UNDERSTANDING THE EARTH SYSTEM THROUGH FIELD AND DIGITAL MAPPING TECHNIQUES IN THE MISSISSIPPIAN AND PENNSYLVANIAN OF WESTERN KENTUCKY

At Western Kentucky University it is common for students to be involved in research projects closely aligned to faculty interest with students collecting and synthesizing their own data. A recently completed project investigating the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity and associated strata involved field mapping in both the outcrop and subsurface in an effort to reconstruct paleovalley and interfluve geomorphology as related to oil and gas and water resources in western Kentucky. Our work provided a unique learning opportunity via use of a GR scintillometer that augmented traditional stratigraphic section description and measuring, subsurface contouring, construction of cross sections and some GIS 3-D visualization diagrams. A great aid in providing data for synthesis was the interactive geologic mapping service from the Kentucky Geological Survey as well as their online oil and gas and water well records and logs. Mapping revealed heretofore unrecognized tributary valleys of trunk paleovalleys particularly in the Muhlenberg County area. Field work also revealed complexities in lithostratigraphy such presence or absence of quartz pebbles in basal Pennsylvanian sandstones. An exposure of field mapping in both the outcrop and subsurface through the introduction to field methods course, and independent research provides excellent preparation for geology field camps. Furthermore, such field training is resulting in exciting outcomes such as USGS-NAGT Summer Field Internships, and will provide student-faculty engagement in proposed EdMap projects as well as future work in the outcrop and subsurface surrounding Muhlenberg County. Independent field based research by undergraduates is being recognized with much interest by alumni in both the energy and environmental sectors who gladly are contributing to the expanding geology program via grants and student internships.