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Christopher S Swezey, Ph.D.

Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia. I conduct basic geologic mapping and research on stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geomorphology.  At present, this work is focused on Paleozoic basins of the eastern United States, and potential applications for water, energy, and mineral resources. 

Employment

2022-Present: Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia

            - Project Chief, Glaciated Regions Geologic Mapping Project (2022-Present)

2022-2023 (9-month detail assignment): Acting Associate Program Coordinator (Science Lead for EDMAP, Earth MRI, & Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition), National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Reston, Virginia

2018-2022: Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia

            - Project Chief, Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project (2019-2022)

            - Project Chief, Geology of the Appalachian and Illinois Basins (2018-2019)

2009-2018: Research Geologist, USGS Eastern Geology & Paleoclimate Science Center, Reston, Virginia

            - Project Chief, Eastern Coastal Plain Geologic Mapping Project (2017-2018)

            - Associate Project Chief, Eastern Coastal Plain Studies Project (2015-2017)

            - Geologist, Geology of Atlantic Watersheds Project (2009-2015)

2000-2009: Research Geologist, USGS Eastern Energy Resources Team, Reston, Virginia

            - Task Chief, Eastern Oil Shale Assessment (2007-2009)

            - Task Chief, Illinois Basin Oil and Gas Assessment (2005-2009)

            - Task Chief, Michigan Basin Oil and Gas Assessment (2002-2005)

            - Geologist, Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Assessment (2000-2002)

1997-2000: Geologist, BP Exploration (Gulf of Mexico), Houston, Texas

1996-1997: Research Assistant, Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas

1988-1992: Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, The University of Texas at Austin

1987-1988: Physical Science Technician, USGS Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy, Menlo Park, California

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. (1997) - Geology, The University of Texas at Austin. Dissertation: Climatic and Tectonic Controls on Quaternary Eolian Sedimentary Sequences of the Chott Rharsa Basin, Southern Tunisia

  • M.A. (1991) - Geology, The University of Texas at Austin.  Thesis: Description and Interpretation of the Jurassic J-2 Unconformity of the Western Interior (U.S.A.)  

  • B.S. (1987) - Geology, French (double major), Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

    Université de Paris VII (1985-1986), Paris, France

    St. Christopher’s High School (1983), Richmond, Virginia

Honors and Awards

  • 2018  Fellow of the Geological Society of America

  • 2008  American Association of Petroleum Geologists George V. Cohee Public Service Award

  • 1995  Chateaubriand Scholarship, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

  • 1992-1993  J. William Fulbright Scholarship, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

  • 1992  Smithsonian Institution Fellowship, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC

  • 1987  T.V. Laska Award, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (Most outstanding undergraduate senior in geology)

Science and Products

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Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Task 4 Image

Task 4-Synthesis of Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy

The objective of Task 4 is to develop an improved understanding of the lithostratigraphic framework of the Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basins, with specific emphasis on how the lithologic characteristics of strata that accumulate in a sedimentary basin have been controlled by variations in tectonics, sea level, and climate. The resulting improved understanding of stratigraphy will aid...
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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Task 4-Synthesis of Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy

The objective of Task 4 is to develop an improved understanding of the lithostratigraphic framework of the Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basins, with specific emphasis on how the lithologic characteristics of strata that accumulate in a sedimentary basin have been controlled by variations in tectonics, sea level, and climate. The resulting improved understanding of stratigraphy will aid...
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Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Overview Photo

Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project

Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project

Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project
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Geologic map of the Middendorf quadrangle, Chesterfield County, South Carolina

The Middendorf 7.5-minute quadrangle is located entirely within the Carolina Sandhills region of the upper Atlantic Coastal Plain province in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The Carolina Sandhills, which has been recognized as a separate region for a long time (e.g., McGee, 1890, 1891; Holmes, 1893), extends from central North Carolina across South Carolina to the western border of Georgia al
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

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

IntroductionThis 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 (lidar) el
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Image: USGS Scientist at Work
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Image: House Damage from 2011 Central Virginia Earthquake<br />
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Image: House Damage from 2011 Central Virginia Earthquake<br />
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Image: House Damage from 2011 Central Virginia Earthquake<br />
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Image: House Damage from 2011 Central Virginia Earthquake<br />
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Filter Total Items: 34

The EDMAP Program: Training the next generation of geologic mappers

Introduction Detailed geologic maps are the basis of most earth science investigations and can be used for natural hazard mitigation, resource identification and exploration, infrastructure planning, and more. As a part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) congressionally mandated National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), the EDMAP program (referred to as EDMAP) is a partnership betwe
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Energy Resources Program, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Implementation plan of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program strategy—Great Lakes (Central Lowland and Superior Upland Physiographic Provinces)

IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) has published a strategic plan entitled “Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge”. This plan provides the following vision, mission, and goals for the program for the years 2020–30:Vision: create an integrated, thr
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Energy Resources Program, Central Energy Resources Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Environmental data associated with sites infected with white-nose syndrome (WNS) before October 2011 in North America

