Leader(s): Peter Drzewiecki, James Hyatt, Michael Ross

Description: Dinosaur State Park is a world-class dinosaur tracksite with over 750 footprints currently on display and even more that have been reburied for protection. The park receives over 40,000 visitors a year and is Connecticut’s most famous geological attraction. Work at the park over the last few decades have revolutionized our understanding of Early Jurassic dinosaurian ecosystems, and their importance to the community today. This trip will include an introduction to the park and its history, a tour of the park displays, a walk on the track surface to examine the tracks and other geological features up close, a description of photogrammetric methods used to map the tracks, and an interpretation of the paleoenvironment in which the trackmakers lived. This trip will be coordinated with the trip led by Paul Olsen (and others) to allow participants to attend both trips if desired.

Considerations: As a Connecticut State Park, Dinosaur State Park will be among the most accessible field trips GSA can run! There are water and restroom facilities, and wheelchair accessibility with the exception of going down onto the tracked surface. Even then, participants with accessibility issues will be joining us from the walkway viewing area just a few feet away. There is one walk, a few hundred feet long, from the parking lot to the building that houses the tracks on a level, paved sidewalk.

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Leader(s): Bryan Oakley, Daniel Cole, Peter August

Description: The Napatree Point Conservation Area in Watch Hill, Rhode Island is an 86-acre welded barrier spit that partially encloses the Little Narragansett Bay estuary. The conservation area contains some of the rarest habitats in Rhode Island and has been named a globally important bird area by the Audubon Society. Napatree is owned and managed by the Watch Hill Fire District and the Watch Hill Conservancy, and is publicly accessible year round. The barrier spit provides an excellent example of migration via overwash and washover fan deposition as the barrier has migrated over 75 m north since 1938. The undeveloped barrier also provides an example of the resilience of these natural features following storm events. Participants will also discuss bluff erosion, the historic use of Napatree for summer cottages (destroyed in the Hurricane of '38), the former site of the ill-conceived Fort Mansfield and the dynamics of the 9-acre coastal lagoon on the western end. This field trip is intended to inspire students learning about coastal environments, and for all attendees to hear from the conservation area staff on the challenges of managing a popular coastal conservation area while keeping it (in the words of the former manager) from being 'loved to death.'

Considerations: This trip will involve a 1.5-hour trip from Hartford, and approximately 2 miles of hiking oversand. Some limited accommodations may be available via UTV. Food and Water are not available at the site. Bathroom facilities will be made available when arriving at the field site and when leaving.

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Leader(s): Steven Jaret, Adrian Castro, Nicholas Roberts

Description: The crystalline bedrock of the Manhattan Prong is both home to the largest city in the USA, and thought to be the physiographic link between the Northern and Southern Appalachian Mountains. Despite this, the tectonometamorphic history lacks significant constraints. In this field trip, we will visit the garnet-staurolite-kyanite-sillimanite schists and gneisses that underlie northern Manhattan, and explore new constraints on the pressure–temperature–time–deformation history recorded in these brilliant rocks! This trip requires ~4-5 miles of walking through Northern Manhattan.

Considerations: The trip will be in NYC. The trip will be a walking trip covering 3-4 miles following paths and roads though northern Manhattan. We will have a few spots that requiring climbing on outcrops, but no major hiking or off-trail hiking will be required. There are restroom stops throughout the trip at public parks. Participants should bring lunch. We will stop in parks to eat. And, while there are stores nearby in case of emergencies, because of time constraints we will not have time for everyone to go and buy food during the trip.

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Leader(s): Paul Olsen, Nicholas McDonald, Sean Kinney

Description: Four stops will illustrate the sedimentological and environmental context of these Eastern North American Great Lake Lagerstätten, with particular emphasis on sedimentary facies and the extraordinary preservation of fish within microlaminated sediments. We will examine lateral changes (or their absence), debate the mode of preservation and the size of the lakes in which these deposits accumulated, and contrast the paradigmatic “deep-water, stratified lake model” with the predictions of Walther’s Law. The first stop and meeting place will be at Dinosaur State Park, where we will have lunch and examine the famous in situ dinosaur footprints, Triassic and Early Jurassic fishes, and cores and slabbed sediments that reveal their orbitally paced sedimentary cycle context, which we will compare with modern lake deposits bearing preserved fish. Three additional field stops will follow, illustrating the sedimentological and environmental context of fish preservation within orbitally paced cycles and microlaminated sediments. Two of these field stops expose the Pompton Ashes, which constrain both stratigraphic position and chronology. Collectively, the stops highlight ecologically dynamic rift-lake systems in which diverse fish faunas formed species flocks reminiscent of those inhabiting modern East African lakes. This underscores both the evolutionary richness and the sedimentological importance of these early Mesozoic lake environments, as well as their broader significance in comparison to other Konservat Lagerstätten, most notably the famous feathered-dinosaur deposits of China.

Considerations: Easy to moderate walking/hiking along grassy areas, trails, and a gently sloping stream bed. Lunch with pre-ordered box lunches at the first stop (Dinosaur State Park) which has restroom facilities. Bottled water will be supplied. Including the first at Dinosaur State Park, there will be 4 stops with the longest drive between stops being 24 min. Transportation will be by personally-owned-vehicles, individually guided by pre-supplied (via QR Code) GPS coordinates on participants' smart phones. smartphone. Vehicles will not be in caravans.

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