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
Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw
We quantified permafrost peat plateau and post-thaw carbon (C) stocks across a chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate the amount of C lost with thaw. Macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) peat from a forested peat plateau (with permafrost) and, (3) collapse-scar bog...
Manies, Kristen L.; Jones, Miriam C.; Waldrop, Mark; Leewis, Mary-Catherine; Fuller, Christopher C.; Cornman, Robert S.; Hoefke, Kristen Watershed and estuarine controls both influence plant community and tree growth changes in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along two U.S. mid-Atlantic rivers
The tidal freshwater zone near the estuarine head-of-tide is potentially sensitive to both sea-level rise and associated salinity increases as well as changing watershed inputs of freshwater and nutrients. We evaluated the vegetation response of tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) to changes in nontidal river versus estuarine controls along...
Noe, Gregory B.; Bourg, Norman A; Krauss, Ken; Duberstein, Jamie A.; Hupp, Cliff R. Miocene neritic benthic foraminiferal community dynamics, Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA: Species pool, patterns and processes
The presence/absence and abundance of benthic foraminifera in successive discrete beds (Shattuck “zones”) of the Miocene Calvert and Choptank formations, exposed at the Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA, allows for investigation of community dynamics over space and time. The stratigraphic distribution of benthic foraminifera is documented and...
Culver, Stephen J.; Sutton, Seth R; Mallinson, David J.; Buzas, Martin A; Robinson, Marci M.; Dowsett, Harry J.