Kristina Gardner
Kristina Gardner is a geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
Kristina received a Bachelor’s degree in geology from Morehead State University and a Master’s degree in geological science from the University of Delaware. Since joining the USGS in 2021, Kristina has devoted her career to studying biostratigraphy and specializes in dinoflagellate micropaleontology. Presently, her research focuses on subterranean mapping of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Sierra Nevada, and the Gulf Coast.
Education and Certifications
M.S. Geological Sciences, University of Delaware, 2022
B.S. Geology, Morehead State University, 2018
Abstracts and Presentations
Gardner, Kristina & Self-Trail, Jean & Winter, Diane & Doar, Will & Long, Ashley. Preliminary Results of Grain Size and Biostratigraphic Analysis of Shallow Offshore Sediments from North and South Carolina’s Long Bay Region. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025
Gardner, Kristina, and Peter McLaughlin. "Paleocene-Eocene Palynology and Stratigraphic Correlation across a Nearshore-To Transition in the Subsurface of Central Delaware (US Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain)." Geological Society of America Abstracts. Vol. 55. 2023.
Gardner, Kristina, et al. "Micropaleontological Biostratigraphy and Environmental Analysis of the Coon Creek Formation Type Locality Section Near Enville, Tennessee." Geological Society of America Abstracts. Vol. 55. 2023.
Gardner, Kristina F., and Peter P. McLaughlin. "a Brief Comparison of Palynological Processing Methods on Samples from the Paleocene and Eocene in Central Delaware." Geological Society of America Abstracts. Vol. 52. 2020.
Gardner, Kristina F., and Peter P. McLaughlin. "Paleocene-Eocene Palynology and Stratigraphic Correlation across a Nearshore-Offshore Transition in the Subsurface of Central Delaware (US Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain): a Preliminary Study." Geological Society of America Abstracts. Vol. 51. 2019.
Gardner, Kristina F., et al. "Fungal palynomorphs across the PETM in Wilcox Group sediments, Central Texas, preliminary results." Geological Society of America Abstracts. Vol. 49. 2017.
Science and Products
Lithologic logs and photographs of cores from the Atlantic Coastal Plain Lithologic logs and photographs of cores from the Atlantic Coastal Plain
Coring of Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments has long been the basis of many projects funded by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. Over the past 50 years, more than 50 cores have been obtained, and accompanying geologic field notes (lithologic logs) and photographs were made by various geologists at the time of coring. These lithologic logs and photographs provide a record...
Data from Paleocene-Eocene sediments of three cores in the Salisbury Embayment, Maryland and Virginia Data from Paleocene-Eocene sediments of three cores in the Salisbury Embayment, Maryland and Virginia
The Surprise Hill core was drilled on the Northern Neck, Northumberland County, Virginia. The studied section consists of glauconitic quartz sands of the upper Paleocene Aquia Formation and silty clays of the lower Eocene Marlboro Clay. Data from this core were compared to the previously documented South Dover Bridge and Howards Tract cores from Maryland. The purpose of this study was to...
Microfossil data for the Coon Creek type locality, Tennessee Microfossil data for the Coon Creek type locality, Tennessee
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, has long been known to be an exceptional marine invertebrate lagerstattäte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna over the past 100 years includes documentation of swimming reptiles, fish, marine...
Microfossil, grain size, and petrographic data for the Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops, Prince George's County, Maryland Microfossil, grain size, and petrographic data for the Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops, Prince George's County, Maryland
The Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops are located along two small creeks in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Cabin Branch outcrop contains exposures of silty sands of the Upper Cretaceous Severn Formation, and both outcrops contain Paleocene silty quartz and glauconitic sands of the Danian Brightseat Formation and highly fossiliferous glauconitic quartz sands of...
Discovery of giant and conventional magnetofossils bookending Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 Discovery of giant and conventional magnetofossils bookending Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Conventional magnetofossils are the remains of magnetotactic bacteria and giant magnetofossils are the remains of iron biomineralizing organisms that have not yet been identified. We report the oldest robust conventional and giant magnetofossil records, ~97 Ma, from marine sediments drilled in Holland Park, Virginia, USA. The Holland Park core records the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary and...
Authors
Courtney L. Wagner, Ioan Lascu, Jean Self-Trail, Tim Gooding, Kenneth J.T. Livi, Gianna Greger, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jody Brae Wycech, Mark F. Dreier, Tom Oliver
Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type-locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, is an exceptional marine invertebrate Lagerstätte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna has been done for over 100 years. However, documentation of the microfossil component at the type-locality has largely...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jennifer M K O’Keefe, Patricia H. Mason, Mark Puckett, Michael A. Gibson, Maeve McCarty
Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A. Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A.
The lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation consists of fine-grained, dark-gray, micaceous sand and silty clay, with glauconite and abundant, but generally poorly preserved, fossils. The Brightseat Formation represents deposition of lower, but not lowermost, Paleocene sediments that were deposited on the middle to outer shelf of what is now the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A basal...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Mercer Parker, David L. Govoni, Laurel M. Bybell, Kristina Frank Gardner, Gregory S. Gohn
Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska
The type locality for the upper Oligocene Nuwok Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation (Carter Creek, North Slope, Alaska, USA) contains abundant occurrence of glendonite, a pseudomorph after the calcium carbonate mineral ikaite, which typically forms in the shallow subsurface of cold marine sediments. The region during the time of Nuwok Member deposition was located at a high latitude...
