic islands akin to some in the western Pacific). During the Middle Ordovician, one of these island arc chains collided with Laurentia resulting in a mountain building event called the Taconic Orogeny. Later, starting in the Middle Devonian period (about 385 million years ago), the closure of the Iapetus began with the collision of the microcontinent Avalonia, the remains of which may be seen in both North America and northwestern Europe. Later, in the Triassic and Jurassic periods (225 to 150 million years ago) the modern day Atlantic Ocean began opening leaving remains of the Appalachian range on the west side of the Atlantic and on the east side as evidenced by the Caledonian mountains of northern Britain and Scandinavia.
In addition to seeing the beautiful peak fall foliage of western Massachusetts, our field trip will examine evidence of both the Taconic Orogeny and later opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The goal is also to get a better understanding of plate tectonics and some of the geology of Massachusetts.
The stops have not yet been finalized, but the planned route can be seen on Google (Google account required): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BdlITefSWM8taFEsPxRZR9pqraU&usp=sharing
It is important to register for the event soon as the trip is limited to 45 SPE-NYNE members. Please consider registering only if you are certain that you will join the field trip.