Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Ryan Clark, IGS Geologist

For the past 20 years Iowa Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition) has been cleaning up Iowa’s rivers with the help of hordes of volunteers and a few dedicated staff members. The Iowa Geological Survey (IGS) has participated just about every year, from helping haul trash to giving educational programs. I have been involved in Project AWARE since 2013, starting out as a staff member hauling/sorting trash and shuffling canoes around, then as a volunteer paddling the route and plucking anything out of the river that doesn’t belong there.

 

Ray Anderson presenting indoors and Ryan Clark presenting outdoors
Figure 1: Ray Anderson (IGS - retired) talking about the geology of the Maquoketa River, Project AWARE's inaugural voyage, in 2003 (left). Ryan Clark presenting the geology of the Boone River Watershed in 2019 (right).

 

Each year I give a presentation about the geology of the watershed along the route. As a bedrock geologist I tend to focus on the intriguing aspects of bedrock formations volunteers might see while paddling, like coal beds along the Boone River (2019), sandstone bluffs being undercut by the Raccoon River (2021), and even geodes in the Lower Des Moines River (2016)! I usually team up with another geologist or archaeologist who can speak to the more recent geologic history of the watershed. Glacial advances marked by linear hills called moraines, how rivers meandered into their current alignments, and areas along the river previously occupied by indigenous people (and the artifacts they left behind) are of particular interest.

 

Photos of quartz, sandstone, and coal
Figure 2: Quartz geode from the Lower Des Moines River (A), sandstone jutting out over the Raccoon River (B), and a coal bed overlying a mudstone exposed along the Boone River (C).

 

Participating in Iowa Project AWARE is one of the many ways the IGS educates the public about the importance of understanding Iowa’s natural resources. You do not need to be a geoscientist to make a positive impact on the environment, but you might need to get your hands dirty once in a while!

 

Ryan Clark scooping mud out of a tractor tire with the help of volunteers Jeremy Davis and Dan Ceynar.
Figure 3: Ryan Clark (left) scooping mud out of a tractor tire, to reduce the weight, with the help of volunteers Jeremy Davis (middle) and Dan Ceynar (right).

 

Ryan Clark and fellow volunteer Jeremy Davis with a full boat of trash
Figure 4: Ryan Clark (stern) and fellow volunteer Jeremy Davis (bow) with a full boat...of trash!