Audience: This trip is meant for those with an interest in geology and who value field learning in the field. Anyone with an interest in geoscience is welcome.

Conditions: Participants need to be aware that the trip requires camping and living out of a canoe or kayak for five days and all that possibly entails. Discomfort at times is highly likely. At this time of the year the average lows are in the 40s, and average highs in the 70s. Discussions with paddlers who have done this seciton indicates this is a good time of year, but a late spring blizzard is possible. We will plan for this trip very carefully. Here is a description of required gear and some organizational aspects.

When: from May 12th to May 22nd. There will also be three pre-trip meetings, on Wednesdays at noon. First meeting the first week of classes.

Itinerary:

• 2 days drving up looking at geology on the way,
• 5 days on the Missouri river paddling and looking at geology in the grand exploration tradition of Lewis & Clark. This portion of the river has been designated a National Wild and Scenic River, and is described as being much like it was when Lewis and Clark paddled it. This section of the river is described as a float trip - no whitewater. It would take perhaps 8 days to paddle the entire section and do it any justice geologically - which we do not have the luxury of doing. We will instead focus on the White Cliffs section from Coal Banks Landing to Judith Landing, since the geology seems to be a bit more diverse on this section. It is 47 river miles long, and the average current is 3.5 mph, and typically takes 3 days to paddle. In addition, we will likely do the section from Judith Landing to McClelland Ferry, which is some 14 river miles long.
• 2 days drving back on a different route looking at geology.
• 1 day for the unexpected ( if all goes well we will get back after 9 days).

Geology to be learned: The geology of Montana is very rich, and includes both plains and cordillera geologic provinces. The river section we will be traveling is noted for its beautiful badlands. Quaternary geology and fluvial geomorphology round out the surficial geology that can be seen. In addition, very well exposed Cretaceous stratigraphy tells of the Western Interior Seaway that used to reside here. Tertiary instrusives, folding and faulting, also are well exposed along the river. In addition in the nearby area is the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction boundary that we plan to visit on the way in. Tertiary intrusives we will visit are especially puzzling in that they don't fit standard models for where you should get igneous activity.

Questions: Harmon D. Maher Jr., harmon_maher@mail.unomaha.edu

References:

• Jengo, J. W., 2002, Boken Masses of Rock and Stones": Lewis and Clark as Geological Trailblazers, The Professional Geologist, p. 2-6
• Hansen, W. B., 2002, Canoeing With Lewis & Clark AAPG Geotour Geologic River Log Portion May 21-24, 2002, Coal Banks to Judith Landing, Montana Geoscience Foundation, Great Falls, Montana, 27 p.
• Lindvall, R. M., 1962, Geology of the Eagle Buttes Quadrangle, Chouteau County, MT: USGS Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-349.