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Office: 214 Clippinger Laboratories Office Phone: 740-593-9436 Fax: 740-593-0486
Research Interests Caves offer a wealth of research opportunities because they often contain well-preserved records of climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and land use. Currently, I have numerous cave-related projects. My collaborators and I are reconstructing the last 300,000 years of climate in southeastern West Virginia. The climate record is being used interpret the response of geomorphic and hydrologic systems to climate change. The early results of this cutting edge research will soon appear in journals and I am looking for students to continue or expand upon our projects. A unique offshoot of our paleoclimate research involves use of Appalachian landscapes by Native Americans. We have found strong evidence for major changes to landscapes and ecologies beginning about 2200 years before present when (apparently) Native Americans began large-scale land clearing and burning. There are many excellent research opportunities associated with this topic. Headwater streams are also one of my current research interests because they are important aquatic habitats that are impacted by acid rain, acid mine drainage, and land use changes. Headwater streams are also areas of scientific interest because they possess a complex suite of channel types and morphologies, which are poorly understood. Parallel studies of mountainous headwater streams on the western margin of the Appalachian Mountains are nearing completion and have led to three Masters theses. Selected Publications >¤ Springer, G.S., Mihimdukulasooriya, L.N., White, D.M., and Rowe, H.D., accepted. Micro-charcoal abundances in stream sediments from Buckeye Creek Cave, West Virginia, USA, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. >¤ Springer, G.S., in press. Clastic sediments in caves. In: Encyclopedia of Caves (Culver, D. and White, W., Editors), Elsevier. >¤ Springer, G.S., 2011. Geology and speleogenesis in Tucker County, West Virginia. In: The caves and karst of Tucker County, West Virginia (McCarty, D. and Masney, B., Editors). West Virginia Speleological Survey Bulletin #18, p. 7-11. >¤ Springer, G.S., 2011. The geology of Cass Cave. In: The survey of Cass Cave (Zimmerman, Robert, editor), West Virginia Speleological Survey Monograph #4, ISBN 978-1-4507-6066-9, p. 33-38. >¤ Springer, G.S., White, D.M., Rowe, H.D., Hardt, B., Mihimdukulasooriya, L.N., Hai Cheng, and Edwards, R.L., 2010. Multiproxy evidence from caves of Native Americans altering the overlying landscape during the Late Holocene of east-central North America. The Holocene, 20(2): 275-283. doi: 10.1177/0959683610350395. >¤ Hardt, B., Rowe, H.D., Springer, G.S., Edwards, R.L. and Hai Cheng, 2010. The seasonality of east central North American precipitation based on three coeval Holocene speleothems from southern West Virginia, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 295: 342-348. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.04.002 >¤ Springer, G.S., Rowe, H.D., Hardt, B., Cocina, F.G., Edwards, R.L., and Hai Cheng, 2009. Holocene climate and stream channel processes in the Greenbrier River watershed Of Southeastern West Virginia, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 71(2): 121-129. >¤ Bird, A.J., Springer, G.S., Bosch, R.F., and Curl, R.L., 2009. Effects of surface morphologies on flow behavior in karst conduits, in Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, Vol. 3, Contributed Papers, edited by W. B. White, pp. 1417-1421, Greyhound Press, Kerrville, Texas. >¤ Springer, G.S., Rowe, H.D., Hardt, B., Edwards, R.L., and Hai Cheng, 2008. Solar forcing of Holocene droughts in a stalagmite record from West Virginia in East-Central North America. Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L17703. doi:10.1029/2008GL034971. >¤ Kammer, T. and Springer, G.S., 2008. Biostratigraphy of crinoids from the Wymps Gap Member of the Greenbrier Formation (Mississippian, Chesterian) in northern West Virginia. Journal of Paleontology, 82(6): 1182-1189. >¤ Spertel, S.E., Abrams, E.M., Freter, A., and Springer, G.S., 2007. Facing Monday Creek Rockshelter (33HO414): A late woodland hunting location in south in southern Ohio. Pennsylvania Archeologist, 78(1): 53-70. >¤ Springer, G.S., Tooth, S., and Wohl, E.E., 2006. Theoretical modeling of stream potholes based upon empirical observations from the Orange River, Republic of South Africa. Geomorphology 82: 160-176. >¤ Golden (Rhodes), A.R. and Springer, G.S., 2006. Hydraulic geometry, median grain size, and stream power in small mountain streams. Geomorphology 78: 64-76. >¤ Click to see earlier