VIRGINIA DTVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 87 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BRANDON AND NORGE QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA Gerald H. Johnson and C. R. Berquist, Jr. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologists CHARLOTTESVILLE. VIRGINIA 1989 VIRGINIA DTVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 87 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BRANDON AND NORGE QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA Gerald H. Johnson and C. R. Berquist, Jr. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOI.JRCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologists CHARLOTTESVIT I E, VIRGIMA 1989 FRONT COVER: Intertidal sediments of the Bartramsville Member, Bacons Castle Formation exposed at the east side of the Little Cteek Reservoir dam, Feburary 1989. VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 87 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BRANDON AND NORGE QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA Gerald H. Johnson and C. R. Berquist, Jr. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINERALS AND ENERGY DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES Robert C. Milici, Commissioner of Minerat Resources and Sate Geologists CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGIMA 1989 DEPARTMENT OF MINES MINERALS AND ENERGY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA O. Gene Dishner, Director DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGIMA Robert C. Milici, commissioner of Mineral Resources and State Geologist DEPARTMENT OF PURCHASES AND SUPPLY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Copyright 1989, Commonwealth of Virginia Ponions of the publication may be quoted if credit is given to the Virginia Division of Mneral Resources. CONTENTS Page I 1 2 5 6 9 Eastover Formation ............ 9 9 Yorktown Formation 9 Bacons Castle Formation ................ 11 Moorings unit .............. t2 t2 Windsor Formation ............ t2 Charles City Formation ................ 13 Chuckatuck Formation ............ t4 Shirley Formation l5 Tabb Formation ................ l6 Sedgefield and Lynnhaven Members l6 Poquosan Member 16 16 L7 L9 19 20 Appendix I: Type 22 Appendix II: Geologic summary of subsurface data............. 24 ILLUSTRATIONS Plate 1. Geologic map of the Brandon and Norge quadrangles, Virginia in pocket Figure Page l. Map showing the location of the Brandon and Norge quadrangles 2 2. Map showing the name of surrounding quadrangles and published quadrangle geologic maps ........... 2 3. Map showing the principal geomorphic features in the Brandon and Norge quadrangles 3 4. Exposure showing collapse of overlying materid into Yorktown deposits ...................... 6 5. Exposure of Yorktown shell bed and "ghostn sand at Little Creek Reservoir I I 6. Exposure of Shirley Formation in the Little Creek Reservoir .................. 15 TABLES 1. Summary of the geomorphic nomenclature in the Brandon and Norge area ............. 4 2. Summar of snatigaphi 7 3. Geologic formations and their sedimentary and morphologic properties in the Brandon and Norge area ................. I GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE BRANDON AND NORGE QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA Gerald H. Johnsonr and C. R. Berquist, Jr' ABSTRACT subsidence caused by dissolution of carbonates and ground- water with drawal (water mining), and groundwatercontami- The Brandon andNorge 7.5-minute quadrangles are nation from the infiltration of sewage effluents and saniary located on the lower Coastal Plain of southeastem Virginia in landfill leachate. locally, peat at shallow depth, high surfi- tlp counties of Charles City, James City, Prince George, and cial groundwater tables, and shrink-swell soils pose problems York. The arearanges in elevation from slightlyover 140 feet for construction ofbuildings and other strucnres. in the Norge Wlands to sea level along the James and Chickahominy rivers. Except for a portion of York County in the Norge quadrangle which drains into the York River, INTRODUCTION surface water flows into the James River and its tibutaries. The Norge uplands represents the highly dissected remnants The Brandon and Norge 7.5-minute quadrangles of a marine plain. The lower t€rrain is dominated by a (Figure l) are located on the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain of succession ofterraces that are separated from one another by southeastern Virginia. With the exception of small portions river-parallel scarps. in Prince George and York counties, the Brandon and Norge Formations exposed in the Brandon and Norge quadrangles lie within Charles City andJames City counties. quadrangles include the Eastover (Upper Miocene), York- Inngitudes 77t0' and 76%5' west and parallels 37'15' and town (I-ower and Upper Pliocene), Bacons