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Lucy Edwards

Lucy Edwards is a Scientist Emeritus at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.

Lucy E Edwards focuses her research on the stratigraphy of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. Her specialty is dinoflagellates (a type of algae), and she studies their fossil cysts for what they reveal about the time and environment of deposition and how they came to be preserved in the fossil record. She also specializes in stratigraphic nomenclature and methods of stratigraphic correlation.

 

Mentorship/Outreach

  • Courses taught at George Washington University, Indiana University, University of Kansas, University of Oslo, George Mason University, Türkiye Petrolleri AO.

Professional Experience

  • 1974, 1975 (summers)              Biostratigrapher, Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, TX

  • 1977-2018                               Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

  • 2018-present                           Scientist Emerita, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Education and Certifications

  • B.A. (Honors College), 1972, Geology, University of Oregon

  • Ph. D., 1977, Geological Sciences, University of California, Riverside

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • American Association for Advancement of Science (Fellow)

  • Geological Society of America (Fellow)

  • North American Micropaleontology Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology

  • The Paleontological Society (Fellow)

  • The Palynological Society

  • American Geophysical Union

  • USGS representative to North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature

Science and Products

Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina

Introduction This publication portrays the geology of the Hardeeville NW quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland quadrangles that are within Jasper County, South Carolina. The study area is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, approximately 50 to 70 kilometers (km) inland from the coast. The data are compiled from geological field mapping, light detection and ranging...
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geologic map of the Fredericksburg 30' x 60' quadrangle, Virginia and Maryland Geologic map of the Fredericksburg 30' x 60' quadrangle, Virginia and Maryland

No abstract available.
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geologic section of the updip coastal plain from central Georgia to western South Carolina Geologic section of the updip coastal plain from central Georgia to western South Carolina

No abstract available.
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.

By
Ecosystems, Communications and Publishing
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.

By
Ecosystems, Communications and Publishing
Filter Total Items: 105

The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch

Over the course of the last decade the concept of the Anthropocene has become widely established within and beyond the geoscientific literature but its boundaries remain undefined. Formal definition of the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch following the Holocene, at a fixed horizon and with a precise global start date, has been proposed, but fails...
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Michael Walker, Andrew Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, Lucy Edwards, Erle Ellis, Stanley Finney, Jacqueline Gill, Mark Maslin, Dorothy Merritts, William Ruddiman
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch

The Anthropocene has yet to be defined in a way that is functional both to the international geological community and to the broader fields of environmental and social sciences. Formally defining the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch with a precise global start date would drastically reduce the Anthropocene’s utility across disciplines. Instead, we...
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Andrew Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, William Ruddiman, Jacquelyn Gill, Dorothy Merritts, Stanley Finney, Lucy Edwards, Michael Walker, Mark Maslin, Erle Ellis
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs

At the 75th Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 22 October, 2020, in connection with GSA 2020 Connects Online, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Articles 73, 81 and 82 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005 with subsequent updates), and concomitant changes...
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard Fluegeman, Lucy Edwards, Brian Pratt, Carlton Brett
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017 North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017

NACSN (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature) Note 70 is a summary of the activities of the Commission from October 2014-October 2017. This note is condensed from the minutes of the 69th through the 72nd meetings of the NACSN held in conjunction with the Annual Meetings of the Geological Society of America. The 69th meeting of the NACSN was held October 20, 2014, in...
Authors
Richard Fluegeman, Carlton Brett, Frank Brunton, Lucy Edwards, Howard Harper
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code

Consistency in stratigraphic nomenclature enables communication among scientists both regionally and globally, thus requiring the North American Stratigraphic Code, as presented by the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, to follow international convention. The ratification of three subseries of the Holocene by the InternationalUnion of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in...
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard Fluegeman, Lucy Edwards, Brian Pratt, Carlton Brett
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras

Introduction The Atlantic Coastal Plain, the southeasternmost physiographic province in the United States, is underlain by strata that regionally dip gently eastward and gradually thicken toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. These strata, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Holocene, accumulated along the eastern margin of North America after the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea...
Authors
Robert Weems, Jean Self-Trail, Lucy Edwards
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target

The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure was formed in a multilayered target of seawater underlain sequentially by a sediment layer and a rock layer in a continental-shelf environment. Impact effects in the “brim” (annular trough) surrounding and adjacent to the transient crater, between the transient crater rim and the outer margin, primarily were limited to the target-sediment...
Authors
Henning Dypvik, Gregory Gohn, Lucy Edwards, J. Wright Horton,, David Powars, Ronald Litwin
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont

The Fall Line (formally "Tidewater Fall Line") separates the more resistant igneous, metamorphic, and consolidated sedimentary rocks of the Piedmont from the typically unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Widespread but now discontinuous patches of a deeply weathered sand and gravel are found west of the Fall Line, capping the highest hilltops. Near the community of...
Authors
Lucy Edwards, Robert Weems, Mark Carter, David Spears, David Powars
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain

