Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University
of Alaska, Fairbanks took a four week course where they learned about
Alaska’s geology and archaeology with a noted geologist and
archaeologist. Topics covered included:
Geology and Mining – The geologic story of
ocean origins, plate tectonics, and volcanism that built the interior
of Alaska, as well as the successes and disappointments of mining
in Denali National Park.
Glaciers, Permafrost & Earthquakes – The
ice age in interior Alaska from maximum ice coverage to the present
global warming conditions, the role of glaciers in the shaping of
the surface in Denali, permafrost, seismic activity in Denali Park,
and the effects of the 2002 Alaskan earthquake.
Denali Dinosaurs and Paleontology – The story
of life in Denali National Park from the 400 million year-old marine
invertebrates to the age of dinosaurs and beyond, new discoveries
of dinosaur evidence, and identification of dinosaur and other trace
fossil evidence.
Prehistory of the Colville River – The paleontological,
archaeological and anthropological history of the Colville River ecosystem
from the age of dinosaurs through the early human habitation of Alaska.