T18 Case Studies in the History & Philosophy of the Geosciences: People, Places, & Things

Sunday, 9 October 2022
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
407

NUMEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS OF JACK EPSTEIN TO NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GEOLOGY; FROM YELLOWSTONE TO DELAWARE WATER GAP AND NUMEROUS PLACES IN BETWEEN BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND

Paper number: T18-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:50 AM – 9:05 AM

Authors

  • Timothy Connors Presenting Author
    National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, Denver, CO

Abstract

Jack Epstein was a great geologist and was well known for sharing his love and knowledge of America’s Special places: our National Parks. Jack’s early career activities had him in Yellowstone in 1959 for the Hebgen Lake Earthquake event which he experienced working with Irving Witkind. In 2009 Jack did a speaking tour for the 50th anniversary of this event titled “The Night the Earth Shook! 1959 M 7.3 Hebgen Lake Earthquake and Madison Canyon Landslide West of Yellowstone National Park” and gave riveting witness accounts of his first-hand experience with this event. In 2001 Jack was a co-convenor of “2001: A Delaware River Odyssey” for a field trip to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area where Jack had mapped many a 7.5’ geologic quadrangle over his career; the field conference and guidebook were dedicated to him for his “voluminous contributions over the years to our understanding of the geology of Pennsylvania and New Jersey”. Jack was a great friend to the National Park Service, and especially helpful to their Geologic Resource Inventory program. He partook of geologic scoping sessions for Delaware Water Gap NRA, Theodore Roosevelt NP, and several South Dakota parks and monuments to share his insights on the unique geology. Jack was also helpful at Devils Tower NM in the development of an interpretive manual related to the geology. Jack also was very involved in NCKRI (National Cave and Karst Research Institute) in its inception and its relationship to national park areas. Jack also has left his mark on geologic units, naming numerous geologic units as type sections that intersect NPS areas.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 54, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-380650

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