The discoveries were rampant on Day Eight – outcrops, fossils, modern history, and…a float trip!
Time to inspect and – you guessed it! – sketch.
Luke (left) and Hans climb up for a closer look.
This formation reveals much about the rock record…
…and is right across from this one. Sketchbooks got a workout on this visit. See Tiny Sara way over there on the left.
Rose and Audrey note the details of the outcrop.
The point of entry for Pigeon Creek tidal outlet. Here, the students were asked by Dr. Wronk to “BE the sediment” as they floated in snorkel gear out with the tide.
After bobbing serenely down this path, the students began to feel the rush the sediment feels – after army crawling through shallow water thalassia grass, the current carried them around into the delta. Amazing experience!
Next, a stop for some history appreciation. It is believed that “on or about” the spot marked by this white stone cross is where Christopher Columbus first landed his fleet in what became known as the New World.
The plaque at the base of the cross commemorating Columbus’ landing.
On to Cockburn (pronounced COH-burn) Dock. Geology is everywhere!
Sketching at the dockyard. The evidence mounts and the sketchbooks create a clearer picture of the rock record.
The broken dock.
Hans finds a perfect vantage point for his sketch.
Coral fossils at the dockyard.
The coral fossil with Sixuan for scale!
The students climb over a rusted pipe that separates the dockyard from an entirely different world – a fossilized reef.
Examining Cockburn Town Fossil Reef.
View of the broken dock from the fossil reef.
Vegemorphs! Vegemorphs are fossilized root structures, indicating past plant life on the reef – and are the research interest of student Crystal Luttrell.
125000 year old corals.
The beauty of fossilized corals.
Thank you for today’s insight, Cockburn Town Reef.