Abstract: Field practice is an indispensable part of geology for the undergraduate students, and it is also a supplement and extension of indoor theory teaching. The juniors have completed their study of major courses after three years, thus the field practice course is designed to inspire and train their innovative thinking and scientific research methods. The“Qinling Orogenic Belt-Ordos Basin Field Excursion”course for senior undergraduates has been set up by the Department of Geology, Northwest University, aiming to helps the students to smoothly transform from study to research. For example, several typical cross-sections crossing the Qinling orogenic belt preserve perfect geological records from subduction to collision, including the ophiolites (remnants of ancient oceanic crust), arc-related volcanic rocks, sedimentary successions, subduction-collisional magmatic and metamorphic rocks. In this paper, we will focus on training the students to reconstruct the tectonic evolution process of the Qinling orogenic belt according to the detailed field investigation on the ophiolitic mélange, deformation, magmatic, metamorphic, and sedimentary records.

Key words: Geology, undergraduate education, field excursion, Qinling Orogenic Belt, tectonic evolution