Time Scavengers

Megan here-

An exciting perk of attending the University of Wyoming for graduate school is the annual Rocky Mountain Field Trip. This year, the geology faculty planned an adventurous trip to Grand Teton National Park and its surrounding areas (Image 1). Over five days, current and new graduate students explored the unique geology of the Tetons by learning about mountain formations, glaciation, and sedimentation in northwest Wyoming. By the end, we were able to develop an understanding of how this stunning area formed, and how it may change in the future.

For the first few days of the trip, we were lucky enough to stay at the AMK Ranch, which is home to the University of Wyoming-National Park Service Research Station. From here, we had a stunning view of Grand Teton National Park’s most impressive features: the high-standing peaks of the Teton mountain range (Image 2). These mountains are tremendously tall (the Grand Teton’s peak is 13,775 feet in elevation) due to a complex tectonic history of extension and uplift. Essentially, the mountains uplifted while the valley to the east dropped down. The pointed horns of the Tetons are a result of glacial sculpting during the Pleistocene Epoch.

One of the best parts of this trip was the variety of geology and geologists (Image 3). We learned about glacial geology, sedimentology, structural geology, hydrogeology, paleontology, and so much more. The professors and guests who joined us along the trip had a massive breadth of geologic knowledge. Not to mention, we were able to explore a national park with a geologic lens. That’s one of the most exciting things about being a geologist; you can look at landscapes with towering mountains and glacial lakes, or with meandering rivers and rolling hills, and you can envision the multitude of processes that formed that landscape.