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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

The primary mission of the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is to provide detailed scientific data and assessments to support natural resource management, public safety, and national security. The FBGC specializes in:

Geologic mapping and hazards

Paleontology, stratigraphy, and environmental geology

Special geologic studies at the intersection of national security and mineral resources

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WORK

USGS Scientists Help Address Conflict Mining

Artisanal miners digging a mining pit using simple tools such as shovels, buckets and water pumps.

The USGS has collaborated with several international organizations working to track and monitor illegal mining and armed groups funded by natural resources around the world.

See Featured Story

Mid-Atlantic Stream & Sediment Science

An image taken along Western Branch in Maryland

FBGC's ecologist Greg Noe's work is highlighted in this great article discussing legacy erosion and sedimentation in Mid-Atlantic watersheds.

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Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Forests

The shore along the edges of an island playa in Florida

FBGC scientists Miriam Jones and Lynn Wingard were recently interviewed by NPR regarding climate change and mangrove forests. 

Listen to Interview

Publications

Capitalization of positional (Lower/Middle/Upper) and temporal (Early/Middle/Late) adjectives in the names of formal chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units of the Phanerozoic Capitalization of positional (Lower/Middle/Upper) and temporal (Early/Middle/Late) adjectives in the names of formal chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units of the Phanerozoic

Many authors are understandably confused about the capitalization of the words “lower,” “middle,” “upper,” “early,” and “late.” Where these words are used simply as descriptive adjectives, they should be in lowercase; where they form the first word of a formal chronostratigraphic or geochronologic unit name, they should be in uppercase.
Authors
Lucy E. Edwards, Randall C. Orndorff
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Divisions of geologic time—Major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units Divisions of geologic time—Major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units

By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Root biomass and productivity in coastal swamp forests of Louisiana (USA) Root biomass and productivity in coastal swamp forests of Louisiana (USA)

Coastal swamp forests (CSF) occupy approximately 225,000 ha in Southeastern Louisiana (USA), and across a large percentage of this area, CSF are subjected to sediment starvation, salinity intrusion, and chronic submergence. We assessed root biomass and productivity in nine CSF in Louisiana, and found that root biomass ranged from 420.8 g m−2 to 1712.2 g m−2 to a soil depth of 30 cm. Root...
Authors
Ken W. Krauss, Jorge A. Villa, Blair A. Miller, Eric J. Ward, Andrew S. From, Gregory B. Noe
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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Science

Riparian Assessment in Orson, Pennsylvania

Chesapeake Stream Team

Connecting Conservation Practices to Local Stream Health in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Chesapeake Stream Team

Chesapeake Stream Team

Connecting Conservation Practices to Local Stream Health in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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In a forest, USGS scientist Zach Clifton stands in a stream and assesses a streambank.

Evaluating the Effects of Stream-Restoration Practices in an Impaired Agricultural System

Stream-restoration practices are widely used throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to improve stream health and function, but research into their effectiveness is limited in agricultural settings. A study in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, suggests that stream-restoration practices can significantly reduce streambank erosion and enhance floodplain deposition, changes that can reduce in-stream...
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Evaluating the Effects of Stream-Restoration Practices in an Impaired Agricultural System

Evaluating the Effects of Stream-Restoration Practices in an Impaired Agricultural System

Stream-restoration practices are widely used throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to improve stream health and function, but research into their effectiveness is limited in agricultural settings. A study in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, suggests that stream-restoration practices can significantly reduce streambank erosion and enhance floodplain deposition, changes that can reduce in-stream...
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Licking Creek, Maryland

The “sediment shadow” in Chesapeake Bay’s tidal freshwater rivers has important implications for restoration

Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts are focused on reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to the estuary. A new synthesis of existing long-term records of suspended-sediment concentrations suggests that only a limited amount of watershed sediment is currently transported by rivers past the tidal freshwater zone and into saltier waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
The “sediment shadow” in Chesapeake Bay’s tidal freshwater rivers has important implications for restoration

The “sediment shadow” in Chesapeake Bay’s tidal freshwater rivers has important implications for restoration

Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts are focused on reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to the estuary. A new synthesis of existing long-term records of suspended-sediment concentrations suggests that only a limited amount of watershed sediment is currently transported by rivers past the tidal freshwater zone and into saltier waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Learn More
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