Carl H. Hobbs III

Education

• B.S., Union College
• M.S., University of Massachusetts
• Ph.D., University of Mississippi

About

My primary research interests are in the Quaternary geology of Chesapeake Bay and the mid-Atlantic inner continental shelf and coastal plain. The studies have both academic and practical applications. High-resolution, seismic-reflection techniques provide data which are useful both in basic geologic studies and in prospecting for potentially minable resources of sand. Through developing a better understanding of the stratigraphy and depositional history of the coastal plain, we are better able to model the modes of occurrence of sand that might be used for beach nourishment or construction aggregate. Ddata from cores obtained in proving a sand resource also serve the general geological studies. The work includes studies of the potential environmental consequesnces of marine sand mining. The influence of rising sea level on the geology and geomorphology of the coastal zone is another topic of interest.

With co-workers from the Center for Archaeological Research and the Department of Geology at the Williamsburg campus of William & Mary, I have investigated the physical changes to Jamestown Island that have occurred since the beginning of the Holocene when humans first inhabited the region. The post-glacial rise in sea level and the resultant changes in or masking of local geomorphology, drowning of aquifers, growth of marshes, and modification of the river-estuary have had substantial influences on the regional environment.