Geosciences Professor Winnie Kortemeier didnt let the celebration of Earth Day go by without giving others the opportunity to appreciate the Earth.
Kortemeier led a group mostly consisting of Western Nevada College employees on an Earth Day walk presented by the colleges Healthy Campus and Environment Committee on April 22.
Kortemeier took the 18 participants along the old Virginia and Truckee Railroad grade north of Combs Canyon Road near the campus.
Despite really windy conditions, Kortemeier handed out lenses so the group could examine rocks under magnification.
We talked about the Basin and Range province, and our place in it, Kortemeier said. We looked at and discussed the oldest rocks in this area, the greenish-grey Triassic (250-200 million-year-old) metamorphic rocks along the railroad grade and the Cretaceous (66-145 million-year-old) granites that intruded them at depth.
They even collected epidote and garnets from the metamorphic rocks.
A good time was had by all! Kortemeier said.