Arthur Merschat
Biography
I have worked for the USGS from 2006 until present, a period that includes a SCEP appointment during my Ph.D., and as a Research Geologist (2009–present). My research is focused on (1) the structure and tectonics of the Appalachian orogen; (2) the provenance of the different crystalline terranes of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont; and (3) the thermochronologic evolution of the orogen. I have integrated geologic mapping, structural analysis, SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology, petrology, and geochemistry into my research. Currently, I am involved with bedrock geologic mapping projects in the Blue Ridge — Mount Rogers area, VA–NC–TN, and Roan Mountain, NC–TN — and in New England — southwest NH and parts of VT.
Science and Products
Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont Geologic Mapping
The Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont Geologic Mapping Task (BRIP) is the western focus of geologic mapping and framework studies of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project. BRIP will conduct modern geologic mapping and geologic framework studies in the Wytheville, Hickory and Boone 30x60-min. sheets. Collectively, the objectives of BRIP are to (1) characterize the geologic framework of the Blue Ridge...
Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project
The Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project is a geologic mapping project supported by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. The Piedmont Blue Ridge Project aims to understand the geologic framework and tectonic evolution of terranes and basins in the Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge, and their significance for water, mineral and energy resources, natural hazards, and engineering/...
Bedrock geologic map of the Springfield 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Windsor County, Vermont, and Sullivan County, New Hampshire
The bedrock geology of the 7.5- by 15-minute Springfield quadrangle consists of highly deformed and metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic through Devonian metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks. In the west, Mesoproterozoic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex are the oldest rocks and form the eastern side of the Chester dome. The Moretown slice...
Walsh, Gregory; Valley, Peter M.; Armstrong, Thomas R.; Ratcliffe, Nicholas M.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Gentry, Beau J.
Photoluminescence imaging of whole zircon grains on a petrographic microscope—An underused aide for geochronologic studies
The refractory nature of zircon to temperature and pressure allows even a single zircon grain to preserve a rich history of magmatic, metamorphic, and hydrothermal processes. Isotopic dating of micro-domains exposed in cross-sections of zircon grains allows us to interrogate this history. Unfortunately, our ability to select the zircon grains in a...
McAleer, Ryan J.; Jubb, Aaron M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Walsh, Gregory; Merschat, Arthur J.; Regan, Sean P.; Burton, William C.; Vazquez, Jorge A. Geochronology of the Oliverian Plutonic Suite and the Ammonoosuc Volcanics in the Bronson Hill arc: Western New Hampshire, USA
U-Pb zircon geochronology by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe–reverse geometry (SHRIMP-RG) on 11 plutonic rocks and two volcanic rocks from the Bronson Hill arc in western New Hampshire yielded Early to Late Ordovician ages ranging from 475 to 445 Ma. Ages from Oliverian Plutonic Suite rocks that intrude a largely mafic lower section of...
Valley, Peter M.; Walsh, Gregory; Merschat, Arthur J.; McAleer, Ryan J. Linkages and feedbacks in orogenic systems: An introduction
Orogenic processes operate at scales ranging from the lithosphere to grain-scale, and are inexorably linked. For example, in many orogens, fault and shear zone architecture controls distribution of heat advection along faults and also acts as the primary mechanism for redistribution of heat-producing material. This sets up the thermal structure of...
Thigpen, J. Ryan; Law, Richard D.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Stowell, Harold Temporal and spatial distribution of Paleozoic metamorphism in the southern Appalachian Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont delimited by ion microprobe U-Pb ages of metamorphic zircon
Ion microprobe U-Pb zircon rim ages from 39 samples from across the accreted terranes of the central Blue Ridge, eastward across the Inner Piedmont, delimit the timing and spatial extent of superposed metamorphism in the southern Appalachian orogen. Metamorphic zircon rims are 10–40 µm wide, mostly unzoned, and dark gray to black or bright white...
Merschat, Arthur J.; Bream, Brendan R.; Huebner, Matthew T.; Hatcher, Robert D.; Miller, Calvin F. Confirmation of the southwest continuation of the Cat Square terrane, southern Appalachian Inner Piedmont, with implications for middle Paleozoic collisional orogenesis
Detailed geologic mapping, U-Pb zircon geochronology and whole-rock geochemical analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that the southwestern extent of the Cat Square terrane continues from the northern Inner Piedmont (western Carolinas) into central Georgia. Geologic mapping revealed the Jackson Lake fault, a ∼15 m-thick, steeply dipping...
Huebner, Matthew T.; Hatcher, Robert D.; Merschat, Arthur J. Geology along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia
Detailed geologic mapping and new SHRIMP (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe) U-Pb zircon, Ar/Ar, Lu-Hf, 14C, luminescence (optically stimulated), thermochronology (fission-track), and palynology reveal the complex Mesoproterozoic to Quaternary geology along the ~350 km length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Traversing the...
Carter, Mark W.; Southworth, C. Scott; Tollo, Richard P.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Wagner, Sara; Lazor, Ava; Aleinikoff, John N. Linking the Central and Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge: What We Know and Don’t Know about Stratigraphy, Structure, Tectonism, and Regional Correlation in the Eastern Blue Ridge of Virginia
The transition from Neoproterozoic Lynchburg Group rocks on the eastern limb of the para-autochthonous Blue Ridge anticlinorium in central Virginia to the fault-bounded Ashe Formation and Alligator Back Formation in southern Virginia has been a source of intense debate and speculation for decades. There are fundamental differences in the...
Carter, Mark W.; Merschat, Arthur J. Metaultramafic schists and dismembered ophiolites of the Ashe Metamorphic Suite of northwestern North Carolina, USA
Metaultramafic rocks (MUR) in the Ashe Metamorphic Suite (AMS) of northwestern North Carolina include quartz ± feldspar-bearing QF-amphibolites and quartz-deficient, locally talc-, chlorite-, and/or Mg-amphibole-bearing TC-amphibolites. Some workers divide TC-amphibolites into Todd and Edmonds types, based on mineral and geochemical differences,...
Raymond, Loren A.; Merschat, Arthur J.; Vance, R. Kelly 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.
Bedrock geologic map of the Worcester South quadrangle, Worcester County, Massachusetts
The bedrock geology of the 7.5-minute Worcester South quadrangle, Massachusetts, consists of deformed Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic crystalline metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks in three fault-bounded terranes (zones), including the Avalon, Nashoba, and Merrimack zones (Zen and others, 1983). This quadrangle spans the easternmost occurrence of...
Walsh, Gregory; Merschat, Arthur J. Stratigraphy, structure and regional correlation of eastern Blue Ridge sequences in southern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina: an interim report from new USGS mapping
Examination of key outcrops in the eastern Blue Ridge in southern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina is used to evaluate existing stratigraphic and structural models. Recent detailed mapping along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the eastern flank of the Mount Rogers massif provides the opportunity to (1) evaluate legacy data and interpretations...
Carter, Mark W.; Merschat, Arthur J.