EAST TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

February 2023 Virtual Meeting

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Monday, February 13, 2023
6:00 - 7:30 pm

Note: ETGS members will receive an email with info for logging into the meeting.
 

February Presentation

Aerial and Ground-based Structure from Motion Photogrammetry for Stratigraphic and Structural Analysis - Applications from mapping in the Central Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province
 

By

Alan Pitts, PhD
Geologist, USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

 

Abstract

Structure from Motion Photogrammetry (SfM) is a recently developed tool for advanced topographic surveys that may be applied from a range of airborne or ground-based platforms. SfM provides an accessible, cost-effective, and practical means of producing accurate 3D point-cloud models at resolutions comparable to those produced by lidar. This talk illustrates several applications from various platforms aimed at analyzing the deformed Cambrian - Permian sedimentary strata of the Central Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province. In these studies, SfM has been used to measure and characterize outcrop-scale stratigraphic/structural features such as facies distributions, depositional geometries, fault orientations, as well as centimeter-millimeter-scale features. The results of these studies apply directly to sedimentology/stratigraphy, bedrock/surficial geological mapping, basin analysis, reservoir characterization, and terrain analysis.

Biography
 

Alan Pitts is a Geologist at the US Geological Survey, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center in Reston, VA. Alan is conducting geologic mapping in the Valley and Ridge Province as part of the Appalachian Basin Mapping Project. Before joining the USGS, Alan completed his Ph.D. at the University of Camerino, Italy, where he studied the tectonostratigraphic evolution of marine basins of the central/southern Apennine chain. Alan was also the co-founder of the GMU-University of Camerino Geology Field Camp in Central Italy where he was co-director for 5 years.

 

Greetings! We hope you will join us for the next ETGS virtual meeting, and that you, your family, and your colleagues are staying healthy and well. 

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Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue adapting to this virtual format. As always, we welcome and appreciate your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

 

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David Carlone

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Open

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J. Brad Stephenson

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Page updated May 10, 2023