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Our route took us up the Valais to Visp and then up a picturesque valley, to
Zermatt
Our first day's fieldwork was to Zermatt and the Matterhorn, to study the Zermat-Saas Fe ophiolites, which are some of the best preserved slices of eclogitic oceanic crust in the Alps. The ophiolite is interpreted as a former part of the Piemontese-Ligurian ocean. During Alpine convergence, these rocks were buried to great depth forming eclogitic mineral assemblages, and then uplifted to be exposed at the surface today. The rocks represent former mantle (as antigorite schist) and crustal rocks (metagabbros, metabasalts and metamorphosed marine sediments).
Craig Grimes, Dr. Bobbie John, Elena Miranda, Josh Schwartz, Kay Achenbach and
Graham Baines stand in downtown Zermatt with the Matterhorn in the background
The Matterhorn