Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Fieldtrips in the Urban Jungle of Youngstown, Ohio

Field experiences are an essential part of upper division geoscience courses. Teaching at an urban campus with little or no natural topography essentially eliminates field trips to natural outcrops of geologic units within walking distance and decreasing budgets greatly limits funding for van rental for driving field trips. I developed fieldtrips for Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (GEOL 5802) utilizing rock walls as human-made, artificial outcrops on the Youngstown State University campus in Youngstown, Ohio to overcome these challenges and provide students genuine field experiences. GEOL 5802 is populated by junior and senior undergraduate students with majors and minors in geology. Students measured and described sedimentary units for two stratigraphic sections from artificial outcrops on campus fieldtrips. Strike and dip of bedding and paleocurrent measurements were also collected from the artificial outcrops. Students used their field descriptions, measured sections, and collected data to interpret the depositional environments of the two sections. This was possible because the rocks in the artificial outcrops were placed in a way to permit interpretations of depositional environments just as a geologist would interpret depositional environments from natural outcrops.

Course evaluations and exit interviews with students indicated that students thought the fieldtrips to artificial outcrops were innovative and provided opportunities for them to apply material and information learned in GEOL 5802. Students' grades on their drafted stratigraphic sections and interpretations of depositional environments illustrated that the campus fieldtrips to artificial outcrops worked well to provide students genuine, hands-on field experience.