Introduction to geologic mapping
in structurally complex terrains
a field workshop in southwest MontanaIf you are interested in this program, please let us know.
This course is a 7-day Field Workshop designed for professional geoscientists. It is especially targeted toward seismic interpreters, remote sensing scientists, and subsurface geologists who desire an appreciation for the details of structural style in areas of complex geology.
Designed and led by Lee J. Suttner, professor of geology at Indiana University, the course is an intense, hands-on program intended to develop and hone participants' skills in the field recognition and interpretation of the three-dimensional geometry of a range of fold-fault styles associated with thrust-belt tectonics and basement-cored uplifts in a foreland setting. Understanding these styles is critical to intelligent interpretation in similar terrains of interest to hydrocarbon explorationists. The structures observed in this workshop are small-scale analogs of larger, prospective structures; specific analogs will be discussed during the program.
The workshop is not a show-and-tell field trip, but is a physically strenuous, intellectually challenging, participatory learning experience. The importance of stratigraphy in interpretation of geologic structure, as well as micro- and macro-scale structural geology, are stressed.
The program is conducted at Indiana University's Geologic Field Station near Cardwell, in southwest Montana. The course is normally offered in late August, and runs from a Saturday to a Friday. 2000 dates are August 19-25. The Field Station is located near the intersection of three structural styles: basement-cored (thick-skinned) upthrusting, thin-skinned thrusting, and basin-and-range extensional faulting. Structures of all these types are seen, but the focus is on the two thrust styles.
Fees include tuition, room and board at the IU Field Station, photos and maps, all field transportation, and roundtrip transportation from the field station to and from the Bozeman airport. For the 2000 program, the fee is $2,700 per person for 7-12 people, or $3,000 per person for 4-6 people. For any company that sends two or more people, the rate is $2,600 per person irrespective of the total number of participants, as long as the minimum of 4 attendees is met. Participation is limited to 12 attendees, but if there is enough demand, a second session can be added.
Lee Suttner brings more than 30 years of teaching experience to the course. He has served as the Chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences at Indiana University, and as Director of the Geologic Field Station. Among his awards is the prestigious Neil Minor Award, presented by the National Association of Geology Teachers as the highest teaching award in the geologic profession. Lee is assisted in this course by Dick Gibson, who brings to the program more than 20 years of oil-industry and geophysical experience, as well as nine summers of teaching in the field at the Indiana Field Station. Dick prepared most of the manual/guidebook that is used in the course, including a section on Gravity and Magnetic Expressions of Thrust Belts World-Wide, separately available from Gibson Consulting.
For more information on this Field Workshop, contact either Lee Suttner or Dick Gibson.
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