Palo Alto College Geology students recently participated in a field trip to the Canyon Lake Spillway Gorge and enjoyed a unique experience that has generally been closed to the public.

“It was really neat because of all the running springs, dinosaur tracks and exposed rock formations,” said Rachel Gil, a Palo Alto sophomore majoring in Criminal Justice.

The students, enrolled in either Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Glen Tanck’s Earth Science or Physical Geology courses, visited the gorge, which has restricted public access, on October 26 as part of an extra credit assignment. Students were given access to the grounds of the gorge to discover and examine the various types of rock formations present. Students could also hunt for ancient fossils that were previously buried deep within the central Texas soil.

“It’s scenic and rather spectacular for this area to have a gorge like that where you have the springs and waterfalls and those features,” Tanck said.

The students also took in the wonderful scenery composed of overshadowing and bordering tree lines and constantly elevating and descending rock formations. Students also had a pleasant and enjoyable hike as an added bonus to the field trip.

“It was unique because of all of the Earth’s history that you can see,” Gil added.

The 11 students began their journey by carpooling up to Canyon Lake, located about 40 miles to the north of San Antonio, and entering the gated area of the gorge. The grounds of the gorge are as pristine as imaginable with no signs of human inhabitance present.

Pleasantly running streams with crystal clear water, expansive ponds and sometimes intimidating cliff drops made for an even more naturalized environment that was well worth the $5 entrance fee.

The expansive gorge was created as a result of the 2002 summer floods that affected south Texas. These floods brought an unprecedented amount of precipitation, with the area receiving 35 inches of rain, a year’s worth, in just one week’s time. This rapidly rising water quickly exceeded the height of the Canyon Lake Spillway. On July 4, 2002, the flood waters unleashed an onslaught of water. This rush of water sped through the surrounding area at a rate of 67,000 cubic feet per second. Within 3 days, a scenic path had been eroded through the area, which exposed geological formations that were previously hidden underground.

“When this happened five years ago and I went out there for the first time, I thought immediately it’d be a great place to take students on field trips,” Tanck said.

During the two and a half hour tour, Tanck and Palo Alto Science Department Technician Roy Whitley guided the party through the gorge and highlighted the various formations that are part of the Glen Rose Rock Formation. Students were also asked to dig for and examine surface fossils. As the flood of water exposed ancient and previously underground rock formations and layers, the ability to reach down, overturn a stone or pull out a rock and uncover a fossil is a common experience.

“If you’re teaching a geology course, [the gorge] has so many aspects of geology well exposed,” Tanck said.

Imagine reaching down and picking up a stone, noticing the archaic outline of a mollusk’s winding shell and being told that the fossil’s age may be more than 100 million years old.

“The trip was interesting because we got to see all of the different stuff we studied in lecture,” said Jennifer Villegas, a Palo Alto sophomore majoring in Education, noting that the trip was a great opportunity for hands-on experience with geology.

Despite the ample opportunity for finding a rare and treasured fossil, visitors are not permitted to remove any relic for their personal collection. Visitors are also asked not to litter and to do their best to keep the grounds as pristine as possible, leaving no trace behind.

Tanck and Whitley also encouraged students to witness the local ecology, take photographs and enjoy the rare experience of visiting the gorge, and the mile and a half hike proceeded without incident.

Near the end of the gorge’s tour, concluded by reaching the site of the overspill, several remarkable geological features were also revealed. An inactive fault line of the Earth’s crust is clearly visible above ground now, rising several feet over students, and near the gorge’s border with Canyon Lake, clearly distinguishable fossilized dinosaur footprints are also visible for study and examination.

For more information on Geology courses at Palo Alto, contact Tanck at (210) 921-5483 or gtanck@mail.accd.edu. Information regarding the Canyon Lake Spillway Gorge may be found at www.CanyonGorge.org