Wed

9 Oct

Student Fall Field Trips

Student Trips to Bancroft & Manitoulin Island

Summaries provided by Earth Science club President, Luc Roy. 

Photo Caption: The 2019 annual Bancroft field trip group, comprising first-year Earth Science students to PhD candidates and Prof. Andy McDonald, overlooking Unimin (Covia) Mine’s Nephton Plant during a mine tour and mineral collecting visit.

 

BANCROFT TRIP

SEPT 26-29, 2019
Students of all levels (1^st year Earth Science students up to PhD students!) return from the annual field trip to Bancroft area! This geological excursion combines the mineralogy and geology of the Haliburton Highlands where Bancroft is situated. This year’s trip included a visit to the COVIA nepheline-syenite mine which is an industrial mine which produces material used in glass, construction, ceramics, coatings, polymers and foundry markets. The trip also targeted rocks of the Central Metasedimentary Belt for some world class mineral collecting. This trip is lead by the Earth Science Club, Robert Meek, as well as Dr. Andrew M. McDonald.

 

MANITOULIN ISLAND TRIP

SEPT 14, 2019

Students ranging from 2^nd year to PhD recently participated in the first Laurentian University Earth Science Club field trip to Manitoulin Island. Led by Raymond Scott, a fourth year B.Sc. Earth Science student at Laurentian University, this trip educated the participants of the local stratigraphy of the area, while providing an excellent opportunity to collect fossils.

 

Stay up to date via the student club Facebook pages:
> LU SEG Student Chapter
> Earth Science Club

Image caption: Teaching extends beyond the lecture hall as Dr. Andy McDonald helps Patrick utilize skills learned in Mineralogy class to identify special minerals like zircon, nepheline, sodalite and hackmanite at the CN Rockpile, Bancroft.

Image caption: Hunting for uncommon minerals like sodalite and cancrinite at the bottom of the Blue Mountain quarry operated by Unimin (Covia) as Canada’s sole producer of nepheline. Canadian Nepheline – a mix of the minerals microcline, albite, and nepheline – has been mined here for 80 years and is an important ingredient in glass, ceramics and paint.