er of the Lower Delaware Delmarva Peninsula, New *-fJersey, / x Pennsylvania,/ 7 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFISSIOMAL PAPER Upper Cenozoic Sediments of the Lower Delaware Valley and the Northern Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland By JAMES P. OWENS and JAMES P. MINARD SURFACE AND SHALLOW SUBSURFACE GEOLOGIC STUDIES IN THE EMERGED COASTAL PLAIN OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1067-D Two periods of gravel sedimentation have been outlined—one late Miocene and the other late Pleistocene UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1979 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY H. William Menard, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Owens, James Patrick, 1924- Upper Cenozoic sediments of the lower Delaware Valley and the northern peninsula, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. (Geological Survey professional paper ; 1067-D) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.16:1067-D 1. Geology, Stratigraphic Miocene. 2. Geology, Stratigraphic Pleistocene. 3. Gravel Northeastern States. 4. Geology Northeastern States. I. Minard, James P., joint author. II. Title. III. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Professional paper ; 1067-D. QE694.093 551.7'S 78-606031 For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock Number 024-001-03194-9 CONTENTS Page Abstract- ————————————————— —— —————————————— - — - ————————— D1 i nysiograpny ——————— ———• ———————————— - ————————— —— Regional geologic setting ————————————————————————————————————— 4 Beacon Hill Gravel ("Upland gravels") ————————————————————————— ® Bridgeton Formation ("Arkose 2") ———————————————————————————— 8 Pensauken Formation ("Arkose 1") ——————————————————————————— 20 "Trenton gravel" —————————————————————————————————————— 2 9 Spring Lake beds ("Graywacke 2") ———————————————————————— 29 Van Sciver Lake beds ("Graywacke 1") ————————————————————— 39 References cited —————————————————————————————————————————— 4A "a ILLUSTRATIONS Page FIGURE 1. Map showing area (patterned) investigated in this report 2. Map of physiographic provinces and subprovinces of New Jersey 3. Modified map of physiographic provinces and subprovinces of New Jersey 4. Generalized lithologic map of region 5. Map of distribution of Beacon Hill Gravel in New Jersey 6. Photograph of Beacon Hill Gravel unconformity on Cohansey Sand northeast of Clarksburg, N.J 7. Photograph showing bedding style of Beacon Hill Gravel northeast of Clarksburg, N.J 8. Profiles across inner lowland near Trenton, N.J. 9. Photograph of Bridgeton Formation near Old Bridge, N.J ————————————————————————————————————— 10 10. Photographs of Bridgeton Formation near Woodstown and Bridgeton, N.J ———————————————————————————— H 11. Contour map of surface of Bridgeton Formation ——————————————————————————————————————————— 12 12. Contour map of base of Bridgeton Formation ———————————————————————————————————————————— 13 13. Map showing mean direction of crossbeds in Bridgeton Formation ———————————————————————————————— 15 14. Plot of moving averages of crossbedding orientation in Bridgeton Formation —————————————————————————— 16 15. Schematic map showing paleocurrent trends in Bridgeton Formation ——————————————————————————————— 17 16. Photograph of Pensauken Formation near Moorestown, N.J. ——————————————————————————————————— 21 17. Photograph showing iron oxide cementation in Pensauken Formation near Moorestown, N.J. ————————————————— 22 18. Photographs of Pensauken Formation at Palmyra, N.J ——————————————————————————————————————— 22 19. Photographs of Pensauken Formation at mouth of Elk River, Md ————————————————————————————————— 23 20. Photographs of Pensauken Formation near Harrington, Del ———————————————————————————————————— 24 21. Contour map of surface of Pensauken Formation ——————————————————————————————————————————— 25 22. Contour map of base of Pensauken Formation ———————————————————————————————————————————— 26 23. Map showing mean direction of crossbeds in Pensauken Formation ———————————————————————————————— 27 24. Plot of moving averages of crossbedding orientation in Pensauken Formation —————————————————————————— 28 25. Schematic map showing paleocurrent trends in Pensauken Formation ——————————————————————————————— 30 26. Location map of profiles drawn across Delaware River valley ——————————————————————————————————— 31 Hi IV CONTENTS Page FIGURE 27-30. Cross sections of surficial deposits at locations shown in figure 26: 28. Profiles III and IV-———--———-—————————————-—————-—————————-———————————— 33 30. Profiles VII, VIII, and IX———————————————————————-——————-——————-——————— 35 31. Photographs of coarse gravel and sand facies of Spring Lake beds at Penn Valley, Pa., and near Burlington, N.J —— 36 32. Photograph of basal gravel of Spring Lake beds at Palmyra, N.J——————————————————————————————— 37 33. Log of auger hole in "Fish House Clay" near Camden, N.J——————————————————————————————————— 38 34. Map showing direction of sediment transport during Spring Lake time———————————————————————————— 40 35. Photograph of gravelly facies of beds at Van Sciver Lake, south of Morrisville, Pa. ———————————————————— 41 36. Photograph of massive clay-silt near base of deposits at Artificial Island, N.J———————————————————————— 41 37. Photograph showing large-scale crossbedding in deposits at Artificial Island, N.J.