COSTA RICA AS IDEAL GEOLOGY FIELD TRIP

Field trips to a foreign country at first appeared overwhelmingly difficult to put together at Castleton State College, which is fairly typical of small, rural, public colleges. Many students are first-generation college students, and few have any experience with foreign travel; indeed, some have never left Vermont. There is also the problem of financing the trip on our typical shoestring budgets. However, we have successfully gone to Costa Rica five times over the past decade, and students invariably describe the trip as a once-in-a-lifetime educational and cultural experience.

Costa Rica is an excellent field-trip destination. It is relatively inexpensive, welcoming to tourists, and offers a diverse and easily accessible array of geological phenomena. It is small enough that many sites of geologic interest can be visited in a short time, the roads are good, and the ability to speak Spanish, while helpful, it not at all a necessity. Navigation by rental vehicle is mostly straightforward, the water is potable, and accommodations are generally easy to find and accepting of students washing their rocks along with their underwear in the bathroom sink. It is easy to develop meaningful learning experiences for all levels of students, from those with no geologic background to senior-level geology majors.

A typical two-week trip visits four volcanoes (Poas, Irazu, Arenal and Rincon de la Vieja) to observe and study the manifestations of subduction-related volcanism such as volcanic products and hazards. There are fumaroles and bubbling mud pots to test, acid lakes and the effect of natural acid rain to observe, nascent soil to analyze, and tumbling red-hot blocks to watch from the comfort (and safety) of one’s hotel balcony. We visit the cloud forest to learn about the effects of deforestation, climate change, and land stewardship policies. The Pacific coast allows comparison of sandy and rocky beaches, and has excellent exposures of young ophiolites. The plate tectonic setting of Costa Rica, while complicated, can be adequately simplified for beginning students, or presented fully to challenge geology majors. There are many resources for developing a collection of readings and activities, from the traditional geology literature to Internet sites of up-to-the-minute volcano and earthquake activity.