On the 16th of August 23 students took part a one day fieldtrip in the first of three field trips to local beaches and headland outcrops as part of the Earths Sedimentary Rocks and Environments course.
We spent the day at Redhead and Dudley beaches with perfect weather. The students received brief lectures in the field describing the depositional environments and were asked to make observations of the outcrop.
Students sketched stratigraphic logs to determine the larger scale layering seen in the outcrops, and looked at grain sizes and other sedimentary structures to determine flow rates. The outcrops provided a good insight into the complex structures, including cross bedding and imbrication, to determine the depositional environments in which these sedimentary rocks formed as well as the paleocurrent direction.
The next field trip will take place on the 23rd of August to Susan Gilmore Beach and allows the students to reflect on what they learnt in preparation for the next field trip.
