5. Press Field Trip on Sunday, December 12
The U.S. Geological survey is graciously providing its research vessel, Polaris, for a cruise on San Francisco Bay, on Sunday, December 12, during which USGS scientists will discuss water resources research.

This field trip will take place rain or shine! Please arrive at Moscone no later than 11:30 A.M. for check-in, badge issuance, etc. We will depart the Moscone Convention Center by chartered bus at 12:00 Noon sharp. AGU will provide box lunches aboard the bus, as we head down the Peninsula to Redwood City. On the way, USGS scientist Ken LaJoie will discuss the last 20,000 years of the Bay's history. As the present Bay is only 12,000 years old; we will be cruising where mastodons and camels once grazed on a great meadow.

Before boarding Polaris, we will visit the USGS Marine Facility for a talk on the vessel's colorful history. It started life on the Bay as an engineer's base when the levee system was under construction, saw service in World War II as a spy ship, and was rescued from demolition by USGS in the 1960s for $3,000.

During our 90 minute cruise, scientists will discuss their research projects, and participants may assist them in retrieving water and mud samples. These will be analyzed on board for the presence of invasive species.

Back at the Marine Facility, we will see equipment that has mapped the floor of the Bay and Pacific Ocean to a depth of five miles. We then motor to Menlo Park, where we will visit USGS water resources laboratories and learn about research in progress.

We plan to conclude at a reasonably priced restaurant for an early no-host dinner and then return by bus to the Convention Center and downtown hotels.

Space on this field trip is strictly limited. The limiting factors are the seating capacity of the bus and space aboard Polaris, whic
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Contact: Harvey Leifert
hleifert@agu.org
202-777-7507
American Geophysical Union
13-Oct-1999