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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP THE INTERIOR

PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS 

FROM LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 189-H

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. C. Mendenhall, Director

Professional Paper 189-H

PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS FROM LONG ISLAND

NEW YORK

BY

K. E. LOHMAN

Shorter contributions to general geology, 1937

(Pages 229-237)

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1939

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. ------ Price 10 cents
CONTENTS

	Page 

Abstract..._____-__-_--______--____.____._.._______.._..___________-______-____-_-.___-_--.---.-_--__-___---__ 229

Introduction______________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 229

Acknowledgments _ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 229

Summary _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 229

Samples containing diatoms_____________________________________________________________________________________ 230

Diatoms from Long Island, their ecologic facies and geologic age__-_-_____„-____-__--__-___--__-_-__-__--_--_____-__ 230

Sag Harbor well______________________ ..________________._._._._________-__--__-___-_______-___________-_-_- 230

Outcrop near Montauk Lighthouse.______________________________________-_____--_____-_________-__-______..__ 231

Outcrop in Brooklyn tunnel-_________:._______________-_________-________.._-____.._________________..__-____-__ 232

Correlations----_--__-___-____-___-_-______-__ _________-____-_____-___-_-_---__--_-_-_-_---__--_-__-__--___--_- 232

Early reports of Tertiary and Cretaceous diatoms on. Long Island_________-____--_______-_-_-__-____---___-_-___-___- 234

Appendix _____._____________.__________^_________________.____________________________________________________ 234

Outcrop samples barren of diatoms_______ __________-.-______________---__---___-_-___-___----_--_--___-_--_-_- 234

Well samples barren of diatoms_________,_______!__________-___-___-___---_--_--__---_------_---_-_--__---.-- 234

Index..____._____.___.__....__.___.„___.._.._______.__.!________.__.._.._.______.______.__._....._._.._„..._. 237

ii
PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS FROM LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK

By K. E. LOHMAN

ABSTRACT

A large number of samples from wells and outcrops on Long 

Island, N. Y., were examined for diatoms as part of a Public 

Works Administration project to study the ground-water supplies of the vicinity of New York. Diatoms were found in only 

four samples from one well and in two outcrop samples. All 

three diatom floras indicate deposition under near-shore marine 

conditions during a mild climate similar to the present. As all 

the species, with one exception, are represented in living floras 

in about the same latitude, an age no older than some interglacial stage of the Pleistocene is indicated. The similarity of 

the diatom floras suggests contemporaneous deposition, and a 

tentative correlation of the Gardiners clay (from which the 

outcrop samples came) with the Cape May formation of New 

Jersey is proposed. No evidence was revealed by these floras 

for the existence of Miocene beds on Long Island.

INTRODUCTION

During January and a part of March 1934 I examined a large number of samples from wells and outcrops on Long Island, N. Y., for diatoms. The work 

was done as part of a Public Works Administration 

project to study ground-water supplies of the vicinity 

of New York; and particularly to study problems of the 

geologic correlations and continuity of the waterbearing and non-water-bearing formations on Long 

Island and in nearby parts of New Jersey.

Macroscopic fossils are rare and in fact almost 

entirely absent in most of the sedimentary beds on 

Long Island. Early reports by Ries 1 and Edwards 2 

indicated, however, that fossil diatoms had been found 

in Cretaceous and Tertiary beds. As there were no 

other authentic records of Miocene rocks on Long 

Island, it was desirable to check the reports of their 

occurrence and to seek further evidence bearing on the 

question. The present work has shown that there were 

errors in the age determination of these early occurrences, which are discussed later in this report. The 

fact that diatoms occur in some of the surface sediments 

on Long Island suggested that they might furnish a 

basis for determining general age relations and also 

might be of use in correlating the various beds in the 

different wells.

1 Ries, Heinrich, Microscopic organisms in the clays of New York State: New York 

Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 13, pp. 165-169, plates 1-4, 1894.

2 Edwards, A. M., Fossil marine Bacillariaceae on Long Island, New York: Am. 

Monthly Micr. Jour., vol. 17, pp. 52-57, 1896; On the occurrence of Neocene marine 

Diatomaceae near New York: Am. Naturalist, vol. 30, pp. 212-216,1896.

20170—39

A total of 222 samples from 30 wells and 11 outcrop 

localities were cleaned and the diatoms, if any, concentrated and studied. Several hundred other sample^1 

from the same wells were rejected after brief inspection 

indicated that they consisted of clean washed sand or 

gravel and hence were not at all likely to contain 

diatoms. Out of this large nunrber of samples, diatorrr 

were found in only four samples from one well and in 

two outcrop samples.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

D. G. Thompson and F. G. Wells, of the Geological 

Survey, collected the samples and supplied much 

information based on their studies of the geology of 

Long Island extending over several years. I am also 

indebted to Dr. H. B. Kiimmel, State geologist of Nev 

Jersey, for supplying samples from New Jersey well^ 

used for comparison, and to Dr. C. P. Berkey, of Columbia University, for supplying samples from the Brooklyn tunnel, New York.

SUMMARY

As the result of the studies of the diatom floras found 

in samples of the Gardiners clay from the Sag Harbo1* 

well, a sample from an outcrop near Montauk Lighthouse, and samples from the Brooklyn tunnel, the following conclusions are offered:

1. All three floras were deposited under marine conditions, either near the shore or in lagoons or bays.

2. With only one exception the diatoms are represented in living floras, indicating an age no older than 

Pleistocene.

