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Geologic Mapping And Mineral Resources Section
Geologic Mapping And Mineral Resources Section
The Geologic Mapping and Mineral Resources Section of the LGS conducts investigations of the surface geology of Louisiana and renders the results in map format at intermediate and large scales (1:100,000 and 1:24,000, respectively). These investigations are done in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey under the STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). Although these investigations do not focus specifically on mineral resources, the geologic maps generated can have value for minerals exploration and resource assessment via derivative uses (the identification of economically significant properties associated with the units depicted on geologic maps).
Geologic Mapping And Mineral Resources Section
Staff
Paul V. Heinrich graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976 with a BS in Geology. He earned his MS in Geology at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in 1982, studying the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Pleistocene slackwater deposits in Southeast Illinois. At LGS he has been involved in a number of projects involving the Quaternary and archaeological geology in Louisiana and in the Southeast United States. Research interests include geologic mapping at 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 scales; geomorphology and subsurface stratigraphy of the Willis and Citronelle formations; meteorite impact craters; neotectonics within Southwest Louisiana; stratigraphy and geomorphology of Pleistocene sediments composing the Louisiana coastal plain; and geoarchaeology of the coastal plain of Louisiana and adjacent states. He has worked for the Illinois State Geological Survey, conducting field studies for the Rural Abandoned Mine Program; as an exploration geologist for Placid Oil Company in Denver; as a Field Archaeologist for Prewitt and Associates Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Austin, Texas; and as a consultant conducting studies of and co-authoring reports on either the archaeological or environmental geology of project areas for various companies, including: Coastal Environments Inc.; Earth Search, Inc.; Gilbert/Commonwealth Associates, Inc.; R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc.; Iroquois Research Institute; Reid Company, Inc.; and Prewitt and Associates Archaeological Consultants, Inc.
Recent Publications:
Heinrich, P. V., 2006, Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial systems of the lower Pearl River, Mississippi and Louisiana, USA: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 56, p. 267–278.
Heinrich, P. V. (compiler), 2006, White Lake 30 x 60 Minute Geologic Quadrangle: Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, Scale 1:100,000
McCulloh, R. P., P. V. Heinrich, and B. Good, 2006, Geology and hurricane-protection strategies in the Greater New Orleans Area: Louisiana Geological Survey, Public information series no. 11, 30 p.
Heinrich, P. V., 2005, Distribution and origin of fault-line scarps of southwest Louisiana, USA: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 55, p. 284–293.
Heinrich, P. V., 2005, Review of the engineering geology of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana: Louisiana Geological Survey NewsInsights, v. 15, no. 3, p. 6–11.
Richard P. McCulloh holds a B.S. degree in geology from Oklahoma State University and an M.A. degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS) in Baton Rouge after working for two years as a geologist for Conoco Minerals Inc. in the south Texas uranium district. Since joining LGS he has been involved in a variety of subsurface and surface geological investigations, with the overall focus of his efforts shifting from the subsurface Tertiary to the surface geology of Quaternary and Tertiary units. Areas of research interest and involvement (formal and informal) have included assessment of geopressured-geothermal potential; assessment of sedimentary uranium potential; stratigraphic configurations associated with Miocene growth faults; delineation of shale-filled channels in the Wilcox Group; surface and shallow-subsurface geology of emergent salt domes in coastal Louisiana; structural geomorphology as reflected in stream nets and alluvial courses; and surface geology at 1:24,000, 1:100,000, 1:250,000, and 1:500,000 scales. He has also done part-time work as an editorial assistant for Erico Inc. (precursor of Masera Corporation), an international petroleum consulting firm; and as an abstractor for Japanese Technical Information Service, a subsidiary of University Microfilms.
Recent Publications:
McCulloh, R. P., 2009, Geologic-mapping context of the Hanson Brick pit, Mooringsport 7.5 minute quadrangle, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, in McCulloh, R., P. Heinrich, D. Williamson, and G. Hanson, GCAGS 2009 field trip, Hanson Brick clay pit, Midway Group and Wilcox Group contact, September 26, 2009: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies / Gulf Coast Section of Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, 59th annual convention, Shreveport, Louisiana, field trip no. 1, 12 p. [unpaginated appendix].
McCulloh, R. P., P. V. Heinrich, and J. Snead (compilers), 2009, Amite 30 x 60 minute geologic quadrangle: Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, scale 1:100,000.
McCulloh, R. P., and P. V. Heinrich, 2009, LIDAR imagery and geologic mapping in Louisiana and similar humid-subtropical and coastal-plain regions: Louisiana Geological Survey NewsInsights, v. 19, no. 1, p. 4-6.
Carlson, D., and R. P. McCulloh, 2008, A test comparison of orientations of interpreted surface drainage lineaments and deep-subsurface dipmeter records in north-central Louisiana [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 40, no. 6, p. 154.
McCulloh, R. P., 2008, Field trip guide to selected locations along the Baton Rouge fault trace spanning the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in western East Baton Rouge Parish: Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, 14 p., http://www.lgs.lsu.edu/deploy/uploads/BRFGuidebook.pdf.
Geologic Mapping And Mineral Resources Section
Projects
Title: Geologic Mapping of Port Hudson, Zachary, and Fred 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, and New Roads 30 x 60 Minute Geologic Quadrangle, Louisiana
Funding Agency: U.S. Geological Survey (Cooperative agreement under National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, STATEMAP component)
Principal Investigators: Richard P. McCulloh, Paul V. Heinrich, and R. Hampton Peele
Period of Performance: 1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007
Description: Mapping the surface geology of three 7.5-minute quadrangles (1:24,000 scale), and recompilation and digital production of one 30 x 60 minute quadrangle (1:100,000 scale), in north-central south Louisiana.
