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Publications

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On the causes of mid-Pliocene warmth and polar amplification On the causes of mid-Pliocene warmth and polar amplification

The mid-Pliocene (~ 3 to 3.3 Ma ago), is a period of sustained global warmth in comparison to the late Quaternary (0 to ~ 1 Ma ago), and has potential to inform predictions of long-term future climate change. However, given that several processes potentially contributed, relatively little is understood about the reasons for the observed warmth, or the associated polar amplification. Here...
Authors
Daniel J. Lunt, Alan M. Haywood, Gavin A. Schmidt, Ulrich Salzmann, Paul J. Valdes, Harry J. Dowsett, Claire A. Loptson

The Neoacadian orogenic core of the souther Appalachians: A geo-traverse through the migmatitic inner Piedmont from the Brushy Mountains to Lincolnton, North Carolina The Neoacadian orogenic core of the souther Appalachians: A geo-traverse through the migmatitic inner Piedmont from the Brushy Mountains to Lincolnton, North Carolina

The Inner Piedmont extends from North Carolina to Alabama and comprises the Neoacadian (360–345 Ma) orogenic core of the southern Appalachian orogen. Bordered to west by the Blue Ridge and the exotic Carolina superterrane to the east, the Inner Piedmont is cored by an extensive region of migmatitic, sillimanite-grade rocks. It is a composite of the peri-Laurentian Tugaloo terrane and...
Authors
Arthur J. Merschat, Robert D. Hatcher, Heather E. Byars, G. Williams

Neoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the Jebel Saghro and Bou Azzer - El Graara inliers, eastern and central Anti-Atlas, Morocco Neoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the Jebel Saghro and Bou Azzer - El Graara inliers, eastern and central Anti-Atlas, Morocco

New mapping, geochemistry, and 17 U–Pb SHRIMP zircon ages from rocks of the Sirwa, Bou Azzer–El Graara, and Jebel Saghro inliers constrain the Neoproterozoic evolution of the eastern Anti-Atlas during Pan-African orogenesis. In the Sirwa inlier, Tonian quartzite from the pre Pan-African passive margin deposits of the Mimount Formation contains detrital zircon derived entirely from the...
Authors
Gregory J. Walsh, John N. Aleinikoff, Richard W. Harrison, William C. Burton, James E. Quick, Foudad Benziane, Abdelaziz Yazidi, Abderrahim Saadane

Biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy of the Cambrian-Ordovician great American carbonate bank Biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy of the Cambrian-Ordovician great American carbonate bank

The carbonate strata of the great American carbonate bank (GACB) have been subdivided and correlated with ever-increasing precision and accuracy during the past half century through use of the dominant organisms that evolved on the Laurentian platform through the Cambrian and the Ordovician. Trilobites and conodonts remain the primary groups used for this purpose, although brachiopods...
Authors
John F. Taylor, John E. Repetski, James D. Loch, Stephen A. Leslie

The role of backbarrier infilling in the formation of barrier island systems The role of backbarrier infilling in the formation of barrier island systems

Barrier islands develop through a variety of processes, including spit accretion, barrier elongation, and inlet filling. New geophysical and sedimentological data provide a means of documenting the presence of a paleoinlet within a barrier lithosome in the western Gulf of Maine, illuminating the process of backbarrier infilling and its effect on barrier and tidal inlet morphodynamics...
Authors
Christopher J. Hein, Duncan M. FitzGerald, Emily A. Carruthers, Byron D. Stone, Allen M. Gontz

Was pre–twentieth century sea level stable? Was pre–twentieth century sea level stable?

Sea level rise (SLR) ranks high on the list of climate change issues because the expected acceleration from the current rate (about 3.1 millimeters per year) poses threats to coastal regions. Tide gauge, salt marsh, and archaeological records, and modeling of glacioisostatic adjustment (GIA) have led to the widely accepted idea that late Holocene (the past ∼2000 years) sea level was...
Authors
Thomas M. Cronin

Neither a year nor an annus can be a derived unit in the SI Neither a year nor an annus can be a derived unit in the SI

The year is not a unit of the SI. The only SI unit of measurement for time is the second. The word “annus” or “annum” does not appear anywhere in the current SI document. The word “year” is not in the table of “Non-SI units accepted for use with the International System of Units,” nor in the table of “Non-SI units whose values in SI units must be obtained experimentally,” nor even in the...
Authors
Lucy E. Edwards

The Holocene history of Nares Strait: Transition from glacial bay to Arctic-Atlantic throughflow The Holocene history of Nares Strait: Transition from glacial bay to Arctic-Atlantic throughflow

Retreat of glacier ice from Nares Strait and other straits in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago after the end of the last Ice Age initiated an important connection between the Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans, allowing development of modern ocean circulation in Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. As low-salinity, nutrient-rich Arctic Water began to enter Baffin Bay, it contributed to the...
Authors
Anne E. Jennings, Christina Sheldon, Thomas M. Cronin, Pierre Francus, Joseph Stoner, John Andrews

Surficial geologic map of the Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle, North Carolina Surficial geologic map of the Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle, North Carolina

The Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle is located in southeastern North Carolina between Fayetteville and Wilmington. Most of the area is flat to gently rolling, although steep slopes occur locally along some of the larger streams. Total relief in the area is slightly over 210 feet (ft), with elevations ranging from slightly less than 10 ft above sea level along the Black River (east of...
Authors
Robert E. Weems, William C. Lewis, E. Allen Crider
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