GRI, Banff Conference

Geoscience Research Institute
Field School for Teachers

Alberta, Canada

13-24 July 2014

Experience an unforgettable educational tour in the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains.

Details
Itinerary
Pictures — | scenery | turbidites | Cambrian Burgess shale | Devonian reef fossils | Paleozoic sediments | Mesozoic dinosaurs | thrust faults | glaciation | volcanism |

Separate files

Pictures — | different format |
Geology details — Tyrrell Museum, Burgess Shale, Icefields Parkway
2011 field guide for college/university professors — | maps | geology road log (24MB) | ... (Microsoft Word)

DETAILS

Travel
- International – you will need a passport, valid to the end of 2014!!
  - Exchange rate – $1CAD ≈ $1US
- Calgary International Airport
- Maps
  - Calgary – to Drumheller: 140km (90mi) ... to Canmore: 80km (50mi)
  - Canmore – to Banff: 30km (20mi) ... to Field: 110km (70mi) ... to Jasper: 310km (200mi)
Lodging – yet to be determined, but here are some possibilities
- Best Western Port O'Call, 1935 McKnight Blvd NE, Calgary
  - airport shuttle ... less than 5 miles from airport
- Pine Bungalows, #2 Cottonwood Creek Road, Jasper
Weather (Banff)
- Average – daily high/low temperatures = 23/7°C (73/45°F) ... monthly precipitation = 5cm (2in)
- Clothing – lectures: casual ... field trips: coat, rain gear, hiking shoes, hat, water bottle
Costs – yet to be determined, but somewhere between $1100 and $1500 per person, double occupancy

TENTATIVE ITINERARY (as of May 2012)

Numerous sites illustrate geological issues during the travel in the Canadian Rockies. We will visit most of the following sites, but the order is sure to change:

13^th, Sunday
- Arrival in Calgary
- Beginning in evening with dinner
- LECTURES: introduction to conference, philosophy
- HOTEL: Calgary
14^th, Monday
- LECTURES: introduction to geology, field work
- FIELD WORK: Drumheller — Royal Tyrell Museum, "underground burning", coal mine
- HOTEL: Calgary
15^th, Tuesday
- LECTURES:
- LESSON PREPARATION: geologic column / museum
- HOTEL: Calgary
16^th, Wednesday
- FIELD WORK: Banff/Jasper N.P. — drumlins, roche moutonnée ... thrust faults ... turbidites, Mazama ash layer
- HOTEL: Jasper
17^th, Thursday
- FIELD WORK: Jasper N.P. (north) — paraconformity, rock sequence
- LESSON PREPARATION: sedimentary processes
- HOTEL: Jasper
18^th, Friday
- FIELD WORK: Jasper N.P. (south) — Athabasca Glacier, Devonian fossils
- HOTEL: Canmore
19^th, Saturday
- Lake Louise
- HOTEL: Canmore
20^th, Sunday
- FIELD WORK: Yoho N.P. — Burgess Shale ...OR... Precambrian rocks
- HOTEL: Canmore
21^st, Monday
- FIELD WORK: Canmore — fossil reef ... coal, faulting
- LECTURES:
- LESSON PREPARATION: fossils, Cambrian explosion
- HOTEL: Canmore
22^nd, Tuesday
- FIELD WORK: Banff gondola — ridge-top overview of Canadian Rockies
- LECTURES:
- LESSON PREPARATION: plate tectonics
- HOTEL: Canmore
23^rd, Wednesday
- FIELD WORK: Kananaskis Country — collectable fossils ... folds and thrust faults ... large glacial erratic
- LESSON PREPARATION: glaciation
- HOTEL: Calgary
24^th, Thursday
- LECTURES: conclusions
- Ending at noon