Authors
John W. Counts, Madeleine Vickers, Martha Stokes, Whittney Spivey, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jean Self-Trail, Jared T. Gooley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, Neil Patrick Griffis, Martin S. Vickers, Kasia Sliwinska, Hannah Gail Dooley Tompkins, Adam M. Hudson
Geology and paleontology of Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of the Cabin Branch, Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue), and Tinkers Creek outcrops, Prince George’s County, Maryland Geology and paleontology of Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of the Cabin Branch, Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue), and Tinkers Creek outcrops, Prince George’s County, Maryland
This field guide presents a one-day excursion in Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA, and documents the transition across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary by examining sediments from the upper Maastrichtian of the Severn Formation to the Paleocene sediments of the Brightseat and Aquia formations. Emphasis is placed on understanding how differences in depositional character and...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, David L. Govoni, Laurel M. Bybell, Kristina Frank Gardner
Non-USGS Publications**
Mertens, K. N., Carbonell-Moore, M. C., & Gardner, K. (2021). A morphological comparison of two cladopyxidacean dinoflagellates: the extant Micracanthodinium setiferum and the fossil Cladopyxidium saeptum (Dinophyceae, Gonyaulacales). Palynology, 46(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2021.1934908
**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.
Science and Products
Lithologic logs and photographs of cores from the Atlantic Coastal Plain Lithologic logs and photographs of cores from the Atlantic Coastal Plain
Coring of Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments has long been the basis of many projects funded by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. Over the past 50 years, more than 50 cores have been obtained, and accompanying geologic field notes (lithologic logs) and photographs were made by various geologists at the time of coring. These lithologic logs and photographs provide a record...
Data from Paleocene-Eocene sediments of three cores in the Salisbury Embayment, Maryland and Virginia Data from Paleocene-Eocene sediments of three cores in the Salisbury Embayment, Maryland and Virginia
The Surprise Hill core was drilled on the Northern Neck, Northumberland County, Virginia. The studied section consists of glauconitic quartz sands of the upper Paleocene Aquia Formation and silty clays of the lower Eocene Marlboro Clay. Data from this core were compared to the previously documented South Dover Bridge and Howards Tract cores from Maryland. The purpose of this study was to...
Microfossil data for the Coon Creek type locality, Tennessee Microfossil data for the Coon Creek type locality, Tennessee
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, has long been known to be an exceptional marine invertebrate lagerstattäte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna over the past 100 years includes documentation of swimming reptiles, fish, marine...
Microfossil, grain size, and petrographic data for the Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops, Prince George's County, Maryland Microfossil, grain size, and petrographic data for the Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops, Prince George's County, Maryland
The Cabin Branch and Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue) outcrops are located along two small creeks in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Cabin Branch outcrop contains exposures of silty sands of the Upper Cretaceous Severn Formation, and both outcrops contain Paleocene silty quartz and glauconitic sands of the Danian Brightseat Formation and highly fossiliferous glauconitic quartz sands of...
Discovery of giant and conventional magnetofossils bookending Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 Discovery of giant and conventional magnetofossils bookending Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Conventional magnetofossils are the remains of magnetotactic bacteria and giant magnetofossils are the remains of iron biomineralizing organisms that have not yet been identified. We report the oldest robust conventional and giant magnetofossil records, ~97 Ma, from marine sediments drilled in Holland Park, Virginia, USA. The Holland Park core records the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary and...
Authors
Courtney L. Wagner, Ioan Lascu, Jean Self-Trail, Tim Gooding, Kenneth J.T. Livi, Gianna Greger, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jody Brae Wycech, Mark F. Dreier, Tom Oliver
Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type-locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, is an exceptional marine invertebrate Lagerstätte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna has been done for over 100 years. However, documentation of the microfossil component at the type-locality has largely...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jennifer M K O’Keefe, Patricia H. Mason, Mark Puckett, Michael A. Gibson, Maeve McCarty
Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A. Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A.
The lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation consists of fine-grained, dark-gray, micaceous sand and silty clay, with glauconite and abundant, but generally poorly preserved, fossils. The Brightseat Formation represents deposition of lower, but not lowermost, Paleocene sediments that were deposited on the middle to outer shelf of what is now the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A basal...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Mercer Parker, David L. Govoni, Laurel M. Bybell, Kristina Frank Gardner, Gregory S. Gohn
Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska Insights into glendonite formation from the upper Oligocene Sagavanirktok Formation, North Slope, Alaska
The type locality for the upper Oligocene Nuwok Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation (Carter Creek, North Slope, Alaska, USA) contains abundant occurrence of glendonite, a pseudomorph after the calcium carbonate mineral ikaite, which typically forms in the shallow subsurface of cold marine sediments. The region during the time of Nuwok Member deposition was located at a high latitude...
Authors
John W. Counts, Madeleine Vickers, Martha Stokes, Whittney Spivey, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jean Self-Trail, Jared T. Gooley, Ryan J. McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, Neil Patrick Griffis, Martin S. Vickers, Kasia Sliwinska, Hannah Gail Dooley Tompkins, Adam M. Hudson
Geology and paleontology of Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of the Cabin Branch, Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue), and Tinkers Creek outcrops, Prince George’s County, Maryland Geology and paleontology of Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of the Cabin Branch, Cabin Creek (Cappy Avenue), and Tinkers Creek outcrops, Prince George’s County, Maryland
This field guide presents a one-day excursion in Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA, and documents the transition across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary by examining sediments from the upper Maastrichtian of the Severn Formation to the Paleocene sediments of the Brightseat and Aquia formations. Emphasis is placed on understanding how differences in depositional character and...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, David L. Govoni, Laurel M. Bybell, Kristina Frank Gardner
Non-USGS Publications**
Mertens, K. N., Carbonell-Moore, M. C., & Gardner, K. (2021). A morphological comparison of two cladopyxidacean dinoflagellates: the extant Micracanthodinium setiferum and the fossil Cladopyxidium saeptum (Dinophyceae, Gonyaulacales). Palynology, 46(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2021.1934908
**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.