Hello everyone!

Once again this year, we went on our annual geological field trip together with the Sato Group from the Environmental Recycling Materials Laboratory.

Our first stop was Mikasa. In addition to learning about the history of coal mining and visiting sites like Sandan-taki Falls, we were able to observe an unconformity representing a 50-million-year gap—which one could literally straddle in a single step—as well as vertical rock strata formed by folding.

The second stop was Ogon-misaki (Golden Cape), where we could see columnar joints of olivine basalt formed by the cooling and hardening of lava from volcanic activity four million years ago.

At the third stop—Cape Ofuyu and its observation deck—we found sheer cliffs and massive angular andesite boulders scattered about by landslides!

At the final stop, the Mourai Formation, we were able to see an outcrop of Neogene strata.

In the evening, we enjoyed a hot spring bath, a barbecue, and fireworks, spending a wonderful time interacting with faculty, students, and members of other laboratories. The scallops brought by Professor Sato were especially delicious!

Finally, a huge thank you to the first-year master's students who organized this field trip, as well as to everyone who provided vehicles!

(Text by: Sasaki)