3. All three floras indicate a mild climate similar to 

the present, suggesting an interglacial stage of the 

Pleistocene.

4. Contemporaneous deposition seems probable, but 

the evidence is insufficient for proof, as, with the one 

exception mentioned above, all the floras contain only 

living species.

5. The close similarity of the Long Island floras to 

those found in the Cape May formation, as represented 

in the New Jersey wells, suggests a correlation of the 

two sets of deposits, though such a correlation must be 

only tentative, for the reason cited in paragraph 4.

229
230 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 193?

6. No evidence of the existence of Miocene beds was 

found in any of the wells studied.

SAMPLES CONTAINING DIATOMS

The samples described below were found to contain 

diatoms. The numbers at the left are United States 

Geological Survey diatom-locality numbers. Brief 

lists of the barren samples will be found in the appendix 

at the end of this report. The samples are:

1795-98. Well S184,* Sag Harbor, Long Island, N. YDepths from 275 to 295 feet.

1800. Sample collected by F. G. Wells from an outcrop believed to be the Gardiners clay, on the south shore of Long 

Island, half to three-quarters of a mile west of Montauk Lighthouse.

1828. Sample from tunnel 2, City of New York, Board of 

Water Supply, 68 to 104 feet below sea level. (Details on p. 232.)

In addition to the above, samples from several New 

Jersey wells were kindly supplied by Dr. H. B. Kiimmel 

and were examined for purposes of comparison. No 

lists of species are given here for these wells, as they 

are outside the scope of the present report. Lists were 

given for the first three wells in annual reports of the 

State geologist of New Jersey and are referred to below. 

These wells are:

Well 198-A. Wildwood, HoUy Beach, N. J., depth 35 to 160 

feet (5 samples).

Well 196-A. Avalon, Sevenmile Beach, N. J., depth 70 to 230 

feet (3 samples).

Well 187-A. Atlantic City, N. J., depth 84 to 258 feet (18 

samples).

Well 122-A. Sandy Hook, N. J., depth 125 and 135 feet (2 

samples).

DIATOMS FROM LONG ISLAND, THEIR ECOLOGIC 

FACIES AND GEOLOGIC AGE

Sag Harbor well.—Four samples from the Sag Harbor 

well yielded diatoms, as follows:

Well S184, Sag Harbor, Long Island, N. Y.:

275-280 feet, Geol. Survey diatom locality 1795. 

280-285 feet, Geol. Survey diatom locality 1796. 

285-290 feet, Geol. Survey diatom locality 1797. 

290-295 feet, Geol. Survey diatom locality 1798.

These four samples consisted of fine greenish-gray 

clayey sand containing numerous diatoms. The diatoms were identified from each sample separately, but 

as no significant differences were observed, the four 

samples have been considered as one. The species 

found are as follows:

Melosira ambigua (Grunow) Mliller. Rare.

Melosira fausta Schmidt. Frequent.

Melosira recedens Schmidt. Frequent.

Melosira sulcata (Ehrenberg) Kirtzing. Common.

Melosira sulcata var. coronata (Ehrenberg) Grunow.

Frequent.

Hyalodiscus cf. H. laevis Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Podosira stelliger (Bailey) Mann. Frequent 

Cyclotella cf. C. caspia Grunow. Rare.

' Records of wells, Suffolk County, N. Y.: New York Dept. Cons., Water Power 

and Control Comin., Bull. GW-4, pp. 90-91,1938.

Cyclotella striata (Kiitzing) Grunow. Frequent. 

Coscinodiscus apiculatus Ehrenberg var. ambigca Grunow

Frequent. 

Coscinodiscus curvatulus Grunow var. densius-striata

Schmidt. Rare.

Coscinodiscus excentricus Ehrenberg. Common. 

Coscinodiscus kurzii Grunow. Rare. 

Cocsinodiscus nitidus Gregory. Frequent. 

Endictya robusta (Greville) Hanna and Gr«mt. Frequent.

Xanthiopyxis oblonga Ehrenberg. Common. 

Xanthiopyxis sp. Common. 

Actinoptychus undulatus Ehrenberg. Commcn. 

Aulacodiscus argus (Ehrenberg) Schmidt. Rare. 

Actinocyclus ehrenbergii Ralfs. Frequent. 

Actinocyclus ehrenbergii var. crassa (W. Smitl) Hustedt.

Frequent.

Auliscus pruinosus Bailey. Frequent. 

Auliscus cf. A. grunowii Schmidt. Rare. 

Rhizosolenia sp. Rare. 

Liradiscus minutus Greville. Frequent. 

Liradiscus ovalis Greville. Rare. 

Liradiscus sp. Frequent. 

Syndendrium diadema Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Hercotheca mammillaris Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Triceratium reticulum Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Rhabdonema sp. Frequent. 

Grammatophora oceanica var. macilenta (W. Smith)

Grunow. Frequent.

Dimerogramma fulvum (Gregory) Ralfs. Rare. 

Plagiogramma sp. Rare. 

Rhaphoneis amphiceros Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Rhaphoneis amphiceros var. rhombica Grunow. Rare. 

