(Opening  Music)
This is my field notebook. There are many like it, but this one is mine  but this one is mine.
My field note book is my best friend.  It is my life.  I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my field note book is useless.  Without my field note book, I am useless.
And I must record my observations true,
or what's the point.
Geologic field work starts long before you ever get into the field area itself.
You will probably spend at least a week in preparation for every day you spend in the field.
And most of that work will be congealed in your field notebook, as will your on site observations.
The first question to ask yourself is, what is your ultimate goal for this site?
Are you going to make a general geologic map with the major geologic units and structures over a large area?
Are you going to make a mineral vein map within a mine system in a small area with extreme detail?
Are you focusing on surficial processes and features, or on the economic value or natural hazards in an area?
By focusing on different parts of the geology, you will quickly hone in on the scale of the map area you are working in.
However, don’t get blinders on due to your intended focus.
Keep in mind what your goal is, but also keep your mind open to observations that you might not consider to be directly related to your problem.
It’s really embarrassing if you’re so focussed on your intended scope that you miss the obvious information right in front of you.
Once you have an idea of the area you’re going to map,
and the main objectives you have for that area,
you should make your base maps.
A lot of this work has probably already been done for you, and if you’re in the U.S.,
I highly suggest you go to http://virtualfieldwork.org/EPICC/VFEtools_tech.html
and download the KMZ file that overlays the topographic maps over the U.S. in Google Earth.
You can get that from other places, but I take you to this site.
I recommend exploring the virtualfieldwork.org site in general, but by clicking on the KMZ file in Google Earth,
then clicking on the slider bar icon at the bottom of the panel, you can adjust the opacity of the topographic map overlay,
and start to see the relationship of the topographic map and the satellite image.
From there you can take a screenshot of your area in the topographic map, take it into just about any photo editing program,
turn it black and white and play with the contrast to get a basic contour map with contour lines and data in black,
and a white background for you to take notes and color in rock types on.
You might want to print this out on stronger cardboard paper for more durability in the field.
Next, search the internet for any information on the geology of the area you are going to.
Plan a trip to your library, and if your library is the Arthur Lakes Library on the CSM campus,
definitely visit our maps section to see what maps are already available for your site.
If you’re in the US, and sorry to be so US centric this episode, I simply don’t have knowledge of what is out there for other areas,
but be sure to ask around and search for similar map programs for your area,
but if you’re in the U.S. search for the National Geologic Map Database,
which should take you here, click on map view, and enable your flash player for this.
You can zoom in to incredible detail on the available geologic maps,
and get the original data set and publication information on that area.
If that’s not enough reason for you to go to this site,
try playing with the buttons over here where you can search for particular maps,
or go to particular locations, see which parts of the country
have been processed in this dataset
and if the State maps are included,
but I really love the opacity button here which used in conjunction with these three buttons for underlying images,
we can play with the opacity of the geologic map and see the thematic roads below, kind of neat,
or the satellite images, really neat,
or the topographic maps, just fantastic for the geologist preparing to explore a field area.
This is when the first notes go into your precious field notebook.
As you gather information,
you should be making rough stratigraphic columns in your book,
meaning a basic description of each rock unit you may encounter and its relative position in time and space.
And we will focus on making these stratigraphic columns in an upcoming episode.
If any maps or cross sections have been found for your area,
reproduce them in your notebook.
Generally try to get to know everything that has already been learned about the area.
You will never gain original insights by reinventing someone else’s wheel.
If there are certain classification charts that you think will be important, but you know you can’t memorize,
it’s a simple task to reproduce these with proper reduction or increase in size to work in your notebook.
If you are working for a company, be sure to ask
about any internal reports beyond the public material that they may have for your area.
A lot of geology has already been done, but for proprietary reasons.
Don’t be shy to contact anyone who has done or is doing work (physical or conceptual) in the area that you are working on.
Trust me, most of them will be more than willing to talk about their area of specialty, maybe too willing.
Satellites and airplanes have been flying overhead and taking pictures for quite some time now,
and you should try to get as much of that material as you can.
At bare minimum, go to Google Earth and zoom in with the topographic side view and start virtually exploring your area.
You shouldn’t be surprised to come out of a thick forest onto an impassible cliff.
Know the terrain you will be exploring.
The basic information is out there already.
Using such remote sensing or Google Earth images,
do as much of the geology as you can.
You should definitely figure out what is called the geologic grain of the area,
meaning, if there are any distinct linear patterns such as a series of fold axes as out in Pennsylvania,
or tilted layers of rock as in the Colorado Rockies front range area.
Think of it like the grain of wood,
and you can cut, that is walk, along the grain,
in which case you are probably following contacts between rock units to focus on uncertain or interesting areas,
or you can cut across the grain,
and be taking in as many units as you can in the shortest distance, but plan it so you don’t go over any cliffs.
But I can do even more,
such as calculating strike and dip of certain beds sitting in my office playing with Google Earth.
I try to find a good valley to work with, but gentle swales and ridges can work too.
If you can see a contact or distinctive bed in a rock unit,
you can use the line tool in GE to first note the elevation of the bed on one side of the valley,
then drag the line across the valley to find the contact or bed on the other side
and find where it is the exact same elevation as the previous point,
end your line there and the orientation of that line will define the strike of that bed.
Think about it.
It is a line of equal elevation there across that bed.
Do this again on another part of the unit up or down valley,
and it should make a line parallel with that first one.
You can then note the difference in elevation between these two lines,
and measure the distance between them,
then use rise over the run to calculate the angle of dip of that bed or contact.
And you can use Google Earth to produce topographic profiles of areas you plan to cover before you go out,
as we covered in episode 11 of this series.
You should contact the local Geologic Survey,
and each state in the U.S. has its own geologic survey department.
You will be asking them what publications they have,
if there are any experts willing to talk to you over the phone or in person,
or even meet with you in the field,
and you really get to know some delightful and knowledgable folks that way.
Even if they can’t join you in the field,
they often know the best place near your field area to get a good burger and beer after a long field day.
Once you get to your field area, don’t disparage local knowledge.
Well drillers can give you an interesting perspective,
and farmers, ranchers, landowners will often surprise you with the unique observations they’ve already made.
If you haven’t already figured out where the best exposure of the beds worth investigating might be,
which could be mines, quarries, road cuts, or just an eroded area of good exposure,
then start asking the locals about such exposures.
You should start there to get a detailed personal stratigraphic column for the area.
At this point, you will probably have an idea of where you want to go to start exploring,
but discovery favors the prepared mind,
so before we rush out
our next episode will cover the general rules and guidelines of collecting data in the field,
here on Earth Explorations!
