Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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The Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. Our research center is built around five broad science themes: Paleoclimate & Paleoecology, Landscape Science, Geologic Mapping, Hazards, and Special Geologic Studies.
Story on Mid-Atlantic Stream/Sediment Science
FBGC's ecologist Greg Noe's work is highlighted in this great article discussing legacy erosion and sedimentation in Mid-Atlantic watersheds.
View StoryClimate Change Impacts on Mangrove Forests
FBGC scientists Miriam Jones and Lynn Wingard were recently interviewed by NPR regarding climate change and mangrove forests.
Listen to InterviewBiography of Florence Bascom
The video in the link below is a brief but informative introduction to the life and work of Florence Bascom.
See BiographyNews
Memorial to Jack B. Epstein (1935-2020)
Recently, the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, USGS lost Jack Epstein, a colleague, mentor, and friend. Here is a fitting tribute and memorial to Jack and his nearly 60 years with USGS.
National Preparedness Month 2020: Landslides and Sinkholes
Natural hazards have the potential to impact a majority of Americans every year. USGS science provides part of the foundation for emergency preparedness whenever and wherever disaster strikes.
Floodplain Ecosystem Service Mapper Released
The Floodplain Ecosystem Service Mapper is a web application that displays field site data and lidar-derived floodplain and stream channel geomorphic metrics in the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.
Publications
Borehole sampling of surficial sediments in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland
From 2014 to 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) entered into an inter-agency agreement with the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) to assist in field site selection and auger drilling fieldwork. The TFHRC was developing a device to measure the erosional...
Chirico, Peter G.; DeWitt, Jessica D.; Bergstresser, Sarah E.
Permafrost thaw in northern peatlands: Rapid changes in ecosystem and landscape functions
Peatlands within the northern permafrost region cover approximately 2 million km2 and are characterized by organic soils that can be several meters thick, and a fine-scale mosaic of permafrost and non-permafrost landforms interspersed by shallow ponds and lakes. Ongoing permafrost thaw is transforming these peatlands, causing abrupt changes...
Olefeldt, David; Hefferman, Liam; Jones, Miriam C.; Sannel, A. Britta; Treat, Claire C.; Turetsky, Merritt R. Enhanced terrestrial runoff during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 on the North Carolina Coastal Plain, USA
A global increase in the strength of the hydrologic cycle drove an increase in the flux of terrigenous sediments into the ocean during the Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) and was an important mechanism driving nutrient enrichment and thus organic carbon burial. This global change is primarily known from isotopic records, but...
Lowery, Christopher M; Self-Trail, Jean M.; Barrie, Craig