NeoProterozoic Regolith and Rare Earth Elements of the Maryland Blue Ridge

Six 7.5-minute quadrangles in the Blue Ridge of Washington and Frederick Counties, Maryland, have been updated with new surficial mapping, critical minerals sampling, and digitization in GIS format. The Blue Ridge Summit quadrangle has also been updated with new geologic mapping.

The Maryland Geological Survey, with support of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Mineral Resources Initiative, mapped and sampled the thick regolith and underlying bedrock at 15 sites in the core of the northern Blue Ridge in western Frederick County and eastern Washington County, Maryland. 97 soil and bedrock samples were analyzed by the U.S.G.S for their trace and major element content, in particular rare earth elements (REEs), which accumulate in the soil profile overlying felsic gneisses and rhyolites of the Middletown complex and Catoctin Formation.

The updated quadrangles are now available in GIS format: http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/EarthMRI.html

The USGS EarthMRI program website can be viewed at https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/earthmri

Data from elemental analysis is available below.

Downloads

Blue Ridge Earth MRI Analysis Data (zip, 57 KB - includes .csv & .shp)

Soil profiles and underlying bedrock were sampled by MGS geologists for mineral content and rare earth element (REE) analysis by the U.S.Geological Survey.

Maryland Geological Survey, October 2022

Contact information
Maryland Geological Survey
Richard A. Ortt, Jr., Director
David K. Brezinski (410) 554-5526
david.brezinski@maryland.gov