Description

Study fossil forming processes and geologic dating methods. Distinguish between different fossil types, examples including altered and unaltered fossil finds, petrified wood and bones, carbon imprints, casts and molds, and trace fossils. Observe paleontologists at work in the field and lab carefully excavating, identifying, and reconstructing their fossil finds.
Well-known fossil locations in the Western U.S. are featured - accessible for visitation by the public - including sites at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in California, Ginkgo Petrified Forest and the John Day fossil beds in Oregon, Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, Ichthyosaur State Park in the deserts of Nevada, Petrified Forest National Park in the Painted Desert of Arizona, the dinosaur track ways in Colorado, and petrified trees still standing on the volcanic slopes in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Take a virtual field trip locally, traveling eastward along Highway 58 in San Luis Obispo County. The route follows a geological transect in time spanning tens of millions of years, a slice in time, reconstructing ancient shorelines of an inland sea and subsequent mountain uplift of granitic and sedimentary rock formations along fault zones within the present day Coast Ranges. Examine marine shells embedded in ancient sandstones and shale outcrops along the field trip route, and evidence of the Ice Age mega-fauna that roamed these local terrains long ago.
Class Schedule: Our class schedules may be subject to change. You can always view the most current class status anytime on the Community Programs website. To stay up to date after registering, please monitor your email, as any changes will be sent to the email address we have on file.

Activity Category

Outdoors, Nature & Science

Location

Online via Zoom

Instructor

Steve Schubert