J. Wright Horton, Jr., Ph.D.
Wright Horton is a Research Geologist in the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center. He is an authority on 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.
Biography
Research Interests
Field and laboratory research on structural geology and tectonics, metamorphic and igneous rocks, impact craters and related materials, fault zones and fault rocks, mountain chains, Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge geology, pre-Cretaceous terranes and buried basins beneath the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, intraplate earthquakes, and hydrogeology of fractured crystalline rocks, including geologic mapping, scientific drilling, geologic interpretation of geophysical data, and multidisciplinary collaborations
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, 1980–present
National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, 1978–80
Assistant Professor of Geology, University of Southern Maine, Portland and Gorham, Maine, 1977–78
Education
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
STAR Awards, U.S. Geological Survey, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2018
Superior Service Award, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1997
Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America, 1986
Special Achievement Award, U.S. Geological Survey, 1986
Awarded National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Research Associateship, 1978–80
Projects
Project Leader, USGS Coastal Basement Geology of the Southeastern U.S. Project. 2018-present
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
Scientific Editor (Books)
The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, Earthquake and Its Significance for Seismic Hazards in Eastern North America, Geological Society of America Special Paper 509, edited by J.W. Horton Jr., M.C. Chapman, and R.A. Green, 2015
The Sedimentary Record of Meteorite Impacts, Geological Society of America Special Paper 437, edited by K.R. Evans, J.W. Horton Jr., D.T. King Jr., and J.R. Morrow, 2008
Studies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure—The USGS-NASA Langley corehole, Hampton, Virginia, and related coreholes and geophysical surveys, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1688, edited by J.W. Horton Jr., D.S. Powers, and G.S. Gohn, 2005
Forum on Geologic Mapping Applications in the Washington-Baltimore Urban Area, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1148, edited by J.W. Horton Jr., and E.T. Cleaves, 1997
The Geology of the Carolinas, Carolina Geological Society Fiftieth Anniversary Volume, University of Tennessee Press, edited by J.W. Horton Jr. and V.A. Zullo, 1991
Mélanges and Olistostromes of the U.S. Appalachians, Geological Society of America Special Paper 228, edited by J.W. Horton Jr. and N. Rast, 1989
Editorial Boards
Associate Editor, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1988–90 and 1991–93
Editorial Board, South Carolina Geology, 1989-97
Committees and Review Panels
Co-leader, USGS Science Coordination Team for Virginia Earthquake Studies, 2011-2016
Science Review Committee, Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research, 2015-2018
NAGT-USGS Internship Review Panel, 2011
USGS Ad Hoc Committee on Research Priorities following the Virginia Earthquake Sequence, 2011
Argon Geochronology Laboratory Advisory Committee, USGS Geology Discipline, 2006–07
Organizing Committee for ICDP-USGS Workshop on Deep Drilling in the Central Crater of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure, Virginia, USA, Herndon, VA, 2003
Co-chair, Science Language Technical Team Subgroup on Metamorphic Rocks, North American Geologic Map Data Model (NAGDM), 2001–04
Membership Committee, Geological Society of America, 2000–03
Eastern Region Publications Steering Committee member, USGS Geologic Division, 1998
Publications Committee, Geological Society of America, 1993–95
U.S. National Committee for IGCP Project 233, Terranes in the Circum-Atlantic Paleozoic Orogens, 1986–91
Science Advisory Committee, USGS Geologic Division, 1988–90
Committee on Penrose Conferences, Geological Society of America, 1983–85
North Carolina State Geologic Map Advisory Committee, 1983–85
Working Group E4 of Geodynamics Continental-Ocean Transects Program, 1982–87
Organizing Conferences and Special Sessions
Co-convener of Topical Session, Intraplate Earthquake Sources, Processes, and Hazards in Central and Eastern North America, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2017.
Co-convener of Theme Session, Seismic Zones, Paleoseismology, and Neotectonics in the Southeastern United States, Geological Society of America Southeastern Section Meeting, 2017.
Co-convener of Topical Session, Evidence for Neotectonic Earthquakes and Their Driving Mechanisms in the Intraplate Region of Central and Eastern North America, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2016.
Co-convener of Topical Session, Intraplate Earthquakes, Seismotectonics, and Geodynamics in Eastern and Central North America, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2015.
