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
USGS Scientists Help Address Conflict Mining
USGS Scientists Help Address Conflict Mining
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.
Mid-Atlantic Stream & Sediment Science
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.
Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Forests
Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Forests
FBGC scientists Miriam Jones and Lynn Wingard were recently interviewed by NPR regarding climate change and mangrove forests.
Publications
Cyanobacteria and aquatic ecosystem dynamics across 28,000 years of environmental changes in subtropical North America Cyanobacteria and aquatic ecosystem dynamics across 28,000 years of environmental changes in subtropical North America
Ecological pressures on aquatic ecosystems have increased over recent centuries due to human activities and climate change. However, contextualizing ecosystem deterioration is often challenging due to limited knowledge of environmental changes over millennial timescales. Subtropical Carolina bays in North Carolina, USA, have remained unglaciated, preserving paleolimnological records that...
Abandonment of the Upper Devonian Greenland Gap Group and Scherr Formation and revision of the Upper Devonian Brallier and Foreknobs Formations in the central Valley and Ridge Province Abandonment of the Upper Devonian Greenland Gap Group and Scherr Formation and revision of the Upper Devonian Brallier and Foreknobs Formations in the central Valley and Ridge Province
This study revises the lithostratigraphic framework of the Upper Devonian interval traditionally assigned to the Greenland Gap Group across the central Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province. The work aims to modernize and standardize lithostratigraphic nomenclature, establish a new reference section and demonstrate how the revised stratigraphy improves edge-matching of 1:24,000 scale...
Terrestrial ecosystem response to changing temperature and seasonality in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Shallow marine records from the Salisbury Embayment, USA Terrestrial ecosystem response to changing temperature and seasonality in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Shallow marine records from the Salisbury Embayment, USA
The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM, ∼56 Ma) is marked by a massive and rapid rise in atmospheric CO2 and ∼5°C of global warming. It is globally characterized by a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE), and, at least locally, is preceded by a pre-onset excursion (POE). We present palynological and bioclimatic analyses from stratigraphically expanded marginal marine sediment...
Science
Paleoscience for Partners: Reconstructing the Past to Prepare for the Future
Scientists from the USGS Ecosystems Land Change Science Program are at the forefront of unraveling mysteries of the past to help partners prepare for future environmental conditions.
Coastal Wetland Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Understanding Ecological Thresholds and Ecosystem Transformations
Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.
By
California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Quaternary Geologic Mapping of the Glaciated Regions Project
Quaternary Geologic Mapping of the Glaciated Regions Project