Jeffrey Howard

Jeffrey Howard

Research Interest/Area of Expertise

• Tectonics and sedimentation along the San Andreas fault southern California

• Mapping, classification and genesis of urban soils, Detroit, Michigan

• Quaternary geology of southeastern Michigan

• Paleoseismology of Southern California

Research

Sources and Hazard Assessment of Radium in Urban Soils, Detroit, Michigan

Testing Quantitative Relative Dating Tools Using Soil Chronosequences in Southern California

Provenance of the Eocene-Oligocene Sespe Formation, Southern California Using Detrital Zircon Analysis

Re-Evaluation of the Seismic Hazard in the Santa Maria Basin, California

Active Research Projects

• Stratigraphy, depositional environments and provenance of Late Pleistocene sediments near Detroit, southeastern Michigan [download progress report]
• Quaternary geology of the Detroit, Michigan quadrangle and surrounding areas
• Experimental order, soil survey of vacant land, Detroit, Michigan
• Arsenic in urban soils, Detroit, Michigan

Education – Degrees, Licenses, Certifications

• Ph.D., Geology, University of California Santa Barbara, 1987
• M.S., Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, 1979
• B.S., Geology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, 1972

Selected Publications

Howard, J. L., Amos, D. F., and Daniels, W. L., 1988, Phosphorous and potassium relationships in southwestern Virginia coal-mine spoils: Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 17, p. 695-700.

Howard, J. L., 1991, Lithofacies of the Precambrian basement complex in the northernmost Blue Ridge province of Virginia: Southeastern Geology, v. 31, p. 191-202.

Howard, J. L., 1992, An evaluation of shape indices as palaeoenvironmental indicators using quartzite and metavolcanic clasts in Upper Cretaceous to Palaeogene beach, river and submarine fan conglomerates: Sedimentology, v. 39, p. 471-486.

Howard, J. L., Amos, D. F., and Daniels, W. L., 1993, Alluvial soil chronosequence in the inner Coastal Plain of central Virginia: Quaternary Research, v. 39, p. 201-213.

Howard, J. L., 1993, The statistics of counting clasts in rudites: as review, with examples from the Palaeogene of southern California: Sedimentology, v. 40, p. 157-174.

Howard, J. L., 1993, An evaluation of shape indices as palaeoenvironmental indicators using quartzite and metavolcanic clasts in Upper Cretaceous to Palaeogene beach, river and submarine fan conglomerates: Reply to Discussion by W. K. Illenberger and J. S. V. Reddering: Sedimentology, v. 40, p. 1019-1021.

Howard, J. L., and Sova, J. E., 1993, Sequential extraction analysis of lead in Michigan roadside soils: Mobilization in the vadose zone by deicing salts?: Journal of Soil Contamination, v. 2, p. 361-378.

Howard, J. L., 1994, A note on the use of statistics in reporting detrital clastic compositions: Sedimentology, v. 41, p. 747-754.

Howard, J. L., 1995, Conglomerates of the upper middle Eocene to lower Miocene Sespe Formation along the Santa Ynez fault: Implications for the geologic history of the eastern Santa Maria basin area, California: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1995-H, 37 p.

Salim, I., Miller, C. J., and Howard, J. L., 1996, Sorption isotherm-sequential extraction analysis of heavy metal retention in landfill liners: Soil Science Society of America Journal, v. 60, p. 107-114.

Howard, J. L., and Shu, J., 1996, Sequential extraction analysis of heavy metals using a chelating agent (NTA) to counteract resorption: Environmental Pollution, v. 91, p. 89-96.

Howard, J. L., and Sledzinski, G., 1996, Geochemical behavior of lead in an Alfisol and an Ultisol at high levels of contamination: Journal of Soil Contamination, v. 5, p. 61-81.

Howard, J. L., 1996, Paleocene to Holocene paleodeltas of the Colorado River offset by the San Andreas fault system, southern California: Geology, v. 24, p. 783-786.

Howard, J. L., Amos, D. F., and Daniels, W. L., 1996, Micromorphology and dissolution of quartz sand in some exceptionally ancient soils: Sedimentary Geology, v. 105, p. 51-62.

Howard, J. L., 1997, Provenance analysis of quartzite clasts in conglomerates: A review of petrographic and chemical methods: Recent Research Developments in Geology, v.1, p. 1-12.

Wang, H., Byrd, D. W., Howard, J. L., McArthur, E. D., Graham, J. H., and Freeman, D. C., 1998, Narrow hybrid zone between two subspecies of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata: Aeteraceae).V. Soil properties: Journal of Plant Science, v. 159, p. 139-147.

Howard, J. L., and VandenBrink, W. J., 1999, Sequential extraction analysis of heavy metals in sediments of variable composition using NTA to counteract resorption: Environmental Pollution, v. 91, p. 89-96.

Howard, J. L., 2000, Provenance of quartzite clasts in the Eocene-Oligocene Sespe Formation: Implications for southern California and the ancestral Colorado River: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, p. 1635-1649.

Howard, J. L., 2005, The quartzite problem revisited: Journal of Geology, v. 113, p. 707-713.

Howard, J. L., 2010, Late Pleistocene glaciolacustrine sedimentation and paleogeography of southeastern Michigan, USA: Sedimentary Geology, v. 223, p. 126-142.

Howard, J. L., and Olszewska, D., 2011, Pedogenesis, Geochemical Forms of Heavy Metals, and Artifact Weathering in an Urban Soil Chronosequence, Detroit, Michigan: Environmental Pollution, v. 159, p. 754-761.