Co-convener of Topical Session, Magnetic Surveys for Imaging the Geology of Earth and Other Planetary Bodies: A Session Honoring the Legacy of Isidore Zietz, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2014
Co-convener of Theme Session, Lessons Learned from the 2011 Virginia Earthquake, Geological Society of America Southeastern Section Meeting, 2014.
Co-convener of Topical Session, Central Virginia Earthquakes of 2011: Geology, Geophysics, and Significance for Seismic Hazards in Eastern North America, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2012.
Co-convener of Topical Session, Exploring Subsurface Terranes and Buried Basins of Eastern and Central North America - Geology, Geophysics, and Geochronology, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2011
Co-convener of Topical Session, Tectonic Significance of Buried Terranes of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, Geological Society of America Northeastern/Southeastern Sections Meeting, 2010
Technical Program Co-chair, Geological Society of America Northeastern/Southeastern Sections Joint Meeting, 2010
Co-convener of Symposium, Drilling of Impact Structures, Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution IV, Vredefort Dome, South Africa, 2008
Co-convener of Symposium, The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure: Formation and Consequences, American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, 2005
Co-convener of SEPM Research Conference, The Sedimentary Record of Meteorite Impacts, 2005
Co-convener of Topical Session, Peri-Gondwanan Terranes of the Appalachians, Geological Society of America Northeastern/Southeastern Sections Meeting, 2004
Co-convener, Forum on Geologic Mapping Applications in the Washington-Baltimore Urban Area, sponsored by U.S. Geological Survey and Maryland Geological Survey, 1997
Science and Products
E-4 Central Kentucky to the Carolina Trough
E-4 is one of eight Geodynamics transects that cross the Atlantic margin of North America between Georgia and Newfoundland. Five of the transects are in the United States and three are in Canada. Transect E-4, which is 110 km wide and more than 1,100 km long, extends from the stable North American craton just west of the Grenville front near...
Rankin, Douglas W.; Dillon, William P.; Black, D.F.B.; Boyer, S.E.; Daniels, David L.; Goldsmith, R.; Grow, J.A.; Horton, J. Wright; Hutchinson, Deborah R.; Klitgord, Kim D.; McDowell, R.C.; Milton, D.J.; Owens, J.P.; Phillips, Jeffrey D.; Bayer, K.C.; Butler, John R.; Elliott, D.W.; Milici, Robert C.
Geologic map of the Greenville 1 degrees by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina
Nelson, Arthur E.; Horton, J. Wright; Clarke, James W. Tectonostratigraphic terranes and their Paleozoic boundaries in the central and southern Appalachians
Parts of the central and southern Appalachian orogen appear to have evolved away from Proterozoic North America (Laurentia) and to have been accreted to it during the Paleozoic orogenies that collectively formed the orogen. Identifying each tectonostratigraphic terrane is a necessary step in...
Horton, J. Wright; Drake, A.A.; Rankin, D.W. Preface
No abstract available.
Horton, J. Wright Mélanges and olistostromes in the Appalachians of the United States and mainland Canada; An assessment
There is no completely accepted definition of a mélange, and the papers in this volume reflect this fact. In our regional assessment, the term mélange is principally used for a technically fragmented and mixed body of rock. A different term, olistostrome, is used for a chaotic and mixed rock body that formed by sedimentary processes such as...
Rast, Nicholas; Horton, J. Wright Melanges Olistostromes of the U.S. Appalachians
No abstract available.
Horton, J. Wright; Rast, Nicholas Structure and tectonostratigraphy of the eastern Blue Ridge and western Piedmont
No abstract available
Nelson, A.E.; Horton, J. Wright
Geologic map of the Charlotte 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, North Carolina and South Carolina
Goldsmith, Richard; Milton, D.J.; Horton, J.W.
Generalized tectonic map of the Greenville 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina
Nelson, A.E.; Horton, J.W.; Clarke, J.W. Mineral resource potential for lithium, kyanite-sillimanite, and barite in the Charlotte 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, North Carolina and South Carolina
Horton, J. Wright Alleghanian deformation, metamorphism, and granite emplacement in the central Piedmont of the southern Appalachians
Evidence of late Paleozoic (Alleghanian) penetrative deformation, amphilbolite-facies, metamorphism, and syntectonic granite emplacement has been found in an area of the central Piedmont in the southern Appalachians. The High Shoals Granite batholith in the Kings Mountain belt of south-central North Carolina consists of coarse-grained, megacrystic...
Horton, J. Wright; Sutter, J.F.; Stern, T.W.; Milton, D.J.