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Allison Holmes ('03) determined the degree of weathering of feldspars derived from relatively recent erosion of granite. This picture was taken from the highest point in South Dakota, and shows the rounded weathering pattern of the granite in the Black Hills. This pattern makes carving heads (e.g. Mt. Rushmore) relatively easy.





The Badlands of South Dakota are formed by the erosion of relatively young, weak Tertiary sedimentary rocks.





Note the uneven resistance to erosion on a small scale.





Allison Holmes collecting a sample of sand for analysis of feldspar.





The granite here in central Wisconsin (near Wausau) is so tough to erode that the formation of waterfalls is common.

 

 

Unique weathering of limestone boulders at Castle Hill, New Zealand. Photo taken by Thomas Steinwinder, undergraduate student.

 

 

Morning at Luxmore Hut before Thomas Steinwinder climbs Mt. Luxmore to observe different rock units at the peak with his field camp in New Zealand. 




Thomas Steinwinder's field studies class measuring a sequence of volcanic ash, sand deposits, and breccia at Boatman's Harbour, New Zealand.



Rugged terrain formed by Tertiary igneous rock in Southern Nevada, where Thomas Steinwinder and graduate student Chris Koteas (both pictured below) worked with Professor Calvin Miller. The body of water to the left is the Colorado River.





Thomas Steinwinder and Chris Koteas cool off in the Colorado River.





Professor Calvin Miller and students in the field.





VU graduate student Nichole Knepprath cuts rocks from Antarctica at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Vanderbilt and Milwaukee students worked on a joint project to identify the extent of weatherin of upper Paleozoic, post-glacial sandstones of Antarctica.





VU's Miriam Borosund ('04, checkered shirt) supervises UWM student cutting rock.





Miriam Borosund sampling granite from bedrock (at left). The large boulder near Allison Holmes (right) was transported by a glacier.

For more information, please contact The Vanderbilt Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences - 615.322.2976.
Copyright © 2002 Vanderbilt University.