Alan D Pitts, Ph.D.
Alan D Pitts is a geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
Alan is a geologist conducting geologic mapping and specialized geologic research for the Appalachian Basin Project. His current research interests include stratigraphy of the Appalachian Basin. Shallow-deep marine sedimentary systems, Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge physiographic province, virtual outcrops, advanced desktop/field mapping applications in GIS.
Alan began a career with USGS in 2012 as a pathways intern. In 2022, he joined the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center in Reston, Virginia.
Science and Products
Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project
The Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project performs geologic mapping at local and regional scales, and geologic research in The Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateaus physiographic provinces. These provinces include parts of 11 states and mainly borders the Blue Ridge / Piedmont and North Interior Lowlands Provinces. Only one state has Valley and Ridge geology (NJ), two have Appalachian...
Digital GIS Data for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964. Digital GIS Data for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964.
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides a digital geospatial database for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964. Attribute tables and geospatial features (points, lines, and polygons) conform to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS, 2020) and represent...
Digital GIS data for the Geologic Map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope Quadrangle, Bedford County, Pennsylvania from the original map of de Witt, 1974 Digital GIS data for the Geologic Map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope Quadrangle, Bedford County, Pennsylvania from the original map of de Witt, 1974
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides a digital geospatial database for the bedrock geologic map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope quadrangle (de Witt, 1974). Attribute tables and geospatial features (points, lines, and polygons) conform to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS, 2020) and represent the geologic map as published in the...
Rare Earth Element (REE), Critical Mineral, and Geochemical Characterization of Manganese Oxide Ore Deposits in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia Rare Earth Element (REE), Critical Mineral, and Geochemical Characterization of Manganese Oxide Ore Deposits in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia
Manganese is a designated critical mineral, being industrially utilized for producing steel and batteries, including in the production of electric vehicles (Rozelle et al., 2021). The eastern United States hosts hundreds of manganese oxide mines that served steel production until their abandonment in the mid-twentieth century (Pegau, 1958). Many relict mines still feature accessible pits...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of a reference section of the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of a reference section of the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of three exposures covering the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, near Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical outcrop orthomosaic...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of two exposures covering the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical outcrop orthomosaic constructed from multiple...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Williamsport Sandstone and Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Williamsport Sandstone and Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of four exposures covering the Williamsport Sandstone and the Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Silurian units including the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Bloomsburg Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Tonoloway Limestone, and t Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Silurian units including the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Bloomsburg Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Tonoloway Limestone, and t
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and highly detailed orthomosaic images of two exposures covering the the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Bloomsburg Formation, Tonoloway Limestone, and the Keyser Limestone. For each railway exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of deformed Foreknobs Formation within the Snyder Run syncline near Bergton, VA Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of deformed Foreknobs Formation within the Snyder Run syncline near Bergton, VA
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and a highly detailed orthomosaic image of a roadcut exposure documenting the structural style of the middle part of the Late Devonian Foreknobs Formation within the Synder Run syncline near Bergton, Virginia. For the roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Brallier and Foreknobs Formations, Baker, WV Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Brallier and Foreknobs Formations, Baker, WV
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and highly detailed orthomosaic images of four roadcut exposures covering the upper part of the Harrell Shale, the full Brallier Formation, the full Foreknobs Formation, and the lower part of the Hampshire Formation at Baker, West Virginia. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic...
Mapping the middle and upper Devonian marine-nonmarine transition in the Appalachian Basin from West Virginia to New York. Mapping the middle and upper Devonian marine-nonmarine transition in the Appalachian Basin from West Virginia to New York.
No abstract available.
Authors
Daniel H. Doctor, Alan D Pitts
Non-USGS Publications**
Kulenguski, J.T., Gilleaudeau, G.J., Kaufman, A.J., Kipp, M.A., Tissot, F.L.H., Goepfert, T.J., Pitts, A.D., Pierantoni, P., Evans, M.N., and Elrick, M., 2023, Carbonate uranium isotopes across Cretaceous OAE 2 in southern Mexico: New constraints on the global spread of marine anoxia and organic carbon burial: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 603, p. 111756, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111756.
Zambrano, M., Volatili, T., Mancini, L., Pitts, A., Giorgioni, M., and Tondi, E., 2023, Pore-scale dual-porosity and dual-permeability modeling in an exposed multi-facies porous carbonate reservoir: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, v. 222, p. 110918, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2023.110918.
