1. GEOL 3355 andGEOL 3360
Summer 2015
The UH-YBRA field geology course stresses geological mapping and measurement and interpretation of
stratigraphic sections. The camp is run out of the Yellowstone Bighorn Research facility in Red
Lodge, Montana and University of Montana Western in Dillon, Montana. All of the mapping projects
are done in small teams with students responsible for their own maps and cross-sections. The course
emphasizes observational skills through independent mapping in a variety of geologic environments. This
is accomplished through 4 major projects, 2 independent projects, as well as numerous side trips
throughout Montana, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. Grades are based on student
performance on these projects.
The 4 main projects are:
 Bighorn basin: This first exercise is 6 days long and focuses on structural mapping and
measurement and interpretation of stratigraphic sections. Detailed measured sections are used to
interpret changes in depositional environment and used in combination with structural mapping
to generate a cross-sectional view of a doubly-plunging anticline.
 Beartooth Front: This is a classic Laramide basement uplift bordering the western margin of the
Bighorn basin. Students map across a large hanging wall anticline involving Proterozoic and
Early Paleozoic rocks.
 Northern Basin and Range: The project area straddles an active normal fault. Students map and
describe Pliocene basaltic lava flows and Miocene fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary rocks that
are deposited on a crystalline basement surface which has considerable paleo-topographic relief.
Students also map and describe Quaternary surficial deposits to define the location of active
faults as well as identify potential geotechnical hazards.
 Sevier thrust belt: This project is the favorite of many (faculty and students). Students map over
the course of 4 days a system of imbricate thrust faults that are folded by slip along a structurally
deeper thrust. Although the geology is complicated, all features are well-exposed due to the
plunging nature of the geology.
This year’s field camp includes side trips to a) Stillwater layered mafic intrusive body, b) a Cambrian
stratigraphic section containing fossil assemblages showing a mass extinction event, c) numerous
sites throughout Yellowstone National park, d) Hebgen/Quake lake, and e) Bighorn Mountains.
More information may be found at:
1) http://www.geosc.uh.edu/research-institutes-programs/ybra-field-camp/index.php
2) http://www.ybra.org/