Field Courses 

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

8:00am-4:00pm

Fee: TBD

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 20

Maximum Number: 50

Leader: Bill Rochford

Activity Level: 

Equipment: 

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Description: 

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

8:00am-4:00pm

Fee: 

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 25

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 50

Leader: Natalie P. Flynn Ph.D., Earth and Environmental Science Department, Temple University

Activity Level: Moderate, with hiking on a gravel trail as well as narrow wooded dirt and rocky trails, approximately 2 miles of walking throughout the trip.

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The Wissahickon Valley is a Philadelphia geologic treasure. This portion of the Wissahickon Valley is preserved as parkland within the Fairmount Park system and is surrounded by suburban and urban neighborhoods.  The walk will begin at the parking lot for Valley Green Inn and extend along Forbidden Drive, with multiple stops off of Forbidden Drive along the way.  The Wissahickon valley is part of the piedmont plateau and consists of metamorphic pre-Cambrian and lower Paleozoic rocks.  The field trip will provide an overview of the geologic setting that formed the Wissahickon area.  The predominant rock types are metamorphic schist, gneiss, amphibolite, and igneous pegmatites. The schists contain a variety of index minerals such as chlorite, muscovite mica and biotite mica along with tourmaline, garnets and staurolite.  The high-grade metamorphic gneiss is primarily feldspar amphiboles from former sedimentary rocks, granites and schists.  Pegmatites are also present in the form of migmatites.  The stops will highlight different types of rocks in the Wissahickon, generally starting at the lowest grade of the Wissahickon, and moving up the index mineral zone from mica to garnets, kyanite, tourmaline.  Discussions will include protolith, index minerals, and isograds. Additional optional stops along the trip include a mafic protolith sections, and an outcrop of Anthophyllite.  Geologic understanding and interpretation of the lithology of the Wissahickon has evolved over 100 years or more. Dr. Flynn is eager to share her insight on the complex geology of the Wissahickon Formation.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

8:30am-4:30pm

Fee: $140/person ($165/person after 8/1/24)

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 35

Leader: Kimberly McKenna, Stockton University Coastal Research Center

Activity Level: 

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This field trip will explore portions of Absecon Island and Brigantine Island and will showcase coastal resilience efforts that address coastal storm risk, shorelines, navigation/dredging, and flooding. This region was “on the good side” of Hurricane Sandy as it made landfall north of Atlantic City/Brigantine Island. While this region was spared the large storm waves, overwash occurred in northern Brigantine Island. On Absecon Island, there was limited dune scarping but back barrier flooding was significant

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

1:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: $70/person ($95/person after 8/1/24)

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 20

Leader: Lily S. Pfeifer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, School of Earth & Environment, Rowan University

Activity Level: Easy

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It’s not just a museum; it’s a time-traveling adventure through history, and a commitment to safeguard our planet’s future. Founded by paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara and supported by Rowan University alumni Jean and Ric Edelman, this $75 million, 44,000 square-foot museum is carbon net zero architectural marvel, surrounded by an organically grown, native plant landscape.Step into exhibit galleries that transport you to the Late Cretaceous Period. Witness meticulously crafted reconstructions of ancient creatures in vivid, gritty, unflinching detail. Explore the Hall of Extinction & Hope, delving into the dinosaurs’ demise and its relevance to today’s climate and biodiversity crises. Find reasons for hope and tools for a positive impact. Engage with interactive exhibits, meet and touch land and sea creatures, and journey through time in a groundbreaking free-roaming VR experience. Dig with your own hands for real fossils in our fossil quarry.

Saturday, September 14, 2024

8:30am-4:30pm

Fee: $125/person ($150/person after 8/1/24)

Minimum Number of Attendees to run the course: 35

Leaders: 

• Eric Pyle, PhD,: Department of Geology & Environmental Science, James Madison University and “Department of the Geographer” of the Continental Army

• Nelson Abrams, PG: Director of Environmental Services, Distinct Engineering Solutions, Inc. and “Department of the Geographer” of the Continental Army.

• Bethany L. Dhunjisha: Park Ranger, Valley Forge National Historical Park

Activity Level: 

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Geoheritage of the Valley Forge National Historic Park

Area rich in American history, but how did geology influence the choices made by the Continental Army of 1777?

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Valley Forge has a prominent bookmark in American history curricula, but seldom is the deep geologic history that supported basing an army here across a bitter winter considered outside of the region.  The region was well known at that time through its economic value from mining and iron production (Valley of the Forges), and from quarrying.  Establishing and supporting an encampment at scale required knowledge and skill with surveying and mapmaking, as well. Join experienced Revolutionary War reenactors (who are geologists, too!), national park staff, and local experts for a deep dive into the geology and geomorphology of Valley Forge, exploring both the distant past as well as the recent past of asbestos disposal and sequestration.  Prehistoric elements include extensive karst features, including Bone Cave, noted for its record of Pleistocene life in periglacial terranes.  Taken in combination, the geologic, historical, economic, and aesthetic qualities of Valley Forge provide a rich picture of the geoheritage of Valley Forge beyond the one dimension of the typical historical narrative.