Evidence of one of the most powerful tsunamis to hit North America has been unearthed on a North Carolina hillside. Join us to learn about this perfectly preserved sequence of impact fallout and tsunami deposits hidden for 35.5 million years. This finding is tied to the Chesapeake Bay bolide, the largest known impact crater in the US.
Dr. Bob Ganis will discuss how a routine gas pipeline trench exposed an unfamiliar stratum that sparked a multi‑year investigation. He and his colleagues ultimately documented what is now recognized as the Mount Helicon Formation, a one‑meter‑thick, four‑layer record of catastrophe, from ejecta fallout to tsunami surge. These deposits document a massive asteroid slamming into what is now southern Virginia, unleashing a continental‑scale catastrophe and reshaping the landscape that would one day cradle the Chesapeake Bay.
Dr. Ganis will guide us through the detective work behind this discovery, the science of impact signatures, and what this rare North Carolina site reveals about the ancient Atlantic coast.
Bob Ganis has been a professional geologist since 1973. Bob is a Fellow in the Geological Society of America. His professional career has primarily been as a consultant to the mining industry for mineral exploration. He has also been engaged in mapping the geology in Eastern Pennsylvania. He is now retired and lives in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
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NHSM believes there should be no barriers to education. If you can’t pay, that’s okay. If you can pay, great. If you can pay more, please do, so this kind of education can continue.