This Trip is part of the Teaching Programme led in the frame of the MASTER "Sciences de la Mer et du Littoral" in Geosciences in UBO, Brest. It is organized through a new teaching Agreement between Universities of Purdue and Brest. French students have been selected in order to improve their knowledge of geological field observations and interpretation, and to get teaching credits corresponding to the Teaching Unit (UE) R8.2GO of the Master Mention "Géosciences Océans" in France.

The work was organized as three main types of activities: (1) mapping projects, where students from different Universities are splitted into several groups (2-5) and are launched on the field during several hours in order to gather landscape- and in situ observations on specific areas determined on topographic maps, and finally report on them in order to share them with the whole group; (2) stops for outcrop observations, organized when an important scenic view or rocks outcrops have been possible; and (3) visits in specific places (IRIS-PASSCAL Lab in this case). The reports on these main activities are available in the neighbouring Table.

The trip began on May 23, 2006, after landing in the Albuquerque airport and installation of all the participants in the Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground. After a short introduction on the geology of New Mexico by Chris Daniel, we went to the area of Picuris Mountains, where common observations of old rocks in the Harding Mine and a Mapping Project was developed. On June 29 the group has moved from Santa Fe to Socorro, where we have been hosted in Motel6.

This Field Trip has been supported by the Communauté Urbaine de Brest (BMO: Brest Métropole Océane), the Earth & Atmospheric Science Department of Purdue University, and the UBO-IUEM Master SML.