Opephora schwartzii (Grunow) Petit. Rare. 

Cocconeis diminuta Pantocsek. Rare. 

Cocconeis scutellum Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Cocconeis scutellum var.-baldjikiana Grunow. Rare. 

Cocconeis scutellum var. ornata Grunow. Rare. 

Cocconeis quarnerensis (Grunow) Schmidt. Frequent. 

Campyloneis cf. C. grevillei (Wm. Smith) Grunow.

Rare. 

Amphora ovalis Kiitzing var. gracilis (Ehrenberg)

Grunow. Rare.

Diploneis cf. D. aestiva (Donkin) Cleve. Rate. 

Diploneis bombus Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Diploneis constricta (Grunow) Cleve. Rare. 

Diploneis papula (Schmidt) Cleve. Rare. 

Diploneis smithii (Brebisson) Cleve. Frequent. 

Diploneis sp. Rare. 

Navicula hennedyi W. Smith. Rare. 

Navicula irrorata Greville. Rare. 

Navicula lyra Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Navicula pennata Schmidt. Frequent. 

Navicula wittii Grunow. Rare. 

Pinnularia sp. Rare. 

Pleurosigma sp. Rare.

Rhopalodia cf. R. gibberula (Ehrenberg) Mttller. Rare. 

Nitzschia cf. N. granulata Grunow. Rare. 

Nitzschia sp. Rare. 

Surirella fastuosa Ehrenberg. Frequent.

The forms above listed make up an assemblage of 

marine and brackish-water diatoms such as might be 

found today in a lagoon or bay partly closed by a bar. 

The water was sufficiently saline to favor the growth of 

marine forms and to inhibit almost completely the 

growth of fresh-water and brackish-water forms.
PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS FROM LONG ISLAND, N. Y. 221

Only one species in the assemblage, Melosira ambigua, 

is found at present only in fresh water. As only one 

lone valve was found in the Sag Harbor well samples, 

most probably it was carried into the basin of deposition by some small stream, and hence its presence has 

little or no ecologic significance. Species that now live 

under truly marine conditions dominate the assemblage, 

with the remainder made up of forms which live in 

both marine and brackish water.

Melosira recedens Schmidt, the only extinct species in 

the flora, was first reported 4 from the Eocene Cementstein on the island of Mors, Jutland. I have also found 

it in the San Joaquin formation, of Pliocene age, in the 

Kettleman Hills, Calif.5 In California it is known only 

from the Pliocene, and the Long Island occurrence 

extends the known geologic range of this diatom from 

Eocene to Pleistocene. As all the other diatoms in the 

Long Island flora are represented in living floras in about 

the same latitudes, the presence of this one long-ranging 

species does not appear to have much age significance. 

An age no older than Pleistocene is therefore indicated 

for the beds. The very small number of cold-water 

species present strongly indicates an interglacial stage.

Woolman 6 observed diatoms in material obtained at 

depths of 70 to 100 feet in a well bored at Avalon, N. J., 

and the diatoms were identified by C. S. Boyer. This 

diatom assemblage contained 21 species, 52 percent of 

which also occur in the Sag Harbor well. The marked 

similarity in these two diatom assemblages is strongly 

suggestive of contemporaneous deposition, although 

two different interglacial stages may be represented by 

these floras.

Woolman 7 also published a list of diatoms found in 

samples obtained at depths ranging from 78 to 181 feet 

in a well bored at Wildwood, N. J. (about 10 miles 

south of Avalon), and correlated the flora with that 

occurring in the Avalon well. The diatoms found in 

the Avalon well were all marine, but about 80 percent 

of those found in the Wildwood well were fresh-water 

forms. Woolman suggested that the large influx of 

fresh-water forms at Wildwood was due to the influence 

of the Delaware Eiver, which carried down large numbers of fresh-water forms, and this suggestion appears 

to be correct. Of the marine forms in the Wildwood 

well 50 percent are represented in the Sag Harbor well, 

a percentage which is in very close agreement with 

that obtained from the Avalon well.

Outcrop near Montauk Lighthouse.—One diatombearing sample was collected by F. G. Wells from an 

outcrop, believed to be the Gardiners clay, on the 

south shore of Long Island, half to three-quarters of a

4 Schmidt, Adolf, Atlas der Diatomaceenkunde, pi. 176, fig. 54; pi. 177, figs. 62-64, 

1892.

' Lohman, K. E., Pliocene diatoms from the Kettleman Hills, Calif.: U. S. Qeol. 

Survey Prof. Paper 189-C, p. 82, pi. 22, figs. 13,14, in 1938.

• Woolman, Lewis, Artesian well at Avalon, with notes on the tidal rise and fall of 

the water therein: New Jersey State Geologist Ann. Kept., 1898, pp. 78-83, 1899.

7 Woolman, Lewis, Artesian well at Wildwood, N. J.: New Jersey State Geologist 

Ann. Kept., 1894, pp. 159-180,1895.

mile west of Montauk Lighthouse (U. S. G. S. diatom 

locality no. 1800). This sample consisted of a bluifb 

to greenish-gray clay in which the following diatoms 

were identified:

Melosira distans (Ehrenberg) Kutzing. Rare.

Melosira italica (Ehrenberg) Kutzing var. valida Grunow

Frequent.

Melosira sulcata (Ehrenberg) Kutzing. Frequent. 

