White Mountains Autumn Geology Workshop
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Folded metamorphic rock
Interested in learning about the geology of the White Mountains? Here's your chance, with a reprise of the Observatory's popular Autumn Geology Workshop led by geologist Woody Thompson of the Maine Geological Survey. The workshop gives participants the opportunity to learn about the glacial geology of the northern White Mountain region, and about the history of geological exploration and understanding of the area.
The workshop will take place on Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26. The workshop instructor is Woody Thompson, of the Maine Geological Survey. He will introduce participants to the bedrock and especially to the glacial geology of the region, and will include presentations from his study of the early geological researchers of the White Mountains and surrounding areas. His special emphasis will be on geological fieldwork, and both field techniques and laboratory follow-up will be considered.
The workshop will begin with an informal classroom presentation on Saturday morning. The workshop will then proceed to sites of geological interest in the northern White Mountains region on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday. Locations in Pinkham Notch, Shelburne, Gorham, Randolph, Twin Mountain, and other areas may be visited - ongoing geological explorations may affect just what locales Woody chooses for the field visits.
Woody Thompson has led this well-received workshop for several years. He has extensive practical and research familiarity with the region, especially with discerning the hidden clues about the glaciers which once covered the area, and the process of deglaciation which occurred several thousand years ago. Woody's teaching style is such that any interested layperson would benefit from the workshop; past participants have ranged from young rockhounds to geological professionals, from hikers who want to learn more about the landscape they rove through to teachers who wish to learn more about the state's geology so that they can better share that knowledge with their students.
The workshop will begin Saturday, October 25, with sign-in from 8:30 to 9:00 at the Observatory's Weather Discovery Center, at 2779 Main Street (Route 16 and Route 302) in the village of North Conway, NH (adjacent to Citizens Bank, and across from the Eastern Slope Inn). There will be a morning classroom presentation beginning at 9:00, and then the workshop will go "on the road" for the Saturday field session. No lengthy, strenuous hiking in involved, but participants should be in good physical condition and equipped with warm clothing, rain gear, and sturdy footwear. Trail lunches should also be brought. The group will break by suppertime, with dinner and overnight lodging on one's own.
We will return to the field at 9:00 Sunday morning, at a location to be determined at day's end on Saturday (for past workshops, the rendezvous point has typically been in the Twin Mountain area). A trail lunch will be needed on Sunday, too. The workshop will conclude in mid-afternoon on Sunday.
The $75 fee for Observatory members includes instruction and associated materials. (Non-members can participate at a rate of $120, which includes a year's benefits as a new member of the Observatory.) The workshop fee is non-refundable after October 17. Transportation for the field trips will be in participants. vehicles . thank you for your assistance! Since space in the workshop is limited, advance reservations are strongly encouraged.
Register online, or, for more information, contact the Observatory.