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging infectious disease of hibernating bats caused by a fungus previously known as Geomyces destructans and reclassified as Pseudogymnoascus destructans. The disease was first documented in 2006 in New York, has since spread across much of eastern North America, and as of January 2012, had caused the death of at least 5.7 to 6.7 million bats. Previous studies ha
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves

The Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) are located in a hill named Cave Knob that overlooks the South Branch of the Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia (U.S.A). The geologic structure of this hill is a northeasttrending anticline, and the caves are located at different elevations primarily along the contact between the Devonian New Creek Limestone (Helderberg
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Foreward: Geology Field Trips in and around the U.S. Capital

The first annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) was held in 1888 in Ithaca, New York (Fairchild, 1932), but official Sections of GSA formed much later. During the spring of 1949, a symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on mineral resources of the southeastern United States became the catalyst for the creation of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America (King,
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Quaternary eolian sediments and Carolina Bays of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain province

Under modern conditions, the Atlantic Coastal Plain province of the eastern United States is not very conducive to widespread eolian sediment mobilization because of a humid and mesothermal climate, relatively low mean surface wind velocities (~1–3 m/sec), and relatively dense vegetation. LiDAR data, however, have revealed the presence of widespread eolian dunes and sand sheets (now covered by ve
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Quaternary eolian dunes and sand sheets in inland locations of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province, USA

Quaternary eolian dunes and sand sheets that are stabilized by vegetation are present throughout many inland locations of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province (USA). These locations include river valleys, the Carolina Sandhills region, adjacent to Carolina Bays, and upland areas of the northern coastal plain. The eolian dunes are primarily parabolic in river valleys and in upland areas of the north
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

A brief geological history of Cockspur Island at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Chatham County, Georgia

Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island in Chatham County, Georgia, within the Atlantic Coastal Plain province. The island lies near the mouth of the Savannah River, and consists of small mounds (hummocks), salt marshes, and sediment dredged from the river. A 1,017-foot (ft) (310-meter [m])-deep core drilled at Cockspur Island in 2010 by the U.S. Geological Survey revealed sev
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Geologic controls on cave development in Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia

Burnsville Cove in Bath and Highland Counties (Virginia, USA) is a karst region in the Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachian Mountains. The region contains many caves in Silurian to Devonian limestone, and is well suited for examining geologic controls on cave location and cave passage morphology. In Burnsville Cove, many caves are located preferentially near the axes of synclines and antic
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

The Carolina Sandhills: Quaternary eolian sand sheets and dunes along the updip margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, southeastern United States

The Carolina Sandhills is a physiographic region of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province in the southeastern United States. In Chesterfield County (South Carolina), the surficial sand of this region is the Pinehurst Formation, which is interpreted as eolian sand derived from the underlying Cretaceous Middendorf Formation. This sand has yielded three clusters of optically stimulated luminescence age
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Total Petroleum Systems of the Michigan Basin—Petroleum geology and geochemistry and assessment of undiscovered resources

[None available]
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Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Geology and geomorphology of the Carolina Sandhills, Chesterfield County, South Carolina

This two-day field trip focuses on the geology and geomorphology of the Carolina Sandhills in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. This area is located in the updip portion of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain province, supports an ecosystem of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and contains three major geologic map units: (1) An ~60–120-m-thick unit of weakly consolid
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Swezey, C., 1999, A very old Sahara: Science, v. 286, no. 5438, p. 243.
Swezey, C.S., 1999, The lifespan of the Complexe Terminal Aquifer, Algerian-Tunisian Sahara: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 28, no. 3, p. 751-756.
Swezey, C., Lancaster, N., Kocurek, G., Deynoux, M., Blum, M., Price, D., and Pion, J.-C., 1999, Response of aeolian systems to Holocene climatic and hydrologic changes on the northern margin of the Sahara: A high-resolution record from the Chott Rharsa basin, Tunisia: The Holocene, v. 9, no. 2, p. 141-147.
Swezey, C., 1998, The identification of eolian sands and sandstones: Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences [France], serie IIa, v. 327, no. 8, p. 513-518.
Swezey, C.S., 1997, Climatic and Tectonic Controls on Quaternary Eolian Sedimentary Sequences of the Chott Rharsa Basin, Southern Tunisia (Doctoral dissertation). https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/61424
Swezey, C., Deynoux, M., and Jeannette, D., 1996, Sandstone depositional environments of the Upper Permian Champenay Formation, Champenay Basin, northeast France: Sedimentary Geology, v. 105, nos. 1-2, p. 91-103.
Swezey, C.S., 1996, Structural controls on Quaternary depocentres within the Chotts Trough region of southern Tunisia: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 22, no. 3, p. 335-347.
Swezey, C.S., 1991, A review of changes in the geomorphology and hydrology of Waller Creek (Austin, Texas) as a result of urban development: The Texas Journal of Science, v. 43, no. 3, p. 315-323.
Swezey, C.S., 1991, Description and Interpretation of the Jurassic J-2 Unconformity of the Western Interior (U.S.A.) (Master's thesis). https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/19402

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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