7:00 PM Wednesday March 7, 2012 at the Grove Center, Oak Ridge, TN
How Young are the Appalachian Mountains?
By Robert D. Hatcher, Jr.,
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
and Science Alliance Center of Excellence
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996–1410
Abstract:
Appalachian topography has long been described by geographers as being characteristic of an “old worn-down mountain chain.” Many believe that the topography is very old and is a relic of a mountain chain formed 300 m.y. ago by the collision of Africa with North America producing new crust and a mountain chain that probably was higher than the Himalayas are today. It is frequently stated, as conventional wisdom, that “the Appalachians are the oldest mountain chain in the World.” A few basic observations bring these statements into question: all of the streams that drain west into the valley of East Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Southwest Virginia have their headwaters either on the east side of the Blue Ridge (including the Great Smoky) Mountains, with a few like the New River in North Carolina-Virginia-West Virginia have headwaters in the Piedmont. The New River was anointed the “oldest river in the World” several years ago by President Bill Clinton — at least he was on the right track. How did these rivers cut their courses through the Blue Ridge, if these mountains have been here for 300 m.y.? Why does the highest topography in the Appalachians occur in the Tennessee-North Carolina Blue Ridge and then move west into the valley of Southwest Virginia and West Virginia (onto less erosion-resistant rocks, while the Blue Ridge in Central Virginia is a series of small mountains and ridges? Why does the Gray Fossil Site near Johnson City, Tennessee, which was a lake 7 m.y. ago, today rest on a hilltop? These and other data indicate the Appalachian Mountains are very young, probably younger than the Gray Site lake, and prior to that the entire eastern US looked like the Piedmont does today.
Biographical Summary:
Education:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee B. A. 1961, M. S. 1962
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee Ph.D. 1965 (two foreign languages required)
Professional Employment:
Geologist, Humble Oil and Refining Company (1965–66), Clemson University (1966-78, Assistant Professor to Full Professor), Florida State University (1978-80, Full Professor), University of South Carolina (1980-86, Full Professor), and University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distinguished Scientist (1986–2000), UT Distinguished Scientist and Professor (2000-present).
Research Interests:
Primary research goal is to gain a better understanding of the evolution of continental crust, mostly through the study of mountain chains and mature crust. Most of my research has been concentrated in the southern and central Appalachians, but large amounts of time have been spent visiting and studying other mountain chains, and Precambrian continental crust. My primary interest is in the mechanics and kinematics of large faults, which formed a natural transition into a related long-term interest in the causes of intraplate seismicity and geologic evidence for determination of recurrence intervals for intraplate earthquakes. While I am a structural geologist, most of my research is interdisciplinary, integrating stratigraphic, geochronologic, geochemical, and geophysical data into structural studies. I am primarily a field geologist, however, and field data form the basis for all other supporting studies. I have been involved for many years with geophysicists and geologists in other academic institutions and the USGS in the geologic interpretation of seismic reflection and potential field (aeromagnetic and gravity) data. From 1981 through 1983 (part of the Bechtel team), I participated in the Electric Power Research Institute-sponsored study of eastern seismicity, and during the late 1970s and early 1980s participated in the TVA-sponsored Southern Appalachian Tectonic Study (with S. S. Alexander and W. J. Hinze, 1979-1980). During 2008 I was invited to participate in a workshop on eastern US seismic hazard in Menlo Park, CA, where I presented a lecture on the crustal structure of the eastern US. In 2010, I served as a member of a Technical Advisory Group to review the seismic hazard component of the Florida Power and Light application to the NRC for two new nuclear power units at Turkey Point in south Florida. Current support includes a Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsored study of the East Tennessee seismic zone (into 2013).
Research Support:
Received over $5M in grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Interior, state geological surveys, and private industry.
Professional Service (Abbreviated):
Editor (with W. A. Thomas) Geological Society of America Bulletin (1982-88); President, Geological Society of America (1993); President, American Geological Institute (1996); Trustee, GSA Foundation (1999–2007), Chair of the GSA Foundation Board (2005–07); National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Board on Radioactive Waste Management (1990-96); Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Reactor Safety Research (Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1993-96); Federal Advisory Committee for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (Department of the Interior, 1996-2006); Federal Advisory Committee Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (2009-2012; have also served on numerous committees of GSA, AAPG, AGU, and other organizations. Fellow: AAAS, Geological Society of America, Geological Association of Canada.
Professional Registrations:
Georgia (#290), Tennessee (#1211).
Medals and Awards:
Geological Society of America Distinguished Service Award (1988, the first ever awarded), I. C. White Award (1997), honorary citizen of West Virginia (by the Governor, 1998), John T. Galey Award by the Eastern Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (2001), American Geological Institute Ian Campbell Medal (2006), and Geological Society of America Penrose Medal (2006). The latter two medals constitute the highest levels of career recognition possible in my profession.
Publications:
Author or co-author of >200 scientific publications, including 9 books.
Graduate Students:
43 M. S. theses and 16 Ph. D. dissertations completed since began working in graduate departments in 1978. 4 M. S. and 2 Ph. D. students are currently in progress.
