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GSA TODAY | SEPTEMBER 2015 PREFACE:

1973 Geology Article Covers Baltimore Gneiss Geology

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As GSA looks ahead to GSA 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on 1–4 November,
we reproduce here the first Geology* journal article published on the structural
geology of Baltimore and its surrounds. The study by Michael W. Higgins, George W.
Fisher, and Isidore Zietz also gives a sense of the geologic mapping there as it examines
the extent of the Baltimore Gneiss.

Two of the authors cited in this paper have major GSA awards named for them.
Florence Bascom, the first woman hired by the USGS (1896) and the first woman
vice president of GSA (1930), was well known for her geologic mapping; thus,
GSA’s newest award has been named for her: “Geologic Mapping Award in Honor of
Florence Bascom.” Randolph W. “Bill” Bromery†, GSA’s first African-American presi-
dent (1989), established the “Randolph W. ‘Bill’ and Cecile T. Bromery Award for
Minorities” in 1999.

Would you like to know more about the early science and history of Baltimore?
Have a look at this 1892 open-access (thanks to the Internet Archive Digital Library)
Guide to Baltimore with an Account of the Geology of its Environs, by the American
Institute of Mining Engineers: https://archive.org/details/guidetobaltimore00will.

Baltimore gneiss: A Precambrian formation of banded biotite mica gneiss and
hornblende gneiss. It was formed by the metamorphosis of sedimentary and igneous
rocks and was named for outcrops near Baltimore, Maryland, USA. This specimen is on
display at The Geological Society of America headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

*Geology, v. 1, p. 41–43, doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1973)1<41:ADOABG>2.0.CO;2. All GSA journals and books are posted online at www.gsapubs.org.
†Bromery’s GSA Presidential Address is online at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/102/3/405.full.pdf.

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