| Trip logistics -- Littleton Moraine geological-calibration site -- Nov. 2007 |
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For information about this page, contact Greg Balco |
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1. Background The Littleton Moraine is a prominent bouldery moraine in northern New Hampshire. The moraine is correlated with a till sheet. The till sheet is stratigraphically bracketed by varved lake sediments. The varved sediments are matched to the NE varve chronology, which is linked to the calendar year time scale by radiocarbon dates on individual varves. Thus, we know that the moraine was deposited 13600 +/- about 300 yr ago. Woody Thompson has written a number of excellent descriptions of the history of work on the Littleton Moraine complex, as well as the results of his more recent mapping in the area. This work is summarized in the following papers: Historical summary: Thompson, W. B., 1999. History of Research on Glaciation in the White Mountains, New Hampshire (U.S.A.) Geographie physique et Quaternaire, 1999, vol. 53, no. 1, p. 7-24. Full description of the Littleton moraine complex: Woodrow B. Thompson, Brian K. Fowler, Christopher C. Dorion, 1999. Deglaciation of the Northwestern White Mountains, New Hampshire. Geographie physique et Quaternaire, 1999, vol. 53, no. 1, p. 59-77 The Ridge et al. paper above gives some description of the radiocarbon dating of the varve chronology, but it has been superseded by some newer results. Jack Ridge has written some more recent papers on this subject, but I don't have PDFs easily to hand. They are summarized in a recent paper by myself and Joerg which is here.. There are likely to be more developments in this area soon -- Jack has been drilling in central VT and NH in an effort to link the two halves of the varve chronology together, and has now collected a lot more radiocarbon dates, at least from the lower chronology. So the varve year-calendar year link will improve significantly in the next year or so. |
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2. Existing calibration measurements:
There have been a few calibration measurements already made from this and related sites. The results, as well as a lot of information about the age control on the moraine complex, are summarized here: |
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3. Trip logistics: Goal. The goal of the trip will be to collect several large samples from the Beech Hill boulder field. This boulder field consists of a large number of bouldery moraines separated by meltwater channels. There are plenty of boulders to choose from. The boulders are granite and appear to be derived from local lithologies. Following the other CRONUS calibration exercises, we would like to sample 6-10 boulders, and we need to collect several kg from each boulder, that is, enough to supply 3-4 labs with enough material to make at least 2 measurements of each relevant nuclide in each boulder. Pictures of the Beech Hill boulder field: here and here . You will notice that unlike, for example, the Scotland calibration site, the boulders are lurking in fairly dense underbrush. Bring appropriate clothing. Schedule.
We will meet in Littleton on Saturday morning. Littleton is here. We are meeting at the Eastgate Motor Inn, which is on Route 302 headed east out of town, at 9 AM. For those of you interested in breakfast in Littleton, I will be trying to have breakfast at the Coffee Pot on Main St. in Littleton around 8. We will attempt to view some outcrops of the source lithology on the drive over to the boulder field. We will then presumably have an intense discussion about which boulders are most ideal before commencing to sample. We will sample until we get tired of it or it gets dark. Saturday night, we will stay in Littleton. Sunday, we'll pick up where we left off. If we get done at Beech Hill early, we may try some other sites. On Monday, Balco and Henck will deal with shipping the rock samples to UW. Lodging. Saturday night. I envision that we will all stay in Littleton on Saturday night to facilitate discussion and networking. Unfortunately the Moose Brook State Park campground appears to be closed for the winter, so Woody has suggested a couple of hotels in Littleton: the Eastgate Motor Inn and Thayer's. Thayer's is a cool old historic hotel in the middle of town; the Eastgate Motor Inn is a bit more modern but is out of town a bit. Thom Davis reports that the radiators in the rooms at Thayer's are quite noisy. Woody reports a good breakfast at the Eastgate. I have not checked availability at these hotels, but I am guessing things will be pretty quiet in mid-November. Regardless, I suggest you call ahead and reserve rooms. I am not planning on making a bulk reservation. Other nights. You're on your own. Amanda Henck and I will very likely be staying at the Old Hutmen's Cabin in Jackson (a few towns east of Littleton) on Friday and Sunday nights. This provides rustic accommodations at $15/night, as long as you are with an Old Hutperson. Amanda will serve as our Old Hutperson. Bring own sleeping bag. No indoor plumbing. Directions to the OH cabin: Follow Rt. 302 east through Bethlehem and Twin Mountain, and down through Crawford Notch and Bartlett to Glen, where you turn left (north) on Rt. 16, which you then follow through Jackson, then in about 3 miles look for a bend to the right where just beyond are narrow parking areas on both sides of the road (cabin just in from Rt. 16 here belongs to Harvard Univ.). There is a pole on the left side of the road (if you are heading north) which has a bright yellow stripe painted around the middle of it.There is a dirt road on the right just down the road on the bend that allows one to drive up hill about 0.2 mile towards the OH Cabin, which is a short steep walk south above a parking spot on the north side of the dirt road (assuming that the road is not snowed in). There are pullouts on both sides of the road near the painted pole, so if the dirt road is snowed in, park there. How to contact Greg. My cell phone is (206) 795-6235. Funding and reimbursements. The overall plan is that CRONUS can fund travel and lodging costs for a) people who are actually associated with the CRONUS project, that is, PIs, cooperating investigators, and postdocs, which appears in this case to be Gosse, Bierman, and Balco, b) any graduate students that are participating (I'm not aware of any undergrads), and c) Woody Thompson as the recognized local expert and guide. Those of you who fit into neither of these categories, I can try to make the case that paying for your hotel room is an important outreach activity, but I'm afraid you may wind up on your own. However, you all live locally so the cost should be fairly manageable. It's not like we're staying at the Coeur d'Alene Golf and Spa Resort or something. I encourage you to room with a CRONUS person who will be getting reimbursed. I can't afford to front all of the expenses for this trip, so reimbursements will be handled indvidually through New Mexico Tech. After the trip, you should contact Lisa Majkowski, lisamt@nmt.edu. Lisa will ask you to fill out this form: and give you the following instructions: Non-Employee Travel Reimbursement Please complete the following sections: 1) Payee Information (date, name, home address and phone number). Please provide a home address. 2) Traveler Statement (name, social security number, country, signature and date). If you are not a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident, please include a copy of your passport and visa. 3) Mileage and Per Diem (departure/return date, departure/return time). This information will be used to calculate your meal per diem ($30/ full 24 hour period, prorated for final partial day). Attach: 1) Airfare receipt 2) Lodging receipts 3) Rental car receipts 4) Rental car fuel receipts Make a copy of the form and the receipts for your records. Please send the originals to: Lisa Majkowski E&ES Department New Mexico Tech 801 Leroy Place Socorro, NM 87801 What to bring, and who is bringing what: Sampling apparatus. I am flying in, so can't really bring anything large-scale. I will have small things like GPS, compass, notebook, tape measures, etc. Hopefully Amanda Henck can grab some cloth sample bags from the UW supply stash before getting on the plane. The folks from Lamont are bringing up a hammer drill and the Kelly apparatus for rock blasting. I encourage those of you who are driving to bring things like sledge hammers and chisels. I encourage everyone to bring their cameras. Personal gear. As it's November, I expect that the weather will be miserable. Furthermore, the site is in a revegetating clearcut. Thus, you should bring clothes that are suitable for brush-bashing in wet weather. Orange clothing. It's hunting season in NH. Don't look like a deer. |
