China (05/01/2012) : In May 2011, I spent a few weeks working in far western China in the Qaidam basin on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. I am a geologist, and I study the tectonic evolution of Tibet and its impacts climate. This region is extremely arid because the Tibetan plateau blocks moisture from penetrating the interior of Asia. Geology field work can be grueling, especially in remote regions. On a few days of the trip, we spent a lot of time driving and hiking over remote, roadless areas to scout for continuous sections of rock that preserve depositional environments over long time periods. We identified an excellent section, where we spent several weeks measuring, describing, and sampling.