VOLCANOES IN YOUR BACKYARD: FEW'S FORD AT THE ENO RIVER STATE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA

Fieldtrips are a vital component of any geology course. Unfortunately, the cost of long-distance travel and lack of readily accessible outcrops often represent insurmountable obstacles to educators, especially for those working in densely populated urban areas. This challenge is further exacerbated by the lack of readily available resources written for a non-scientific audience that reveal locations and describe the exposed geology.

The densely populated Triangle region (Chapel Hill-Durham-Chapel Hill) of North Carolina has long challenged educators due to a lack of obvious outcrop and available educational literature. Geological mapping efforts of the past ten years have provided new and detailed insights into the complex geology of this region. New outcrops have been discovered and traditionally known exposures placed into the latest geological framework. One such example are the rocks exposed along the Eno River in Northern Durham. This sequence of Precambrian rocks reveals the violent volcanic history that existed here more than 500 million years ago. These outcrops were recently introduced to the public through the North Carolina Geological Survey’s hiker’s guide “A Geological Adventure along the Eno River”.

An expansion of this guide is now available in the form of an educator’s supplement and fieldtrip exercise designed for high school and/or introductory college-level earth science courses. The supplement focuses on the volcaniclastic and igneous rocks exposed near the historical Few’s Ford site. The supplement includes detailed information on locations, photographs, and instructions on how to run a hands-on fieldtrip to the sites described inside the above guide. A complete question and observation packet for students is included. The supplement takes a “story-telling” approach by which students act as “first-time” geological explorers who seek to reconstruct the local geological history. The supplement covers 5 major outcrops of volcanic rock (volcanic mudflows, ash tuff, lithic tuffs, volcanic dikes, and granodiorite magma-chamber conduits). In addition, two near-by stops in the Duke Forest highlight a lava dome and ignimbrites created by pyroclastic flows. Stressed are field-based observations of grain size, texture, and mineralogy.