7 Geologic mapping in the digital age: products, workflows, and methodologies (Posters)

This session will highlight geologic maps and their derivatives, showcasing products that leverage innovative digital methods and workflows, novel application of remote sensing data, and integration of advanced data processing techniques.

Sunday, 22 March 2026
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
CCC, Ballroom C

A Bedrock Geologic Map of New England: Aiming Towards Seamless Integration

Paper number: 7-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

A preliminary 1:500,000-scale bedrock geologic map of New England reconciles inconsistencies between source maps at a regional scale. State and provincial geologic maps of New England and adjacent Canada, published from 1983 to 2015, range from 1:100,000 to 1:500,000 scale. The maps contain inconsistencies where content changes across borders with units variably defined by formation, protolith, age, and lithology.  The greatest edge-match challenges occur where complex geology lacks detailed geologic mapping. The map depicts map units and faults. Maps of metamorphic zones are digitized but not yet edge-matched for 3 states: VT, NH, and MA.   

          The bedrock of New England spans the last 1.4 billion years of Earth’s history. Metamorphic rocks occur in NNE trending tectonic belts that transect borders and form the core of the Appalachian Mountains.  Crystalline rocks host many historically important critical mineral resources, and are divided on the new map by age, protolith, provenance, and paleo-tectonic setting.  The oldest bedrock is Proterozoic gneiss of the Grenville Province of Laurentia exposed in massifs from the Adirondacks to the Hudson Highlands. Neoproterozoic to lower Paleozoic rocks of Laurentian affinity were obducted as thrust sheets of the Taconic allochthons over the Laurentian carbonate platform. Silurian to Devonian ­­­clastic rocks form widespread sedimentary basins such as the Connecticut Valley – Gaspé and Central Maine troughs. Peri-Gondwanan Ganderian and Avalonian arc-related rocks occur in gneiss domes in central New England and along coastal exposures.

          Deformation and metamorphism occurred during multiple orogenic phases, reaching amphibolite to lower granulite facies.  Paleozoic plutonic rocks are widespread. The Mesozoic Hartford Basin and magmatic rocks are related to the formation of the Atlantic Basin and mantle plumes. Up to 500 m of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated deposits of the Atlantic Coastal Plain bury the bedrock of the Appalachian Highlands in southeastern New England.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026NE-411195

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