USING BACKYARD RESOURCES TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC IN GEOLOGY IN ADAMS, LANCASTER AND YORK COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA

Earth science education is ideally conducted in the field, where students can actually lay their hands on exposures. Depending upon one's location, various resources are available for these "in-the-field" experiences. In Adams, Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania, a complex array of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks ranging in age from Proterozoic to Jurassic are exposed. Through examination of these diverse formations, a wide range of geologic concepts pertaining to plate tectonics, geologic history, structure, petrology and mineral resources may be illustrated.

The senior author (JLJ) works with the Harrisburg Area Community College - Gettysburg Campus Continuing Education Program, the York County Parks, and Eastern York Regional Recreation Commission in conducting field trips for an adult population which typically lacks formal geology education and field experience. Participants examine exposures and hypothesize about rock type, origin, and distinguishing features using information in their guide books before hearing and/or reading the prevailing geologic interpretation. Resources within Adams and York Counties include the Proterozoic-aged Catoctin volcanics (including prehistoric quarry sites), Triassic dinosaur and reptilian sites, Jurassic diabase intrusions into Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks, iron mine and furnace sites, and active quarries. Several operating quarries have been very cooperative in allowing us to examine both the rock formations and the products. In addition, the town of Delta and its York County environs offers a wonderful historical perspective surrounding the quarrying of world-famous Peach Bottom Slate.

The junior author (MAS) conducts geology-oriented trips in the Lancaster County area through the Lancaster County Environmental Center and as an Adjunct Instructor in Earth Sciences at Millersville University. With its eight county parks, Lancaster County hosts a variety of lithologies. Resources include a superlative exposure of an anticline, a water gap, the type locality for the Proterozoic-aged Chickies Formation and an associated trace fossil, Scolithus linearis, ruins of 19th century iron furnaces and quarries, Triassic sedimentary rocks, Jurassic dikes, and active limestone quarries.