On February 22, 2019, UFAZ third-year Geophysical / Geosciences Engineering students Invited went on a field trip to Kirmaky Valley together with Quentin Boesch, UFAZ Invited Professor of Sedimentology.

Kirmaky Valley has always been a topic of detailed research among local and foreign geoscientists due to its well-preserved stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary series. The field trip organized for UFAZ students, with the valuable help of Azerbaijani Geoscientist and Researcher Elshad Abdullayev, was as such focused on the excellent outcrops of the Kirmaky Valley.

Professor Quentin Boesch introduced to students the ways of identifying the history of the outcrops, origins of rocks and sedimentary layers. One of these methods was testing rocks with HCl solution for fossils of seashells containing calcite – a way for the students to understand more about the marine deposits. They also climbed the hill and made a log of the tilted outcrop, which was well eroded and weathered.

“It was interesting to discuss the sediment deposition, formation of the strata and the tilting which are related to a tectonic constraint - probably convergence - since these tilted series form the flank of an anticline fold called Kirmaky's anticline,” says UFAZ third-year Geophysical Engineering student Gunay Najafzade.

Such field trips are an integrated part of the curriculum of the Geophysical – Geosciences specialty of UFAZ.