Castle (Upper 3722'30 north bound the study area. Although ourism and Pliocene), Moorings (Upper Pliocene (?)), Windsor and retail sales are the leading soruces of income, most. of the Charles City (.ower Pleistocene), Chuckatuck (Lower or areais rural with forestry, farming, fishing, and hunting as the Middle Pleistocene), Shirley (Middle Pleistocene), Tabb principal industries. A second-growth, mixed hardwood- (Upper Pleistocene), and Holocene deposits. The Tertiary pine forest coven approximately 80 percent of the land area. formations were deposited under marine o marginal marine Com, soybeans, wheat, and badey are the principal crops conditions whereas the Pleistocene and Holocene sediments grown on the moderately o well-drained soils along the formed in valleys that had been excavated during preceding James River and the adjoining interfluves. Only small settle- glacial lowstands of sea level. The Quaternary deposits, each ments are present in the area Interstate Highway 64, U. S. of which generally exhibits an upward-fining sequence, Highway 60,andStateHighway 5 aretheprincipal highways; formed under fluvial-estuarine conditions during periods of numerous secondary roads cross the area. The Chesapeake relatively higher sea level. and Ohio Railway services the area and coal is the principal Sand and gravel is the principal economic mineral freight. Except for Little Creek reservofu, no other major resource mined from the Brandon and Norge areas. l.arge utility occurs in the area. quantities of this material are extracted from the Shirley The surface runoff in the Brandon and Norge quad Formation in Charles City County, but less pure, more vari- angles flows primarily into the Chickahominy River and then able sand and gravel deposis with less utility are present in into the James River but a small portion drains northward inlo the lower portions of the Bacons Castle, Windsor, Charles the York River. TheJames River crosses the Brandon quad- City, and Tabb formations in this area. Clay from the Shirley rangle from northwest to southeast and the Chickahominy Formation has numerous structuml and utilitarian useg none River flows from north to south along the common boundary is being mined at the present time. Relatively thin, impure of the two quadrangles. The Chickahominy River covers lime and glauconite deposits occur beneath a thick cover of about 8.5 square miles of the quadrangles. Although the Bacons Castle Formation in the Norge uplands. James and Chickahominy rivers in the study area have an Groundwater is extracted from aquifers in the average tidal range of 2.8 feet, neither have significant salt- Chesapeake, Pamunkey, and Potomac grcups and Pleisto- water influx except in time of extreme drought. Marshes cene deposits. Geologic hazards in the Brandon and Norge fringe the rivers and occupy the lower reaches of most smaller quadrangles include storm flooding in lowJying areas, shore- streams in the area; in addition to their aesthetic and ecologic line recession from stream erosion and mass wastage, land value, the marshes reduce erosion and flooding (Moore, Department of Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23L87 Division of Mineral Resources, Department of Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187 VIRGIMA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES 1980). Swamps and floodplains usually occrn upsream from would also like to thank Wayland Bass, Henry Stephens, the marshes. The principal drainages in the Brandon and Deward ldartin and their saff of James City County for quadrangles Norge are Kennon, Barrows, Morris, Tomahund" access !o maps and engineering reports; Tcrry lzm of lvlal- Yarmouth, and Powhatan creels. Little Creek Reservoir, com Pirnie Engineers for engineering daca at the Little Creek completed in 1980 and owned by the City of Newport News, Reservoir; Ilarold Matthews and William E. Dvorak of Old has a surface area ofapproximately 800 acres. Dominion Soil Consulants,Inc., and Art Russnow of Rus- snow-Kane and Associates, Inc., for boring samples at the James City County landfill. In addition, Tom Rodgers, Vir- ginia Power Company, and N. L. Hofrneyer, farmer, provided boring daa from their files. Iarry Nester of Henry S. Bran- scombe, Inc., was particularly helpful in providing informa- tion on the operation of their pits in Charles City County. Robert L. Hodges, Soil Scientist, Department of Agronomy,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univer- sity, and Irster L. Seglin and John Mihalcoe, Jr., U.S. Deparunent of Agricultrne Soil Conservation Service, made soil surveys information available to the writers. Donald L. Brime of the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries permifted access to the Chickahominy Slate Wild- Figure 1. Map showing the location of ttre Brandon and life Management Arca Drew Meng, U.S. Geological Sur- quadrangles Norge in Charles