Jablonska, D., Pitts, A.D., Di Celma, C., Volatili, T., Alsop, G. I., & Tondi, E. (2021). 3D outcrop modelling of large discordant breccia bodies in basinal carbonates of the Apulian margin, Italy. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104732
Di Celma, C., Pitts, A. D, Jablonska, D., & Haynes, J. T. (2020). Backset lamination produced by supercritical backwash flows at the beachface-shoreface transition of a storm-dominated gravelly beach (middle Pleistocene, central Italy). Marine and Petroleum Geology, 112(May 2019), 103987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.08.015
Pitts, A.D., Jablonska, D., Di Donato, V., Mazzoli, S., Spina, V., Di Celma, C., and Tondi, E., 2023, Sedimentological and stratigraphic signature of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonic events in the Southern Apennines, Italy: The Calvello-Anzi Basin case study: Marine and Petroleum Geology,116, June 2020, 104198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104198
Zambrano, M., Pitts, A.D., Salama, A., Volatili, T., Giorgioni, M., and Tondi, E., 2019, Analysis of fracture roughness control on permeability using SfM and fluid flow simulations: implications for carbonate reservoir characterization: Geofluids, v. 2019, Article ID 4132386, https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4132386.
Haynes, John T., Alan D. Pitts, Daniel H. Doctor, Richard J. Diecchio, B. Mitchell Blake, Jr., 2018, Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy, Tectonics, and Eustasy from the Blue Ridge to the Allegheny Front, Virginia and West Virginia: West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Field Trip Guide FTG-10, 86 p. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70203571
Pitts, A.D., Casciano, C.I., Patacci, M., Longhitano, S.G., Di Celma, C., and McCaffrey, W.D., 2017, Integrating traditional field methods with emerging digital techniques for enhanced outcrop analysis of deep water channel-fill deposits: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 86, p. 30-41, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.05.001.
Aringoli, D., Farabollini, P., Giacopetti, M., Materazzi, M., Paggi, S., Pambianchi, G., Pierantoni, P.P., Pistolesi, E., Pitts, A., and Tondi, E., 2016, The August 24th 2016 Accumoli earthquake: surface faulting and Deep-Seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DSGSD) in the Monte Vettore area: Annals of Geophysics, v. 59, p. AG7199, https://doi.org/10.4401/ag-7199.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project
The Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project performs geologic mapping at local and regional scales, and geologic research in The Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateaus physiographic provinces. These provinces include parts of 11 states and mainly borders the Blue Ridge / Piedmont and North Interior Lowlands Provinces. Only one state has Valley and Ridge geology (NJ), two have Appalachian...
Digital GIS Data for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964. Digital GIS Data for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964.
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides a digital geospatial database for the Bedrock geology of the Evitts Creek and Patterson Creek quadrangles, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia from the original map of de Witt and Colton, 1964. Attribute tables and geospatial features (points, lines, and polygons) conform to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS, 2020) and represent...
Digital GIS data for the Geologic Map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope Quadrangle, Bedford County, Pennsylvania from the original map of de Witt, 1974 Digital GIS data for the Geologic Map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope Quadrangle, Bedford County, Pennsylvania from the original map of de Witt, 1974
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides a digital geospatial database for the bedrock geologic map of the Beans Cove and Hyndman quadrangles and part of the Fairhope quadrangle (de Witt, 1974). Attribute tables and geospatial features (points, lines, and polygons) conform to the Geologic Map Schema (GeMS, 2020) and represent the geologic map as published in the...
Rare Earth Element (REE), Critical Mineral, and Geochemical Characterization of Manganese Oxide Ore Deposits in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia Rare Earth Element (REE), Critical Mineral, and Geochemical Characterization of Manganese Oxide Ore Deposits in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia
Manganese is a designated critical mineral, being industrially utilized for producing steel and batteries, including in the production of electric vehicles (Rozelle et al., 2021). The eastern United States hosts hundreds of manganese oxide mines that served steel production until their abandonment in the mid-twentieth century (Pegau, 1958). Many relict mines still feature accessible pits...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of a reference section of the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of a reference section of the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of three exposures covering the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation, near Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical outcrop orthomosaic...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of two exposures covering the upper part of the Lock Haven Formation near Tioga, Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical outcrop orthomosaic constructed from multiple...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Williamsport Sandstone and Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Williamsport Sandstone and Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and detailed orthomosaic images of four exposures covering the Williamsport Sandstone and the Bloomsburg Formation in eastern West Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The orthomosaic raster image is a vertical...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Silurian units including the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Bloomsburg Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Tonoloway Limestone, and t Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Silurian units including the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Bloomsburg Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Tonoloway Limestone, and t
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and highly detailed orthomosaic images of two exposures covering the the Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Sandstone, McKenzie Formation, Williamsport Sandstone, Bloomsburg Formation, Tonoloway Limestone, and the Keyser Limestone. For each railway exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of deformed Foreknobs Formation within the Snyder Run syncline near Bergton, VA Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of deformed Foreknobs Formation within the Snyder Run syncline near Bergton, VA
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and a highly detailed orthomosaic image of a roadcut exposure documenting the structural style of the middle part of the Late Devonian Foreknobs Formation within the Synder Run syncline near Bergton, Virginia. For the roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic raster image and a point cloud. The...
Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Brallier and Foreknobs Formations, Baker, WV Structure-from-Motion derived point clouds and orthomosaic images of reference sections of the Brallier and Foreknobs Formations, Baker, WV
This dataset consists of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) - derived point clouds and highly detailed orthomosaic images of four roadcut exposures covering the upper part of the Harrell Shale, the full Brallier Formation, the full Foreknobs Formation, and the lower part of the Hampshire Formation at Baker, West Virginia. For each roadcut exposure, two datasets are published: an orthomosaic...
Mapping the middle and upper Devonian marine-nonmarine transition in the Appalachian Basin from West Virginia to New York. Mapping the middle and upper Devonian marine-nonmarine transition in the Appalachian Basin from West Virginia to New York.
No abstract available.
Authors
Daniel H. Doctor, Alan D Pitts
Non-USGS Publications**
Kulenguski, J.T., Gilleaudeau, G.J., Kaufman, A.J., Kipp, M.A., Tissot, F.L.H., Goepfert, T.J., Pitts, A.D., Pierantoni, P., Evans, M.N., and Elrick, M., 2023, Carbonate uranium isotopes across Cretaceous OAE 2 in southern Mexico: New constraints on the global spread of marine anoxia and organic carbon burial: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 603, p. 111756, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111756.
Zambrano, M., Volatili, T., Mancini, L., Pitts, A., Giorgioni, M., and Tondi, E., 2023, Pore-scale dual-porosity and dual-permeability modeling in an exposed multi-facies porous carbonate reservoir: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, v. 222, p. 110918, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2023.110918.
Jablonska, D., Pitts, A.D., Di Celma, C., Volatili, T., Alsop, G. I., & Tondi, E. (2021). 3D outcrop modelling of large discordant breccia bodies in basinal carbonates of the Apulian margin, Italy. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104732
Di Celma, C., Pitts, A. D, Jablonska, D., & Haynes, J. T. (2020). Backset lamination produced by supercritical backwash flows at the beachface-shoreface transition of a storm-dominated gravelly beach (middle Pleistocene, central Italy). Marine and Petroleum Geology, 112(May 2019), 103987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.08.015
Pitts, A.D., Jablonska, D., Di Donato, V., Mazzoli, S., Spina, V., Di Celma, C., and Tondi, E., 2023, Sedimentological and stratigraphic signature of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonic events in the Southern Apennines, Italy: The Calvello-Anzi Basin case study: Marine and Petroleum Geology,116, June 2020, 104198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104198
Zambrano, M., Pitts, A.D., Salama, A., Volatili, T., Giorgioni, M., and Tondi, E., 2019, Analysis of fracture roughness control on permeability using SfM and fluid flow simulations: implications for carbonate reservoir characterization: Geofluids, v. 2019, Article ID 4132386, https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4132386.
Haynes, John T., Alan D. Pitts, Daniel H. Doctor, Richard J. Diecchio, B. Mitchell Blake, Jr., 2018, Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy, Tectonics, and Eustasy from the Blue Ridge to the Allegheny Front, Virginia and West Virginia: West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Field Trip Guide FTG-10, 86 p. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70203571
Pitts, A.D., Casciano, C.I., Patacci, M., Longhitano, S.G., Di Celma, C., and McCaffrey, W.D., 2017, Integrating traditional field methods with emerging digital techniques for enhanced outcrop analysis of deep water channel-fill deposits: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 86, p. 30-41, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.05.001.
Aringoli, D., Farabollini, P., Giacopetti, M., Materazzi, M., Paggi, S., Pambianchi, G., Pierantoni, P.P., Pistolesi, E., Pitts, A., and Tondi, E., 2016, The August 24th 2016 Accumoli earthquake: surface faulting and Deep-Seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DSGSD) in the Monte Vettore area: Annals of Geophysics, v. 59, p. AG7199, https://doi.org/10.4401/ag-7199.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.