Peter J. Thompson
Affiliate Professor of Geology
Structural Geology and Tectonics
Ph.D. Univ. of Massachusetts, 1985
email address: pjt3@cisunix.unh.edu
Courses Taught: Physical Geology, Environmental Geology, Field Methods
Research Interests: Structure and Stratigraphy of Vermont and New Hampshire; Tectonics of New England. Over the last twenty years I have remapped several quadrangles at a scale of 1: 24,000 in Vermont as part of the STATEMAP program, jointly funded by USGS and the Vermont Geological Survey. Since 2000 I have served as associate editor for a new bedrock map of Vermont to be published in the next few years. More recently I have been mapping bedrock for the Maine and New Hampshire surveys as well. In Woodstock, Vermont, and Dublin, New Hampshire, my focus has been on studies to better our understanding of groundwater movement in bedrock aquifers.
Geology of Highest Point in Each State -- The Highpointers Club held their annual meeting at Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, in 2005, and this event inspired me to post a summary of the bedrock geology, soils, surficial geology and other topics of interest for the highest point in each state.
Recent Publications
Thompson, Peter J., 2006, Thoreau on Monadnock: Long on botany and philosophy, short on geology, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, no.7, p.38.
Thompson, Peter J., 2006, Bedrock geology of the town of Woodstock, Vermont, Vermont Geological Survey Open-File Report, no. VG-06-4, 1:24,000, Waterbury, Vermont.
Thompson, Peter J., 2004, Bedrock geology of the Milton quadrangle, Maine, Maine Geological Survey Open File Report, no. 04-77, one plate, 1:24,000, Augusta, Maine.
Thompson, Peter J., Wallace A. Bothner, Jo Laird and Arthur M. Hussey II, 2004, “An exploration of the contact between the Central Maine Terrane and Merrimack Group across the Maine—New Hampshire border”, p. 1-15, in Hanson, Lindley (ed.), Guidebook to Field Trips from Boston, MA to Saco Bay, ME, 96th Annual New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Salem, Massachusetts.
Thompson, Thelma B. and Peter J. Thompson, 2004, Bedrock geology of the Hinesburg quadrangle, Vermont, Vermont Geological Survey Open-File Report, no. VG04-2, 1:24,000, Waterbury, Vermont.
Thompson, Peter J., 2003, “Paleozoic mafic dikes on Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire”, p. A2-1 to A2-10, in Brady, John B., and John T. Cheney (eds.), Guidebook for field trips in the Five College region, 95th Annual New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts.
Thompson, Peter J., and Thelma B. Thompson, 2003, “The Prospect Rock thrust: western limit of the Taconian accretionary prism in the northern Green Mountain anticlinorium, Vermont”, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 40, p. 269-284.
Thompson, Peter J., 2001, “Geology of Mount Monadnock”, p. R1-17, in West, David P., Jr., and Richard H. Bailey (eds.), Guidebook for Field Trips in New England, 2001 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Boston, Massachusetts.
Thompson, Peter J., Thelma B. Thompson, and Barry L. Doolan, 1999, “Lithotectonic packages and tectonic boundaries across the Lamoille River transect in northern Vermont”, p. 51-94 in Wright, Stephen F., (ed.), Guidebook for Field Trips in Vermont and adjacent regions of New Hampshire and New York, 91st Annual New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference.
Thompson, Peter J., and Thelma B. Thompson, 1999, “Digital bedrock geologic map of the Mt. Mansfield quadrangle, Vermont”, Vermont Geological Survey Open File Report, no. VG99-3.
Thompson, Peter J., and Thelma B. Thompson, 1998, “Digital bedrock geologic map of the Johnson quadrangle, Vermont”, Vermont Geological Survey Open File Report, no. VG98-2.
Thompson, Peter J., and Thelma B. Thompson, 1995, “Digital bedrock geologic map of parts of the Huntington, Richmond, Bolton, and Waterbury quadrangles, Vermont”, Vermont Geological Survey Open File Report, no. VG95-9A.
Thompson, Peter J. and Thelma B. Thompson, 1992, “Bedrock geology of the Camels Hump-Bolton Mountain area, north-central Vermont”, Vermont Geological Survey Special Bulletin, no. 12, 32 p.