Baja Basins Research

Field and Applied Research on the Gulf of California Rift Margin Basins, Baja California Sur

Sedimentology The Baja Basins IRES seeks to provide students with a unique U.S.-Mexican collaborative research opportunity that combines digital field mapping techniques with state-of-the-art laboratory analytical work on the tectonic evolution of the Santa Rosalía basin area in the Gulf of California rift. Few places in the world expose volcanic and marine sedimentary sequences and large uplifted Quaternary terraces that can be used to understand the processes involved in the progressive stages of continental breakup. Because of the rapid tectonic motion in the Gulf of California rift, the Santa Rosalía basin is a site where the stratigraphic history and processes of deformation can be studied in detail with exceptional exposures and accessible outcrops.

We invite applications for a 7-week program divided into a January field trip to México and a July laboratory session held at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). During part one, students will do three weeks of fieldwork studying rocks, sediments, and hydrgeology in basins of the Santa Rosalía area mentored by faculty from UMKC, UC-Davis, University of Oregon, Indiana Geological Survey and Mexican collaborators from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur and Universidad de Guanajuato and hosted by the Minera Boleo copper mining company. Fieldwork will be conducted during winter break (intersession) to take advantage of cooler weather and allow time for commercial lab analyses and lab materials to be prepared for the summer component. During part two of the Baja Basins IRES, students will spend four weeks at UMKC compiling and drafting field data, collecting and analyzing lab data, and during the final week, preparing and presenting an abstract and poster.

Minerology Recruiting:

Junior geology majors with a minimum coursework in mineralogy, sedimentology, and field methods. Preference will be given to students from colleges and universities where research possibilities are limited. Spanish speaking students, veterans, women, and students from under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Students must be enrolled as an undergraduate in Spring and Summer Semester 2019 to be eligible.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 1, 2018.

Participant award includes:
• Travel to Baja México including room and board at the Minera Boleo Mine;
(January 3 – 24, 2019).
• Travel allowance and housing at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for the
summer session during July 8 – August 2, 2019
• Stipend (for July session at UMKC)

Inquiries:

Inquires:
Dr. Tina Niemi  and Dr. Cathy Busby
Email: niemit@umkc.edu

Email: cjbusby@ucdavis.edu

Apply online

Baja Basins Sponsers