his class visits multiple field sites to explore key aspects of Vermont’s glacial geologic history. In particular, we will observe a variety of landforms and sediments in the Burlington and Richmond area, focusing on the different geologic processes that yielded these formations. We will then use this understanding to interpret the changing environments existing in the Champlain Valley during the last 25,000 years. We will visit features such as ancient lake bottoms, deltas, kames, terraces, glacial striations, and eskers to piece together the story of glaciation, Glacial Lake Vermont, and the Champlain Sea. This class serves as an overview of Champlain Valley surficial geology, as well as a practicum for learning how to interpret similar features anywhere in the world.

Course Objectives

• To learn how field observations of sediments and landforms are used to interpret the glacial geology of the region.
• To recognize the different types of sediments and landforms formed in glacial environments.
• To understand the processes taking place as those sediments and landforms are created.
• To interpret the changing environments existing in Vermont from peak glaciation to ice sheet retreat.

About the Instructor(s)

Stephen Wright is a former Senior Lecturer in the Geology Department at the University of Vermont and regular contributor to the Vermont Geological Survey. His current research utilizes extensive field work to further our understanding of the glacial history of northern Vermont. This work includes understanding the dynamics of ice flow and water flow within the big ice sheet that once covered Vermont and the histories of the many glacial lakes dammed by that ice sheet.

Recommended Readings

Books

• Bennet, M.R. and Glasser, N.F., First or Second Edition, “Glacial Geology: Ice Sheets and Landforms”

Articles and Field Trip Guides

(Don't be frightened away by the advanced content level. Just see if you can familiarize yourself with some of the big-picture concepts.)

• Wright, S.F., 2015, Late Wisconsin ice sheet flow across northern and central Vermont, USA; Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol 129: 216–228.
• Wright, S.F., Springston, G.E., and Van Hoesen, J.G., 2015, Ice retreat and readvance across the Green Mountain Foothills: Bolton and Jericho, Vermont; New York State Geological Association Guidebook Vol. 87: 327–352.