9508300 Engebretson This Research in Undergraduate Institutions project will investigate the regional geological significance of rock units within the eastern San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. Preliminary work has shown there to be similarities between these rocks, those of the western San Juan Islands and those of the North Cascades to the east. The study will comprise detailed geological mapping of critical contacts, paleomagnetic analysis, geochemistry, and radiometric and paleontological age control. The data will provide an indication of the overall tectonic evolution of the area and its relationship to other parts of North America, and will be synthesized into up-to-date plate reconstruction models. Undergraduate students at Western Washington University will be involved in every phase of the study. The results will have significance for many other tectonic regions that contain ophiolitic/continental arc assemblages.