publications. Titles of Advisee's Completed M.S. Theses >¤ Fitzgibbon, H.A., 2010. Interpretation of whether incision rates in Appalachian karst reflect long-term downcutting toward a surface versus subsurface base level. >¤ Aldred, J.L., 2010. The effects of Late Holocene climate changes on flood frequencies and magnitudes in Central Appalachia. >¤ Mihimdukulasooriya, L.N., 2009. Environmental changes associated with Native American land use practices: A geoarcheological investigation of an Appalachian watershed. >¤ Plitzuweit, S.P., 2009. Effects of channel network geometries on incision processes and channel hydraulics in bedrock streams. >¤ White, D.M., 2007. Reconstruction and analysis of Native American land use during the late Holocene using cave-derived geochemical and sedimentological data. >¤ Cocina, F.G., 2006. Late Holocene stream hydrology in the Eastern Interior of North America. >¤ Meyer, C., 2006. Testing the usefulness of geomorphic variables as predictors of stream health: Western Allegheny Plateau. >¤ Burks, T., 2005. Basin Hydrology And Substrate Controls On Mountain River Morphology In The Highlands Of The Appalachian Plateau. >¤ Golden., A., 2005. Lithologic Controls on Headwater Stream Morphology in the Eastern Appalachian Plateau, West Virginia. >¤ Note: I am currently advising an MS student studying flood hazards along the Hocking River in southeastern Ohio. Courses Taught >¤ GEOL 101: Introduction to Geology >¤ GEOL 135: Natural Disasters >¤ GEOL 283: Geology for Engineers >¤ GEOL 4/530: Introduction to Geomorphology >¤ GEOL 4/532: Soil Genesis and Classification >¤ GEOL 4/539: Fluvial Geomorphology Memberships >¤ Geological Society of America >¤ National Speleological Society, Fellow >¤ West Virginia Association for Cave Studies, President Web Links >¤ My geoarchaeological research as covered by Discovery News >¤ My paleoclimate research as covered by MSNBC >¤ A nice newspaper article my flood protection work with a graduate student >¤ Athens From Space (Can you find the abandoned river valley Selected Publications (continued) >¤ Springer, G.S., Tooth, S., and Wohl, E.E., 2005. Geometry and dynamics of pothole growth as defined by field data and modeling. Journal of Geophysical Research 110, F04010, doi:10.1029/2005JF000321. >¤ Wohl, E.E. and Springer, G.S., 2005. Bedrock channel incision along the Rio Chagres, Panama. In: The Rio Chagres: A Multidisciplinary Profile of a Tropical Watershed. (Harmon, R.S., Editor), Klewer Press. p. 189-209. >¤ Springer, G.S., 2005 (since superceded by entirely new version). Clastic sediments in caves. In: Encyclopedia of Caves (Culver, D. and White, W., Editors), Elsevier, ISBN: 0-12-198-651-9, 102-108. >¤ Springer, G.S., 2004. A pipe-based, first approach to modeling closed conduit flow in caves. Journal of Hydrology 284: 178-189. >¤ Springer, G.S., Wohl, E.E., Foster, J.A., and Boyer, D.G., 2003. Testing for reach-scale adjustments of hydraulic variables to soluble and insoluble strata: Buckeye Creek and Greenbrier River, West Virginia. Geomorphology 56(1-2): 201-217. >¤ Springer, G.S., and E.E. Wohl, 2002. Empirical and theoretical investigations of sculpted forms in Buckeye Creek Cave, West Virginia, The Journal of Geology, 110(4), 469-481, doi:10.1086/340442. >¤ Springer, G.S., 2002. Caves and their potential use in paleoflood studies. In: Ancient floods, modern hazards: Principles and applications of paleoflood hydrology, Water Science and Application Volume 5 (House, K.; Webb, R.; Baker, V.; and Levish, D., Eds), American Geophysical Union Monograph, Washington, D.C., p. 329-344. >¤ Kite, J.S., T. Gebhardt, and G.S. Springer, 2002. Slackwater deposits as paleostage indicators in canyon reaches of the central Appalachians: Reevaluation after the 1996 Cheat River Flood, In: Ancient floods, modern hazards: Principles and applications of paleoflood hydrology, Water Science and Application Volume 5 (House, K.; Webb, R.; Baker, V.; and Levish, D., Eds), American Geophysical Union Monograph, Washington, D.C., p. 257-266. >¤ Springer, G.S., Dowdy, H.S., and Eaton, L.S., 2001. Sediment budgets for two mountainous basins affected by a catastrophic storm: Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia. Geomorphology 37: 135-148. >¤ Springer, G.S. and Kite, J.S., 1997. River derived slackwater sediments in caves along Cheat River, West Virginia. Geomorphology 18: 91-100. >¤ Springer, G.S., Kite, J.S., and Schmidt, V.A., 1997. Cave sedimentation, genesis, and erosional history in the Cheat River Canyon, West Virginia. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109(5): 524-532. # Entirely new article replaces version in 1st edition of Encyclopedia. |
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