Great Indoor Folk Festival ~ Feb 12, 2012
Underwater Adventure into the Past
The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar that focuses on the underwater mapping of the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay at 7:00pm on Wednesday, January 13, 2010, at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The seminar, “The Norwood Project: Underwater Adventure into the Past,” will be presented by Luke Clyburn, president of the Noble Odyssey Foundation. This seminar is free and open to the public.
The Noble Odyssey Foundation (NOF) research team is a group of scientists from local universities and museums and divers that undertake submarine and coastal research projects under the direction of Captain Luke Clyburn, who also serves as the Director of the NOF. In 2004, John Zawiskie of the Cranbrook Institute of Science and Scripps University marine biologist Dr. Elliot Smith directed the underwater mapping of the geology of the sill at the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. This led to the creation of the first geologic map of the bottom sediments and bedrock in that part of the lake basin and documentation of a drowned river channel cut through lake bottom clay at depths of up to 150 feet. This is a relict channel from the low stand period that formed when the current lake floor was a land area, sometime between 10,000 and 7,500 years ago.
Luke Clyburn will show the DVD that chronicles the preparation for and the fieldwork during this expedition. Afterwards, he will discuss the implications of such work and how the Noble Odyssey strives to bring together young people, adults, and scientists interested in developing and supporting underwater research projects to enhance public understanding of Great Lakes science and history.
The Inland Seas Education Association is a non-profit organization based in Suttons Bay, Michigan, dedicated to science education on the Great Lakes. Its shipboard and shore-side education programs are designed to inspire young people’s interest in science and to provide for the long-term stewardship of the Great Lakes. For further information contact the Inland Seas Education Association at (231) 271-3077 or on the web at www.schoolship.org.
Photo: Capt. Luke Clyburn, Great Lakes Underwater Filmaker, courtesy of The Noble Odyssey Foundation
