Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Publications
Geologic context of large karst springs and caves in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri
The ONSR is a karst park, containing many springs and caves. The “jewels” of the park are large springs, several of first magnitude, that contribute significantly to the flow and water quality of the Current River and its tributaries. Completion of 1:24,000-scale geologic mapping of the park and surrounding river basin, along with synthesis of...
Weary, David J.; Orndorff, Randall C. Geology and geomorphology of the Carolina Sandhills, Chesterfield County, South Carolina
This two-day field trip focuses on the geology and geomorphology of the Carolina Sandhills in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. This area is located in the updip portion of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain province, supports an ecosystem of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and contains three major geologic map...
Swezey, Christopher S.; Fitzwater, Bradley A.; Whittecar, G. Richard Geology of the Mount Rogers area, revisited: Evidence of Neoproterozoic continental rifting, glaciation, and the opening and closing of the Iapetus ocean, Blue Ridge, VA–NC–TN
Recent field and geochronological studies in eight 7.5-minute quadrangles near Mount Rogers in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee recognize important stratigraphic and structural relationships for the Neoproterozoic Mount Rogers and Konnarock formations, the northeast end of the Mountain City window, the separation of Mesoproterozoic rocks of...
Merschat, Arthur J.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Southworth, C. Scott; Holm-Denoma, Christopher S.; McAleer, Ryan J. Loamy, two-storied soils on the outwash plains of southwestern lower Michigan: Pedoturbation of loess with the underlying sand
Soils on many of the outwash plains in southwestern Michigan have loamy upper profiles, despite being underlain by sand-textured outwash. The origin of this upper, loamy material has long been unknown. The purpose of this study is to analyze the spatio-textural characteristics of these loamy-textured sediments to ascertain their origin(s). The...
Luehmann, Michael D.; Peter, Brad G.; Connallon, Christopher B.; Schaetzl, Randall J.; Smidt, Samuel J.; Liu, Wei; Kincare, Kevin A.; Walkowiak, Toni A.; Thorlund, Elin; Holler, Marie S. Petrology and tectonic history of the Green Bay Schist, Portmore, St. Catherine Parish, Jamaica
There are three occurrences of medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks in Jamaica: amphibolite facies Westphalia Schist, blueschist/greenschist facies Mt. Hibernia Schist, and the hitherto poorly characterized amphibolite facies Green Bay Schist. New trace element data and thermodynamic calculations show that Green Bay Schist is closely related to...
Abbott, Richard N.; West, David P.; Bandy, Betsy R.; McAleer, Ryan J. Structural geology of the Valley and Ridge and Plateaus provinces
The Valley and Ridge physiographic province comprises the area between the Blue Ridge province on the east and the Appalachian Plateau province on the west. The province consists of Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks that were folded and thrust faulted during the Alleghanian orogeny. The Appalachian Plateau province consists of mostly flat...
Evans, Mark A.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Henika, William S. Upper Maastrichtian ammonite biostratigraphy of the Gulf Coastal Plain (Mississippi Embayment, southern USA)
The Cretaceous outcrop belt of the Mississippi Embayment in the Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) spans the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. A detailed reconstruction of this time interval is critical for understanding the nature of biotic and environmental changes preceding the end-Cretaceous Mass Extinction event and for deciphering the likely...
Larina, Ekaterina; Garb, Matthew P.; Landman, Neil H.; Dastas, Natalie; Thibault, Nicolas; Edwards, Lucy E.; Phillips, George; Rovelli, Remy; Myers, Corinne; Naujokaityte, Jone A global planktic foraminifer census data set for the Pliocene ocean
This article presents data derived by the USGS Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) Project. PRISM has generated planktic foraminifer census data from core sites and outcrops around the globe since 1988. These data form the basis of a number of paleoceanographic reconstructions focused on the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (3...
Dowsett, Harry J.; Robinson, Marci M.; Foley, Kevin M. Geomorphology, active tectonics, and landscape evolution in the Mid-Atlantic region: Chapter
In 2014, the geomorphology community marked the 125th birthday of one of its most influential papers, “The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania” by William Morris Davis. Inspired by Davis’s work, the Appalachian landscape rapidly became fertile ground for the development and testing of several grand landscape evolution paradigms, culminating with...
Pazzaglia, Frank J.; Carter, Mark W.; Berti, Claudio; Counts, Ronald C.; Hancock, Gregory S.; Harbor, David; Harrison, Richard W.; Heller, Matthew J.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Malenda, Helen; McKeon, Ryan; Nelson, Michelle S.; Prince, Phillip; Rittenour, Tammy M.; Spotilla, James; Whittecar, G. Richard A semi-automated tool for reducing the creation of false closed depressions from a filled LIDAR-derived digital elevation model
Closed depressions on the land surface can be identified by ‘filling’ a digital elevation model (DEM) and subtracting the filled model from the original DEM. However, automated methods suffer from artificial ‘dams’ where surface streams cross under bridges and through culverts. Removal of these false depressions from an elevation model is...
Wall, John; Doctor, Daniel H.; Terziotti, Silvia Hydrologic and geochemical dynamics of vadose zone recharge in a mantled karst aquifer: Results of monitoring drip waters in Mystery Cave, Minnesota
Caves provide direct access to flows through the vadose zone that recharge karst aquifers. Although many recent studies have documented the highly dynamic processes associated with vadose zone flows in karst settings, few have been conducted in mantled karst settings, such as that of southeastern Minnesota. Here we present some results of a long-...
Doctor, Daniel H.; Alexander, E. Calvin; Jameson, Roy A.; Alexander, Scott C. Karst of the Mid-Atlantic region in Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia
The Mid-Atlantic region hosts some of the most mature karst landscapes in North America, developed in highly deformed rocks within the Piedmont and Valley and Ridge physiographic provinces. This guide describes a three-day excursion to examine karst development in various carbonate rocks by following Interstate 70 west from Baltimore across the...
Brezinski, David K.; Halka, Jeffrey; Ortt, Richard A.; Doctor, Daniel H.; Weary, David J.; Brezinski, David K.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Spangler, Lawrence E.