2005 - Rockin' the Rockies

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Twelve graduate students in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta took the opportunity to visit the Rocky Mountain Trench over the Labour Day long weekend in an informal field trip setting. Students participating in the hot spring-themed trip were both new and returning to the department, with study topics ranging from Precambrian geology to modern carbonate sedimentation to atmospheric circulation.
Special thanks to the following sponsors:
Tyler Resources
Commencing on September 1, the ATLAS trip spanned five days. A campground near Lussier Hot Springs in Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park served as home base, producing twelve ripe graduate students by the end of the trip. The geological fun began in Big Hill Springs Provincial Park, host to a Holocene relict carbonate spring deposit as well as a tufa-precipitating active modern spring. The gross morphological and sedimentological features of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers were studied as examples of braided and anastomosing river systems in the Columbia Valley. Spectacular perspectives of river morphology and local geology were obtained with a floating trip down the Columbia River near Radium and a white-water rafting trip on the Kicking Horse River near Golden. Surficial Quaternary geomorphological features observed in the area were deposited by glacial retreat, including progradational delta fronts, kame terraces, and hoodoos. The hardy group of twelve also embarked on a walking tour of the carbonate spring deposit at Fairmont, the largest of its kind in Canada, where spring-precipitated tufas measure up to 15 metres thick. Structural features of the Rocky Mountain Trench were best observed at Sinclair Canyon and through the window of a helicopter during a tour that provided a stunning aerial perspective of local geology. The trip wrapped up with a scenic drive through the Icefields Parkway, where a final stop at the Columbia Icefields allowed observation of the Athabasca glacier and its impressive moraines. Though the trip was rigorous, physically strenuous, and demanded the rapt attention of its participants, a great time was had by all.