Summer 2009 GDEP Research Projects

GDEP 2009 will concentrate its research activities mostly in three field sites, Los Angeles County's Palos Verdes Peninsula, the eastern Sierra, and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). There are two distinct Palos Verdes investigations. The first of these, organized by Drs. Greg Holk and Tom Kelty, focusses on "Where's the Fault?" The team will first spend some time up in the San Gabriel Mountains to become familiar with how exposures of the San Gabriel Fault look. Then, the team will reconnoiter George F. Canyon in Palos Verdes, looking for similar indications of faulting there.

The second PV investigation is led by Drs. Chrys Rodrigue and Paul Laris. It will spend some time in the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna Mountains becoming familiar with California sage scrub and chaparral succession after disturbances (fire and grazing) and invasive species. It will then do field mapping of invasive and native species on Palos Verdes, using a new floristic key for the Peninsula, and areas of long-gone farm fields.

Dr. Lora Stevens will lead a team investigating the different factors controlling the dissolved chemicals and nutrients found in lakes and streams, focussing on bedrock geochemistry. The team will spend some time locally and then spend two weeks collecting comparison data along the east side of the Sierra Nevada.

Drs. Carl Lipo, Chris Lee, and Suzanne Wechsler will be leading a geoarchæological investigation on Rapa Nui.

To learn more about a specific project, click on its link above.