University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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i ill igneiHis rocks. The next day the class visited le Elephant Rocks of Missouri, bout 1 .3 billion years ago, hot lagma cooled, forming coarsely vstalline red granite that later eathered into huge granite boui- . rs. The largest boulder, Dumbo, ps the scales at 680 tons. Again, le students crossed the Mississippi mbavment and tra ' eled to Buffalo ate Park in Tupelo, Miss., for a ight of camping. Next morning, the class dro e rross the Piedmont Gulf Coastal lain of Alabama to Gulf State Park I Gulf Shores, Ala. They stopped I explore the Selma Chalks and 3serve the residual storm damage om Hurricane Ivan. On day four, the students plored the barrier islands mor- liologv and beach changes, sedi- Lent transport, and coastal damage o m hurricane storm surges and inds. That evening, the class went ack to civilization with a meal at amberts, the home of throwed ills. Day fi e began ■ith the exploration of le Wetumpka Impact tructure, the crater that ;mains after a meteor it just north of present- ay Montgomery. The ext day, the students itered the southern rid of the Appalachian lid and explored the m of the Little River anyon in DeSoto State ark. After a night in le park, the students oved on to Chatta- ooga, Tenn. where eomorphology 435. Row 1; Cory ipp. Dr. Greg Gaston, Row 2: Olivia iller. Bryan Smith. Chris McGee. ■axton Guinn, Johnelte McConnell. att Taylor Row 3: Stacey Whitten, na Irons, Jessica Hawk. Row 4: inathan Fleming. Chris McMuilen, )ey Holt, Drew Yarbrough. Nick Bkora, Not Pictured; Wes Garmon. irrod Helms, Justin Helms, they explored a classic ' water gap ' ol the lennessee Ki I ' r lioni llu ' top of Lookout Mountain. Lati-r, rafting down the Ocoee River they ob- served hydraulic processes. One GE 435 student said the next four days of camping and exploration went by in a blur of mountains, water- falls and hiking. On the last day of the trip the students were so exhausted that they came straight home! The class proved to be not only a great learn- ing experience but a great bonding experience as well. After the trip, we weren ' t just a bunch of students who had class together. We were like a family. We all just clicked. I never would have gotten that close to my classmates in a regular setting, said Tina Irons. Gaston hopes to make the event an annual one, exploring different areas of the U.S. Next surrmier, he hopes to explore the canyon country of Utah. ARE YOU SURE IT WASN ' T A LEFT? Nick Sekora, Chris McGee, Wes Garmon, Corey Sapp and Dr. Gaston Itop right) study a map of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. IT ' S NOT THAT FAR DOWN! Joey Holt and Drew Yarbrough (right) look over a bluff at the Welsh Ca ' es in DeSoto State Park, in Alabama. QE 435 Mom 16-27, 2005

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uthem Adventure Days from home: 12 Miles traveled: 2,800 States visited: 9 Time of your life: Priceless Not everyone realizes the magnificent natural wonders that are present in the Southern states. One summer class gave students the opportunity to explore the natural wonders of our world while form- ing bonds with fellow students and earning college credit. Geomorphology 435, a three-credit-hour inter- term class, gave 18 students the opportunity to view regional landscapes of the Southeastern United States while providing an understanding of the geomorphic and tectonic processes that shaped the landscape. Students began preparing for the class by pack- ing their camping gear and supplies. For 11 rughts they would be sleeping on the ground and camping in tents, preparing their meals and generally rough- ing it. The GE 435 class, taught by Dr. Greg Gaston, set out on Monday, May 16, and drove to the New Madrid Seismic Zone and Reelfoot Lake. The New Madrid Seismic Zone lies within the central Mississippi valley, extending from northeast Arkansas, through southeast Missouri, western Tennessee and western Kentucky, to southern Illinois. Historically, the area has been the site of some of the strongest earthquakes in North America. Between 1811 and 1812, according to contemporary journals, four catastrophic earthquakes, with magnitudes now estimated to have been greater than 7.0, occurred dur- ing a three-month period. While on site, students observed landforms and surface features associated with neotectonic activity. Later, the class drove across the upper end of the Mississippi Embayment to Johnson ' s Shut-Ins State Park in Missouri where they observed fluvial process- AS GOOD AS GOLD. The tree-covered ridges are part of the Appalachian Moiintain Fold in Alabama.

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