Ronald Counts (Former Employee)
Science and Products
River 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 (CVSZ) of the eastern North American (ENAM) 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, VA earthquake...
Pazzaglia, Frank J.; Malenda, Helen F.; McGavick, Matthew L.; Raup, Cody; Carter, Mark W.; Berti, Claudio; Mahan, Shannon A.; Nelson, Michelle S.; Rittenour, Tammy M.; Counts, Ron; Willenbring, Jane K; Germanoski, Dru; Peters, Stephen C.; Holt, William D. Quaternary displacement on the Joiner Ridge Fault, eastern Arkansas
The New Madrid seismic zone of the central United States is an intraplate seismic zone with blind structures that are not seismically active but may pose seismic hazards. The Joiner Ridge fault is the 35 km long east-bounding fault of the Joiner Ridge blind horst located in eastern Arkansas approximately 50 km northwest of Memphis, Tennessee....
Price, Audrey C.; Woolery, Edward W; Counts, Ron; Van Arsdale, Roy; Larsen, Daniel; Mahan, Shannon A.; Beck, Glynn Quaternary displacement rates on the Meeman‐Shelby fault and Joiner ridge horst, eastern Arkansas: Results from coring Mississippi River alluvium
This research used coring and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of displaced, deeply buried Quaternary alluvium to determine vertical displacement rates for the Meeman‐Shelby fault and the Joiner ridge horst, two structures in northeastern Arkansas that have no modern seismicity associated with them. We drilled continuous cores of the...
Ward, Alex; Counts, Ronald C.; Van Arsdale, Roy; Larsen, Daniel; Mahan, Shannon A. Geomorphology, active tectonics, and landscape evolution in the Mid-Atlantic region
In 2014, the geomorphology community marked the 125th birthday of one of its most influential papers, “The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania” by William Morris Davis. Inspired by Davis’s work, the Appalachian landscape rapidly became fertile ground for the development and testing of several grand landscape evolution paradigms, culminating with...
Pazzaglia, Frank J.; Carter, Mark W.; Berti, Claudio; Counts, Ronald C.; Hancock, Gregory S.; Harbor, David; Harrison, Richard W.; Heller, Matthew J.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Malenda, Helen; McKeon, Ryan; Nelson, Michelle S.; Prince, Phillip; Rittenour, Tammy M.; Spotilla, James; Whittecar, G. Richard Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework of terraces and alluvium along the lower Ohio River, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, USA
The lower Ohio River valley is a terraced fluvial landscape that has been profoundly influenced by Quaternary climate change and glaciation. A modern Quaternary chronostratigraphic framework was developed for the lower Ohio River valley using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and allostratigraphic mapping to gain insights into the...
Counts, Ronald C.; Murari, Madhav K.; Owen, Lewis A.; Mahan, Shannon; Greenan, Michele Geology and neotectonism in the epicentral area of the 2011 M5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake
This fi eld guide covers a two-day west-to-east transect across the epicentral region of the 2011 M5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake, the largest ever recorded in the Central Virginia seismic zone. The fi eld trip highlights results of recent bedrock and surficial geologic mapping in two adjoining 7.5-min quadrangles, the Ferncliff and the...
Burton, William C.; Spears, David B.; Harrison, Richard W.; Evans, Nicholas H.; Schindler, J. Stephen; Counts, Ronald C.
Surficial Geologic Map of the Evansville, Indiana, and Henderson, Kentucky, Area
The geologic map of the Evansville, Indiana, and Henderson, Kentucky, area depicts and describes surficial deposits according to their origin and age. Unconsolidated alluvium and outwash fill the Ohio River bedrock valley and attain maximum thickness of 33-39 m under Diamond Island, Kentucky, and Griffith Slough, south of Newburgh, Indiana. The...
Moore, David W.; Lundstrom, Scott C.; Counts, Ronald C.; Martin, Steven L.; Andrews, William M.; Newell, Wayne L.; Murphy, Michael L.; Thompson, Mark F.; Taylor, Emily M.; Kvale, Erik P.; Brandt, Theodore R. Surficial Geologic Map of the West Franklin Quadrangle, Vanderburgh and Posey Counties, Indiana, and Henderson County, Kentucky
The valley of the Ohio River is filled with alluvium and outwash (unit Qal), which total 33-39 m thick under the land surface in the southeast part of the West Franklin quadrangle in Indiana, and 30.5-35 m thick under Diamond Island in the southwest corner of the quadrangle. The deposits are chiefly fine- to medium-grained, lithic quartzose sand...
Moore, David W.; Newell, Wayne L.; Counts, Ronald C.; Fraser, Gordon S.; Fishbaugh, David A.; Brandt, Theodore R.