Winter Lecture: The 35-Million Year Geological History of the Bay
Annapolis Maritime Museum 723 Second Street , Annapolis, MD, United StatesScope of Presentation 35 million years ago an asteroid blasted an enormous crater into the continental shelf 200 km southeast of Washington D.C. creating a long-lasting topographic depression which likely influenced the eventual location of the Chesapeake Bay. Although the current shape and extent of the Bay began to develop only 18,000 years ago triggered by the melting of the continental glaciers, the effects of the 35 million-year-old impact crater are still affecting the residents around the Bay today. River diversion, disrupted coastal aquifers, ground instability and land subsidence are all active...