North Shore Superior Adventure MESTA Field Conference Thursday July 31, 2025 - Tuesday, August 5, 2025 A "Superior" Field Geology Experience with MESTA: "Illuminating" with an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Geologic Connections of Michigan's Western U.P. with the North Shore of Lake Superior in Canada
Major Themes ❖ What is the geologic story of both the Canadian Shield and Mid-Continental Rift? What evidence can we observe in these outcrops? ❖ How do we identify igneous rocks using QAPF diagram? 
❖ How did fluorescent rocks “Yooperlites” end up on the south shore of Lake Superior? What is their source? ❖ What is ultraviolet fluorescence and how do we explain it? ❖ What is the economic importance of these ancient rocks?
Schedule Meet at the Geology Department of Lake Superior State University. Introductions and orientation Friday, August 1: Sault Saint Marie, MI Area tours with presentations from Dr. Paul Kelso and Dennis Dougherty, retired Earth Science Teacher Saturday, August 2: Travel to Marathon, ONT. CA. Explore the geology of the North Shore of Superior Sunday-Monday August 3-4: Marathon, ONT. CA. Study the Geology of the Coldwell Complex Tuesday, August 5: Return to Sault Saint Marie, MI Final group meeting with dinner. Current classroom teachers have priority registration until April 1, 2025. Download the Registration form: Click this link! |
This field conference is an opportunity for you (current classroom teachers will be given early registration priority) to explore the northern Lake Superior coastline geology of Canada with MESTA and relate it to geological events that occurred in the western UP. It will showcase and offer "hands-on" field experiences that will allow you to make connections to classroom activities for your students. During these six days, you will be given resources, investigation tools, and the chance to collect classroom samples. Your experiences will highlight the interdisciplinary nature of geology. They will help you to understand the geology of these two distinct areas and how they are in fact related. Finally, you will see the connection of the fluorescent syenite or "Yooperlites" collected by many people on the southern shores of Lake Superior in Michigan to their bedrock source in Canada. 
Thursday, July 31 at 2:00pm: Sault Saint Marie, MI