————————————————————— 41 38. Composite section of excavation at Artificial Island, N.J ———————————————————————————————————— 42 39. Schematic map showing paleocurrent trends in Van Sciver Lake beds ———————————————————————————— 43 40. Map showing locations and shapes of the different units in the area of investigation———————————————————— 44 SURFACE AND SHALLOW SUBSURFACE GEOLOGIC STUDIES IN THE EMERGED COASTAL PLAIN OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES UPPER CENOZOIC SEDIMENTS OF THE LOWER DELAWARE VALLEY AND THE NORTHERN DELMARVA PENINSULA NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, AND MARYLAND By JAMES P. OWENS and JAMES P. MINARD ABSTRACT stripped away and transported down the river systems to the now-submerged shelf. One large valley that served The "yellow gravels" referred to by R. D. Salisbury in 1898 and the "Trenton gravel," as defined by H. C. Lewis in 1880, were in­ as a drainageway for these sediments paralleled the en­ vestigated along the inner edge of the New Jersey Coastal Plain in tire edge of the New Jersey Coastal Plain. This valley or southern New Jersey and in the northern Delmarva Peninsula. lowland, which was called the "great Amboy-Salem The highest level deposits, the Beacon Hill gravel, are found on only trench" (Valley), by MacClintock and Richards (1936) is the highest hills in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Their distribution approximately 160 km (100 miles) long and a maximum suggests deposition from north to south across the plain. After depo­ sition of the Beacon Hill, probably in middle or late Miocene time, a of 40 km (25 miles) wide. As interpreted by nearly all narrow valley was formed paralleling the inner edge of the New Jersey investigators, the sediments within this valley are a rec­ Coastal Plain between Raritan Bay and Camden. South of Camden, ord of multiple downcuttings and infillings associated the valley broadened, covering much of southern New Jersey. The with Quaternary glaciations in the Eastern United States deposits in this valley are largely the Bridgeton Formation as we have (Salisbury and Knapp, 1917: MacClintock and Richards, redefined it. A second narrow valley was entrenched through the Bridgeton between Trenton and Salem, N.J. This valley broadens and 1936, and Peltier, 1959). Actually, no firm evidence sup­ covers much of the northern Delmarva Peninsula west of the Delaware ports any specific age for most of the valley fill, but tra­ River. The fill in the valley is largely the Pensauken Formation, as we ditionally, these sediments are considered to be Quater­ have redefined it in our report. Collectively, the Beacon Hill, the nary. Bridgeton, and the Pensauken were originally the "yellow gravels" of Salisbury. These deposits are all fluviatile in origin and were largely In a general sense, the sediments in the valley that formed as a series of steplike downcutting channels. were not derived from older formations in the Coastal The Delaware Valley between Trenton and the lower Delaware Bay Plain can be separated into two general types—sedi­ region is occupied by the "Trenton gravel," which is below the av­ ments that are extensively iron oxide stained and are re­ erage level of the "yellow gravels." Two units recognized throughout ferred to as the "yellow gravels" (Salisbury, 1898) and the area and informally named the Spring Lake beds and the Van sediments that show little iron oxide staining, the "Tren­ Sciver Lake beds are lithologically distinct from the "yellow gravel" formations. The lithologies of the Spring Lake beds and the Van Sciver ton gravel" as defined by Lewis (1880). Lake beds are much more heterogeneous than those of the older for­ The surficial deposits in the area in and around Tren­ mations. These two units, particularly, contain much greater amounts ton, N.J., were mapped by the authors at a scale of of silt and clay, often in thick beds. The depositional environments 1:48,000 (Owens and Minard, 1975). The information we associated with the two units include fluviatile, estuarine, and marginal marine. Both these units are interpreted to be late Pleistocene (San- obtained permitted us to evaluate