BOY SCOUTS ROCK: UPDATING AND DIGITIZING LEGACY GEOLOGIC INFORMATION FOR THE BLUE RIDGE SCOUT RESERVATION

In 2015, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) requested the aid of the Department of Geology at Radford University in constructing a geologic map of the Blue Ridge Scout Reservation (BRSR), a 17,500 acre BSA camp located in Pulaski County, Virginia, situated in the Blue Ridge province of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Previous detailed geologic mapping by Dr. Robert C. McDowell (1968) revealed that the BRSR’s bedrock geology is composed almost entirely of meta-sedimentary rocks of the Chilhowee Group (upper Neoproterozoic - lower Cambrian). McDowell's findings provided the initial information necessary to reconstruct a modern, digital version of the BRSR and Macks Mountain's area.

After presenting our preliminary map product at SEGSA, initial reconnaissance and map product modifications have begun and been implemented. Most of McDowell's mapping proved to be consistent with findings made in the field. However, evidence of Skolithus-bearing white quartz arenites suggests that McDowell could have mistakenly mapped an area as "Lower" Chilhowee Group, which may be better categorized as an Erwin equivalent. To secure a working, updated digital version of the map product, McDowell's original contacts were traced in Adobe Illustrator and then integrated into ArcMap GIS; which georeferences the contacts according to anchor point locations marked on both the raster data set (contacts) and the spatial data set (USGS quadrangle basemaps). Two versions of the newly edited map product were created and delivered to BRSR officials: one version acts as a more general guide, while the other contains more detailed descriptions of the formations and units found in the Macks Mountain's area. The more detailed map will be utilized for further field reconnaissance and updated as needed. Newly updated additions and/or corrections will be implemented and sent to BRSR management to maintain the validity and accuracy of the geology of the BRSR