9 Advances in Geologic Mapping, Databases, and Dissemination: Student Posters

This session will showcase student projects associated with new geologic maps, mapping techniques, and advances in data management, web accessibility, and applications. We welcome submissions with relevance to hazards, natural resource evaluations, and water-land management.

Monday, 9 March 2026
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
RCC, Lower Level Hall

Exploring Depth to Bedrock Estimation

Paper number: 9-14
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

The geologic Depth To Bedrock (DTB) is an important aspect of soil and lithologic science that has no widely used and agreed upon non-invasive estimation practice. This research project attempts to estimate DTB using readily available Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and pre-existing core logs as validation. DTB within this project is defined as the vertical distance from Earth’s surface to the geologic bedrock layers directly below.This projct aims to estimate DTB using DEM-derived parameters, based off of the previous methodology of Catani et al. (2010) and Xiao et al. (2023). Parameters were determined by analyzing the correlation between soil depth and various geomorphic features of landscapes.This methodology was applied to McLean County, Kentucky alongside a control DTB map created using the Kentucky Geological Survey’s coal borehole database. Using the DEM parameters and the borehole interpolation, we tested a generalized regression in order to derive a stand-alone DTB map.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411884

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