The Foreland and Omineca Belts Repeated

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Last year I was a student on the geology field trip from Calgary to Revelstoke (The Foreland and Omineca Belts). This year, I was the TA. In the year in between, my knowledge and understanding of the geology of the southern Canadian Cordillera has grown by leaps and bounds. Because I wasn't going to be tested on anything this year, I didn't need to scramble to take notes at each stop (and there were lots of them). Instead, I reviewed my notes from the previous year, and was able to piece everything together so much better this year.

Coming back to school has meant a pause in my overseas travels, but it has also been a great chance for me to see more of my own backyard, and appreciate how spectacular it is. It's always great to spend a weekend in the mountains, even if it is predominantly driving and stopping at outcrops along the road. It was especially reassuring to discover that I could find most of the outcrops we visited last year, sans GPS.

Thanks to my recent field work in west-central Alberta (Field Work in Alberta), I knew that although recent construction meant one of the outcrops we stopped at last year had been blasted away, a new one had been blasted open. And what a spectacular roadcut it is! Thanks to the fact that the construction is still ongoing, it was accessible too: no guardrails to hop over or anything.

My confidence in my abilities as a geologist has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year too. I remember how worried I was that I wouldn't catch on--that not only had it been too long since I finished undergrad, but also that the transition from geophysics to geology would be too much for me. I was wrong. I retain more now and I understand more now. Partly it must be because I have a much healthier lifestyle than I did as an undergraduate, but I think it is also because I really love what I'm studying. And I feel lucky to have been able to do this, to come back to school to study something I love.

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Comments

[Ali]

Great photos...
Wow - you get to go to some stunning places on field trips :)