J. Wright Horton, Jr., Ph.D.
Wright is an emeritus Research Geologist in the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center. He has decades of experience in southern and central Appalachian geology, served as co-leader and leader of the USGS Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Project, is involved in eastern U.S. earthquake studies, and explores terranes and basins beneath the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
Research Interests
Structural geology and tectonics, metamorphic and igneous rocks, impact craters and crater materials, fault zones and fault rocks, Southern and Central Appalachian regional geology and tectonics, pre-Cretaceous terranes and basins beneath the Atlantic Coastal Plain, significance of Mineral, Virginia, earthquake for understanding intraplate earthquakes in eastern North America, geologic mapping, hydrogeology, scientific drilling, geologic interpretation of potential-field geophysics, and multidisciplinary collaborations.
Projects
- Project Leader, USGS Coastal Basement Geology of the Southeastern U.S. Project. 2018-2020
- Task Leader, Central Virginia Seismic Zone Overview and Synthesis task of USGS Geologic Framework for Seismic Hazards in Central Virginia and the Eastern U.S. Project, 2014–2018
- Coastal Basement Task Leader, USGS Geology of Atlantic Watersheds Project, 2008–2014
- Project Leader (2007–2008) and Co-leader (2004–2007), USGS Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Project
- Cooperating Principal Investigator, ICDP-USGS Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project, 2004–2009
- Co-leader, Crater Materials Science Team, ICDP-USGS Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project, 2004–2009
- Task Co-leader, USGS Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Project, 2000–2004
- Task Co-leader, Hydrogeologic framework of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge, North Carolina task of USGS Bedrock Regional Aquifer Systematics Study (BRASS) Project, 2000–2005
- Staff Scientist, USGS Office of Eastern Regional Geology (2002)
- Task Leader, Geology of the Washington-Baltimore Urban Area task of USGS Appalachian Regional Geology and Hydrology Project, 1998–2002
- Project Chief, USGS Geology of the Mid-Atlantic Urban Corridor (GOMAC) Project, 1995–98
- Project Chief, USGS Geology of the South-Central Virginia Piedmont Project, 1991–95
- Assistant Branch Chief, USGS Branch of Eastern Regional Geology, 1984–85
- Project Chief, USGS Raleigh Belt and Eastern Slate Belt Project, 1983–91
- Geologic mapping, USGS projects in Charlotte (NC-SC) and Greenville (SC-GA) 1° × 2° quadrangles, 1980-89
Professional Experience
Scientist Emeritus, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, USGS, Reston, VA, 2020-present
Research Geologist, USGS, Reston, VA, 1980–2020
National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at USGS, Reston, VA, 1978–80
Assistant Professor of Geology, Univ. Southern Maine, 1977–78
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Geology), 1977
M.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Geology), 1974
B.S., Furman University (Geology), 1972
Affiliations and Memberships*
AAAS, Am. Geophysical Union, Carolina Geol. Soc. (President, 1981–82)
Geol. Soc. America (Fellow)
Geol. Soc. Washington (Councilor, 2009–10)
Meteoritical Soc.
SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology)
Sigma Xi
Science and Products
Silicate glasses and sulfide melts in the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA
Evolution of crystalline target rocks and impactites in the chesapeake bay impact structure, ICDP-USGS eyreville B core
Petrographic and geochemical comparisons between the lower crystalline basement-derived section and the granite megablock and amphibolite megablock of the Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA
Pre-impact tectonothermal evolution of the crystalline basement-derived rocks in the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure
Geologic columns for the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure: Impactites and crystalline rocks, 1766 to 1096 m depth
High-resolution seismic-reflection images across the ICDP-USGS Eyreville deep drilling site, Chesapeake Bay impact structure
Deep drilling into the Chesapeake Bay impact structure
Anatomy of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure revealed by seismic imaging, Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, USA
Site Report for USGS Test Holes Drilled at Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia, in 2004
Origin and emplacement of impactites in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA
Northward extension of Carolina slate belt stratigraphy and structure, South-Central Virginia: Results from geologic mapping
Studies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure - Introduction and discussion
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 84
Silicate glasses and sulfide melts in the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA
Optical and electron-beam petrography of melt-rich suevite and melt-rock clasts from selected samples from the Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, reveal a variety of silicate glasses and coexisting sulfur-rich melts, now quenched to various sulfi de minerals (??iron). The glasses show a wide variety of textures, fl ow banding, compositions, devitrifi cation, and hydration states. EAuthorsH. E. Belkin, J. Wright HortonEvolution of crystalline target rocks and impactites in the chesapeake bay impact structure, ICDP-USGS eyreville B core
The 1766-m-deep Eyreville B core from the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure includes, in ascending order, a lower basement-derived section of schist and pegmatitic granite with impact breccia dikes, polymict impact breccias, and cataclas tic gneiss blocks overlain by suevites and clast-rich impact melt rocks, sand with an amphibolite block and lithic boulders, and a 275-m-thick granite sAuthorsJ. Wright Horton, Michael J. Kunk, Harvey E. Belkin, John N. Aleinikoff, John C. Jackson, I.-Ming ChouPetrographic and geochemical comparisons between the lower crystalline basement-derived section and the granite megablock and amphibolite megablock of the Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA
