Patagonia 2018-2019

My undergraduate thesis project endeavors to interpret the depositional environment(s) and sediment source(s) of the Las Plumas/Cerro Castaño members of the Cretaceous Chubut Group in northern Patagonia. After accepting an invitation by Kristina Butler, a geology PhD student, to be a field assistant, I expressed interest in conducting undergraduate research alongside her.

I prepared for a month-long remote field season in January 2019 by synthesizing literature on the Chubut Group, translating map reports, and locating outcrops/stratigraphic sections of interest. My field research was completely self-funded through grants and scholarships that I received in 2018. In the field I gathered the following data: correlated measured sections of decimeter-scale, conglomerate clast counts, paleocurrent measurements, samples for sandstone petrography, and drone-supported interpreted panoramas. Additionally, efforts were made to refine the local chronostratigraphy through U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology and detailed unit descriptions.

After acquiring my preliminary results, I prepared a poster presentation on my findings from this field work for the 2019 Annual GSA Conference in Phoenix, Arizona in September. Additionally, I planned a second field season to Patagonia in 2019-20 to finish my study, gather data for a new project, and assist my mentor.