Rochester, Minnesota — The first Team Minnesota of Wooster Geologists has now gathered for its work in this beautiful state. Above from the left is Rachel Wetzel (’17), Dean Thomas (’17), Nick Wiesenberg (Geological Technician), Nikki Bell (’17) and Etienne Fang (’17). They’ve gathered from five states to pursue integrated Independent Study fieldwork in the Upper Ordovician Decorah Formation and related units. AS you can see, our first day was bright and warm. The team is in front of the headquarters of the Minnesota Geological Survey in St. Paul. It is a very earnest, hardworking place.
After sorting out car rentals, airport arrivals, and our first lunch, we met four geologists from the Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS) and drove to an outcrop a few miles south in St. Paul along the east bank of the Mississippi River. We are looking here at the group exploring the upper portion of the Platteville Limestone and the lower part of the Decorah Shale.
Those four geologists from the MGS are an all-star team. They included Tony Ruckel (Chief Geologist and Paleozoic Geologist), Julia Steenberg (Paleozoic Geologist), Jenn Horton (Quaternary Geologist and a Wooster Geology alumna), and Andrew Retzler (Paleozoic Geologist and another Wooster Geology alum). What a great scientific start. We learned much in just a few hours from their experiences with the Decorah Shale and associated units. Andrew will be our guide to the outcrops over the next couple of days.
Examining the top of the Platteville Limestone at the Mississippi River Gorge Park site.
Dean’s left hand is in a crevice where the famous Deicke Bentonite is exposed. This is a layer of altered volcanic ash from massive eruptions to the east associated with the Taconic Orogeny. These widespread ash layers make superb time lines in the rock record. Unfortunately we can’t see the actual clay because it was mined out by visiting geologists!
The Mississippi River at our first outcrop. The rocks are Platteville Limestone. The Marshall Avenue Bridge is in the background.
The last stop on this brief first day tour was Minnehaha Falls. The rocks exposed are, from the base, the St. Peter Sandstone, the Glenwood Shale, and the Platteville Limestone.
After a delicious dinner in an outdoor restaurant in Minnehaha Park, we drove down to Rochester, which is our base of operations. We enjoyed meeting new friends and getting our first look at the rocks. Tomorrow we begin a systematic survey of the Decorah outcrops in southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa.
