The proposed programs and activities will be primarily field studies focusing on the biodiversity and geology surrounding the San Andreas Fault and the Whitewater River. The field/scientific studies will also encompass the study of birds, mammals, fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians and vegetation within adjacent areas to the tectonic plates – North American & Pacific
Each field study will be conducted and led by experts within each scientific discipline.
Students will study:
- Fault vegetation, groundwater interactions, and above mentioned wildlife.
- Fractures and vein fillings in metamorphic rocks on the main fault to determine stresses during their formation.
- Minerals in hydrothermally altered rocks.
- Fault movement both horizontal and vertical within the transitional zone.
- Spectrum of rock types exposed, from sedimentary rocks to metamorphic and hydrothermally altered rocks.
- Stream processes and debris flows to determine a record of big storm events.
- Detailed mapping of sedimentary deposits on the eastern wall of the canyon to resolve the change in fault movement from horizontal to vertical displacement in White Water Canyon.
- Vegetation change on the canyon floor along with groundwater flow disruption and the juxtaposition of completely different rock types along a laterally traceable boundary coincident with the vegetation zone.