The Eyreville B core from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA, contains a lower basement-derived section (1551.19 m to 1766.32 m deep) and two megablocks of dominantly (1) amphibolite (1376.38 m to 1389.35 m deep) and (2) granite (1095.74 m to 1371.11 m deep), which are separated by an impactite succession. Metasedimentary rocks (muscovite-quartz-plagioclase-biotite-graphite ?? fibrAuthorsG.N. Townsend, R.L. Gibson, J. Wright Horton, W.U. Reimold, R.T. Schmitt, K. BartosovaPre-impact tectonothermal evolution of the crystalline basement-derived rocks in the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure
Pre-impact crystalline rocks of the lowermost 215 m of the Eyreville B drill core from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure consist of a sequence of pelitic mica schists with subsidiary metagraywackes or felsic metavolcanic rocks, amphibolite, and calc-silicate rock that is intruded by muscovite (??biotite, garnet) granite and granite pegmatite. The schists are commonly graphitic and pyritic and loAuthorsR.L. Gibson, G.N. Townsend, J. Wright Horton, W.U. ReimoldGeologic columns for the ICDP-USGS Eyreville B core, Chesapeake Bay impact structure: Impactites and crystalline rocks, 1766 to 1096 m depth
The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Eyreville drill cores from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure provide one of the most complete geologic sections ever obtained from an impact structure. This paper presents a series of geologic columns and descriptive lithologic information for the lower impactite and crystalline-rock sections in the coAuthorsJ. Wright Horton, R.L. Gibson, W.U. Reimold, A. Wittmann, Gregory Gohn, Lucy E. EdwardsHigh-resolution seismic-reflection images across the ICDP-USGS Eyreville deep drilling site, Chesapeake Bay impact structure
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) acquired two 1.4-km-long, high-resolution (~5 m vertical resolution) seismic-reflection lines in 2006 that cross near the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)-USGS Eyreville deep drilling site located above the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure in Virginia, USA. Five-meter spacing of seismic sources and geophones produced high-resAuthorsDavid S. Powars, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Gregory S. Gohn, J. Wright Horton, Lucy E. Edwards, Michael J. Rymer, Gini GandhokDeep drilling into the Chesapeake Bay impact structure
Samples from a 1.76-kilometer-deep corehole drilled near the center of the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure (Virginia, USA) reveal its geologic, hydrologic, and biologic history. We conducted stratigraphic and petrologic analyses of the cores to elucidate the timing and results of impact-melt creation and distribution, transient-cavity collapse, and ocean-water resurge. Comparison of poAuthorsG. S. Gohn, C. Koeberl, K.G. Miller, W.U. Reimold, J.V. Browning, C.S. Cockell, J. Wright Horton, T. Kenkmann, A.A. Kulpecz, D.S. Powars, W. E. Sanford, M.A. VoytekAnatomy of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure revealed by seismic imaging, Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, USA
A 30-km-long, radial seismic reflection and refraction survey completed across the northern part of the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure (CBIS) on the Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, USA, confirms that the CBIS is a complex central-peak crater. We used a tomographic P wave velocity model and low-fold reflection images, constrained by data from two deep boreholes located on the profile, toAuthorsR. D. Catchings, D.S. Powars, G. S. Gohn, J. Wright Horton, M. R. Goldman, J.A. HoleSite Report for USGS Test Holes Drilled at Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia, in 2004
The U.S. Geological Survey drilled two test holes near Cape Charles, Virginia, during May and June 2004, as part of an investigation of the buried, late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The first hole is designated as the USGS-Sustainable Technology Park test hole #1 (USGS-STP1). This test hole was abandoned at a depth of 300 ft; cuttings samples were collected, but no cores or geophysicalAuthorsGregory S. Gohn, Ward E. Sanford, David S. Powars, J. Wright Horton, Lucy E. Edwards, Roger H. Morin, Jean M. Self-TrailOrigin and emplacement of impactites in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA
The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure, located on the Atlantic margin of Virginia, may be Earth's best-preserved large impact structure formed in a shallow marine, siliciclastic, continental-shelf environment. It has the form of an inverted sombrero in which a central crater ∼40 km in diameter is surrounded by a shallower brim, the annular trough, that extends the diameter to ∼85 km. TheAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, Gregory Gohn, David S. Powars, Lucy E. EdwardsNorthward extension of Carolina slate belt stratigraphy and structure, South-Central Virginia: Results from geologic mapping
Geologic mapping in south-central Virginia demonstrates that the stratigraphy and structure of the Carolina slate belt extend northward across a steep thermal gradient into upper amphibolite-facies correlative gneiss and schist. The Neoproterozoic greenschist-facies Hyco, Aaron, and Virgilina Formations were traced northward from their type localities near Virgilina, Virginia, along a simple, upriAuthorsP.C. Hackley, J. D. Peper, W. C. Burton, J. Wright HortonStudies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure - Introduction and discussion
The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure on the Atlantic margin of Virginia is the largest known impact crater in the United States, and it may be the Earth's best preserved example of a large impact crater that formed on a predominantly siliciclastic continental shelf. The 85-kilometer-wide (53-milewide) crater also coincides with a region of saline ground water. It has a profound influencAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, David S. Powars, Gregory Gohn - News
*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