LGS Field Trip: Date: Saturday, May 3rd; 8 AM to 5 PM
GEOMORPHOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY OF THE LAFAYETTE AREA:
Leaders: Tim Duex and Gary Kinsland, School of Geosciences, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette: tduex@louisiana.edu; gkinsland@louisiana.edu;
The Lafayette area is a moderate size metropolitan area that is experiencing relatively rapid growth. As the region grows, it faces numerous issues that include: (1) active floodplains; (2) bidirectional flood flow in Bayou Vermilion; (3) drainage influenced by the topography of: (a) faults associated with a state-spanning fault system, (b) Pleistocene Mississippi River meanders, and (c) Pleistocene Red River distributary channels; (4) a perched water table within Quaternary loess; and (5) concerns about ground water supply and pollution in the Chicot Aquifer. Policy makers and geoscientists have become more aware of these interactions as municipalities and businesses have created more impervious surfaces with buildings, roadways, parking lots, “slab-constructed” houses, and “improved” concrete-lined coulees that also hasten drainage. This trip will look at a variety of features using aerial images, immersive 3-D, and field stops, and relate them to urban and suburban development and concomitant effects.
Field Trip Photos:
14 UL students and LGS members led by UL professors Gary Kinsland and Tim Duex toured the Lafayette area on a spectacular Saturday, viewing Holocene through Pleistocene geomorphologic features including fault scarps, headward stream erosion and capture and several Pleistocene/Holocene contacts.
