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Gregory S. Springer
| 2002-present | | Assistant Professor |
| PhD, 2002 | | Colorado State University |
| MS, 1994 | | West Virginia University |
| BS, 1991 | | West Virginia University |
Office: 214 Clippinger Laboratories
Office Phone: 740-593-9436
Fax: 740-593-0486
Research Interests
Caves offer a wealth of research opportunities because they often contain well-preserved records of climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and land use. Currently, I have numerous cave-related projects. My collaborators and I are reconstructing the last 300,000 years of climate in southeastern West Virginia. The climate record is being used interpret the response of geomorphic and hydrologic systems to climate change. The early results of this cutting edge research will soon appear in journals and I am looking for students to continue or expand upon our projects. A unique offshoot of our paleoclimate research involves use of Appalachian landscapes by Native Americans. We have found strong evidence for major changes to landscapes and ecologies beginning about 2200 years before present when (apparently) Native Americans began large-scale land clearing and burning. There are many excellent research opportunities associated with this topic.
Headwater streams are also one of my current research interests because they are important aquatic habitats that are impacted by acid rain, acid mine drainage, and land use changes. Headwater streams are also areas of scientific interest because they possess a complex suite of channel types and morphologies, which are poorly understood.
Parallel studies of mountainous headwater streams on the western margin of the Appalachian Mountains are nearing completion and have led to two Masters theses. We have examined mountain at elevations in excess of 4000 feet with the goal of determining how watershed size and geology determines stream properties. In contrast, a Masters student and I are in the initial phase of an EPA-funded examination of (comparatively) small streams in southeastern Ohio where streams are under great stress. Our goal is to test for correlations between geomorphic and biologic variables. | |
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Representative Publications
>¤ Spertel, S.E., Abrams, E.M., Freter, A., and Springer, G.S., 2007. Facing Monday Creek Rockshelter (33HO414): A late woodland hunting location in south in southern Ohio. Pennsylvania Archeologist, 78(1): 53-70.
>¤ Springer, G.S., Tooth, S., and Wohl, E.E., 2006. Theoretical modeling of stream potholes based upon empirical observations from the Orange River, Republic of South Africa. Geomorphology 82: 160-176.
>¤ Golden (Rhodes), A.R. and Springer, G.S., 2006. Hydraulic geometry, median grain size, and stream power in small mountain streams. Geomorphology 78: 64-76.
>¤ Springer, G.S., 2005. Clastic sediments in caves. In: Encyclopedia of Caves (Culver, D. and White, W., Editors), Elsevier, ISBN: 0-12-198-651-9, 102-108.
>¤ Springer, G.S., Tooth, S., and Wohl, E.E., 2005. Geometry and dynamics of pothole growth as defined by field data and modeling. Journal of Geophysical Research 110, F04010, doi:10.1029/2005JF000321.
>¤ Wohl, E.E. and Springer, G.S., 2005. Bedrock channel incision along the Rio Chagres, Panama. In: The Rio Chagres: A Multidisciplinary Profile of a Tropical Watershed. (Harmon, R.S., Editor), Klewer Press. p. 189-209.
>¤ Springer, G.S., 2004. A pipe-based, first approach to modeling closed conduit flow in caves. Journal of Hydrology 284: 178-189.
>¤ Springer, G.S., Wohl, E.E., Foster, J.A., and Boyer, D.G., 2003. Testing for reach-scale adjustments of hydraulic variables to soluble and insoluble strata: Buckeye Creek and Greenbrier River, West Virginia. Geomorphology 56(1-2): 201-217.
>¤ Springer, G.S., 2002. Caves and their potential use in paleoflood studies. In: Ancient floods, modern hazards: Principles and applications of paleoflood hydrology, Water Science and Application Volume 5 (House, K.; Webb, R.; Baker, V.; and Levish, D., Eds), American Geophysical Union Monograph, Washington, D.C., 329-344.
>¤ Springer, G.S., Dowdy, H.S., and Eaton, L.S., 2001. Sediment budgets for two mountainous basins affected by a catastrophic storm: Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia. Geomorphology 37: 135-148.
>¤ Springer, G.S. and Kite, J.S., 1997. River derived slackwater sediments in caves along Cheat River, West Virginia. Geomorphology 18: 91-100.
>¤ Springer, G.S., Kite, J.S., and Schmidt, V.A., 1997. Cave sedimentation, genesis, and erosional history in the Cheat River Canyon, West Virginia. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109(5): 524-532.
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Titles of Recent M.S. Theses
>¤ White, D.M., 2007. Reconstruction and analysis of Native American land use during the late Holocene using cave-derived geochemical and sedimentological data.
>¤ Cocina, F.G., 2006. Late Holocene stream hydrology in the Eastern Interior of North America.
>¤ Meyer, C., 2006. Testing the usefulness of geomorphic variables as predictors of stream health: Western Allegheny Plateau.
>¤ Burks, T., 2005. Basin Hydrology And Substrate Controls On Mountain River Morphology In The Highlands Of The Appalachian Plateau
>¤ Golden., A., 2005. Lithologic Controls on Headwater Stream Morphology in the Eastern Appalachian Plateau, West Virginia
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Courses Taught
| Links are provided to course pages and syllabi where course pages are not available. Soils (even) and Fluvial Geomorphology (odd) are normally taught in the Fall of alternate years. |
 | GEOL 101: Introduction to Geology |
| GEOL 135: Natural Disasters |
| GEOL 283: Geology for Engineers |
| GEOL 3/530: Introduction to Geomorphology |
| GEOL 4/532: Introduction to Soils |
| GEOL 4/539: Fluvial Geomorphology |
Awards and Memberships
>¤ National Speleological Society, Fellow
>¤ Geological Society of America
>¤ Geological Society of South Africa
>¤ American Geophysical Union
>¤ West Virginia Association for Cave Studies
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