The inset shows the number of known faults in the Appalachian Basin of NYS in 1989--not very many faults. The larger map shows selected major faults--over 500--that we have identified in the past 10 years using our integrative techniques

The recognition of faults and their histories allows a better understanding of seismic hazards and of fluid migration, such as water, contaminants, and hydrocarbons. The fault studies are therefore extremely useful in helping solve several societal problems.

These are some of the data sets we integrate. To the right is an ASTER satellite image of the Finger Lakes, from which we identified lineaments.

To test whether the lineaments indicate faults, we "groundtruth" the lineaments by comparing their spatial positions and orientations to other data. For example, to the left is an aeromagnetic map overlain with Landsat lineaments. Below are other "ground-truthing" techniques.

Example of integrated surface structure, soil gas, topographic lineaments and seismic reflection data that indicate the presence of a fault zone in Allegany County, NYS.

Seismic hazards: Earthquakes occur on the recently recognized fault systems.

Oil and gas exploration: Several significant oil and gas fields occur along fault systems, including the Trenton/Black River gas pools and Devonian oil and gas pools.

Water resources and contaminant transport: The Cherry Valley Water Company (a small bottled water firm) collects its water directly from large fractures near a fault system.

Faulting that accompanied the collision between North America and an arc system during the Taconic Orogeny also dramatically affected the deposition of sediments in the Upper Ordovician Appalachian foredeep basin. Shown here are a set of faults that were active in the Mohawk Valley region of central New York, along what was then the margin of the Trenton Shelf along the west side of the basin. Note the differing relative motions and effects on sediment transport directions (white arrows).

Ash from volcanoes in Taconic island arc produced striking event marker beds in the Upper Ordovician sediments of the Appalachian foreland - here seen as soft gray mudstone bands within hard black shale. They often contain volcanic phenocrysts such as this quartz grain (approx 300 µm long). These grains yield geochemical fingerprints that uniquely identify the event beds. From these relations we are constructing an integrated graptolite and conodont biochronology, calibrated in millions of years by radiometric dating of zircon crystals from the same ash beds.

Graptolites from Bolivia. These ancient colonial plankton are widely used for international correlation. Often they more resemble road kill than once living animals!

Graptolites are not always road kill, however. Here are two beauties, still in the original three-dimensions and showing the structure of their colonies. Each tube housed its own individual animal.

From detailed studies of the colony structure we also are able to reconstruct the evolutionary history of graptolites. Shown here is an evolutionary tree depicting the relations among a set of 47 species, and a comparison their observed stratigraphic ranges (green bars), and the range extensions implied by the phylogeny (pink bars).

The relatively complete and well studied fossil record of graptolites provides an excellent means to study the paleobiology of mass extinction. Graptolites were severely affected by the great Hirnantian Mass Extinction at the end of the Ordovician. This event was even more disruptive of the marine ecosystem than the famous K-T event in which dinosaurs went extinct.

Chasing graptolites and Ordovician history leads to work with colleagues from all over the world and takes us to the far reaches of the Appalachians in ophiolite terrane of western Newfoundland to the high Andes. We are also working in China, and planning a trip to eastern Siberia for summer 2006, among other places!