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
Crystalline-rock ejecta and shocked minerals of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia, with supplemental constraints on the age of impact
Petrography, structure, age, and thermal history of granitic coastal plain basement in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia
Geologic map of the Kings Mountain and Grover quadrangles, Cleveland and Gaston Counties, North Carolina, and Cherokee and York Counties, South Carolina
A shock-induced polymorph of anatase and rutile from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, U.S.A
Chesapeake Bay impact structure drilled
Chesapeake Bay impact structure: Morphology, crater fill, and relevance for impact structures on Mars
Confirmation of a meteoritic component in impact-melt rocks of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA - Evidence from osmium isotopic and PGE systematics
Studies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure - Introduction and discussion
Petrography, structure, age, and thermal history of granitic coastal plain basement in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia
Crystalline-rock ejecta and shocked minerals of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia, with supplemental constraints on the age of impact
Studies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure: The USGS-NASA Langley corehole, Hampton, Virginia, and related coreholes and geophysical surveys
Recent research on the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA - Impact debris and reworked ejecta
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 87
Crystalline-rock ejecta and shocked minerals of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia, with supplemental constraints on the age of impact
The USGS-NASA Langley corehole at Hampton, Va., was drilled 2000 as the first in a series of new coreholes drilled in the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure to gain a comprehensive understanding of its three-dimensional character. This understanding is important for assessing ground-water resources in the region, as well as for learning about marine impacts on Earth. We studied crystallinAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, G. A. IzettPetrography, structure, age, and thermal history of granitic coastal plain basement in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia
The USGS-NASA Langley corehole at Hampton, Va., was drilled in 2000 and was the first corehole to reach coastal plain basement in the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The Langley core provided samples of granite that had been concealed by 626.3 meters (2,054.7 feet) of preimpact, synimpact, and postimpact sediments. The granite, here named the Langley Granite, is pale red, medium grainAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, J.H. Aleinikoff, M.J. Kunk, C.W. Naeser, N. D. NaeserGeologic map of the Kings Mountain and Grover quadrangles, Cleveland and Gaston Counties, North Carolina, and Cherokee and York Counties, South Carolina
This geologic map of the Kings Mountain and Grover 7.5-minute quadrangles, N.C.-S.C., straddles a regional geological boundary between the Inner Piedmont and Carolina terranes. The Kings Mountain sequence (informal name) on the western flank of the Carolina terrane in this area includes the Neoproterozoic Battleground and Blacksburg Formations. The Battleground Formation has a lower part consistinAuthorsJ. Wright HortonA shock-induced polymorph of anatase and rutile from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, U.S.A
A shock-induced polymorph (TiO2II) of anatase and rutile has been identified in breccias from the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The breccia samples are from a recent, partially cored test hole in the central uplift at Cape Charles, Virginia. The drill cores from 744 to 823 m depth consist of suevitic crystalline-clast breccia and brecciated cataclastic gneiss in which the TiO2 phaseAuthorsJ.C. Jackson, J. Wright Horton, I.-Ming Chou, H. E. BelkinChesapeake Bay impact structure drilled
[No abstract available]AuthorsG. S. Gohn, C. Koeberl, K.G. Miller, W.U. Reimold, C.S. Cockell, J. Wright Horton, W. E. Sanford, M.A. VoytekChesapeake Bay impact structure: Morphology, crater fill, and relevance for impact structures on Mars
The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure (CBIS) on the Atlantic margin of Virginia is one of the largest and best-preserved "wet-target" craters on Earth. It provides an accessible analog for studying impact processes in layered and wet targets on volatile-rich planets. The CBIS formed in a layered target of water, weak clastic sediments, and hard crystalline rock. The buried structure consAuthorsJ. Wright Horton, J. Ormo, D.S. Powars, G. S. GohnConfirmation of a meteoritic component in impact-melt rocks of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA - Evidence from osmium isotopic and PGE systematics
The osmium isotope ratios and platinum-group element (PGE) concentrations of impact-melt rocks in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure were determined. The impact-melt rocks come from the cored part of a lower-crater section of suevitic crystalline-clast breccia in an 823 m scientific test hole over the central uplift at Cape Charles, Virginia. The 187Os/188Os ratios of impact-melt rocks range fromAuthorsS.R. Lee, J. Wright Horton, R.J. WalkerStudies 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 GohnPetrography, structure, age, and thermal history of granitic coastal plain basement in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia
The USGS-NASA Langley corehole at Hampton, Va., was drilled in 2000 and was the first corehole to reach coastal plain basement in the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The Langley core provided samples of granite that had been concealed by 626.3 meters (2,054.7 feet) of preimpact, synimpact, and postimpact sediments. The granite, here named the Langley Granite, is pale red, medium grainAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, David S. Powars, Gregory GohnCrystalline-rock ejecta and shocked minerals of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USGS-NASA Langley core, Hampton, Virginia, with supplemental constraints on the age of impact
The USGS-NASA Langley corehole at Hampton, Va., was drilled 2000 as the first in a series of new coreholes drilled in the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure to gain a comprehensive understanding of its three-dimensional character. This understanding is important for assessing ground-water resources in the region, as well as for learning about marine impacts on Earth. We studied crystallinAuthorsJ. Wright Horton,, G. A. IzettStudies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure: The USGS-NASA Langley corehole, Hampton, Virginia, and related coreholes and geophysical surveys
No abstract available.AuthorsJ. Wright Horton, David S. Powars, Gregory S. GohnRecent research on the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA - Impact debris and reworked ejecta
Four new coreholes in the western annular trough of the buried, late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure provide samples of shocked minerals, cataclastic rocks, possible impact melt, mixed sediments, and damaged microfossils. Parautochthonous Cretaceous sediments show an upward increase in collapse, sand fluidization, and mixed sediment injections. These impact-modified sediments are scoured anAuthorsJ. Wright Horton, John N. Aleinikoff, Michael J. Kunk, Gregory S. Gohn, Lucy E. Edwards, Jean M. Self-Trail, David S. Powars, Glen A. Izett - 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