Students to share findings with Congress
By Michael Biskup
Issue date: 3/7/03 Section: News
Three Slippery Rock University students will meet with members of the U.S. Congress after making new discoveries in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.
Bradley Erney of Dover, Michael Jahn of Butler and Erin Heffron of Minersville were members of a team of seven students and two professors including Dr. Patrick Burkhart and Dr. Jack Livingston, who went on a research trip last May to study climate change and examine the origins of the landscape.
According to Erney, the group drove for three days to reach their destination and the trip lasted two and a half weeks. He said they spent nights in tents, went days without showering and had to deal with winds sometimes over 60 mph. The group moved from place to place and their main focus of study was within a one mile radius.
The main objective, Erney said, was to study distinctive old buried soils, known as paleosols, which could be dated and used to correlate sod tables at different locations. Nine sod tables were studied and three radiocarbon dates are being interpreted and may assist in placing the study in the context of climate change on the high plains, he said.
"We were looking at the relationships between sod tables, which are like miniature plateaus that rise four to eight feet off the ground and have grass on the top of them," Heffron said. "Before we went, we talked about these tables and everything in my mind remained pretty abstract. But when we actually got there and saw the tables and actually started doing fieldwork, things started to come together."
Jahn said that during the day much of the research involved a lot of digging, extracting soil samples and carrying the material back to the van to be brought back to SRU.
He said the group was allowed freedom to visit other sites and landmarks on their own time and that many animals that you wouldn't normally see everyday were encountered, including buffalo and coyotes. Jahn said the group visited Mount Rushmore, The Black Hills, Devil's Tower, Buffalo National Grass Lands, Hot Springs, and some museums.
Bradley Erney of Dover, Michael Jahn of Butler and Erin Heffron of Minersville were members of a team of seven students and two professors including Dr. Patrick Burkhart and Dr. Jack Livingston, who went on a research trip last May to study climate change and examine the origins of the landscape.
According to Erney, the group drove for three days to reach their destination and the trip lasted two and a half weeks. He said they spent nights in tents, went days without showering and had to deal with winds sometimes over 60 mph. The group moved from place to place and their main focus of study was within a one mile radius.
The main objective, Erney said, was to study distinctive old buried soils, known as paleosols, which could be dated and used to correlate sod tables at different locations. Nine sod tables were studied and three radiocarbon dates are being interpreted and may assist in placing the study in the context of climate change on the high plains, he said.
"We were looking at the relationships between sod tables, which are like miniature plateaus that rise four to eight feet off the ground and have grass on the top of them," Heffron said. "Before we went, we talked about these tables and everything in my mind remained pretty abstract. But when we actually got there and saw the tables and actually started doing fieldwork, things started to come together."
Jahn said that during the day much of the research involved a lot of digging, extracting soil samples and carrying the material back to the van to be brought back to SRU.
He said the group was allowed freedom to visit other sites and landmarks on their own time and that many animals that you wouldn't normally see everyday were encountered, including buffalo and coyotes. Jahn said the group visited Mount Rushmore, The Black Hills, Devil's Tower, Buffalo National Grass Lands, Hot Springs, and some museums.
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