Melosira undulata (Ehrenberg) Kiitzing var. normarii

Arnott. Rare. 

Stephanopyxis sp. Rare. 

Cyclotella sp. Rare.

Cosoinodiscus excentricus Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Coscinodisous lineatus Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Coscinodiscus cf. C. radiatus Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Thalassiosira sp. Rare.

Actinoptychus undulatus Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Actinocyclus ehrenbergii Ralfs. Rare. 

Fragilaria pinnata Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Rhaphoneis amphiceros Ehrenberg var. rhombica Grxnow. Frequent.

Eunotia praerupta Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Eunotia monodon Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Cocconeis cf. C. placentula Ehrenberg. Rare. 

Amphora sp. Rare.

Cymbella cistula (Hemprich) Kirchner. Rare. 

Cymbella ventricosa Kutzing. Rare. 

Gomphonema acuminatum Ehrenberg var. coronata

(Ehrenberg) W. Smith. Rare. 

Gomphonema sp. Rare. 

Didymosphenia cf. D. geminata (Lyngbye) M. Schmidt.

Rare.

Caloneis trinodis (Lewis) Meister. Rare. 

Caloneis ventricosa (Ehrenberg) Meister. Rare. 

Diploneis smithii (Brebisson) Cleve. Rare. 

Pinnularia dactylus Ehrenberg. Frequent. 

Pinnularia sp. Rare.

Epithemia turgida (Ehrenberg) Kutzing. Frequent. 

Epithemia zebra (Ehrenberg) Kutzing var. porcell^s

(Kutzing) Grunow. Frequent. 

Nitzschia circumsuta (Bailey) Grunow. Rare. 

Nitzschia cf. N. tryblionella Hantzsch. Rare. 

Campylodiscus echeneis Ehrenberg. Common.

This assemblage represents a mingling of marine, 

brackish-water, and fresh-water species in about equal 

proportions, all of which are living at present in tl 9 

same region. The most logical inference that can H 

drawn from such an assemblage is that it was deposited 

in a lagoon or near the mouth of a small stream. A 

small stream is distinctly indicated rather than a larfre 

one, which would be expected to introduce a larger 

proportion of fresh-water species. This assemblage cr.n 

be no older than Pleistocene and, as it represents 

climatic conditions similar to those of the present or 

even warmer, an interglacial stage is indicated.

As the flora from the Sag Harbor well is dominantfy 

marine, the comparison of the well flora and the flora 

near Montauk should be made on the basis of marine 

species only! This method is not strictly accurate but 

is more nearly so than one including the nonmarine 

species. In each locality under consideration in this 

report, the diatom flora indicates deposition under 

marine conditions, in some places modified by the influx
232 SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1937

of large numbers of fresh-water forms from nearby 

streams and in the beds near Montauk apparently 

modified by a distinctly brackish-water element. The 

fresh-water and brackish-water species represent local 

facies, whereas the marine elements form the more 

nearly constant part of the flora and are the ones 

which may have a time significance. On this basis, 66 

percent of the marine species in the Montauk sample 

occur in the Sag Harbor well and 67 percent occur in 

the Pleistocene beds in the well at Wildwood, N. J., at 

depths of 78 to 181 feet. The high percentage of species 

common to these three localities strongly suggests contemporaneity. The beds at all three were deposited in 

interglacial stages, and the similarity in the floras suggests the same stage, although this cannot be proved, 

nor can the stage be named with the data at hand.

Outcrop in Brooklyn tunnel.—One diatom-bearing 

sample came from tunnel no. 2, City of New York Board 

of Water Supply (from shaft 15A, Fort Green Park, 

Brooklyn, 68 to 70 feet below sea level; or shaft 17A, 

Hamilton Ave. and Hicks St., Brooklyn, 91 to 104 

feet below sea level; collected by Dr. Horace E. Blank, 

1929; U. S. G. S. diatom locality 1828). Several other 

samples from this tunnel, all of which were kindly supplied by Dr. C. P. Berkey, of Columbia University, 

were examined and found to contain no diatoms. The 

labels on some of the samples had been misplaced at the 

university, and the only one which was found to contain diatoms bore a label that read "17A or 15A." 

However, as both of these samples were considered as 

coming from the Gardiners clay by Dusenbury,8 who 

studied the larger fossils and the Foraminifera in them, 

no great damage has resulted from this confusion. The 

following diatoms were identified from this sample:

Melosira ambigua (Grunow) M tiller, __ __________ Rare.

Melosira octagona Schmidt ____________________ Rare.

Melosira recedens Schmidt-____________________ Common.

Melosira sulcata (Ehrenberg) Ktitzing___________ Common.

Melosira sulcatavar.coronata(Ehrenberg) Grunow. Frequent. 

Hyalodiscus cf. H. laevis Ehrenberg_____________ Rare.

Cy clotella striata (Kiitzing) Grunow ____________ Frequent.

Coscinodiscus asteromphalus Ehrenberg _________ Rare.

Coscinodiscus denarius Schmidt ________________ Frequent.

Coscinodiscus excentricus Ehrenberg-___________ Frequent.

Coscinodiscus cf. C. kurzii Grunow____________ Rare.

Coscinodiscus lineatus Ehrenberg-______________ Frequent.

Coscinodiscus cf. C. oculus-iridis Ehrenberg______ Rare.

