Generalized Structural Contour
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GENERALIZED STRUCTURAL CONTOUR MAPS OF THE NEW JERSEY COASTAL PLAIN GEOLOGIC REPORT SERIES NO.4 NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND ECONOMlC DEVELOPMENT State of New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic Dev lopment H. lat Adams, Coll! missioner D ivision of R source D evelopment Kenneth H . Crevelin g, Direc tor GENERALIZED STRUCTURE CONTOUR MAPS OF THE NEW JERSEY COASTAL PLAIN by H orace G. R ic hards F. H. O lmst ed J ames L. Ruhle prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Stat e of ew J ersey D ivi ion of W ater Poli cy and Supply G eorge R. Shanklin, Director 1962 CO TE TS Abstract . 111 Introduction ....... ......... .. ............ ......... ......... 1 Scope and purpose .. .... ....... ... ... ....... ...... .. 1 Acknowledgments ... ..... ............... .......... ... .... 1 Previous work . .............. ... ......... ... ...... .. ......... 2 Geological setting ........... .. .. ..... ..... ....... ....... 3 Pre-Cretaceous rocks . 12 Nonmari ne Cret aceous sediments undifferentiated . ...... .......... ... .. 12 M erchantville Formation and Woodbury C lay ............ 17 E ngli shtown Formation ..... ... .. ... ........... ... .... .. .. ... ... ....... .. 19 Marshalltown Formation .. .............. ..... .. ......................... 19 Wenonah Formation and Mount Laurel Sand ...... .... ....... .. ..... ....... 22 Navesink Formation .... .. .. .. ............. .... .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .... ... 22 R ed Bank Sand ... ............. ... .. ..... ........ .. ............... 24 Tinton Sand Member . 24 Hornerstown Sand . 27 Vincentown Formation . ... ..... 27 Manasquan F ormation and Shark River Marl .............. .. ......... .... .. 31 Piney Point Formation . .......... ......... .... ... ... ...... .. ... 3 1 Formations of late Tertiary and Quaternary age ..... .. ........................ 32 Kirkwood Formation ... .. 32 Cohansey Sand ...... ............ .... ................. ... .... .. .. 32 Deposits of Pliocene( ?) and P leistocene age . .... .. .......... .... ...... H R ecent deposits . .. ........ .... .. ............ .. ............. 34 References 35-38 ILLUSTRA TIO S Figure 1. Map howin g location of well s . ..... ..... .... .. .. ... 5 Figure 2. Contour map of bedrock . .. .... ... .. .. .... ..... .... ... .......... 13 Figure 3. Contour m ap of P atuxent, P at apsco, R aritan, and M agot hy Formations .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 15 Figure 4. Contour map of Merchantvill e F ormation and Woodbury Clay .. .. .... Figure 5. Contour map of E ngli shtown Formation ....... ...... .. .... .. 20 Figure 6. Contour map of Marshalltown F ormation ..... .. .. .... ...... .. ... 21 Figure 7. Contour map of W enonah Formation and Mount L aurel and .. .. .. 23 Figure 8. Contour map of avesink Formation . .... .. ...... ....... .... 25 Figure 9. Contour map of R ed Bank Sand and Tinton Sand M ember . .. .. ..... 26 Figure 10. Contour map of H ornerstown Sand . .. ...... .. 28 Fig ure 11. Contour map of Vincentown Formation ... .. ....... .. .. ... ... .. 29 Figure 12. Contour map of Manasquan Formation and Shark River Marl ...... .... 30 Figure 13. Contour map of Piney P oint Formation .. .... .. ... .......... .. 33 TABLES T able 1. Coast al plain formations of ew J ersey and D elaware ... .. 4 Table 2. W ell s tudied in the preparation of contour maps shown in Figures 2 to 13 . ..... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. ...... .. 6-11 , inclusive II GENE RALIZE D STRUCTURAL CONTOU R MAPS OF THE NEW J E RSEY COASTAL PLAIN By Horace G. Richards!, F. H . Olmsted 2, and J ames L. Ruhle3 ABSTRACT Twelve generalized structural contour m aps were prepared from a study of 169 well logs or sample logs of drill cuttings from the Coa t al Plai n of New J ersey, D elaware, and the E astern Shore of Maryland. The configurat io n of the tops of the nonmarine Cret aceous deposits (Patuxent, P atapsco, Raritan, and M agothy formations) and the Piney Point For m ation (Eocene ) show the known subsurface extent of these formations in both ew J ersey and D elaware. The structural contour m aps show the tops of the Merchantvill e Formation and Woodbury Clay, the E nglishtown Formation, the Ma rshalltown Formation, the W e nonah Formation and M ount L aurel Sand, the Navesink Forma ti on, and the R ed Bank Sand which are a ll of Late Cret aceous age. The m aps of the Horn erstown Sand, the Vincen town Formation, and the Manasquan Formati on and Sh ark River M a rl of ea rl y T ertiary age show the subsurface extent of these forma tions only in • ew J ersey. Al so included is an outline map