Mark W. Carter is a Research Geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
Mark Wayne Carter has been a professional geologist for 22 years. After an education at Old Dominion University (B.S.) and University of Tennessee, Knoxville (M.S.), Mark began his career in 1996 with the North Carolina Geological Survey in Asheville, mapping throughout the Blue Ridge and parts of the Chauga belt in western North Carolina. In 2004, Mark moved to the Virginia Division of Geology and Mineral Resources in Charlottesville, expanding his mapping experience with several projects in the eastern Piedmont and inner Coastal Plain provinces near Richmond, as well as in the Virginia Blue Ridge. Mark came on board with the US Geological Survey in 2009 as a team member of the Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center, Appalachian Blue Ridge Project, mapping along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. In 2011, Mark served as local USGS coordinator for USGS response following the Mineral, Virginia earthquake, and has been Project Chief for the USGS National Cooperative Mapping Program project "Geologic Framework for Seismic Hazards in Central Virginia and eastern US: Targeted Geologic Mapping and Synthesis" since 2014 and is transitioning in 2018 to mapping in the eastern Piedmont in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina for critical minerals and aggregate resources.
Science and Products
Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project
Piedmont Geology Along the Southeastern Fall Zone, Virginia and North Carolina
Geologic Framework for Seismic Hazards in Central Virginia
Whole Rock Geochemistry and Uranium Lead Isotopic Data from the Dinwiddie Terrane, Virginia, USA
Database for the Preliminary Geologic Map of the Cherry Hill Quadrangle, Dinwiddie, Sussex, and Greensville Counties, Virginia
Digital Data for the Geology of the Mineral and Lake Anna West quadrangles, Virginia
GIS and Data Tables for Focus Areas for Potential Domestic Nonfuel Sources of Rare Earth Elements
Preliminary map of the surface rupture from the August 9, 2020, Mw 5.1 earthquake near Sparta, North Carolina—The Little River fault and other possible coseismic features
Redefinition of the Petersburg batholith and implications for crustal inheritance in the Dinwiddie terrane, Virginia, USA
Implementation plan of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program strategy — Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces
Preliminary geologic map of the Cherry Hill quadrangle, Dinwiddie, Sussex, and Greensville Counties, Virginia
Stop 3 – The Petersburg “Granite” redefined: Recognition and implications of Silurian to Devonian rocks in central-eastern Virginia
The liquefaction record of past earthquakes in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone, Eastern United States
River terrace evidence of tectonic processes in the eastern North American plate interior, South Anna River, Virginia
Foreward: Geology Field Trips in and around the U.S. Capital
Geochronologic age constraints on tectonostratigraphic units of the central Virginia Piedmont, USA
New geologic mapping coupled with uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon geochronology (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe-reverse geometry [SHRIMP-RG] and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry [LA-ICP-MS]) analyses of 10 samples, provides new constraints on the tectonostratigraphic framework of the central Virginia Piedmont. Detrital zircon analysis confirms that the Silurian-Devo
Paleoliquefaction field reconnaissance in eastern North Carolina—Is there evidence for large magnitude earthquakes between the central Virginia seismic zone and Charleston seismic zone?
