Travel letter from the GEO course in Utah

Masters and PhD Students from the Department of Earth Science at the University of Bergen have just returned from the Petroleum Geological Field Course in Utah, USA.

The students have studied reservoir analogues and structural deformation which is very similar to the geological layers beneath the seabed in the North Sea. The combination of large outcrops, similarity with the subsurface in the North Sea and accessibility make Utah an effective and safe place to organize a field course.

The course was funded by Equinor through the Akademia-Agreement, and was taught by Dr Christian Haug Eide (Sedimentologist) and Dr Casey Nixon (Structural Geologist) who are researchers from the University of Bergen. 

The students examined themes as diverse as ancient shoreline sandstones, desert sand dunes, large-and small-scale tectonic deformation, and active natural CO2-reservoirs. The course gives insights into fundamental sedimentological and structural geological principles, and has world-class localities.