Category: Local Field Trips

Descriptions of field trips we’ve run. May or may not have a Field Guide associated with it.

2025-12-06 David B. Williams – Exploring History and Nature in the City and beyond…

QMPGEOeditor1

 

The Lecture – Exploring History and Nature in the City (Seattle)

Quimper Geological Society welcomed back our friend David B. Williams, author, naturalist, and tour guide on December 6, 2025.

David B. Williams speaks about his two new books: Seattle Walks and Wild in Seattle. In his talk, David discusses how urban dwellers can get to know their city better by getting outside, walking, observing, and paying attention. He shares some of his adventures including birding at 60 mph, the pleasures and discoveries to be made by going back to the same location repeatedly, and how to date a 1100-year-old earthquake. This talk will appeal to newcomers, visitors, and longtime residents hopefully giving everyone new ways to appreciate Seattle, as well as inspire them with ways to connect with their hometown.

David will have some books available to purchase before and after the lecture.

About the speaker

David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, and tour guide whose award-winning book, Homewaters:  A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound is a deep exploration of the stories of this beautiful waterway. He is also the author of Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography, Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology, as well as Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City. Williams is a Curatorial Associate at the Burke Museum and writes a free weekly newsletter, the Street Smart Naturalist (https://streetsmartnaturalist.substack.com/ – by clicking the “No thanks” you may access the previous newsletters). More information about David’s books may be found at www.geologywriter.com

2025-07-25 and 26 – QGS North Olympic Peninsula Field Trip

QMPGEOeditor1

Eocene Bedrock Geology of the Northern Olympic Peninsula:  Arrival of the Siletzia Oceanic Terrane, Washington

 

WHEN:  July 25-26, 2025 (Friday and Saturday)

Quimper Geological Society (QGS) had an exciting two-day field trip on Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26, 2025, to the North Olympic Peninsula, led by led by Professor Erin Donaghy (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, sedimentologist and field geologist) with Carol Serdar Tepper (retired geologist, Washington Department of Ecology) and Jeff Tepper (Professor emeritus, University of Puget Sound) as co-leaders.

We looked at rocks related to docking of the Siletzia oceanic terrane, including volcanic and sedimentary units that formed while Siletzia was still offshore as well as, stratigraphic sequences that record both the pre-docking (Crescent and Aldwell Formations) and post-docking (Lyre, Hoko, and Makah Formations) history. At each stop we examined the rocks and discuss the field and lab techniques that were used to infer their paleo-environments and tectonic implications. The trip included some strenuous hiking/walking and several hours of driving each day, in places on paved but winding roads.

Logistical details for the trip are as follows:

  • The trip will begin both days at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles, Washington, and will return there at the end of day one. More specifics will be provided once registration is finalized. Both days (Friday and Saturday) will begin at 8:30 AM (please DO NOT be late), end times may vary.
  • The group will be limited to 20 QGS members. (There will be additional geologists along to assist.) Spaces filled on a first-come, first reserved basis.
  • Participants should make their own arrangements for lodging in or near Port Angeles on Friday night (depending on your starting point on Friday (Day 1), you may also want to book both Thursday and Friday nights). Hotel availability can be tight during the summer, so booking early is recommended.
  • Participants should be in good physical health and comfortable walking several miles each day with some hikes being at ~6000 feet elevation.
  • Due to limited parking at some stops, carpooling is a must. We will coordinate this in advance as part of the registration process. Please offer your host driver money for gas and National Park fee (if applicable). If you are unable to carpool, please do not apply for registration.
  • Summer road construction along Highway 101 will increase your travel time, sometimes unexpectedly. Plan ahead.
  • The cost of the trip is $90, which includes box lunches both days and copy of the field guide.

TO BECOME REGISTERED:  1. Print the registration form; 2. Print all information completely; 3. Write a check (sorry, we are a small group) to:  JEFFERSON LAND TRUST; 4. Send registration form and check to the P.O. Box on the form.

About the leaders

Erin Donaghy, geology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a sedimentologist who studies the evolution of sedimentary basins that form along active convergent margins. Her field work focuses on the west coast of North America, in particular the exotic terranes in western Alaska and the north Olympic Peninsula, Washington.

 

 

Carol Serdar Tepper, a licensed geologist, has spent her entire life on the Puget Sound playing with rocks. She began her career as a science teacher. She subsequently worked for Washington State mapping landslides and regulating surface mining, timber harvest impacts, and water-quality compliance. She is currently the leader and advisor for the Quimper Geologic Society.

 

 

Dr. Jeffrey TepperJeff Tepper, Professor emeritus at the University of Puget Sound, taught courses in mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry before retiring in 2021. His research focuses on the magmatic and tectonic history of the Pacific Northwest and on environmental chemistry of water and sediment of local lakes.

2024-06-21 Discovery Bay Tsunami Evidence Field Trip

QMPGEOeditor3

Examine Discovery Bay’s Past Tsunami Record Using Two Contrasting Evidential Methods

There are at least two salient features of Pacific Northwest history:  an extremely active geologic past, coupled with a region inhabited by indigenous peoples since “time immemorial”.

These two features share common ground at Discovery Bay on the Quimper Peninsula of Washington State. Many tsunamis have occurred at this bay over at least the past 3000 years, during which time the area was concurrently inhabited by indigenous peoples.

This field trip examines the geologic and anthropological evidence of the occurrence of multiple tsunamis in Discovery Bay. Our field trip leaders, Dr. Carrie Garrison-Leavy (geologist) and Dr. Alexandra Peck (anthropologist), are active researchers in their respective fields, which are specific to this topic. They lead us through an examination of the possible link between tidal marsh tsunami sedimentation and indigenous oral histories as contrasting evidential methods of recording tsunami history.

About the Speakers

Dr. Carrie Garrison-Laney is a Coastal Hazards Specialist at Washington Sea Grant and a liaison to the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research. A focus of Carrie’s research has been the age and distribution of paleo-tsunami deposits with lessons learned from historical events. She earned her PhD from the University of Washington.

Dr. Alexandra Peck is professor and Audain Chair in Historical Indigenous Art at the University of British Columbia. Trained in archaeology, her research explores pre-colonial Native life, cultural change, and social interactions on the Olympic Peninsula. With extensive academic publications, she is also co-editor of Archaeology in Washington.

Carrie suggests for the wetland portion of the trip:

Wetland participants must come equipped with at least knee-high boots since the tsunami sediments are exposed in a tidal marsh. This will be messy but fun!!!!