We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and...
Authors
James Witts, Neil Landman, Matthew Garb, Caitlin Boas, Ekaterina Larina, Remy Rovelli, Lucy Edwards, Robert Sherrell, J. Cochran
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a nearshore shallow marine (30–100 m water depth) site in the...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Marci Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn Sessa, Elizabeth Hajek, Lee Kump, Sheila Trampush, Debra Willard, Lucy Edwards, David Powars, Gregory Wandless
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code

At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions of this Article. An application for...
Authors
Robert Easton, Lucy Edwards, Randall Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia

The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units lies the marginal marine to deltaic Pleistocene...
Authors
Robert Weems, Lucy Edwards, Bryan Landacre
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Science and Products

Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina

Introduction This publication portrays the geology of the Hardeeville NW quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland quadrangles that are within Jasper County, South Carolina. The study area is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, approximately 50 to 70 kilometers (km) inland from the coast. The data are compiled from geological field mapping, light detection and ranging...
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geologic map of the Fredericksburg 30' x 60' quadrangle, Virginia and Maryland Geologic map of the Fredericksburg 30' x 60' quadrangle, Virginia and Maryland

No abstract available.
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geologic section of the updip coastal plain from central Georgia to western South Carolina Geologic section of the updip coastal plain from central Georgia to western South Carolina

No abstract available.
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.

By
Ecosystems, Communications and Publishing
Image: Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond

Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.

By
Ecosystems, Communications and Publishing
Filter Total Items: 105

The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch

Over the course of the last decade the concept of the Anthropocene has become widely established within and beyond the geoscientific literature but its boundaries remain undefined. Formal definition of the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch following the Holocene, at a fixed horizon and with a precise global start date, has been proposed, but fails...
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Michael Walker, Andrew Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, Lucy Edwards, Erle Ellis, Stanley Finney, Jacqueline Gill, Mark Maslin, Dorothy Merritts, William Ruddiman
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch

The Anthropocene has yet to be defined in a way that is functional both to the international geological community and to the broader fields of environmental and social sciences. Formally defining the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch with a precise global start date would drastically reduce the Anthropocene’s utility across disciplines. Instead, we...
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Andrew Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, William Ruddiman, Jacquelyn Gill, Dorothy Merritts, Stanley Finney, Lucy Edwards, Michael Walker, Mark Maslin, Erle Ellis
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs

At the 75th Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 22 October, 2020, in connection with GSA 2020 Connects Online, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Articles 73, 81 and 82 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005 with subsequent updates), and concomitant changes...
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard Fluegeman, Lucy Edwards, Brian Pratt, Carlton Brett
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017 North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017

NACSN (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature) Note 70 is a summary of the activities of the Commission from October 2014-October 2017. This note is condensed from the minutes of the 69th through the 72nd meetings of the NACSN held in conjunction with the Annual Meetings of the Geological Society of America. The 69th meeting of the NACSN was held October 20, 2014, in...
Authors
Richard Fluegeman, Carlton Brett, Frank Brunton, Lucy Edwards, Howard Harper
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code

Consistency in stratigraphic nomenclature enables communication among scientists both regionally and globally, thus requiring the North American Stratigraphic Code, as presented by the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, to follow international convention. The ratification of three subseries of the Holocene by the InternationalUnion of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in...
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard Fluegeman, Lucy Edwards, Brian Pratt, Carlton Brett
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras

Introduction The Atlantic Coastal Plain, the southeasternmost physiographic province in the United States, is underlain by strata that regionally dip gently eastward and gradually thicken toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. These strata, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Holocene, accumulated along the eastern margin of North America after the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea...
Authors
Robert Weems, Jean Self-Trail, Lucy Edwards
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target

The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure was formed in a multilayered target of seawater underlain sequentially by a sediment layer and a rock layer in a continental-shelf environment. Impact effects in the “brim” (annular trough) surrounding and adjacent to the transient crater, between the transient crater rim and the outer margin, primarily were limited to the target-sediment...
Authors
Henning Dypvik, Gregory Gohn, Lucy Edwards, J. Wright Horton,, David Powars, Ronald Litwin
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont

The Fall Line (formally "Tidewater Fall Line") separates the more resistant igneous, metamorphic, and consolidated sedimentary rocks of the Piedmont from the typically unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Widespread but now discontinuous patches of a deeply weathered sand and gravel are found west of the Fall Line, capping the highest hilltops. Near the community of...
Authors
Lucy Edwards, Robert Weems, Mark Carter, David Spears, David Powars
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain

We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and...
Authors
James Witts, Neil Landman, Matthew Garb, Caitlin Boas, Ekaterina Larina, Remy Rovelli, Lucy Edwards, Robert Sherrell, J. Cochran
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a nearshore shallow marine (30–100 m water depth) site in the...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Marci Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn Sessa, Elizabeth Hajek, Lee Kump, Sheila Trampush, Debra Willard, Lucy Edwards, David Powars, Gregory Wandless
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code

At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions of this Article. An application for...
Authors
Robert Easton, Lucy Edwards, Randall Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia

The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units lies the marginal marine to deltaic Pleistocene...
Authors
Robert Weems, Lucy Edwards, Bryan Landacre
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government

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