Coscinodiscus radiatus Ehrenberg_______________ Frequent.

A.ctinoptychus undulatus Ehrenberg ____________ Abundant.

Actinoptychus summissus Schmidt-------------- Rare.

Aulacodiscus argus (Ehrenberg) Schmidt-_______ Rare.

Actinocyclus ehrenbergii Ralfs________________ Frequent.

Eupodiscus radiatus Bailey____________________ Rare.

Auliscus reticulatus Greville__________________ Rare.

Rhizosolenia sp_____________________ ________ Rare.

Xanthiopyxis cingulata Ehrenberg.___________i_ Rare.

Triceratium reticulum Ehrenberg _______________ Frequent.

Biddulphia cf. B. aurita (Lyngbye) Brebisson var. 

obtusa (Ktitzing) Hustedt_ __________________ Rare.

8 Dusenbury, A. N., Jr., Notes on the fossil content of certain samples of Gardiners 

clay from Brooklyn (ms. report), 1933.

Biddulphia rhombus (Ehrenberg) Wm. Smith____ Rare.

Biddulphia subaequa (Kiitzing) Ralfs___________ Rare.

Trinacria cf. T. pileolus (Ehrenberg) Grunow___ Rare.

Grammatophora oceanica Ehrenberg__ __________ Frequent.

Plagiogramma staurophorum (Gregory) Heiberg__ Rare. 

Rhaphoneis amphiceros Ehrenberg var. rhombica

Grunow__________-_____-________----_-____ Frequent.

Eunotia sp____-___-___________..--___--------- Rare.

Achnanthes subsessilis Kiitzing.________________ Rare.

Cymbella sp_________________________________ Rare.

Diploneis bombus Ehrenberg-_____ _____________ Rare.

Diploneis elliptica (Kiitzing) Cleve___ ___________ Frequent.

Diploneis griindleri (Schmidt) Cleve___________ Rare.

Diploneis papula (Schmidt) Cleve_____________ Rare.

Diploneis smithii (Brebisson) Cleve_____________ Frequent.

Navicula cf. N. lacustris Gregory_______________ Rare.

Navicula cf. N. lyra Ehrenberg_________________ Rare.

Navicula sp__--_----__________-----____--___- Rare.

Pinnularia sp________________________________ Rare.

Epithemia cf. E. turgida (Ehrenberg) Kiitzing)... Rare.

Rhopalodia gibba (Ehrenberg) Miiller________-__ Rare.

Nitzschia granulata Grunow____________-_---_- Rare.

Nitzschia circumsuta (Bailey) Grunow___..___-__ Frequent.

Nitzschia sigma W. Smith.____________________ Frequent.

Cymatopleura elliptica (Brebisson) W. Smith___ Rare.

This assemblage is dominantly marine in aspect, 

only a few brackish-water and fresh-water species being 

present, and the beds may have been deported in a 

bay or along an exposed coast not far from shore. The 

only extinct species in this flora is Melosira recedens, 

which is mentioned on page 231.

Of the species above listed 48 percent occur in the 

Sag Harbor well samples and 25 percent occiir in the 

Montauk sample. The small percentage occurring in 

the Montauk sample is due in part to the fact that only 

about one-third of the species from Mortauk are 

marine and in part to the fact that the total number of 

species found near Montauk is much less than at the 

tunnel locality. Here, again, an interglacial stage of 

the Pleistocene is strongly indicated.

CORRELATIONS

When all allowances are made, a good degree of 

correspondence between all three Long Island assemblages is obtained. The same holds true for the Long 

Island assemblages and those from the New Jersey 

wells. Little doubt is felt in assigning them all to some 

interglacial stage of the Pleistocene, but no reliable 

evidence is available for definitely assigning r,ny of the 

assemblages, to any particular interglacial stage. 

Their general agreement, however, makes it seem 

probable that they all represent the same stage. 

Dusenbury,9 as a result of his studies of the fauna 

obtained from the Brooklyn tunnel locality, agrees with 

Fuller 10 in considering the Gardiners clay, to which 

these beds are assigned, to belong to the second (Yarmouth) interglacial stage of the Pleistocene. His 

evidence for assigning the Gardiners clay to some inter-

« Dusenbury, A. N., Jr., op. cit., p. 1.

10 Fuller, M. L., The geology of Long Island, New York: U. S. Gecl. Survey Prof, 

Paper 82, p. 106, 1914,
PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS FKOM LONG ISLAND, jr. 233

glacial stage of the Pleistocene is of the same order of validity as that given in the present report, but he gives no 

additional evidence for calling it specifically Yarmouth.

Woolman u studied cuttings from a well near Rock 

Hall, MtL, in which he found, at depths of 109 to 130 

feet) a bed containing a mixture of fresh-water and 

marine diatoms. On the basis of its diatom flora he 

correlated this bed with the similar bed occurring in 

the well at Wildwood, N. J., at depths of 78 to 181 feet. 

