Diana Carriker

USGS geologists document potential paleoliquefaction features from past seismicity at the southernmost edge of the Central Virginia Seismic Zone. Radiocarbon data suggest these features along Fountain Creek near Skippers, VA may be related to an earthquake that occurred near Petersburg, VA in the late 1700s.

Fountain Creek, Skippers, Virginia

In the sample preperation room, a lab technician weighs sediments samples before placing them in a warming oven to dry.

A lab technician holds up the finished product after processing: an almost pure slide of pollen.

Seen in this image is the acetolysis set up. Acetolysis is used to remove the genetic material from inside the pollen, which allows the scientists to better identify and count the pollen.

This image was taken through the eyepiece of a microscope. Pollen is mixed in with a few larger pieces of organic material.

Scientists look at a pollen palynomorph using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

USGS scientists recently collected peat and lake core samples from the swamp to help reconstruct natural, environmental conditions over the past 12,000 years. 

Centuries of ditching, draining and harvesting resources have greatly altered the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia.