ABSTRACT On this field trip we visit three sites in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA, where we examine the geomorphology of the Bonneville shoreline, the history of glaciation in the Wasatch Range, and shorezone geomorphology of Great Salt Lake. Stop 1 is at Steep Mountain bench, adjacent to Point of the Mountain in the Traverse Mountains, where the Bonneville shoreline is well developed and we can examine geomorphic evidence for the behavior of Lake Bonneville at its highest levels. At Stop 2 at the mouths of Little Cottonwood and Bells Canyons in the Wasatch Range, we examine geochronologic and geomorphic evidence for the interaction of mountain glaciers with Lake Bonneville. At the Great Salt Lake at Stop 3, we can examine modern processes and evidence of the Holocene history of the lake, and appreciate how Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake are two end members of a long-lived lacustrine system in one of the tectonically generated basins of the Great Basin.

ABSTRACT The Ottawa aulacogen/graben on the NE US—Canadian (SW Quebec and eastern Ontario) border is a long ENE-trending structure formed with initial late Neo proterozoic rifting of the Rodinia supercontinent. This rifting formed the active spreading arms (New York Promontory and Quebec Reentrant) along the (presently) NE margin of the new Laurentia paleocontinent, with the Ottawa aulacogen commonly regarded as a failed arm of the rifting. However, no sediment accumulation in the aulacogen is recorded until the late early Cambrian subsidence of a SE- trending belt that includes the aulacogen and its extension, the Franklin Basin, in NW Vermont. Late early Cambrian marine onlap (Altona Formation) followed by more rapid late middle Cambrian subsidence and deposition of fluviatile arkoses (Covey Hill Formation of SW Quebec and Ausable Formation/Member of eastern New York) record rapid foundering of this “failed arm.” Subsequent deposition (latest middle Cambrian–Early Ordovician) in the Ottawa aulacogen produced a vertical succession of lithofacies that are fully comparable with those of the shelf of the New York Promontory. One of the greatest challenges in summarizing the geological history of the Ottawa aulacogen is the presence of a duplicate stratigraphic nomenclature with lithostratigraphic names changing as state and provincial borders are crossed. RÉSUMÉ L’aulacogène/graben d’Ottawa, situé sur la frontière entre le NE des États-Unis et le Canada (SW du Québec et est de l’Ontario), est une longue structure d’orientation ENE formée au Néoprotérozoïque tardif durant le rifting initial du supercontinent Rodinia. Ce rifting a aussi mené à la formation de segments à expansion active (promontoire de New York et réentrant de Québec) le long de la marge NE (coordonnées actuelles) du nouveau paléo-continent Laurentia, avec l’aulacogène d’Ottawa qui est généralement considéré comme un segment de rift avorté. Toutefois, aucune accumulation de sediments n’est documentée au sein de l’aulacogène avant la fin du Cambrien précoce, période durant laquelle une ceinture d’orientation SE, representée par l’aulacogène et son prolongement dans le bassin de Franklin vers le NW du Vermont, a subi une subsidence. La sedimentation marine de la fin du Cambrien précoce (Formation d’Altona) a été suivie d’une subsidence rapide à la fin du Cambrien moyen et de la déposition d’arkoses fluviatiles (Formation de Covey Hill dans le SW du Québec et la Formation/Membre d’Ausable dans l’est de l’état de New York) qui ont enregistré un affaissement rapide de ce “bras avorté.” La sédimentation subséquente (Cambrien moyen tardif–Ordovicien inférieur) au sein de l’aulacogène d’Ottawa a produit une succession verticale de lithofaciès qui sont comparables à ceux de la plate-forme du promontoire de New York. Un des principaux défis dans la synthèse de l’histoire géologique de l’aulacogène d’Ottawa demeure la duplication des termes stratigraphiques de part et d’autre des frontières interprovinciales et entre les différents états.

ABSTRACT This three-day field trip focuses on the stratigraphy and the structural characteristics of the late- and post-Taconian sedimentary basins of the southern Québec Appalachians, with a particular emphasis on N-to-S and W-to-E structural and lithological variations. In order to discuss various aspects of the regional structural evolution of these basins, we will visit a series of key outcrops following three sections, the Beauce/Thetford-Mines sections, the Sherbrooke section, and the Coaticook section. RÉSUMÉ Cette excursion de trois jours se concentre sur la stratigraphie et les caractéristiques structurales des bassins sédimentaires tardi- et post-Taconien des Appalaches du sud du Québec, en mettant l’accent sur les variations structurales et lithologiques du nord au sud et d’ouest en est. Afin de discuter des divers aspects de l’évolution structurale régionale de ces bassins sédimentaires, nous visiterons une série d’affleure ments clés en suivant trois sections, soient les sections de Beauce/Thetford-Mines, de Sherbrooke, et de Coaticook.

COVID-19 made for a highly unusual year as it affected almost every facet of life. The pandemic made gathering and visiting the field nearly impossible as we quarantined and moved into virtual spaces. Three groups submitted guides for publication during the height of the pandemic: two for trips that would have taken place during the GSA Annual Meeting in Montréal, Canada, and one from the Rocky Mountain Section Meeting in Provo, Utah, USA. Readers will enjoy these journeys to the Ottawa aulacogen/graben on the Northeast U.S.–Canadian border; the southern Québec Appalachians; and Lake Bonneville, the Wasatch Range, and Great Salt Lake in Utah.

The ca. 570 Ma Catoctin volcanics, exposed in the Blue Ridge of northern Virginia, include metamorphosed rift-related basalts extruded during breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia. Field relationships, petrography, and geochemistry are used to decipher the stratigraphy for two areas of the volcanics, one at the base of the formation, and the other near its top. Geochemical characteristics of sequential flows can be explained by fractional crystallization of minerals commonly occurring in basalts. Intervening flows with slightly different geochemical features that cannot be explained by fractional crystallization from magma corresponding to an underlying flow, or by crustal contamination, most likely represent new pulses of magma. Positive Pb and negative Nb anomalies, coupled with ε Nd values of +1.5 to +4.5 and model ages that exceed crystallization ages by over 500 m.y., suggest that an enriched component was added to the mantle prior to melting. This component resulted from devolatilization of subducting sediments prior to assembly of Rodinia, likely during Grenville orogenic events. Stratigraphic control shows that lower lavas in the sequence contain more of the enriched component than upper flows.