Woolman believed that both of these diatom-bearing 

beds were older than the Cape May formation, and that 

they were overlain by it. MacClintock and Richards,12 

after a study of Woolman's well logs and of surface outcrops, consider the diatomaceous bed occurring in the 

Wildwood well at depths of 78 to 181 feet to belong in 

the Cape May formation. As the diatom floras in the 

Long Island localities studied for the present report are 

quite similar to those in the Wildwood and Rock Hall 

wells, and if MacClintock and Richards are correct in 

their interpretation, the Gardiners clay on Long Island 

should be correlated with the Cape May formation in 

New Jersey,

The Long Island diatom floras also bear a striking 

resemblance to the flora which Boyer 13 obtained from 

the "blue clay" of Philadelphia. According to Strock, 14 

this clay is hi the upper part of the Pensauken formation, 

of Yarmouth age. MacClintock and Richards, 15 on 

the other hand, place the "blue clay" in the base of the 

Cape May formation.

Thus the evidence offered by the diatoms indicates 

that the Gardiners clay on Long Island was deposited 

during an interglacial stage of the Pleistocene and suggests a correlation with the Cape May formation or 

with the upper part of the Pensauken formation, 

assigned to the Sangamon and Yarmouth interglacial 

stages respectively, according to the interpretation of 

MacClintock ana Richards. 16

MacClintock and Richards also recognized this difficulty when they placed the upper part of the Gardiners 

clay in the Sangamon and the lower part doubtfully in 

the Yarmouth. The most acceptable correlation of 

that part of the Gardiners clay represented by the Long 

Island diatom floras appears to be with the Cape May 

formation, but whether the Gardiner clay belongs to the 

Sangamon or Yarmouth interglacial stage cannot be 

determined on the evidence considered in this paper. 

Myron L. Fuller, 16a in a discussion of MacClintock

u Woolman, Lewis, Artesian wells at and near Rock Hall, Md.: New Jersey State 

Geologist Ann. Kept., 1898, pp. 116-121,1899.

12 MacClintock, Paul, and Richards, H. G., Correlation of late Pleistocene marine 

and glacial deposits of New Jersey and New York: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 47, 

pp. 311-12, 1936.

" Boyer, C. S., The Diatomaceae of Philadelphia and vicinity, 143 pp., 40 pis., 

Philadelphia, J. B. Lippineott Co., 1916.

« Strocb, L. W., A study of the Pensauken formation: Wagner Free Inst. Sei. 

Bull., vol. 4, no. 1, p. 8, 1929.

» MacClintoek, Paul, and Richards, H. G., op. cit., p. 302.

»Idem, p. 335.

isa Fuller, M. L., Comment on "Correlation of Late Pleistocene marine and glacial 

deposits of New Jersey and New York," by Paul MacClintock and Horace G. 

Richards: Geol, Soc. America Bull., vol. 47, Supplement, pp. 1982-1992,1937.

and Richards' paper, summarizes the difficulties encountered hi making correlations with either the Cape May 

or Pensauken formations, one of which is the uncertainty 

surrounding the position of the two formations.

Some doubts are cast on the correlation by the following considerations. The diatoms indicate that both the 

Gardiners clay and the Cape May formation were 

deposited in interglacial stages. The evidence that they 

represent the same interglacial stage depends upon the 

rather striking similarity in their diatom floras, but in 

view of the fact that the floras from each formation 

are made up, with one exception, of living species, it 

would be entirely possible for the same assemblage to 

have occurred in two different interglacial stages, ^he 

degree of similarity between the different diatom floras 

from Long Island is sufficiently strong to suggest contemporaneity but not sufficient for absolute assurance.

Both the Wildwood and Rock Hall localities contain a warm-water diatom, Polymyxus coronalis Bailey, 

which has not been found on Long Island. It is living 

at present along the east coast of South America, off 

the mouth of the Para River, but has not been found 

living off the coast of North America. It occurs 

abundantly in a diatom flora which I obtained from 

a sample of the Horry clay, of Pleistocene age, from 

South Carolina, submitted to me by C. Wythe Cooke, 17 

of the Geological Survey. The most northern occurrence of this species has been recorded by Boyer 18 from 

the "blue clay" (Cape May formation, according to 

MacClintock and Richards) of Philadelphia, where it 

occurs rarely. The absence of Polymyxus coronalis in 

the Long Island floras may be explained on the ground 

that it is a distinctly warm-water diatom and heice 

may not have migrated as far north as Long Island. 

MacClintock and Richards 19 invoke a similar explanation for certain features shown by a study of the 

mollusks. They say:

The fauna of the Gardiners * * * indicates a mild climate, 

similar to that prevailing in the region today. It is similar to 

that indicated by the Cape May formation of New Jersey; it 

does, however, suggest slightly cooler water than the Cape May. 

This is undoubtedly partly due to its slightly higher latitude, for 

even today the fauna of Long Island is quite different from that 

of southern New Jersey.

Although the presence of Polymyxus coronalis would 

have strengthened the correlation, its absence does not 

materially weaken the conclusions as drawn.

Another species which Woolman 20 considered to H a 

good marker for the Pleistocene is Triceratium JG/DUS 

Ehrenberg. Although this species occurs in older 

beds elsewhere in the world it is not known from prePleistocene beds along the Atlantic coast. It was

» Cooke, C. W., The Pleistocene Horry clay and Pamlieo formation near Myrtle 

Beach, S. C.: Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 27, no. 1, p. 2,1937.

» Boyer, C. S., The Diatomaceae of Philadelphia and vicinity, p. 25, pi. 4, fig. 7; 

pi. 5, fig. 2, 1926.

i» MaeClintoek , Paul, and Richards, H. G., op. cit., p. 330.