Geology of the Cornwall Quadrangle, Virginia
The Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp: Learning about geology through experiential adventure recreation
Science and Products
- Science
Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project
The Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project is a geologic mapping project supported by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. The Piedmont Blue Ridge Project aims to understand the geologic framework and tectonic evolution of terranes and basins in the Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge, and their significance for water, mineral and energy resources, natural hazards, and engineering...Piedmont Geology Along the Southeastern Fall Zone, Virginia and North Carolina
This task within the USGS NCGMP Piedmont-Blue Ridge Project aims to fill the void in geologic map coverage along the Fall Zone in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, and forge strong cooperative ties within the NCGMP by combining resources across all three Program components by supporting DMME and NCGS STATEMAP and UNC–W EDMAP components with targeted geologic mapping and...Geologic Framework for Seismic Hazards in Central Virginia
The Central Virginia seismic zone (CVSZ) comprises an area of ~13,000 km2 in the central Virginia Piedmont; seismicity in this zone is relatively frequent, but generally mild in magnitude. The August 2011 event was the largest temblor recorded in the CVSZ since the development of modern seismic monitoring and highlighted how little we actually know about the CVSZ, including: 1) the regional... - Data
Whole Rock Geochemistry and Uranium Lead Isotopic Data from the Dinwiddie Terrane, Virginia, USA
This data release includes whole rock geochemical data, and uranium-lead isotopic data collected by both Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe-Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP-RG) methods. Whole rock geochemistry was collected by Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario. LA-ICP-MS data was collected at the PLASMA at the USGDatabase for the Preliminary Geologic Map of the Cherry Hill Quadrangle, Dinwiddie, Sussex, and Greensville Counties, Virginia
The database for the Preliminary Geologic Map of the Cherry Hill Quadrangle, Dinwiddie, Sussex, and Greensville Counties, Virginia geographically straddles the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Provinces along the Tidewater Fall Line. Rocks of the eastern Piedmont Roanoke Rapids terrane crop out in the western part of the quadrangle and consist of greenschist- to amphibolite-facies Neoproterozoic felsicDigital Data for the Geology of the Mineral and Lake Anna West quadrangles, Virginia
This Data Release contains 1:24,000-scale geospatially-enabled geological data to accompany the Geology of the Mineral and Lake Anna West quadrangles, Virginia. The map product is a cooperator series publication and, as such, does not have a specific abstract. Geologic mapping for this map product was completed between 2014 and 2017, with most of the field work occurring between January 2016 and MGIS and Data Tables for Focus Areas for Potential Domestic Nonfuel Sources of Rare Earth Elements
In response to Executive Order 13817 of December 20, 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) coordinated with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to identify 35 nonfuel minerals or mineral materials considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States (U.S.). Acquiring information on possible domestic sources of these critical minerals is the basis of the USGS Earth Mappi - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 22
Preliminary map of the surface rupture from the August 9, 2020, Mw 5.1 earthquake near Sparta, North Carolina—The Little River fault and other possible coseismic features
This publication is a preliminary map and geodatabase of the coseismic surface rupture and other coseismic features generated from the August 9, 2020, Mw 5.1 earthquake near Sparta, North Carolina. Geologic mapping facilitated by analysis of post-earthquake quality level 0 to 1 lidar, document the coseismic surface rupture, named the Little River fault, and other coseismic features. The Little RivAuthorsArthur J. Merschat, Mark W. CarterRedefinition of the Petersburg batholith and implications for crustal inheritance in the Dinwiddie terrane, Virginia, USA
Field relations as well as geochemical and petrologic studies of metaigneous rocks assigned to the Pennsylvanian–Permian Petersburg batholith identify at least two distinct rock types: foliated metagranitoid gneiss and massive to porphyritic granite. Foliated metagranitoid gneiss of mostly granodioritic composition is geochemically distinct from associated massive and porphyritic granitic rocks. TAuthorsMark W. Carter, Ryan J. McAleer, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Marcie E. Occhi, Brent E. Owens, Jorge A. VazquezImplementation plan of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program strategy — Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces
The National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program is publishing a strategic plan titled “Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge.” The plan provides a vision, mission, and goals for the program for the years 2020–30:Vision: create an integrated, three-dimensional, digital geologic map of the United States.MissionAuthorsArthur J. Merschat, Mark W. CarterPreliminary geologic map of the Cherry Hill quadrangle, Dinwiddie, Sussex, and Greensville Counties, Virginia
