Abstract This field trip explores the role of geology in the origins and production of a distinctly American distilled spirit. Bourbon whiskey originated in the late 1700s and early 1800s in the Bluegrass region of north-central Kentucky. The Inner Bluegrass is marked by fertile, residual soils developed on karstified Ordovician limestones. Corn was grown, ground, fermented, and distilled to yield a high-value product that would not spoil. The chemistry of limestone water (dilute calcium-bicarbonate type with near-neutral pH) limits dissolved iron and promotes fermentation. Many farms and settlements were located near perennial springs, whose relatively cool temperatures (~13–15 °C) facilitated condensation of steam during distillation. We will visit three historically significant springs. Royal Spring in Georgetown was an early site of whiskey production and is one of the few springs in Kentucky still used for municipal water supply. McConnell Springs was the purported site of Lexington’s founding and occupies a karst window in which distilleries once operated. Cove Spring in Frankfort was the site of the first public water supply west of the Allegheny Mountains. We will also tour two distilleries: Woodford Reserve (among the oldest and smallest in the state, and a National Historic Landmark) and Four Roses (listed on the National Register of Historic Places).

Abstract The field trip covers three short walks through downtown San Francisco focusing on the events that occurred in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. The first walk is in the South of Market area, located on artificially filled ground of the old Mission Bay marshland. The second walk follows the path of the fire as it spread out of the South of Market area on to Market Street. The third walk is along Montgomery Street, located on the old shoreline of Yerba Buena Cove, and follows the progress of the fire as it crossed Market Street northward into the Financial District. The wetlands bordering the bay were prime real estate, and by 1906 about a sixth of the city was built on artificial fill. The highest concentration of damage to buildings by ground shaking and liquefaction caused by the earthquake occurred here. Throughout this area, water, sewer, and gas lines were ruptured, and it was the location of most of the 52 fires that flared up in the city after the earthquake. The main objective of the field trip is to evaluate the lessons we have learned from building on poorly engineered ground within a major metropolitan center in a seismically active area. The settlement of Yerba Buena was established in the 1830s along the margin of a sheltered cove in San Francisco Bay. The port attracted settlers, and by 1847 the population had gradually increased to almost 500. Early maps drawn of the town showed the streets crisscrossing the