» Woolman, Lewis, New Jersey state Geologist Ann- Kept., 1894, p. 162, 1895; 

idem, 1898, p. 118,1899.
234 SHOETEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY, 1931

found sparingly in the New Jersey wells but not in 

the Long Island samples. As it is still living along the 

Atlantic coast, finding it in the Long Island samples 

would have been merely additional evidence that the 

beds were no older than Pleistocene.

Samples from two wells at Sandy Hook, N. J., were 

examined, and one of them, well 122-A, yielded diatoms at depths of 125 and 135 feet. The upper 

sample contained marine diatoms that showed excellent 

agreement with those of the Long Island samples and 

those of the Pleistocene samples from the other New 

Jersey wells mentioned previously, thus forming a good 

tie between Long Island and New Jersey. The assemblage included Triceratium favus, Woolman's Pleistocene marker. The diatom flora from a depth of 135 

feet in the same well contained a large majority of 

brackish-water and fresh-water species, presenting a 

somewhat anomalous situation. Time was not available for a detailed study of this sample, but it should 

be undertaken in the future, as it might throw 

additional light on the Pleistocene history of Long 

Island.

EARLY REPORTS OF TERTIARY AND CRETACEOUS 

DIATOMS ON LONG ISLAND

Edwards 21 recorded the finding of marine diatoms at 

Kockaway, Long Island, which he then considered late 

Miocene in age on purely lithologic grounds, as "lower 

Miocene and Oligocene are as a rule lighter in color." 

The following year Edwards 22 again discussed the same 

occurrence and considered it to be "upper Neocene or 

Pleistocene." In the same paper he published a list 

of diatoms from this bed, including marine, brackishwater, and fresh-water species here considered to be of 

Pleistocene or later age.

The studies of over 200 well and outcrop samples 

from Long Island and of a large number from New Jersey disclosed no evidence for the existence of Miocene 

beds on Long Island. A great many of the wells 

from which samples were obtained went through the 

younger beds and into red clays which D. G. Thompson 

and F. G. Wells 23 considered on lithologic composition 

to be Cretaceous. Although all the samples studied 

were carefully concentrated and examined, no Miocene 

or earlier forms were found.

Woolman 24 reported Miocene diatomaceous beds in 

the well at Wildwood, N. J., at depths between 370 and 

793 feet, with another isolated diatomaceous bed at 

depths between 1,040 and 1,060 feet. The diatom 

flora in the lower bed can be definitely correlated with

" Edwards, A. M., On the occurrence of Tertiary clay on Long Island, N. Y.: Am. 

Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 50, p. 270,1895.

22 Edwards, A. M., On the occurrence of Neocene marine Diatomaceae near New 

York: Am. Naturalist, vol. 30, pp. 212-216,1896.

11 Oral communication.

" Woolman, Lewis, Artesian well at Wildwood, N. J., its geology and paleontology: 

NT§W Jersey State Geologist Ann. Kept., 1894, pp. 159-180,1895.

that of the lower part of the Calvert formation, of 

medial Miocene age, in Maryland. The "gr^at 400- 

foot marine Miocene diatomaceous bed of the Atlantic 

Coastal Plain", as Woolman called the interval between 370 and 793 feet in the Wildwood well, contains 

correlatives of a large part of the Chesapeal~e group 

(Calvert, Choptank, and St. Marys formations) of 

medial and late Miocene age in Maryland. This bed" 

contains many diatoms of short geologic range and 

wide geographic distribution. The absence of all these 

characteristic species in the Long Island wells Y> at least 

very strong negative evidence against the existence of 

Miocene beds on Long Island. This is, further supported by the fact that in many places on Long Island 

the Pleistocene beds rest directly on Cretaceous beds.25

Kies 26 reported the finding of diatoms in some supposedly Cretaceous clays at Wyandance, Northport, 

Center Island, Glen Cove, and Cold Spring Harbor, 

Long Island.

Fuller 27 reproduced the list of diatoms under the 

heading "Cretaceous diatoms." A total of 23 species of 

living fresh-water diatoms were listed and figured from 

these various localities. The evidence upon wMch Kles 

considered these beds to be Cretaceous is not at all 

conclusive, and the diatoms themselves indicate a 

Pleistocene to Kecent age. It is entirely possible that 

these beds may have been reworked during Pleistocene 

time, so that Pleistocene diatoms became mixed with 

Cretaceous clays. Whatever view is accepted regarding 

the age of the clays, the diatoms are definitely not 

Cretaceous.

APPENDIX

With the idea that a brief listing of the samples 

cleaned and examined and found to be barren of diatoms 

might narrow the field for future work, the following list 

of outcrop and well samples is given:

Outcrop samples barren of diatoms.—Samples of greensand, gray clay, white clay, buff clayey sand, 8 nd white 

sand taken at different points on the Gayhead Cliffs 

and Nashaquitsa Cliffs, on Marthas Vineyard, were 

examined but did not contain diatoms. Some of the 

samples from the Nashaquitsa Cliffs came from beds 

believed to be those described by other writers as Gardiners clay.

Well samples barren of diatoms.—The well numbers 

given in the following table refer to those used in 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 44, and the samples 

are some of those collected during the investigation for 

that report and preserved in the collections of the 

Geological Survey.

