Arthur Merschat
Arthur Merschat is a Research Geologist at the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
"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
Geology along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia
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
Metaultramafic schists and dismembered ophiolites of the Ashe Metamorphic Suite of northwestern North Carolina, USA
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 the Blue Ridge into three age groups, and timing an
Stratigraphy, structure and regional correlation of eastern Blue Ridge sequences in southern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina: an interim report from new USGS mapping
Implications for late Grenvillian (Rigolet phase) construction of Rodinia using new U-Pb data from the Mars Hill terrane, Tennessee and North Carolina, United States
The Neoacadian orogenic core of the souther Appalachians: A geo-traverse through the migmatitic inner Piedmont from the Brushy Mountains to Lincolnton, North Carolina
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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 boundary of the central and southern Appalachians, rocks alongAuthorsMark W. Carter, C. Scott Southworth, Richard P. Tollo, Arthur J. Merschat, Sara Wagner, Ava Lazor, John N. AleinikoffLinking 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 tectonogenetic interpretation for these rock packages, despAuthorsMark W. Carter, Arthur J. MerschatMetaultramafic 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, and we provisionally add a third type – olivine ± pyAuthorsLoren A. Raymond, Arthur J. Merschat, R. Kelly VanceGeology 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 the Blue Ridge into three age groups, and timing an
AuthorsArthur J. Merschat, C. Scott Southworth, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Ryan J. McAleerStratigraphy, 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 and (2) formulate new ideas for regional correlationAuthorsMark W. Carter, Arthur J. MerschatImplications for late Grenvillian (Rigolet phase) construction of Rodinia using new U-Pb data from the Mars Hill terrane, Tennessee and North Carolina, United States
New data for zircon (external morphology, cathodoluminescence zoning, and sensitive high resolution ion microprobe [SHRIMP] U-Pb ages) from the Carvers Gap granulite gneiss of the Mars Hill terrane (Tennessee and North Carolina, United States) require reevaluation of interpretations of the age and origin of this rock. The new results indicate that the zircon is detrital and that the sedimentary prAuthorsJohn N. Aleinikoff, Scott Southworth, Arthur J. MerschatThe 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 mixed LaurentAuthorsArthur J. Merschat, Robert D. Hatcher, Heather E. Byars, G. Williams