Dr Alan Channing

Extensional tectonics and associated volcanism are a great mix if you are interested in hot spring ecosystems and potential environments that might act as sites for pre-adaptation of plants to hot spring life.... Extension of the crust by normal faulting creates conduits for up-flowing waters. These can interact with magmatic and volcanic heat sources at depth in the crust to create epithermal gold/silver mineralisation in fault zones and hot spring deposits at the surface. Extension at the same time creates fault bound lake basins, which collect rainwater and snowmelt plus some hot spring water. Add the arid desert setting of Nevada and strong evaporation to create saline alkaline lakes.

This trip investigated ancient fossil hot spring and saline lake fossil localities and looked at a range of active analogue environments.

 

San Francisco to Mono Lake via Yosemite

Mono Lake to Tonopah via Long Valley Caldera

Hasbrouck Peak - Tonopah

Tonopah to Austin

McGinness Hills

Austin to Winnemucca via Beowawe

Chimney Valley

Winnemucca -Fernley via Pyramid Lake and Salt Wells

Fernley to Elko via Steamboat Sprngs

Elko to Bozeman Montana

Bozeman to West Yellowstone - Lower Geyser Basin

Midway and Upper Geyser Basins

Biscuit Basin hike to Mystic Falls

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Elk Park & Norris Geyser Basin

Norris - Back Basin

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs

Bozeman to Elko

Elko to Redding via Lassen Volcano

Redding to San Francisco via McLaughlin Mine and the Napa Valley

 

Itinerary to be advised.........