Field Trips
Geology of the Keweenaw Peninsula
The Keweenaw lies on the margin of the 1.1 billion year old North American Midcontinent rift system. The rift-filling bedrock consists of basalt lava flows and intraflow conglomerates overlain by a succession of clastic sedimentary rocks. Regional compression produced faults which facilitated upward movement of hydrothermal fluids leading to formation of native copper deposits. The bedrock is overlain by unconsolidated sediments deposited during the past 2 million years as part of Pleistocene continental glaciation of North America. The tour will be led by a member of MTU’s Geological Engineering and Sciences Department with expertise in regional geology.
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