SNR/CSD Geologists Lead Field Trips

SNR geologist Matt Joeckel shows the STATEMAP advisory group Pleistocene outwash sands at the Gana Pit near Hallam.

On June 3rd, Matt Joeckel, Paul Hanson, and Mark Kuzila took members of the STATEMAP cooperative geologic mapping program advisory committee and NRCS soil scientists and field mappers on a field trip to visit geologic mapping areas south of Lincoln. Participants examined Pleistocene (“Ice Age”) sediments (loess and glacial outwash) and soils at the Gana Pit near Hallam. Thanks are extended to Mr. Craig Gana, owner of the pit and of Gana Trucking and Excavating, for allowing continued investigations at the site. At present, CSD personnel have completed a total of 103 1:24,000 scale surficial geologic maps as part of the STATEMAP program. Many of these maps are available at the STATEMAP site.

On June 13th, Matt Joeckel led a field trip for participants in the Nebraska Well Drillers Association (NWDA) summer picnic at Cairo, Nebraska. The trip examined upper Ogallala Group sediments, which constitute a major part of the High Plains Aquifer, in the Rockville and Scotia areas, concentrating on ancient stream and lake deposits at the Scotia Chalk Mine. The Conservation and Survey Division has had a close working relationship with NWDA for several decades.