- Glacial Erratic - ‘Erratic’ comes from the Latin word ‘errāre’, which means ‘to wander’, and in geology, the name is given to boulders that are foreign to the area in which they are found. This rounded granite boulder was transported hundreds of miles by glacial ice during the last Ice Age, moving down from vast icefields in the north to its final resting place in the Twin Cities area. These glacial erratics can be used to study the directions of ice movement.
- Ely Greenstone - This 2.7-billion-year-old greenstone was cored to create a ventilation shaft for the Zenith iron-ore mine at Ely, Minnesota and arrived at the University of Minnesota in the early 20th century. The large, blob-like features are remnant lava "pillows" that erupted from volcanic fissures on an ancient seafloor. Greenstones are some of the oldest metamorphic rocks on Earth, giving clues into its geological evolution.
- Winchell's 'Chair' - Newton Horace Winchell, first State Geologist and department head after whom the School of Earth Sciences is named, brought this chair-shaped rock to campus in the late 1800's. The distinct depression in the middle of this carbonated rock was carved by harder sediments and gravel that were carried by fast-moving water - possibly from melting glaciers during the last Ice Age.
Updated on June 14, 2019, by GS