The trip to Boxley was fun. VMNH Curator of Earth Sciences Dr. Jim Beard talked to the group about the geology of the Piedmont and the rocks and minerals found in the quarry.
Participants "mined" the rocks in the quarry looking for good classroom specimens.
Some of the minerals collected included: muscovite mica, biotite mica, garnet, feldspar, quartz, pyrite, and chlorite.
Participants "mined" the rocks in the quarry looking for good classroom specimens.
Some of the minerals collected included: muscovite mica, biotite mica, garnet, feldspar, quartz, pyrite, and chlorite.
After leaving the pit, we ate lunch, sitting on some big quarry boulders along the access road, under some much appreciated shade trees.
On the way back to the museum, we stopped by a nearby rock formation along the banks of the Smith River. Here Dr. Beard, using a geologic map of the area, talked to the group about the volcanic rock diabase, "...that originated from the mid-ocean ridge zone from the breakup of the Paleozoic era supercontinent Pangea, about 180 million years ago."
On the way back to the museum, we stopped by a nearby rock formation along the banks of the Smith River. Here Dr. Beard, using a geologic map of the area, talked to the group about the volcanic rock diabase, "...that originated from the mid-ocean ridge zone from the breakup of the Paleozoic era supercontinent Pangea, about 180 million years ago."
When we returned to the museum, Dr. Lauck Ward, curator of invertebrate paleontology, gave a presentation to the group along with the museum's volunteer interpreters on the topic of the mollusks of Virginia's tidewater.
After the presentaion, the group toured the scientific labs, education center, and the new exhibit, "Amazing Feats of Aging."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment