At ATU, we like to give our students a good exposure to geology where it starts: in the field. For this reason, nearly every course has at least one associated field trip, and some courses have many more. Our location in "the Natural State" provides a rich opportunity to see many geologic features that many students must visit only through photos and written description. In addition, we take other trips during semester breaks to be able to reach features not present in Arkansas.

 

Regional geology:

Arkansas Geological Survey (geology.ar.gov) - General Geology of Arkansas

Arkansas River Valley, where the campus is located:

-Arkoma foreland basin (gas-rich)
-Bituminous through semi-anthracite coal deposits

Boston Mountains and Ozarks to the north:

-Paleozoic carbonate shelf rocks
-Marine invertebrate fossils from Ordovician through Pennsylvanian Age
-Zinc and lead sulfide deposits, world class dolomite crystals

Ouachita Mountains to the south:

-Fold and thrust belt structures
-The world class Magnet Cove alkaline igneous intrusive complex
-Paleozoic deep-water facies sedimentary rocks
-Quartz crystal capital of the US, and other collectibles

 In the nearby Coastal Plain and Mississippi embayment to the south and east:

-Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Pleistocene unconsolidated sediments
-Cretaceous Prairie Creek diamond pipe (Crater of Diamonds State Park)
-Dinosaur footprints and skeletal fossils