Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Lucy Edwards
Lucy Edwards is a Scientist Emeritus at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
Lucy E Edwards focuses her research on the stratigraphy of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. Her specialty is dinoflagellates (a type of algae), and she studies their fossil cysts for what they reveal about the time and environment of deposition and how they came to be preserved in the fossil record. She also specializes in stratigraphic nomenclature and methods of stratigraphic correlation.
Mentorship/Outreach
- Courses taught at George Washington University, Indiana University, University of Kansas, University of Oslo, George Mason University, Türkiye Petrolleri AO.
Professional Experience
1974, 1975 (summers) Biostratigrapher, Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, TX
1977-2018 Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA
2018-present Scientist Emerita, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA
Education and Certifications
B.A. (Honors College), 1972, Geology, University of Oregon
Ph. D., 1977, Geological Sciences, University of California, Riverside
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Association for Advancement of Science (Fellow)
Geological Society of America (Fellow)
North American Micropaleontology Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology
The Paleontological Society (Fellow)
The Palynological Society
American Geophysical Union
USGS representative to North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature
Science and Products
Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina
IntroductionThis publication portrays the geology of the Hardeeville NW quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland quadrangles that are within Jasper County, South Carolina. The study area is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, approximately 50 to 70 kilometers (km) inland from the coast. The data are compiled from geological field mapping, light detection and ranging (lidar) el
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Filter Total Items: 105
The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch
Over the course of the last decade the concept of the Anthropocene has become widely established within and beyond the geoscientific literature but its boundaries remain undefined. Formal definition of the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch following the Holocene, at a fixed horizon and with a precise global start date, has been proposed, but fails to account
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Michael J.C. Walker, Andrew M Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, Lucy E. Edwards, Erle C Ellis, Stanley C. Finney, Jacqueline L Gill, Mark Maslin, Dorothy Merritts, William F Ruddiman
A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch
The Anthropocene has yet to be defined in a way that is functional both to the international geological community and to the broader fields of environmental and social sciences. Formally defining the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch with a precise global start date would drastically reduce the Anthropocene’s utility across disciplines. Instead, we propose t
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Andrew M Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, William F Ruddiman, Jacquelyn L. Gill, Merritts. Dorothy J, Stanley C. Finney, Lucy E. Edwards, Michael J.C. Walker, Mark Maslin, Erle C Ellis
North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs
At the 75th Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 22 October, 2020, in connection with GSA 2020 Connects Online, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Articles 73, 81 and 82 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005 with subsequent updates), and concomitant changes to Table 2
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard H. Fluegeman, Lucy E. Edwards, Brian R. Pratt, Carlton E. Brett
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017
NACSN (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature) Note 70 is a summary of the activities of the Commission from October 2014-October 2017. This note is condensed from the minutes of the 69th through the 72nd meetings of the NACSN held in conjunction with the Annual Meetings of the Geological Society of America. The 69th meeting of the NACSN was held October 20, 2014, in Vancouver, Br
Authors
Richard H. Fluegeman, Carlton E. Brett, Frank Brunton, Lucy E. Edwards, Howard Harper
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code
Consistency in stratigraphic nomenclature enables communication among scientists both regionally and globally, thus requiring the North American Stratigraphic Code, as presented by the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, to follow international convention. The ratification of three subseries of the Holocene by the InternationalUnion of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in June 2018 w
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard H. Fluegeman, Lucy E. Edwards, Brian R. Pratt, Carlton E. Brett
Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras
IntroductionThe Atlantic Coastal Plain, the southeasternmost physiographic province in the United States, is underlain by strata that regionally dip gently eastward and gradually thicken toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. These strata, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Holocene, accumulated along the eastern margin of North America after the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Ear
Authors
Robert E. Weems, Jean Self-Trail, Lucy E. Edwards
Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target
The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure was formed in a multilayered target of seawater underlain sequentially by a sediment layer and a rock layer in a continental-shelf environment. Impact effects in the “brim” (annular trough) surrounding and adjacent to the transient crater, between the transient crater rim and the outer margin, primarily were limited to the target-sediment layer. Anal
Authors
Henning Dypvik, Gregory Gohn, Lucy Edwards, J. Wright Horton,, David Powars, Ronald Litwin
The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont
The Fall Line (formally "Tidewater Fall Line") separates the more resistant igneous, metamorphic, and consolidated sedimentary rocks of the Piedmont from the typically unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Widespread but now discontinuous patches of a deeply weathered sand and gravel are found west of the Fall Line, capping the highest hilltops. Near the community of Midlothian
Authors
Lucy E. Edwards, Robert E. Weems, Mark W. Carter, David Spears, David S. Powars
A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain
We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous nannofos
Authors
James D. Witts, Neil H. Landman, Matthew P. Garb, Caitlin Boas, Ekaterina Larina, Remy Rovelli, Lucy E. Edwards, Robert Sherrell, J. Kirk Cochran
Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a nearshore shallow marine (30–100 m water depth) site in the Salisbury Embay
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Marci M. Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn A. Sessa, Elizabeth A. Hajek, Lee R. Kump, Sheila M. Trampush, Debra A. Willard, Lucy E. Edwards, David S. Powars, Gregory A. Wandless
