BATES COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

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Table of Contents

Students' Research Page

Geology Course Catalog

Geology Professors

Geology Club

Upcoming Trips and Meetings

Bates Geology Alumni

Geology Employment

Geology Links

Geology students at Bates not only study the Earth, they see a lot of it firsthand -- from the coast of Maine to sheltered, inland lakes, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Arctic, from New Mexico to Scotland. Classes take you to the field and back to the laboratory for the kind of experience that leads to thinking like a geologist.

Starting with first-year courses, fieldwork is the emphasis. You might investigate minerals at a local quarry, or study bedrock exposures on the Maine coast and in the White Mountains. You might study surface water and groundwater in the nearby Androscoggin River and in local aquifers.

The five-week Short Term units each spring are ideal for off-campus, intensive fieldwork. You might go to the American Southwest -- New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah -- to learn techniques for geological mapping and field methods. There, the results of volcanic activity are everywhere, and rock formations that you might have seen before in textbooks become even more powerful and awe-inspiring observed firsthand. In fact, the effect has persuaded many first-year students to become geologists.

If a colder climate is more appealing, you might choose to help with research on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. In a study that deals with climatic changes going back to the last Ice Age, students prepare geologic maps, and collect and analyze water and sediment samples from lakes and marine environments. Or you might go to Scotland, a country of great geologic diversity and the birthplace of geology. There, our students map and examine the geology at classic locations and study world-famous outcrops of rock that preserve nearly three billion years of the Earth's geologic history.

The course work provides the tools and skills needed to complete a research project and thesis required of all geology majors in their senior year. A two-semester endeavor, this independent research project is based on field and/or laboratory investigation. Topics that have environmental implications have become increasingly popular. Recently, one student studied erosion on the lake that is the water supply for the local community; another analyzed the sediment record for the last 10,000 years on the lake, showing changes in the climate; another delineated the boundaries of an old landfill in the community.

There are numerous opportunities for summer research projects. Grants are available to fund independent study, or you might work on a faculty member's project. This year, Bates students joined a team in Mexico to test groundwater in a mining district a mining district where the drinking water is contaminated with arsenic. Internships are also available. One of our students was hired this year by a local community to study the quality of the city's water.

The geology department's equipment holdings are extensive. A scanning electron microscope with EDS -- energy dispersive X-ray analysis system -- shows the chemical makeup of a mineral, giving far more detailed information than an optical microscope. The automated sedimentology lab, used not only by students but by other geologists from nearby states and other parts of Maine, contains various instruments that analyze the physical makeup of sediment in cores drawn from lake bottoms. The information gives clues as to global climatic changes.

Our department also has equipment that can determine the presence of elements like copper and lead in water at levels of parts per billion. The ICP -- inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer -- gives information about the factors that control water quality.

Two of the newest pieces of equipment are oceanographers' tools that are on the leading edge of technology. A 300-pound, egg-shaped "fish," called a sub-bottom profiler, is towed behind a boat that contains three boxes of electronic gear. The pulses of energy down sent down through the water by the fish are reflected differently by different layers of sediment on the bottom. Results are then recorded for analysis and presented on a color monitor on deck of the research boat.

Another oceanographer's tool, the SeaCat, is a package of instruments in a metal cage, which can measure depth, salinity, and light transmission of the water. It is capable of taking readings every half second, which can then be downloaded to a computer for analysis and graphing.

With four professors and an average of a dozen majors each year, the geology department is a close-knit group. The Geology Club is very active, sponsoring informational and social events throughout the year. Students often accompany faculty members to professional meetings, and informal, spontaneous gatherings are frequent. Few undergraduate programs offer this intimate level of involvement and mentoring by faculty, and few offer the opportunities for research. We believe this is the best way to prepare leaders in the field.