GEORGIA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
1999 ANNUAL FIELDTRIP

Excursions in the Valley and Ridge,

Northwest Georgia and Alabama

October 8, 9, and 10, 1999

Headquarters: Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Leaders: Tim Chowns, University of West Georgia; Steve Henderson, Emory at Oxford; Steven Holland, University of Georgia; and Crawford Elliot, Georgia State Univeristy.

 

Headquarters
Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, 6700 Ringgold Road, Chattanooga (I-75 at US 41, first exit north of Georgia line). Double room rates are $45.00 plus tax. Deadline October 1. Please call 423 892 8100 and indicate you are a member of GGS.

Program
This year's field trip will be held in the Valley and Ridge province. The trip will be in two parts:

Part I. Saturday October 9. An introduction to sequence stratigraphy with illustrations from the Valley and Ridge Province of Georgia and Alabama.

This part will focus on six major road cuts in the Silurian Red Mountain Formation and Ordovician Chickamauga Limestone that illustrate the major features of sequence stratigraphy. We will discuss the recognition of parasequences and show how they are used to recognize deepening and shallowing-upward trends. Examples of sequence boundaries, flooding surfaces, condensed ironstones, and various types of systems tracts will be included. We will also stop to examine Middle Ordovician volcanic ash beds resulting from the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded.

Part II. Sunday October 10. The Geology of Civil War battlefields in the Chattanooga - Atlanta Campaign.

As Sherman advanced from Chattanooga towards Atlanta in 1864, geology played a significant roll in the siting of battlefields and in the flanking strategy, which forced the confederate army to retreat from one defensive position to another. Beginning with an overview of the Chattanooga campaign from Point Park, Lookout Mountain, we will visit sites at Ringgold, Tunnel Hill, Dug Gap (Dalton), Resaca and Allatoona.

Social
There will be an introductory talk and Smoker, Friday October 8, 8.00 p.m. at the Howard Johnson.

Introductory Program
Tim Chowns will be the guest speaker at the Atlanta Geological Society meeting to be held on September 30, at 6.30 p.m. at the Fernbank Museum. His talk: "An introduction to Sequence Stratigraphy with illustrations from the Silurian Red Mountain Formation (Georgia and Alabama)" is intended as an introduction to the field trip.

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