Zachary A. Musselman

 Department of Geology
 Millsaps College
 1701 N. State St.
 Jackson, Mississippi 39210

 Phone: (601) 974-1344
 FAX: (601) 974-1345
 E-mail: musseza@millsaps.edu

EDUCATION:

 Ph.D., Geography, 2006, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
 M.S., Geology, 2001, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
 B.S., Geology, 1999, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA

GEOLOGY COURSES:

Geology 1200: Geosystems
Geology 2000: Plate Tectonics and Earth History
Geology 2300: Sedimentary Geology
Geology 3100: Process Geomorphology
Geology 3500: Folded Rocks – Crossing the Appalachia
Geology 3510: Yellowstone Field Study
Geology 4500: Field Geology II: Southwest Montana (Field Camp)
Geology 4901: Senior Seminar

RESEARCH PROGRAM:

My field of research is fluvial geomorphology, with an emphasis on geomorphic processes in streams of the coastal plain on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I have previously conducted research on the semi-arid fluvial systems of the Chihuahuan desert of the southwestern United States, investigating Quaternary alluvial fan formation using paleoflood analysis and environmental reconstruction.  I emphasize the use of field-based studies in my research on geomorphic change, as fieldwork is an indispensable tool for investigating systems that incorporate both surficial processes and human impacts over varying temporal and spatial scales. 

My most recent research projects involve local terrains, including the Pearl River, Pascagoula River, and the Big Black River basins of Mississippi and include ample opportunity for student involvement.  My research plan for the next five years will include continuing research on the geomorphology of the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers and the testing of Sternberg’s law.  Sternberg’s law, also known as the abrasion law, attempts to establish a general relationship between textural characteristics of alluvium in streams and the location of that alluvium within the stream profile.  My hypothesis is: Sternberg’s Law is a relationship that does not hold true for all streams, especially those of the coastal plain, and extrinsic system controls such as local bedrock play a more significant role in alluvium characteristics. 

Testing Sternberg’s Law is relevant professionally because it has been a long accepted explanation for alluvial characteristics in streams.  Sternberg’s Law is often provided as a blanket assumption to explain textural characteristics within streams; however this grossly oversimplifies geomorphic systems. 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Musselman, Z.A. 2011. The localized role of base level lowering on channel adjustment of tributary streams in the Trinity River basin downstream of Livingston Dam, Texas, USA.  Geomorphology, 128, 42-56.

Phillips, J.D., Slattery, M.C., Musselman, Z.A. 2005. Channel Adjustments of the Lower Trinity River, Texas, Downstream of Livingston Dam. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 30, 1419-1439.

Phillips, J.D., Slattery, M.C., Musselman, Z.A. 2004. Dam-to-Delta Sediment Inputs and Storage in the Lower Trinity River, Texas. Geomorphology, 62, 17-34.

Musselman, Z.A. 2003. Biography of Grove Karl Gilbert. The Compass of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, 77 (2), 31-34.

Phillips, J.D., Musselman, Z.A. 2003. The Effect of Dams on Fluvial Sediment Delivery to the Texas Coast. Proceedings of Coastal Sediments, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 1-14.