Eric Carson

My primary research converges on the processes and sedimentary archives of streams near former glacial margins.  I am interested in questions ranging from millennial-scale variations in streamflow and flooding due to changes in past climates to historic records of landscape change and sediment mobility related to human-driven changes in vegetation cover and land use.  Within this framework, the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin is a prime example of this geomorphic setting and a major geographic focus for my research.

The primary projects I am currently pursuing in Wisconsin are STATEMAP-funded surficial geologic mapping in Grant County (to be expanded to a larger portion of the Driftless Area); an investigation of the sediments and stratigraphy in the Lower Wisconsin River Valley as a means of better understanding water supply, water flow, and flooding; and the completion of series of Survey publications on the glacial history of Door County.  Farther afield, my interest in stream systems near former glacial margins is the driving force behind research projects I am conducting in the Uinta Mountains of northeast Utah and the Finger Lakes region of western New York.

Current projects

My current projects can be explored through this interactive map:

View interactive map

Professional affiliations

• Geological Society of America, member
• 2005: Field trip coordinator, Geological Society of America annual meeting, Salt Lake City, UT
• 2004: Topical session co-convener, Geological Society of America annual meeting, Denver, CO

Selected publications

WGNHS Publications

Papers in refereed journals and proceedings

These are refereed technical publications in national or international scientific journals

• Carson, E.C., Attig, J.W., Rawling, J.E., Hanson, P.R., Dodge, S.E., 2020, Chronology of advance and recession dynamics of the southern Green Bay Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, south-central Wisconsin, USA: Quaternary Research, v. 95, 142-153. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2020.8
• Carson, E.C., Attig, J.W., Rawling, J.E., 2019, The glacial record in regions surrounding the Driftless Area: The Physical Geography and Geology of the Driftless Area: The Career and Contributions of James C. Knox, Eric C. Carson, J. Elmo Rawling, III, J. Michael Daniels, John W. Attig. https://doi.org/10.1130/2019.2543(02)
• Carson, E. C., Rawling III, J. E., Attig, J. W., & Bates, B. R., 2018, Late Cenozoic evolution of the upper Mississippi River, stream piracy, and reorganization of North American Mid-Continent drainage systems: GSA Today, v. 28(7), p. 4-11. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG355A.1
• Carson, E.C., Hanson, P.R., Attig, J.W., Young, A.R., 2012, Numeric control on the late-glacial chronology of the southern Laurentide Ice Sheet derived from ice-proximal lacustrine deposits: Quaternary Research, v. 78, p. 583-589. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2012.08.005
• Carson, E.C., 2009, Surficial-geologic map of the Kavik River area, west-central Mount Michelson Quadrangle, northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 2009-3, scale 1:63,360, 1 sheet.
• Carson, E.C., 2005, Fluvial geomorphology and hydrology of the sub-alpine streams in the Uinta Mountains, in Dehler, C.M., Pederson, J.L., Sprinkel D.A., and Kowallis, B.J., eds., Uinta Mountain Geology: Utah Geological Association Guidebook 33, p. 171-187.
• Carson, E.C., 2006, Valley morphometry controls on flood conveyance and overbank alluvial sedimentation, West Fork Black’s Fork, Uinta Mountains, Utah, in Munroe, J.S., Laabs, B.J.C., and Carson, E.C., eds., Quaternary landscape change and modern processes in western North America: Geomorphology, v. 75, no. 3-4, p. 368-383.
• Carson, E.C., 2007, Temporal and seasonal trends in streamflow in the Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah, and relation to climatic fluctuations: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, v. 39, no. 4, p. 521-528.
• Carson, E.C., and Munroe, J.S., 2005, Tree-ring based reconstruction of streamflow for Ashley Creek, northeastern Utah: Implications for paleohydrology of the southern Uinta Mountains: The Holocene, v. 15, no. 4, p. 602-611.
• Carson, E.C., Knox, J.C., and Mickelson, D.M., 2007, Response of bankfull flood magnitudes to Holocene climatic variations, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 119, no. 9/10, p. 1066-1078.
• Carson, E.C., Fournelle, J.H., Miller, T.P., and Mickelson, D.M., 2002, Holocene tephrochronology of the Cold Bay area, southwest Alaska Peninsula: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 21, no. 20-21, p. 2213-2228.
• Laabs, B.J.C. and Carson, E.C., 2005, The glacial geology of the southern Uinta Mountains, in Dehler, C.M., Pederson, J.L., Sprinkel, D.A., and Kowallis, B.J. eds., Uinta Mountain Geology: Utah Geological Association Guidebook 33, p. 235-253.
• Munroe, J.S., Laabs, B.J.C., and Carson, E.C., 2006, Preface to “Quaternary landscape change and modern processes in non-arid western North America”: Geomorphology, v. 75, no. 3-4, p. 281-282.
• Munroe, J.S., Laabs, B.J.C., Pederson, J.L., and Carson, E.C., 2005, From cirques to canyon cutting: New Quaternary research in the Uinta Mountains: Geological Society of America Field Guide 6, p. 58-73.
• Wartes, M.A., Reifenstuhl, R.R., Wallace, W.K., Peapples, P.R., Gillis, R., Strauch, A., and Carson, E.C., in review, Geologic map of the Kavik River area, Northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, scale 1:63,360, 1 sheet, 14 p. text.