Contact Info

195 Rankin Science
572 Rivers Street
Boone, NC
28608
(828) 262-3049
FAX: (828) 262-6503

Chairperson:
Dr. Johnny A. Waters
watersja@appstate.edu

General Questions:
Geology Webmaster

The 2004 Spring Field Trip to New Mexico

During Fall Semester 2003, representatives from the Geology Department's student organization, The Appalachian Geological Society, decided the annual Spring Field Trip should head to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico during Spring Break. With the help of Dr. Johnson, a trip was planned that included visits to Guadelupe Mountains National Park and the Very Large Array west of Socorro, mineral collecting stops in Bingham, New Mexico, Crater of Diamonds and Hot Springs, Arkansas, as well as Carlsbad and Roswell. Early in the morning March 6, we loaded up the van and began the roadtrip west, returning on March 13. The following images are a sampling of that trip.

The intrepid explorers.	Loading up en route.	Quick lunches are the norm.	Wind farm along I-20 in west Texas. Note the damaged turbine in the background!	Little to do on road trips but sleep and listen to music.
The natural entrance at Carlsbad Caverns.	Ready to hike in.	Cave formations in Carlsbad Caverns.	Underground lighting courtesy NPS.	More cave formations.
Rimstone and a quiet pool.	Carlsbad flowstone.	Yet another casualty of a tourist cave...	Stalagmites along the trail.	An amphitheater? This is a big cave.
No comment!	Cave popcorn coated stalgmites in Carlsbad.	Sampling a laminated gypsum outcrop between Carlsbad and Guadelupe Mountains.	Gypsum laminae.	Examining the gypsum outcrops.
Guadelupe Mountains National Park in the background.	The Guadelupes near the NM ­ TX border.	El Capitan at sunset.	Dinners can be more relaxed.	The end of a long day.
The Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo.	The group overlooking White Sands.	Driving through the missile range.	Climbing the gypsum dunes at White Sands National Monument.	Ripple marks in the gypsum dunes.
A serious bunch of geology students...	Soft landing in the soft gypsum.	Another day finished.	Let's go! A lot of things to see.	The Very Large Array, west of Socorro.
But can it get HBO?	The Desert Rose mine, south of Bingham, NM.	Looking for fluorite and galena.	El Malpais lava flow, west of Carrizozo, NM.	Collecting some pahoehoe.
One more western sunset.	Stopped in traffic? Time for a disco party!	Man, does this guy do anything but sleep?	Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas.	Looking for diamonds.
Hot Springs, Arkansas.	I bought something. So there!	Keeping track of gas receipts.	Unloading in Boone.	Boy, we're tired. Can we do it again?