Very interesting. We drove from Vancouver, WA to Las Vegas in 2011. We made a side trip to Winnemucca to honor an uncle's grave. He was killed in in 1940 in a car crash while working at a remote mercury mine, I believe west of town in the Jackson Mountains. I had to dig into old Bureau of Mines Bulletins from 1940 to pinpoint where I think the mine was. (Mercury was being shipped to California for use in munitions. Lead up to war. The cinnabar deposit was pretty much exhausted around the time of Pearl Harbor according to an oral history transcript found in the local library). The 2011 drive was epic, glad we did it but never again! Around one range, jog in the highway, around another range. There are so many abandoned and active mines in Nevada. Yes, plenty for geologists to study.
Nevada is certainly fascinating - but I think I'm glad I wasn't one of the field geologists who worked there for decades! Montana is much more my speed!
Despite being from Montana and appreciative of its beautiful geology, I have to say Nevada geology pleases me most with its diversity and complexity. I chuckled at your comment about the motel in Laramie and your conversation with your boss; I worked (during grad school) a couple of seasons for Exxon minerals division. The first month I turned in my expense report, the office manager called me and asked if I was eating OK. Being used to the finances of a grad student, I was trying to be frugal and careful of the company's money. She told me to start eating more and better, I was making the other geologists look bad ;)
I’m very fond of Nevada. Started exploring there after se UT got so busy. So I look forward to more from TGC. And I find “small looks at the fascinating natural world” therapeutic!
What a neat article Richard. I bet you have a lot of fond memories of spending days and overnights out there in the wilderness sometimes by yourself and probably most often with colleagues. I'm guessing some good ones by a fire and under the Milky Way or maybe as a hot stuff petroleum geologist you were always at the best hotel, lol. Did you ever stumble across any "cool stuff" like arrowheads or marine fossils up in those carbonate platforms? .. I bet you could probably write a book on this. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks! To be honest most of the work was in the office, with occasional work-related field trips or conferences (yes, in reasonable if not the best hotel... I was once happy to stay in a fine motel in Laramie, Wyoming, for $12 a night. Got called in by my boss after the expense report was submitted; she asked "What flea-bag did you stay in?" But it was just a good deal, in the days when the Hilton in Casper might have been $65 a night.) But yes, plenty of camping, both alone and with friends, but most of that was recreation rather than work - although of course I cannot really separate recreational geology from work geology.... And teaching geology field camp in Montana was always as a volunteer, and finding rare worked obsidian but LOTS of fossils for sure. Here's one previous post: https://richardigibson.substack.com/p/mineralogy-meets-paleontology-ea2
Very interesting. We drove from Vancouver, WA to Las Vegas in 2011. We made a side trip to Winnemucca to honor an uncle's grave. He was killed in in 1940 in a car crash while working at a remote mercury mine, I believe west of town in the Jackson Mountains. I had to dig into old Bureau of Mines Bulletins from 1940 to pinpoint where I think the mine was. (Mercury was being shipped to California for use in munitions. Lead up to war. The cinnabar deposit was pretty much exhausted around the time of Pearl Harbor according to an oral history transcript found in the local library). The 2011 drive was epic, glad we did it but never again! Around one range, jog in the highway, around another range. There are so many abandoned and active mines in Nevada. Yes, plenty for geologists to study.
Nevada is certainly fascinating - but I think I'm glad I wasn't one of the field geologists who worked there for decades! Montana is much more my speed!
Despite being from Montana and appreciative of its beautiful geology, I have to say Nevada geology pleases me most with its diversity and complexity. I chuckled at your comment about the motel in Laramie and your conversation with your boss; I worked (during grad school) a couple of seasons for Exxon minerals division. The first month I turned in my expense report, the office manager called me and asked if I was eating OK. Being used to the finances of a grad student, I was trying to be frugal and careful of the company's money. She told me to start eating more and better, I was making the other geologists look bad ;)
Hah! Your boss and mine sound like similar people!
I’m very fond of Nevada. Started exploring there after se UT got so busy. So I look forward to more from TGC. And I find “small looks at the fascinating natural world” therapeutic!
Thanks! I'm not sure how many "Nevada" posts are already in the archive but quite a few!
What a neat article Richard. I bet you have a lot of fond memories of spending days and overnights out there in the wilderness sometimes by yourself and probably most often with colleagues. I'm guessing some good ones by a fire and under the Milky Way or maybe as a hot stuff petroleum geologist you were always at the best hotel, lol. Did you ever stumble across any "cool stuff" like arrowheads or marine fossils up in those carbonate platforms? .. I bet you could probably write a book on this. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks! To be honest most of the work was in the office, with occasional work-related field trips or conferences (yes, in reasonable if not the best hotel... I was once happy to stay in a fine motel in Laramie, Wyoming, for $12 a night. Got called in by my boss after the expense report was submitted; she asked "What flea-bag did you stay in?" But it was just a good deal, in the days when the Hilton in Casper might have been $65 a night.) But yes, plenty of camping, both alone and with friends, but most of that was recreation rather than work - although of course I cannot really separate recreational geology from work geology.... And teaching geology field camp in Montana was always as a volunteer, and finding rare worked obsidian but LOTS of fossils for sure. Here's one previous post: https://richardigibson.substack.com/p/mineralogy-meets-paleontology-ea2