Collaborative Research: REU: An Integrated Field-Laboratory Experience for Undergraduates: Constraints on Evolution of Southern Blue Ridge Mafic-Ultramafic Massifs

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Ryan9988077This REU project provides undergraduate students with an integrated field and laboratory research experience. Students will tackle questions about the origins and evolution of mafic and ultramafic rock units in high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Southern Blue Ridge in North Carolina. Detailed field observations, geophysical and structural analysis and compositional information will provide some new constraints on the origins of these rocks, and on their tectonic history. The first 4 weeks of the program will involve field mapping, collection of geophysical and structural data, and sampling for geochemistry using facilities of the University of South Florida to process and interpret geophysical data and to chemically analyze rock samples collected in the field. The faculty will participate in research activities as instructors and guides, providing students with a detailed overview of the relevant geologic issues and with direction and training in field techniques, laboratory protocols, and the use of analytical instrumentation, and helping them identify and formulate research questions. Students will work in teams with frequent, but not constant instructor interaction, allowing them to develop research tools and problem-solving skills. This research environment allows students to increase both skill and independence as investigators, and at the same time learn to function as part of a research team. Students will define individual or small group research problems within broader research goals for each summer. Group projects will include both a field and a lab component and be completed during the 7-week program. Students will present their results at the Spring GSA Southeastern Section meeting. Participants will gain experience in detailed geologic mapping experience of a metamorphic terrane, digital map and data compilation, geophysical data collection and interpretation, geochemical analysis techniques, and in carrying a scientific investigation from initiation to fruition.