showing the locations of wells and seismic stations and a structural contour m ap showing the configuration of the bedrock surface of the report area. Structural contours on top of the M agothy Formation, or on the top of the R aritan For mation where the M agothy formation is absent, show the confi guration of the nonmarine deposits of Cretaceous age. Isopachs of the nonma rine depos its are deri ved by interpolation between contours on top of the bedrock and the top of either the M agothy Formation or the R aritan Formation where the M agothy is absent. The M erchantville F ormation and W oodbury Clay are difficult to se parate in the sub surface, and therefore the contour a re drawn on top of the W oodbury Cl ay. In ew J ersey, the thickness of the combined M erchantville Formation and W oodbury Cl ay ranges from about 100 to 140 feet nea r the outcrop, but exceeds 25 0 feet in the subsurface along the coast in Ocean C ounty. The top of the Englishtown Formation is easy to recogni ze because it generally con ists of a micaceous white and yell ow sand, although locall y it is a silty clay. The form ation thins toward the southwest from about 160 feet in central Ocea n County to less th an 20 feet 1n Salem C ounty . It h as not been recognized in D elawa re. The M a rshalltown F orm ation va ri es from bl ac k cl ay to a glauconitic sa nd. It usuall y ranges in thicknes from 20 to 60 feet . It i very thin or absent in D elaware. 1 Academy of atural Sciences, Philadelphi a, 1 a. and U. eo logica l urvey. 2 . G eo logical urvey. 3 Formerl y Academy of atural cie nces, Philadelphia , Pa. · pre.ent add re . V irgini a D iv i·ion of M in - eral Re ou rce , C harl otte ,·ill e, Va. Il l The W enonah Formation and ount Laurel and arc diffi cult to epa rat in C\ J e rs y, and therefore are hown as a unit. The c mbin d thickncs · range · fr om 60 to lCX) feet. In D elaware the two fo rmations are easil y eparat d. The avesi nk Fo rmation i genera ll y hig hl y glauconitic ;1nd it is diffic ult to d t e nnme the upper limit where overlain by th H o rnerstown Sand " ·hi ch is also glauconitic. The con tour m ap on the t op of the avesink i ba d upon r lativ l_v little control. The R ed Bank Sand reach sa th ickness of about 160 feet in i\ lonrnouth Count . It thins southwestward and is absent in utcrop in t he south rn pa rt of th C oa tal Pl a in of ew J ersey. A probable equiva lent of t he R eel Ban k has be n recogni zed in Dela\· a re. The Tin t on Sand M ember is the topmost unit of th Red Bank and in M nmouth County. The H o rnerstown Sand is most! gla uconitic and is about 30 feet thick in outc rop. This is overla in by the V incentown F rmation which consists of two faci s ( 1) calc a reous sa nd facies and (2) qu a rtz sand faci es. T hese a re overlain by the lanasquan Fo rm ati on a nd Shark River Marl which a re h re treat d as a unit. In outcro p the combined thickness of the Manasquan Formation and Shark R iver Marl is about +0 fe t, but in th subsurface they thicken to about 200 feet. T he Piney Point Formation of J ac kson age occ ur in the sub surface in Cape May and Atl antic Counties, . ]., and in south rn D la,v a re but is no t exposed in these States. Brief notes a re given on formation of !at r T ertiary and PI 1stocen ag , but no con tour maps were constructed. I V I TRODUCfiON Scope and p11rpose .-Thi s report summa ri zes briefl y the structure and stratigraphy of the sedimentary rocks of Cret aceous and Tertiary age in the Coastal Plain of ew J ersey, D elaware, and southeastern Pennsylvania. Twelve structure contour m aps are included. These illustrations are generalized because the subsurface data were obtai ned from various sources, and in many wells form ational id entifications were uncertain . It is hoped that this report will serve as a useful bas is for later, more det a il ed s tudies. In fact, it is understood that the Ground W ater Branch of the U . Geological Survey and the ew J ersey G eologic al Surveys are pre ently attempting to obtain more det ai led information on the subsurface geology of parts of the ew J ersey Coastal Plain . It is expected that these interpret ations will be refined or modified as more su bsu rf ace infor mation becomes ava il able. A preliminary set of m aps was prepared by Mr. Ruhle in 1957-1958 at the U ni versity of P ennsylvania under the direction of the seni o r author. The work was continued at the Academy of atural Sciences of Philadelphia and at the Uni ersity of Ma sachus tts. The present set of m aps represents refin ement of the origin al m aps, ba ed upon addi tional well logs. The b as ic dat a upon which the structure contour m aps are based > ere ob t ain ed from m any sources, and are of varying degrees of accuracy.