Automated Particle-Size Instrumentation For the Undergraduate Geology Curriculum at Colorado College

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The Colorado College Geology Department will develop an instructional program using automated equipment for particle-size analysis: a sedigraph for analyzing silt and clay, a settling tube for analysis of sands, and a DOS-based control/data management module. Particle-size analysis is a critical to the interpretation of modern sediments, as particle-size characteristics reflect conditions of transport and deposition. Evaluation of particle-size distributions is also fundamental in studies of soil genesis and of soil development as an indicator of landscape instability, and in many studies of the effect of human activity on geomorphic processes. Throughout our soft-rock curriculum, students are introduced to concepts related to particle-size characteristics, and this equipment will provide students with the opportunity to make rapid and precise particle-size determinations, introduce students to modern quantitative techniques, and link classroom, field, and lab aspects of sedimentary geology, geomorphology, and soils. The instruments will strengthen curriculum and student research opportunities in soft-rock and environmental geology, and will allow the development of field and laboratory exercises in Introductory Geology, Geomorphology, Soils, and Sedimentary Petrology courses. Individual students will utilize the equipment for projects in these courses as well as Glacial Geology, Archeological Geology, Sedimentation and Stratigraphy, and Environmental Sciences. Geology and Environmental Sciences majors will also use the instruments to obtain high-quality data on sediment and soil characteristics in their thesis work. The instrumentation will also be available to students from the other Keck Consortium colleges for Keck project-related research.