Howard, J.L., Clawson, C.R., and Vanick, W.L., 2012, A comparison of mineralogical techniques and potassium adsorption isotherm analysis for relative dating and correlation of Late Quaternary soil chronosequences: Geoderma, v. 179-180, p.81-95.

Garbuio, F. J., Howard, J. L., and dos Santos, L. M., 2012. Impact of human activities on soil contamination: Applied and Environ. Soil Sci. Article 619548, 2 pp.

Howard, J. L., Coram, M. R., and Zawiskie, J. M., 2013, Stratigraphy, paleoenvironments and provenance of late Pleistocene glacial sediments in the southeastern Great Lakes region: Implications for ice sheet dynamics. In: Muller, J. and Koch, L. (eds.), Ice sheets: Dynamics, formation and environmental concerns. Nova Pub., New York, p. 1-54.

Howard, J. L., Dubay, B. R., and Daniels, W. L., 2013, Artifact Weathering, Anthropogenic Microparticles and Lead Contamination in Urban Soils at Former Demolition Sites, Detroit, Michigan: Environ. Pollut. 179, 1-12.

Howard, J. L., Dubay, B. R., McElmurry, S. P., Clemence, J., and Daniels, W. L., 2013, Comparison of sequential extraction and bioaccessibility analyses of lead using urban soils and reference materials: Water Air Soil Pollut. 224, 1678-1691.

Howard, J. L., 2014, Proposal to add anthrostratigraphic and technostratigraphic units to the stratigraphic code for classification of anthropogenic Holocene deposits: The Holocene, v. 24, p. 1856-1861.

Howard, J. L., Ryzewski, K., Dubay, B. R., and Killion, T. K., 2015, Artifact preservation and post-depositional site-formation processes in an urban setting: A geoarchaeological study of a 19th century neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan: Jour. Archaeol. Sci., v. 53, p. 178-189.

Howard, J. L., and Shuster, W. B., 2015, Experimental Order 1 soil survey of vacant urban land, Detroit, Michigan. Catena, v. 126, p. 220-230.

Howard, J. L., 2015, Glaciolacustrine history of the Huron-Erie lowland in the southeastern Great Lakes region (USA) revisited. Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 41, p, 965-972.

Howard, J. L., and Orlicki, K. M., 2016, Effects of anthropogenic microparticles on the chemical and geophysical properties of urban soils, Detroit, Michigan, Soil Science, v. 180, p. 154-166.

Howard, J. L., and Orlicki, K. M., 2016, Composition, micromorphology and distribution of microartifacts in anthropogenic soils, Detroit, Michigan. Catena, v. 138, p. 103-116.

Howard, J. L., Orlicki, K. M., and LeTarte, S. M., 2016, Evaluation of geophysical methods for mapping soils in urbanized terrain, Detroit, Michigan USA. Catena, v. 143, p. 145-158.


Book Chapters

Howard, J. L., 1989, Conglomerate clast populations of the upper Paleogene Sespe Formation, southern California, in Colburn, I. P., Abbott, P. L., and Minch, J. A., eds., Conglomerates in basin analysis: A symposium dedicated to A. O. Woodford: Pacific section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, v. 62, p. 269-280.

Howard, J. L., and Lowry, W. D., 1995, Medial Cenozoic paleogeography of the Los Angeles area, southwestern California, and adjacent parts of the southwestern United States, in Fritsche, A. E., ed., Cenozoic paleogeography of the western United States, II: Pacific section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, book 75, p. 22-41.

Prothero, D. R., Howard, J. L., and Dozier, T. H. H., 1996, Stratigraphy and paleomagnetism of the upper middle Eocene to lower Miocene (Uintan to Arikareean) Sespe Formation, Ventura County, California, in Prothero, D. R., and Emry, R. J., eds., The terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene transition in North America: Cambridge University Press, p. 171-188.

Howard, J. L., 2006, Provenance of metavolcanic clasts in the Upper Paleogene Sespe Formation near Los Angeles, and its bearing on the origin of the Colorado River in southern California. In: Cooper, J. and Girty, G. (eds.), Using stratigraphy and sedimentology to understand the geologic history of the SW Cordillera: A volume to honor Patrick L. Abbott: Pacific section, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Book 101, p. 179-192.

Howard, J. L., Coram, M., and Zawiskie, J. M., 2012, Stratigraphy, paleoenvironments and provenance of gravelly glacial sediments, southeastern Michigan: Implications for late Pleistocene paleogeography and ice-flow movements, In: Muller, J., and Koch, L. (eds.), Ice sheets: Dynamics, formation and environmental concerns, Nova Pub., New York,, p. 1-54.

Currently Teaching

• Geology: Science of the Earth, GEL1010, 4.0 credits

Courses taught

• Geomorphology, GEL4200, 4.0 credits, Winter 2016
• Soils and Soil Pollution, GEL5150, 4.0 credits, Spring/Summer 2016
• Geology: Science of the Earth, GEL1010, 4.0 credits, Fall 2016
• Sedimentation and Stratigraphy, GEL3400, 4.0 credits, Fall 2016

Other qualifications directly relevant to courses taught

• Research Associate, Department of Agronomy, VPI&SU, 1978-1979
• Program Specialist, Soil Scientist’s Office, County of Loudoun, Virginia, 1979-1981
• Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Wayne State University, 1987-1993
• Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Wayne State University, 1993-present