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OLLI Course, Spring 2009

 Geology and Environmental  Geology of the State College Area
David H. Eggler, Professor Emeritus of Petrology, Penn State University
All Field Trips will leave from Hills Plaza, near Kish Bank
All Sessions are on Tuesdays, 9 - 12 a.m.

 Overview: Six sessions of three hours each will cover ideas about the geologic framework of the Nittany Valley, its geologic history, and some environmental problems that involve geology.  Five of the sessions will be field trips.

 1.  April 14: Classroom lecture. An introduction to State College area geology, its geologic history, and environmental problems

 2.  April 21: Field trip. From tropical shorelines to glacial ice fields, all on Tussey Mountain: 400 million years of history

 3.  April 28: Field trip. Let’s walk through one complete orogeny!  Place: Reedsville in Mifflin County.  Orogeny: Taconian

 4.  May 5: Field trip.  Karst, carbonates, and constant headlines: all our problems DO NOT sink (pun intended) out of sight: hydrogeology of the Nittany Valley

 5.  May 12: Field trip. The Skytop I-99 acid rock problem: what maybe should have been predicted, what could not have been predicted, and the present situation

 6.  May 19:  Field trip. Two geologically-distinct sources of iron ore in Centre and Huntingdon Counties, with some climate change thrown in