Living the Dream: Back to Alberene

Remember the Alberene Dream Team from the summer of 2011?  This talented group of undergraduates poured themselves into research projects aimed at understanding the geology of the eastern Blue Ridge Mountains that summer and continued their work as part of their senior research during the academic year.  Alex Johnson, the youngest member of the Alberene Dream Team, graduated from the College last Sunday (Andrea, Kevin, and Molly were in the class of 2012).   The week before landing his diploma Alex helped lead a raucous field review across the Alberene quadrangle.

A surly (?) group of field review participants along the Hardware River in the Alberene quadrangle, eastern Blue Ridge, Virginia.

Draft copy of the Alberene quadrangle geologic map (click to enlarge)

The U.S. Geological Survey funded our research and as such we have a responsibility to get this geologic map and the attendant data published so the results are accessible to the wider world.  A necessary step towards publishing a geologic map is the field review.  We invited geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Virginia Division of Geology and Mineral Resources, academics, and other interested individuals to join us for a day in the field and asked for their critical comments on the map and our geologic interpretations.

We visited 10 outcrops: from roadside exposures of the basement complex, to an old soapstone quarry, to a magnificent outcrop of metabasalt with deformed pillows along the Hardware River.  Alex Johnson and John Hollis framed most of the discussion with Professor Brent Owens and I chiming in on occasion.  We argued our case and learned from other geologists.

This summer we’ll do a bit of targeted fieldwork to better resolve some problem spots on the map and make revisions based on the comments we received during the field review.  Once that is complete we’ll submit it for yet another review.  It is a long road to publication, but an important road to travel nonetheless.

Part of a geologic cross section from the Alberene quadrangle. Notice the folded strata and igneous dikes.