MAPPING CARBON:NITROGEN RATIOS IN SOILS AND PEGMATITE OCCURRENCES IN EASTERN CONNECTICUT HIGHLANDS

We present three undergraduate mapping projects made using ArcGIS Pro of field sites within the eastern Connecticut highlands that aim to evaluate and understand the history and future of New England environments. The maps presented include two representations of soil carbon-nitrogen (C:N) ratios, and one representation of pegmatite occurrences within the Hebron Gneiss.

The first two maps were constructed to project interpolated C:N ratios found in soil. The first map is of a land trust property in Bolton, Connecticut, that was made to assess soil conditions before and after localized disturbances. Specifically, we aim to understand the decomposition capacity of the soil throughout the area prior to, and the years following, a forest management logging event to create a successional forest habitat. The second mapping project includes projections of C:N ratios as they reflect wetland soil conditions. This project aims to correlate local wetlands with specific invasive vegetative groves at the Trinity College Field Station (TCFS) located in Ashford, Connecticut. The final map presented, is a geologic outcrop map of the Lombardi Ridge Preserve in Bolton, Connecticut. This map includes large-scale mapping of the occurrence and relationship between the Hebron Gneiss, and intruded granitic pegmatite. The objective of this research project is to map the contacts between the pegmatite and Hebron to better understand the local petrology of, and the relationship between other regional pegmatite occurrences. All three of these projects and on-going and will involve future Trinity students.