GSM Tours and Fields Trips in 2011 summary

The following field trips and tours were offered by the Geological Society of Minnesota in 2011:

Julie Maxson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences (Geology) at Metropolitan State University, led a field trip on Saturday afternoon, June 11, which focused on fossil collecting at Cannon Falls, Minnesota. The trip involved fossil collecting and identification at an excellent exposure of Decorah Shale. The outcrop is located in a road cut and is very accessible. No hiking was required. We also visited a second outcrop of Platteville Limestone with excellent brachiopod fossils. 

Link to preliminary trip description and online references is here.

See the Winter 2011 Newsletter for a short report on this trip.

Roger Knutson’s field trip photos are here.

Randy Strobel did a superb job of organizing and leading our summer field trip August 6 through 14. The topic of the trip was ‘The Mid‐ Continent Rift of Northwest Wisconsin and the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan’. The trip surveyed the geology and the mining history of the mid‐continent rift outside of Minnesota. The trip began on the north limb of the rift exploring the most southern outcrops of the rift basalts in Wisconsin’s Interstate Park. At Pattison and Amnicon Falls State Parks, we viewed a rift forming fault, the Douglas fault, and three waterfalls. Next, on the Bayfield Peninsula and Apostle Islands, we examined the mid‐Proterozoic rift filling sandstones of the Bayfield and Oronto groups. We then moved to the south limb of the rift. This side of the rift is more steeply dipping and more mineralized than the north side of the rift in Minnesota. The rift on the Keweenaw Peninsula was historically a major copper mining district. We observed the volcanic rocks of the rift at Copper Falls, the Porcupine Mountains, and the Keweenaw Peninsula. We also examined a gabbro intruded into the volcanic rocks, the Mellen gabbro. On the Keweenaw Peninsula, we visited a few historic mines. The trip ended with the Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club annual rock show. What a success!

Link to preliminary trip description and online references is here.

See the Winter 2011 Newsletter for a short report on this trip.

Following are links to Dave Wilhelm’s field trip photos:

Day 1: Interstate Park, Amnicon Falls S P, WI

Day 2: Bayfield, Apostle Islands cruise, Point Detour, Sisikwit Falls, Twin Falls, WI

Day 3: Ashland, Copper Falls S P, Milestone Materials Quarry, Morgan Falls, WI

Days 4 & 5: Porcupine Mountains, Adventure Mine, Quincy Mine, MI

Day 6: Calumet, Keweenaw NHP, Eagle River Falls, Eagle Harbor, MI

Day 7: Fort Wilkins, Copper Harbor, Mary MacDonald Preserve, Brockway Mtn., Gay, MI

Days 8 & 9: Houghton, Canyon Falls, Agate Falls, Bond Falls, MI