Chesapeake Bay on EARTH Magazine

Down to Earth With: Paleobiologist Rowan Lockwood

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 10:39:57 -0400

Rowan Lockwood, a professor of paleobiology in the Department of Geology at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, studies ecological changes through geologic time to inform modern conservation approaches. Credit: Stephen Salpukas.

In 1608, Captain John Smith noted that oysters “lay as thick as stones” on the floor of the Chesapeake Bay. The shell reefs — built up by hundreds of years of oyster generations — were so large, ships wrecked against them. And each oyster was so massive, to eat one, you had to cut it into pieces — like a steak.

Ancient seawater found in Chesapeake Bay impact crater

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 17:38:17 -0400

When the bolide struck in the Late Eocene, it shattered the bedrock, truncated aquifers and left a crater roughly twice the size of Rhode Island and nearly as deep as the Grand Canyon. The resulting structural low is likely responsible for the formation of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay gets some good news

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:35:38 -0400

The Susquehanna River in eastern Pennsylvania is one of 150 major rivers that eventually flow into the Chesapeake Bay, transporting pollutants and nutrient runoff from six states. Credit: Mary Caperton Morton

By Mary Caperton Morton

Travels in Geology: Chesapeake Bay, from impact craters to executive orders

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

NASA's Landsat satellite mosaic of the Chesapeake Bay. NASA

Sharps Island lighthouse, in Chesapeake Bay, is partially submerged. Skip Willits

Scenic and fragile, tidal wetlands are a crucial part of the Chesapeake Bay ecology. Copyright January 2006 Jennifer Schmidt.

The lower part of the Chesapeake Bay offers more than crab cakes and boating. Today, the bay is central to one of country’s largest environmental campaigns. But an excursion around the Virginian coasts provides an amazing peek into the mid-Atlantic region’s rich geological, environmental and cultural history, spanning impact events, glaciation, early colonial settlements and modern struggles with pollution and rising sea level.