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Post-Lerderderg Gorge Excursion Report

Martin Nguyen
Jan 16, 2016
2 min read

The first GeoSource Inc. trip of 2016 has just been completed and what a bloody beauty it was. The brave souls who ventured deep into the gorge this time 'round were:

Darcy: a keen 2nd-year-to-be with equally keen eyes
Kirsty: exciting childhood story bearer and morale booster
Cassia: extraordinary artist with a penchant for attracting wet dogs
Billy: the uber intelligent and mega-fit rock hopper

On the trip, brief introductory lessons were given in taking basic structural measurements such as strike/dip and plunge -> punge azimuth readings. Throughout the trip, I got to see these skills get developed to an awesome degree of relative accuracy and speed to kudos to the group for being such amazing geologists-in-training. Mapping was also briefly practiced but with the abundant activities and sights to see, I think we'll have to come back to do the mapping project properly.

Permian glacial diamictites were spotted and glacial striations were also found trending roughly 015 which allowed for a rough idea of glacial transport direction during Victoria's cold, cold Permian period.

Concepts of rock rheology were also discussed with regards to incompetent (damn shales and mudstones!) and competent lithologies and how they behaved under compressive regimes. In particular, the manner in which the different rock behave within a fold hinge collapse scenario.

Stop 2 was unfortunately destroyed along with the high walking track by a landslide and so strat. logs couldn't be practiced buh buh :(

Much emphasis was put into understanding cleavage/vergence relationships with meso- to macroscopic folds and their decriptors which saw the team learning about how deformation evolved from the southern side of the gorge to the northern side.

Hopefully everyone learned something new, appreciated some super dooper cool rocks and enjoyed the relaxing by-the-"river" walk. Here's to the next GeoSource Inc. trip! Martin over and out :D