Office hours Spring 2018:10-11, Monday, 3:00-4:00 Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, and by appointment or chance (stop by Harrington 315).

Grades: Your grade will be based on your participation during the course and on your field notebooks.

Grade scale: 93% and up = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 69-72 =C-; 66-68 = D+; 63-65 = D; 60-62 = D-; <60% = F

Graduate Credit: Students taking the course for graduate credit will be required to complete a research project based on data that we collect while on the trip. You must discuss this with Dr. Hiatt during the Fall semester 2015, for pre-approval before the final plans are made for the trip. This project will involve a higher level of synthesis than is required of undergraduate students in this course. Graduate grade scale: 93% and up = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 69-72 =C-; 68% or less = F.

Additional Reading on Reserve (coming soon).

Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to give students an opportunity to explore the oceanographic and environmental factors that affect coral reefs and carbonate sediment-producing organisms. We also examine human impacts on reefs and other marine environments. For a geologist, it is critical to understand the relationships between environments and the sediments (solid remains of organisms, such as stony corals, many forms of algae, mollusks (clams and snails), and single-celled calcifying organisms), because it is these sediments that later become carbonate rocks (limestone and dolostone). These relationships are important because much of our petroleum, natural gas, and even groundwater are derived from the pore spaces in carbonate rocks. Ultimately, the original environment in which these organisms lived provides the first order control of the size and distribution of this pore space that later becomes reservoirs for these vital natural resources.

Florida Field Course Schedule.

We will be studying carbonate sediments, environments and rocks during the trip and will spend up to 8 hours per day in the water and/or visiting outcrops on land, about 2 hours per day in the laboratory studying samples that we collected during the day, and about 2 hours per day of lecture and discussion focusing on the geology, hydrology, and oceanography the Florida Keys.

Schedule:

• Monday, June 2, 2018.
  • Depart Oshkosh by bus at 6:00am.
• Depart Milwaukee 9:55am, Frontier / Republic Airlines, Flight F9 1468.
• Arrive Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2:03pm (EST). Pick up rental cars, drive to Keys Marine Lab.
• Dinner on the road, first super market stop, arrive KML at 7 PM.
• Lecture 1: Geology of the Florida Keys 1.

• Tuesday, June 3, 2018. Cool and windy weather.
  • Blue Hole quarry park, Big Pine Key: examine transition between the Key Largo Limestone and the Miami Oolite.
  • Education tour of the Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 2: Carbonate depositional systems

• Wednesday, June 4, 2018.
  • Sea kayak to Tavernier Key: mangrove island formation and shallow carbonate bank environments
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 3: Corals and reef environments

• Thursday, June 5, 2018.
  • KML boat to Cheeca Rocks, Alligator Reef, and Indian Key
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 4: Coral reefs, part 2.
  
  
• Friday, June 6, 2018.
  • Sea kayak from Harry Harris County Park to Dove and Rodriguez keys: mangrove island formation and shallow carbonate bank environments
  • Windley Key Quarry 1
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 5: Shallow carbonate environments and facies relationships

• Saturday, June 7, 2018.
  • Florida Bay trip: sediment coring and environments in the bay.
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 6: Mangrove islands, carbonate mud production and environmental significance
    
    
• Sunday, June 8, 2018.
  • Examination of an ancient reef system: Windley Key Quarry
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 7: Carbonate diagenesis 1
    
    
• Monday, June 9, 2018.
  • Bahia Honda State Park: Holocene eolian dunes, beach ridges, and modern carbonate systems
  • Big Pine Key. Boat to Looe Key Reef
  • Laboratory at KML: examine samples collected
  • Dinner at KML
  • Lecture 8: Diagenesis 2 (geochemistry and porosity evolution in ancient limestones)
    
    
    
• Tuesday, June 10, 2018.
  • Clean up and depart Keys Marine Lab, 7am. Drive to Fort Lauderdale airport.
• Depart Fort Lauderdale, FL, 11:53am, June 10, Frontier / Republic Airline, Flight F9 1469.
• Arrive Milwaukee, WI, 2:08pm, June 10, Frontier / Republic Airline, Flight F9 1469.
• Bus back to Oshkosh, arrive 5:30 PM.
  
  

Contact Information in Florida:

Keys Marine Laboratory
P.O. Box 968
68486 US Hwy-1
Layton/Long Key, FL 33001
Phone: (305) 664-9101
Fax: (305) 664-0850

Checklist of things to bring to Florida:
(In January the air temperature will be 70-85°F, and the water temperature will range from 65-75°F. Be prepared for SUN and rain on land.)

_____ Field Notebook.
_____ Water Bottle (approximately 1 liter) -- you will have a chance to buy one in the Keys.
_____ Mask, snorkel, and fins.
_____ 2 pairs of running or tennis shoes (one old pair) OR one pair running shoes, one pair sport sandals.
_____ Rain jacket.
_____ Day pack for transporting gear.
_____ Sheets and pillow case for twin-sized bed.
_____ 2 bathing suits.
_____ 2 Towels.
_____ Sunscreen (SPF 30-60), hat, and comfortable shirt for protection from sun.
_____ Eyeglasses (if needed; spare pair recommended).
_____ Personal needs (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.). We will stop at a supermarket to purchase supplies during the first day of the trip.
_____ Motion sickness medication, if needed.
_____ Notebooks, pens and pencils.
_____ Camera, digital or film, (disposable underwater camera(s) work pretty well and we can scan the negatives after the trip).
_____ Small pocket flashlight.