geomorphology

Creation of Improved Accuracy LiDAR-Based Digital Elevation Models for the St. Jones River and Blackbird Creek Watersheds

Project Contact(s)
In tidal wetlands, the high density of vegetation cover inhibits penetration of LiDAR pulses through the vegetation to the ground surface and low vegetation heights inhibit classification of ground point elevations. This project identities and corrects for biases found in the St. Jones and Blackbird Reserves using GPS RTK surveying and statistical analysis.

SP28 Digital Elevation Model of Delaware

The Delaware Geological Survey led a multi-agency, state and federal effort (including DelDOT, DNREC, USGS, and NOAA) to secure funds from the Hurricane Sandy Relief appropriation to collect new, high-quality LiDAR for the entire state of Delaware. LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distances from a source to a target object. Typically, a LiDAR device is attached to the bottom of a plane and is pointed at the ground.

GM16 Geologic Map of the Fairmount and Rehoboth Beach Quadrangles, Delaware

The geologic history of the surficial units of the Fairmount and Rehoboth Beach quadrangles is that of deposition of the Beaverdam Formation and its subsequent modification by erosion and deposition related to sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene. The geology reflects this complex history both onshore, in Rehoboth Bay, and offshore. Erosion during the late Pleistocene sea-level low stand and ongoing deposition offshore and in Rehoboth Bay during the Holocene rise in sea level represent the last of several cycles of erosion and deposition.

Geologic History of the Delaware Piedmont

The Delaware Piedmont is but a small part of the Appalachian Mountain system that extends from Georgia to Newfoundland. This mountain system is the result of tectonic activity that took place during the Paleozoic era, between 543 and 245 million years ago. Since that time, the mountains have been continuously eroding, and their deep roots slowly rising in compensation as the overlying rocks are removed. It is surprising to find that although the Delaware Piedmont has passed through the whole series of tectonic events that formed the Appalachians, the mineralogy and structures preserved in Delaware were formed by the early event that occurred between 470 and 440 million years ago, called the Taconic orogeny.

SP24 Selected Geomorphic Features of Delaware

The shaded relief image on the left was created using 30-meter resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The DEMs were developed by John Mackenzie, University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Spatial Analysis Laboratory, from rasterized 1992-93 United States Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Line Graph (DLG) hypsography data. He also combined these data with zero-elevation contours extracted from 1989 Landsat TM Band 7 satellite imagery for coastal quadrangles.

Coastal Plain Rock Units (Stratigraphic Chart)

The geology of Delaware includes parts of two geologic provinces: the Appalachian Piedmont Province and the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province. The Piedmont occurs in the hilly northernmost part of the state and is composed of crystalline metamorphic and igneous rocks. This chart summarizes the age and distribution of the geologic units that are recognized in the state by the Delaware Geological Survey.

What are GeoAdventures?

GeoAdventures are designed to allow the reader to learn about a particular geologic point of interest in Delaware’s Piedmont province and then take a short field trip to that area. Want to know more about the Wilmington blue rock or Brandywine blue granite? Take the Wilmington Blue Rock GeoAdventure and go see just what the blue rock looks like.