The public is invited to join the McClung Museum for “Blue Ridge Foothills Geology: Windows and Geologic Contrasts,” a daylong bus tour to explore area geology in the foothills near Townsend, Tennessee, at 8:15 a.m. Saturday, August 4.
The tour will be led by Bob Hatcher, Distinguished Scientist and professor of techtonics, and Tom Broadhead, a professor of paleontology and biostratigraphy who also works in UT’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions. It will include stops in Tuckaleechee Cove and along Chilhowee Lake. Tuckaleechee Cove has long been known as a geologic window—an erosional hole in a thin sheet of rock with a fault beneath it. As a thin sheet of Blue Ridge rocks eroded over many millions of years, they exposed windows of valley and ridge limestone beneath. Participants will have the opportunity to observe and photograph rocks in the largest of these unique features and to collect rocks.
Participants will meet in the museum lobby to depart for the tour.
Tour tickets are $60 for museum members and $75 for nonmembers and can be purchased online or by calling the museum at 865-974-2144. Nonmembers who purchase a ticket will receive a one-year museum membership. Proceeds support the McClung Museum’s education outreach programs, and a portion of each ticket is tax deductible and nonrefundable. In addition to the tour, tickets include coffee upon arrival, a field guide, and lunch.
The McClung Museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive. Museum admission is free, and the museum’s hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Free two-hour museum parking passes are available from the parking kiosk at the entrance to Circle Park Drive during the week. Free parking is available on the weekends. Free public transportation to the museum is available via the Knoxville Area Transit Orange Line Trolley.
See the museum’s website for more information about family programming, parking, and collections and exhibits.
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CONTACT:
Stacy Palado (865-974-2143, spalado@utk.edu)