Title: Recognition, characterization, and analysis of Louisiana surface lineaments at different scales
Funding Agency: (LGS)
Principal Investigators: Richard P. McCulloh
Period of Performance: (ongoing)
Description: This is an outgrowth of 10+ years of surface geologic mapping and map compilation in Louisiana, primarily in cooperative agreements with the U.S. Geological Survey under its COGEOMAP and STATEMAP programs. To date it has resulted in the publication of one paper in a peer-review journal (Southeastern Geology) on inferred control of drainage courses in Louisiana by systematic fracture sets that traditionally have escaped widespread perception and documentation, and to date remain cryptic. Despite the cryptic aspect, indirect indicators of such systematic fracturing in Louisiana, primarily manifesting as drainage lineaments, in fact are abundant and widespread. Analysis of the high-resolution (1:24,000-scale) National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) files available for portions of Louisiana revealed a consistent pattern reminiscent of that seen for fractures and lineaments attributed to basement influence in other regions, but also raised the possibility that the patterns reflect an artifact of NHD data formatting rather than true frequency distribution of stream orientations. A definitive resolution of this issue thus far remains elusive.
Title: Investigation of a Quaternary impact crater in southwestern St. Helena Parish, Louisiana
Funding Agency: (LGS)
Principal Investigators: Paul V. Heinrich
Period of Performance: (ongoing)
Description: In 1996, geologic mapping of the Amite 1:100,000 quadrangle by the LGS revealed an anomalous circular depression, initially called the “Brushy Creek feature,” in southwestern St. Helena Parish, Louisiana. It consists of a circular depression about 2 km (1.2 miles) in diameter with a low and dissected rim. This depression is a regionally unique landform superimposed upon the local ridge-and-ravine topography. The feature occurs in an area devoid of volcanic activity, salt diapirism, and carbonate sinkholes that might explain its origin. Furthermore, its location is incompatible with the formation of siliciclastic karst. Limited subsurface data indicate the presence of a “hole” in the underlying stratigraphic units consistent with the origin of the Brushy Creek crater by impact processes.
The presence of shocked quartz found in place within the Citronelle Formation underlying the rim and in alluvium derived from the feature provides direct evidence of impact metamorphism and the formation of the Brushy Creek feature by impact processes. Impact processes are further indicated by abundant intensely fractured quartz within the sediments that are found throughout this feature.
The only outcrop of the Citronelle Formation underlying the rim of the Brushy Creek feature exhibits parallel fractures, which dip toward the interior, and contains the in situ shocked quartz. This evidence indicates that the Brushy Creek feature is an impact crater. Limited evidence suggests that the crater is late Pleistocene to possibly Middle Holocene in age.
Louisiana Geological Survey
3079 Energy, Coastal and Environmental Building · Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Telephone: 225-578-5320 · Fax: 225-578-3662 · E-mail: hammer@lsu.edu Admin Login
Paul V. Heinrich graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976 with a BS in Geology. He earned his MS in Geology at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in 1982, studying the sedimentology and stratigraphy of Pleistocene slackwater deposits in Southeast Illinois. At LGS he has been involved in a number of projects involving the Quaternary and archaeological geology in Louisiana and in the Southeast United States. Research interests include geologic mapping at 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 scales; geomorphology and subsurface stratigraphy of the Willis and Citronelle formations; meteorite impact craters; neotectonics within Southwest Louisiana; stratigraphy and geomorphology of Pleistocene sediments composing the Louisiana coastal plain; and geoarchaeology of the coastal plain of Louisiana and adjacent states. He has worked for the Illinois State Geological Survey, conducting field studies for the Rural Abandoned Mine Program; as an exploration geologist for Placid Oil Company in Denver; as a Field Archaeologist for Prewitt and Associates Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Austin, Texas; and as a consultant conducting studies of and co-authoring reports on either the archaeological or environmental geology of project areas for various companies, including: Coastal Environments Inc.; Earth Search, Inc.; Gilbert/Commonwealth Associates, Inc.; R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc.; Iroquois Research Institute; Reid Company, Inc.; and Prewitt and Associates Archaeological Consultants, Inc. 
Richard P. McCulloh holds a B.S. degree in geology from Oklahoma State University and an M.A. degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS) in Baton Rouge after working for two years as a geologist for Conoco Minerals Inc. in the south Texas uranium district. Since joining LGS he has been involved in a variety of subsurface and surface geological investigations, with the overall focus of his efforts shifting from the subsurface Tertiary to the surface geology of Quaternary and Tertiary units. Areas of research interest and involvement (formal and informal) have included assessment of geopressured-geothermal potential; assessment of sedimentary uranium potential; stratigraphic configurations associated with Miocene growth faults; delineation of shale-filled channels in the Wilcox Group; surface and shallow-subsurface geology of emergent salt domes in coastal Louisiana; structural geomorphology as reflected in stream nets and alluvial courses; and surface geology at 1:24,000, 1:100,000, 1:250,000, and 1:500,000 scales. He has also done part-time work as an editorial assistant for Erico Inc. (precursor of Masera Corporation), an international petroleum consulting firm; and as an abstractor for Japanese Technical Information Service, a subsidiary of University Microfilms. 
