Hunting
Dinosaurs in Utah - August 2001 (left) Hiking
in Canyonlands National Park - July 2010 (right)
Ed.Crisp@mail.wvu.edu
Dr. Edward L.
Crisp - Professor of Geology
B.S.,Morehead State University , 1969
M.S., University of Kentucky , 1973
Ph.D.,
Indiana University , 1975
Exploration Geologist,
Texaco
, 1974-1977
Exploration Geologist-Domestic and
International (Damascus, Syria)
Upper
Gulf Coast District Geologist
The
Coastal Corporation
, 1977-1980
Exploration Geologist, Forney Oil Corporation, 1980-1989
Adjunct Lecturer in Marine Sciences
(Geology), Texas A&M University at
Galveston , 1978-1986
Instructor, Physics and Math, Sue Bennett
College, London, Kentucky, 1989-1990
Assistant Professor of Science, Morehead State University ,
1990-1991
Assistant Professor of Geology and Physical
Science, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, 1991-1995
Associate Professor of Geology and Physical
Science, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, 1995-2000
Professor of Geology and Physical Science, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, 2000-Present
SUE (Tyrannosaurus rex) at the Field Museum of Natural
History in Chicago
(Photo by E. L. Crisp, March 2002)
Me standing on a
"cannonball" concretion from the Late Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone
Member of the Mancos Shale near Ferron, Utah during May 2002. This
locality was one of the stops for the Geology 310 - Field Studies course of May
2002 as we studied the stratigraphy of central and southern Utah. The
Ferron Sandstone is a highly constructive deltaic clastic wedge that prograded
eastward into a Late Cretaceous sea. It contains important deposits of
coal and hydrocarbons. "Cannonball" concretions may form in sandstone,
siltstone, and shale as a result of minerals growing in the pore space of the
rock. The minerals start crystallizing at a particular place in the rock and
grow outward in concentric layers. This heavy cementation makes the
concretions more resistant to weathering than the surrounding rock, thus as the
surrounding rock weathers away the concretions remain intact. The
"cannonball" concretions of the Ferron Sandstone occur in various
sizes, from spherical concretions the size of true cannon balls to ones the size
as shown above.
Cleopatra's
Needle in Central Park - New York City.
The obelisk (composed of
granite) was originally erected in Egypt in front of the temple of Heliopolis
during the reign of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (1504-1450 B.C.). It was
erected in New York's Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
1881. All four sides of the obelisk were originally engraved with
hieroglyphics. Notice in the photo that the side to the right is almost
smooth, while the side on the left has clearly visible hieroglyphics.
Because of the direction of prevailing winds in New York City, two of the sides
of the obelisk have been severely altered by chemical weathering due to air
pollution, while the other two sides (one of which is visible above) still show
distinctive hieroglyphics. (Photo by Susan Sowards, August 2005)
Welcome
to my home page. You will find links here to my course syllabi and other
interesting links.
READ ABOUT (AND LOOK AT PHOTOS OF)
ONE OF MY DINO HUNTING TRIPS TO UTAH
DARWIN
DAY PRESENTATION - 2009
Other
Dinosaur Courses on the Web
Utah Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 1998
(Joint
Expedition - WVUP and Marietta College)
Utah Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 1999
Utah Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 2000
Utah Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 2001
Utah
Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 2002
First row, left to right: Bill Swearingen, Ed Crisp, Sarah Litwinowics,
and
Travis Parsons (standing).
Second row: Cliff Sadler, Ivan Brown, Dave Williamson, Amber Carmicael,
and David VanDeVelde.
Utah Dinosaur Trip Group Photo 2003
(Joint
Expedition - WVUP and Marietta College)
From left to right, 1st
Row (seated): Amanda Collins (WVUP), Carrie Kidd (WVUP), Nicole Dobrinic
(MC), Ryan Stark (WVUP), Sara Litwinowicz (WVUP), Dr. Dwayne Stone (MC), Dr. Ed
Crisp (WVUP), Erin Elder (WVUP).
2nd Row (knelling): Craig Townsend (WVUP), Harris Mason (MC), Matt Wolfe
(MC), Zak Kohen (MC), Amber Carmichael (WVUP), David VanDeVelde (MC).
3rd Row (standing): Scott Sheldon (WVUP), Cliff Sadler (WVUP), Emily
Decker (MC), Brant Gay (MC), Jenny Foley(MC), Jim Sharp (MC), Jenny Cournoyer
(MC), Jay Reed (MC), Ivan Brown (WVUP), Beth Jamison (MC), John Bishop (MC)
4th Row (standing): Rocky Freeman (MC), Dr. Fred Voner (MC), Michael
Bosworth (MC), Mark Blankenship (MC), Ginger Bennett (MC), Danny Dawes (MC),
Shane Bishop (MC).
Not Pictured: Don Esker (MC) and Aaron Scott (MC).
If
you have comments or suggestions, email me at Ed.Crisp@mail.wvu.edu
This large rock is a
glacial erratic in Acadia National Park, Maine. This famous balanced
boulder at the edge of a cliff on South Bubble Mountain is called Bubble
Rock. This boulder was transported by ice during the Pleistocene Ice Age
(1.8 million to 10,000 years ago) from the Lucerne Granite, 19 miles to the
north (Gilman, 1988). Bubble Rock is a porphyritic granite. The
rectangular phenocrysts (2-3 cm in length by 1-2 cm in width) of the gray to
white feldspar (probably albite) are in a groundmass of coarse gray granite
(albite, hornblende, and smoky quartz crystals, 5-10 mm in diameter). The
boulder is resting on pink, coarse grained granite (the Cadillac Mountain
Granite of Devonian age, radiometrically dated at about 365 million years old
[Gilman, 1988). Susan Sowards (for scale) is attempting to push the
boulder over the cliff - of course, she failed in this endeavor.
(Photo by E.L. Crisp, August 2005)
This
page last modified 8/17/2011