CONCENTRATED FIELD STUDY OF MIDDLE EASTERN GEOLOGY FOR THE INTERDISCIPLINARY LIBERAL ARTS

In the pursuit to understand our planet, geologists should be considered as the most holistic of scientists. This purview requires not only a broad education in math and basic sciences but also ought to concern vital associations with social sciences and humanities. Wheaton College's Geology and Environmental Science Department has designed a unique Spring Break field course for liberal arts undergraduates. Over one week, interrelations of human history, religion, and other cultural traits are demonstrated within the context of Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian geology. 1500 kms are traversed from north to south across the region in order to visit outstanding examples of natural and human development. The geological itinerary includes coastal morphology of the Levant, an ophiolite, transcurrent faulting (Yammouneh), pull-apart grabens (Ghab Basin in Syria and Dead Sea), flood basalts, the only preserved wetland in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon (Aamiq), folded Mesozoic-Cenozoic sediments, The Gulf of Aqaba, Petra, and Proterozoic basement of the Nubian-Arabian Shield. Study problems include comparison of fossil reefs on emerged beach terraces with adjacent living examples and interpretation of structural features of a complex transpressional regime. Imposed on the geologic features are a 6000-year wealth of archeological remains. Topographic features have dictated placement of towns and fortresses (Krak de Chevalier Crusader castle). Earthquakes have been recorded by damage to archeological sites (Baalbek in Lebanon). Local resources were used as distinctive building materials (basalt at Bosra and sandstone at Petra). Modern development also indicates the continual conformity of lifestyles to geology.