INTERDISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION OF CRATER-RELATED DEPOSITS IN THE UPPER MIDWEST USING GigaPan TECHNOLOGIES

The Earth is a complicated place. Geoscience questions cannot typically be answered by investigating one variable while others are kept constant. Because of this, geoscientists often work in interdisciplinary groups. In the past two decades, this process has been facilitated by new technologies that make it easier to gain additional perspectives from those not able to participate in the field. It is important for students to recognize the interdisciplinary nature of the geosciences, experience these new technologies, and incorporate both into their research experiences so they can be prepared for the reality of solving problems in their future careers.

As faculty at four-year undergraduate institutions in the upper Midwest, we recently formed an interdisciplinary research group to investigate geologic problems in our region. One of our main goals is to integrate undergraduate students into all stages of research, stressing the importance of geoscience education in both informal (communicating to colleagues and the general public) and formal (creating lesson plans, outreach activities, and online resources) ways. It is important for all geoscientists to recognize that they are both scientist and teacher, even if they never spend a day inside an “actual” classroom.

Initially, we are focusing on two regions in the upper Midwest: (1) the Sudbury crater ejecta deposits recently discovered in the Boundary Waters region of northern Minnesota, and (2) the Rock Elm crater and its associated crater-fill deposits in west-central Wisconsin. In both regions we hope to broadly characterize the depositional conditions that led to what we see today. The primary goal of the initial fieldwork is to capture high-resolution images of important outcrops with GigaPan technology. Students and other colleagues can access these images online and explore sites before visiting them. While these technologies cannot replace actual time in the field, they make information more portable and allow many more people to add to the conversation. Research students will use these images to become familiar with the regions and specific outcrops, do some initial mapping, plan for future field work, and begin creating online resources for other scientists, students, and educators that feature these two unique geologic settings.