Graduate Student Ryan Petterson mapping in the Panamint Mountains as part of his thesis research, Spring 2002. The rocks in the Panamint Mountains provide a rare opportunity to study a unique time period in Earth history. Neoproterozoic and early Cambrian rocks in the Panamints record everything from Supercontinent break-up and global glaciation to the rise of metazoans. Much of the Panamints remain unmapped, and many intriguing questions are still unanswered.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Petterson