Media Advisory

TO:                     News Editors and PSA Directors

FROM:                UAF Department of Geology and Geophysics

SUBJECT:           THE CREATION OF MOUNT EVEREST

LOCATION:         201 Natural Sciences Building, UAF Campus

DATE & TIME:     Friday, Dec. 13, 1996, 3:30 p.m.

ARCO Alaska Inc. geologist and mountain climber Dana Coffield will be in Fairbanks Friday, Dec. 13 to give a presentation on his 1990 ascent of Mount Everest. Samples collected from the expedition are helping scientists understand how Mount Everest and the Himalayas were formed. Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks conduct similar studies of Mount McKinley to determine the geological processes which created North America's tallest peak.

Coffield has conducted geological studies for ARCO International in Greenland, North Africa and Indonesia. His current position with ARCO Alaska has him working with the Prudhoe Bay resource development group.

The Himalayas, which border northern Pakistan, India and Nepal, are one of the world's major mountain ranges. It influences global climate patterns and seawater composition.

Coffield's presentation begins at 3:30 p.m. in room 201 of the Natural Sciences Building. His trip is sponsored in part by the Alaska Geological Society.

FOR MORE INFORMATION contact: UAF geology professor Don Triplehorn,(907) 474-7565.

DPD/12-9-96/97-038med.adv.