The Cherry Hill 7.5-minute quadrangle straddles the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Provinces along the Tidewater Fall Line. Rocks of the eastern Piedmont Roanoke Rapids terrane crop out in the western part of the quadrangle and consist of greenschist- to amphibolite-facies Neoproterozoic felsic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks, some of which contain flattened quartz phenocrysts and are locally isoclAuthorsMark W. Carter, Adam T. Karst, C. Rick Berquist, J. Stephen Schindler, Robert E. Weems, Benjamin R. Weinmann, E. Allen Crider, Jr.Stop 3 – The Petersburg “Granite” redefined: Recognition and implications of Silurian to Devonian rocks in central-eastern Virginia
Introduction Although the Petersburg Granite had long been in practical use as a building stone since the 1830s (Watson, 1906; 1907; 1910; Darton, 1911; Steidtmann, 1945), it was first formally defined as a geologic unit by Anna Jonas on the 1928 geologic map of Virginia. Anna Jonas defined this unit as a Precambrian coarse-grained porphyritic biotite granite that was intruded by finer grained graAuthorsMark W. Carter, Ryan J. McAleer, Marcie Occhi, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Jorge A. Vazquez, Brent E. OwensThe liquefaction record of past earthquakes in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone, Eastern United States
Following the 2011 moment magnitude, MM 5.7 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake, we conducted a search for paleoliquefaction features and found 41 sand dikes, sand sills, and soft‐sediment deformation features at 24 sites exposed in cutbanks along several rivers: (1) the South Anna River, where paleoliquefaction features were found in the epicentral area of the Mineral earthquake and farther downstreamAuthorsMartitia P. Tuttle, Kathleen Dyer-Williams, Mark W. Carter, Steven L. Forman, Kathleen Tucker, Zamara Fuentes, Carlos Velez, Laurel BauerRiver terrace evidence of tectonic processes in the eastern North American plate interior, South Anna River, Virginia
We show that long-recognized seismicity in the central Virginia seismic zone of the eastern North American intraplate setting arises primarily from tectonic processes predicted by new, fully coupled plate tectonic geodynamic models. The study leverages much new geophysical and geologic data following the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake that ruptured a steeply dipping, northwest-verging reverseAuthorsFrank J. Pazzaglia, Helen F. Malenda, Matthew L. McGavick, Cody Raup, Mark W. Carter, Claudio Berti, Shannon A. Mahan, Michelle S. Nelson, Tammy M. Rittenour, Ron Counts, Jane K Willenbring, Dru Germanoski, Stephen C. Peters, William D. HoltForeward: Geology Field Trips in and around the U.S. Capital
The first annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) was held in 1888 in Ithaca, New York (Fairchild, 1932), but official Sections of GSA formed much later. During the spring of 1949, a symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on mineral resources of the southeastern United States became the catalyst for the creation of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America (King,AuthorsChristopher S. Swezey, Mark W. CarterGeochronologic age constraints on tectonostratigraphic units of the central Virginia Piedmont, USA
New geologic mapping coupled with uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon geochronology (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe-reverse geometry [SHRIMP-RG] and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry [LA-ICP-MS]) analyses of 10 samples, provides new constraints on the tectonostratigraphic framework of the central Virginia Piedmont. Detrital zircon analysis confirms that the Silurian-Devo
AuthorsMark W. Carter, Ryan J. McAleer, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, David B. Spears, Sean P. Regan, William C. Burton, Nick H. EvansPaleoliquefaction field reconnaissance in eastern North Carolina—Is there evidence for large magnitude earthquakes between the central Virginia seismic zone and Charleston seismic zone?
In June 2016, approximately 64 kilometers (km) of riverbank were examined along the Tar and Neuse Rivers near Tarboro and Kinston, North Carolina, for evidence of liquefaction-forming earthquakes. The study area is in the vicinity of the Grainger’s fault zone in eastern North Carolina. The Grainger’s fault zone is a fault zone in the inner Coastal Plain Province that has well-documented PaleogeneAuthorsMark W. Carter, Brett T. McLaurinGeology of the Cornwall Quadrangle, Virginia
No abstract available.AuthorsMatthew J. Heller, Mark W. Carter, G.P. Wilkes, R.L. CoinerThe Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp: Learning about geology through experiential adventure recreation
The inaugural Appalachian Geo-STEM Camp (AGC) was a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES). Designed to engage high school students in geoscience-oriented Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities through adventure-based outdoor recreation, the inaugural AGC took plAuthorsRobert Burns, Mark W. Carter, John Brock, Jonas Leveque, Emily Bunse, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Gerald F. Guala, Nathan Harlan, Mitchel Blake, Jasmine Moreira, Jim Britton, Kenny Ashton, Barnes Nugent, Michael Marketti