Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1572 Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America By GWENDOLYN W. LUTTRELL U. S. G E 0 L 0 G I C A L S U R V E Y B U L L E T I N 1 5 7 2 A lexicon and correlation chart of Newark Supergroup stratigraphic nomenclature, including a review of the origin and characteristics of the early Mesozoic basins of eastern North America UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1989 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, Jr., Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Luttrell, Gwendolyn Lewise Werth, 1927- Stratigraphic nomenclature of the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America. (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1572) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs. no. : I 19.3:1572 1. Geology, Stratigraphic-Triassic-Nomenclature. 2. Geology, Stratigraphic-Jurassic-Nomenclature. 3. Geology, Stratigraphic­ Nomenclature-North America. I. Title. II. Series. QE75.B9 no. 1572 [QE676] 557.3 s 88-600291 [551. 7'6'097] For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80225 CONTENTS Page Abstract............................................................................. 1 Introduction........................................................................ 1 Exposed Basins . 2 Descriptions of the Exposed Basins . 6 Deep River Basin . 6 Crow burg Basin . 7 Wadesboro Basin . 8 Ellerbe Basin . 8 Sanford Basin . 8 Durham Basin . 9 Davie County Basin........................................................... 9 Dan River-Danville Basin................................................... 10 Scottsburg Basin . 11 Randolph Basin . 11 Roanoke Creek Basin . .. 12 Briery Creek Basin . .. 12 Farmville Basin................................................................. 12 Richmond Basin and Outliers . .. 12 Taylorsville Basin . 13 Scottsville Basin . .. 15 Barboursville Basin............................................................ 15 Culpeper Basin................................................................. 15 Gettysburg Basin and the Narrow Neck of the Newark- Gettysburg Basin............................................................ 17 Newark Basin . 20 Connecticut Valley Basin . 21 Pomperaug (Southbury) Basin . 22 Cherry Brook Outlier . 23 Hartford Basin................................................................. 23 Deerfield Basin . 24 Northfield Basin . 26 Middleton Basin . 26 Fundy Basin . 27 Development of the Nomenclature.......................................... 28 Problems in the Nomenclature . 30 III IV CONTENTS Page Lexicon............................................................................ 33 References Cited . 123 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Newark Supergroup correlation chart............. In pocket FIGURE 1. Map showing exposed early Mesozoic basins of eastern North America. 3 2-4. Charts showing evolution of the Newark Supergroup lithostratigraphic nomenclature of the: 2. Culpeper and Barboursville basins, Virginia and Maryland . .. .. .. ............ 18 3. Newark basin, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.................................. 22 4. Hartford basin, Connecticut and Massachusetts . 25 TABLES Page TABLE 1. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Deep River basin, including the Crowburg, Wadesboro, Ellerbe, Sanford, and Durham basins ............... 7 2. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Davie County and Dan River-Danville basins .............. 10 3. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Richmond, Deep Run, and Flat Branch basins .................. 14 4. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Taylors- ville basin .............................................. 15 5. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Barboursville and Culpeper basins .................................. 16 6. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Gettysburg basin and the narrow neck of the Newark- Gettysburg basin ...................................... 20 7. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Newark basin .................................................... 21 8. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Pomperaug basin, Cherry Brook outlier, and Hartford basin ... 23 9. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Deerfield and Northfield basins ................................. 26 CONTENTS v 10. Present stratigraphic nomenclature of the Fundy basin at Maces Bay, St. Martins, Nova Scotia, and Chedabucto Bay. 28 METRIC CONVERSION FACTORS For readers who wish to convert measurements from the inch-pound system of units to the metric system of units, the conversion factors are listed below: Multiply inch-pound unit By To obtain metric unit Length inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter (em) foot (ft) .3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area 2 2 square mile (mi ) 2.590 square kilometer (km ) Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America By GWENDOLYN W. LUTTRELL Abstract The Newark Supergroup includes the lithologically and structurally related continental clastic rocks and interbedded basalt flows of Triassic and Jurassic age that are exposed in discrete elongate basins parallel to the Appalachian orogen in the Piedmont of eastern North America. A brief review of the origin and characteristics of the early Mesozoic basins and summaries of the history, location, and structure of each of the basins provide background for understand­ ing the development of the stratigraphic nomenclature of the basins. The lexicon consists of summaries of papers containing definitions and revisions of the more than 100 formal and informal names used to identify Newark Supergroup rocks. The papers were selected from the literature of the last 135 years. For each unit, the occurrence, lithology, areal distribution, age, and relation to other units are described. Problems in the nomenclature are noted. INTRODUCTION The chain of rift basins of early Mesozoic age, which extends from South Carolina to Nova Scotia and follows the grain of the Appalachian Mountains, has fascinated geologists for nearly 200 years. These elongate, half-graben basins are characterized by fluvial red beds, lacustrine deposits, strata containing reptile footprints and fossil fish, diabase intrusions, and volcanic flows. B.S. Lyman (1894) wrote regard­ ing his work in the Newark basin, "There is reason to hope that it may well keep within the not wholly unprecedented New Red [Sandstone] proportions of two bushels of conjecture to two grains of fully ascer­ tained fact." These words may well apply to many of the theories that have been proposed for the origin of the basins. Manuscript approved for publication April 4, 1989. 1 2 NOMENCLATURE OF THE NEWARK SUPERGROUP That the basins share a common origin is acknowledged by the assignment of the rocks of all the basins to one all-inclusive lithostrati­ graphic unit, the Newark Supergroup. The Newark Supergroup, as revised by Froelich and Olsen (1984), includes lithologically and struc­ turally related continental clastic and lacustrine rocks and interbedded basalt flows. These Late (and possibly Middle) Triassic and Early Jurassic rocks are exposed in discrete elongate basins parallel to the Appalachian orogen in the Piedmont province of eastern North Amer­ ica. Similar early Mesozoic subsurface basins lie east of the exposed basins beneath the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Continental Shelf, but, because the relation of these poorly understood subsurface rocks to the exposed early Mesozoic rocks is presently unclear, the name Newark Supergroup is applied only to the rocks in the exposed basins. EXPOSED BASINS Rift basins formed during the early phases of the continental rifting that preceded the separation of North America from Africa in the Middle Jurassic. The exposed basins, in the Piedmont and locally along the western margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, extend discontinu­ ously from South Carolina to Nova Scotia and are oriented parallel to the Appalachian orogen (fig. 1). The basins are bounded by Precambrian and early Paleozoic metamorphic rocks and by Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. Moderate- to high-angle normal faults of Mesozoic age, which in some cases appear to be reactivated Paleozoic ramp and thrust faults (Ratcliffe and Burton, 1985), border the basins. These fault-bounded troughs, or half grabens, are filled with Triassic and Jurassic continen­ tal sedimentary and igneous rocks, collectively known as the Newark Supergroup. Some of the basins may have extensions in the subsurface. Well data from the Coastal Plain in Maryland and Virginia indicate areas in the subsurface that may be continuations of the Taylorsville basin (Weems, 1980a). The Fundy basin extends in the subsurface beneath the Bay of Fundy. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of the exposed basins. Russell (1878) discussed two hypotheses. The local­ basin hypothesis proposes that deposition occurred in detached basins, which formed by erosion or faulting and have not changed much since their filling. The broad-terrane hypothesis proposes that the present detached basins are remnants of much broader terranes; perhaps all the terranes were originally united into one broad depositional terrane that was later subjected to upheaval, faulting, and considerable erosion. Sanders