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code
At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions of this Article. An application for this revis
Authors
Robert M. Easton, Lucy E. Edwards, Randall C. Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia
The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units lies the marginal marine to deltaic Pleistocene Bacons Cas
Authors
Robert E. Weems, Lucy E. Edwards, Bryan D. Landacre
Science and Products
Geology of the Hardeeville NW Quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland Quadrangles, Jasper County, South Carolina
IntroductionThis publication portrays the geology of the Hardeeville NW quadrangle and parts of the Brighton and Pineland quadrangles that are within Jasper County, South Carolina. The study area is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, approximately 50 to 70 kilometers (km) inland from the coast. The data are compiled from geological field mapping, light detection and ranging (lidar) el
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Photo of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Filter Total Items: 105
The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch
Over the course of the last decade the concept of the Anthropocene has become widely established within and beyond the geoscientific literature but its boundaries remain undefined. Formal definition of the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch following the Holocene, at a fixed horizon and with a precise global start date, has been proposed, but fails to account
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Michael J.C. Walker, Andrew M Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, Lucy E. Edwards, Erle C Ellis, Stanley C. Finney, Jacqueline L Gill, Mark Maslin, Dorothy Merritts, William F Ruddiman
A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch
The Anthropocene has yet to be defined in a way that is functional both to the international geological community and to the broader fields of environmental and social sciences. Formally defining the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch with a precise global start date would drastically reduce the Anthropocene’s utility across disciplines. Instead, we propose t
Authors
Philip Gibbard, Andrew M Bauer, Matthew Edgeworth, William F Ruddiman, Jacquelyn L. Gill, Merritts. Dorothy J, Stanley C. Finney, Lucy E. Edwards, Michael J.C. Walker, Mark Maslin, Erle C Ellis
North American commission on stratigraphic nomenclature report 14 – Revision of articles 25-27 of the North American stratigraphic code to formalize subseries and subepochs
At the 75th Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 22 October, 2020, in connection with GSA 2020 Connects Online, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Articles 73, 81 and 82 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005 with subsequent updates), and concomitant changes to Table 2
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard H. Fluegeman, Lucy E. Edwards, Brian R. Pratt, Carlton E. Brett
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 70: Records of the Stratigraphic Commission 2014-2017
NACSN (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature) Note 70 is a summary of the activities of the Commission from October 2014-October 2017. This note is condensed from the minutes of the 69th through the 72nd meetings of the NACSN held in conjunction with the Annual Meetings of the Geological Society of America. The 69th meeting of the NACSN was held October 20, 2014, in Vancouver, Br
Authors
Richard H. Fluegeman, Carlton E. Brett, Frank Brunton, Lucy E. Edwards, Howard Harper
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Note 69 – Application for addition of subseries/subepoch to the North American Stratigraphic Code
Consistency in stratigraphic nomenclature enables communication among scientists both regionally and globally, thus requiring the North American Stratigraphic Code, as presented by the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, to follow international convention. The ratification of three subseries of the Holocene by the InternationalUnion of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in June 2018 w
Authors
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Richard H. Fluegeman, Lucy E. Edwards, Brian R. Pratt, Carlton E. Brett
Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras
IntroductionThe Atlantic Coastal Plain, the southeasternmost physiographic province in the United States, is underlain by strata that regionally dip gently eastward and gradually thicken toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. These strata, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Holocene, accumulated along the eastern margin of North America after the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Ear
Authors
Robert E. Weems, Jean Self-Trail, Lucy E. Edwards
Chesapeake Bay impact structure—Development of "brim" sedimentation in a multilayered marine target
The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure was formed in a multilayered target of seawater underlain sequentially by a sediment layer and a rock layer in a continental-shelf environment. Impact effects in the “brim” (annular trough) surrounding and adjacent to the transient crater, between the transient crater rim and the outer margin, primarily were limited to the target-sediment layer. Anal
Authors
Henning Dypvik, Gregory Gohn, Lucy Edwards, J. Wright Horton,, David Powars, Ronald Litwin
The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont
The Fall Line (formally "Tidewater Fall Line") separates the more resistant igneous, metamorphic, and consolidated sedimentary rocks of the Piedmont from the typically unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Widespread but now discontinuous patches of a deeply weathered sand and gravel are found west of the Fall Line, capping the highest hilltops. Near the community of Midlothian
Authors
Lucy E. Edwards, Robert E. Weems, Mark W. Carter, David Spears, David S. Powars
A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain
We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous nannofos
Authors
James D. Witts, Neil H. Landman, Matthew P. Garb, Caitlin Boas, Ekaterina Larina, Remy Rovelli, Lucy E. Edwards, Robert Sherrell, J. Kirk Cochran
Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a nearshore shallow marine (30–100 m water depth) site in the Salisbury Embay
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Marci M. Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn A. Sessa, Elizabeth A. Hajek, Lee R. Kump, Sheila M. Trampush, Debra A. Willard, Lucy E. Edwards, David S. Powars, Gregory A. Wandless
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code
At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions of this Article. An application for this revis
Authors
Robert M. Easton, Lucy E. Edwards, Randall C. Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia
The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units lies the marginal marine to deltaic Pleistocene Bacons Cas
Authors
Robert E. Weems, Lucy E. Edwards, Bryan D. Landacre
*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