25 Wells, F. G., personal communication.

Js Ries, Heinrich, Microscopic organisms in the clays of New York Sta^e: New York 

Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 13, pp. 165-169, pis. 1-4, 1894.

27 Fuller, M. L., The geology of Long Island: U. S. Gcol. Survey Erof. Paper 82, 

pp. 7$-79. 1914.
PLEISTOCENE DIATOMS FROM LONG ISLAND, N. Y. 235

Samples from wells on Long Island found to be barren of diatoms

Location

Barren Island _ __ _ _ _ __________

Bridgehampton, Jas. A. Sanford. ______

Deer Park, Alart & McGinnis______ __

Baton's Neck, L. A. Bevin ___ ___ ___

Lake Success, W. K. Vanderbilt_______

Laurelton__ _____ ____ _______

Peacock Point, C. O. Gates.. _________

Port Jefferson, F. B. Rogers. ______ _

Queens County Water Co., Valley 

Stream__ __ _ ___ ___ ____ __ _

Sag Harbor, J. K. Moins. ___ _______

Smith town, C. E. Pedrick _ ______

Wheatley Hill, E. D. Morgan ______

Well 

no. 

used 

in 

Prof. 

Paper 

44

(?)

QQ7

(?)

(?)

670

10

649

317

(?)

470

267

273

901

711

431

Number 

of 

samples

4

2

4

1

3

4

5

1

1

14

2

7

2

1

7

Depth 

(feet)

395-709

70-165

15-275

10-20

159-300

13-60

15-130

560-660

96-97

45-210

325-340

33-125

110-132

165

251-398

The samples from the following wells were obtained 

by the Geological Survey during the period 1932 to 

1936, and the numbers are those used by R. M. Leggette, of the Geological Survey, and published by the 

New York Department of Conservation, Water Power

and Control Commission, in "Records of wells," as 

follows: Suffolk County, Bull. GW-4, 1938; Nassau 

County, Bull. GW-5; and Queens County, Bull. 

GW-6. The letter S preceding a well number indicates 

a well in Suffolk County; N, Nassau County; and Q, 

Queens County.

Samples from wells on Long Island found to be barren of dia'oms

Location

Bayside, City of New York test well___ 

Belmont Lake State Park, test well !___ 

Belmont Lake State Park, test well 2__ 

Flushing pumping station, City of New 

York__________-____-_---__-_--_

Jones Beach State Park, well 2_ ______

Sag Harbor, test well of South Bay

South Huntington Water Department, 

weU 2R.________._ _______________

Sunken Meadow State Park, test well__ 

Sunken Meadow State Park, service

Well 

no.

Q461

S78 

S88

Q283

S74

S75

N129

S184

S29

S53 

S52

S139

Number 

of 

samples

28 

4 

7

33

1

2

20

25

1

6 

2

6

Depth 

(feet)

90-359 

0-110 

0-116

70-310

107-109 0-35

8-1, 010

60-475

198-211

60-179 

5*>-65

0-178

INDEX

Page 

Abstract...———....—.————_-.—...—__——.._.—__„-___--.._.. 229

Acknowledgments for aid...._..______.________________ 229 

ambigua, Melosira..__—..._._______________________ 231

Brooklyn tunnel, outcrop in, samples from____________________ 232

Calvert formation, correlation of.____________________.___ 234 

Cape May formation, correlation of—.-.____________.____ 229,233 

Cementstein, diatom from."___. —...___________. _______ 231 

Chesapeake group, correlation of.._.._____._______._____ 234 

Choptank formation, correlation of.________.______.______ 234 

coronalis, Polymyxus___. ___.______.________._______ 233 

Correlations____________________________________ 232-234 

Cretaceous diatoms——_._———..-__—..___—__________ 234

Diatoms, lists of__—-...-....—_.___......____.___..... 230,231,232

favus, Triceratium-.._.——__—_._________.__________ 233-234

Qardiners clay, correlation of__._.____________________ 229,233 

diatoms from_.__.________________________.____ 231,232

Horry clay, diatom.from.....——_-.....„___._...__________ 233

MacCliutock, Paul, and Kichards, H. G., quoted.._______.______ 233

Melosira ambigua..—_..._——_-„_„_.—_-__.________ 231

recedens.___-__..__..._.-.____.___—__.______ 231,232

Miocene diatoms..__..__-...——.—————-———— —————— —— 234

Montauk Lighthouse, outcrop near, samples from..——...———————— 231-232

Neocene diatoms.....—————.—————.—————————————————— 234 

Oligocene diatoms.————.—————————————————————————— 234

Pensauken formation, correlation of--....._——..——.—————————— 233 

Polymyxus coronalis.- —— ————————— ——————— —————— ————— 233

recedens, Melosira.__..__....--....———————————..—————— 231,232 

Richards, H. G., and MacClintock, Paul, quoted.____..___._....... 233

Sag Harbor well, samples from..__.———--———..——.—————_——— 230-231 

St. Marys formation, correlation of-—.———— —————————————— —— 234 

Samples, barren of diatoms.—————.——————————————————— 234-235

source of-_..--.-————.———————————————————————— 230 

San Joaquin formation, diatom from—.—— ——. ——— ——————————— 231 

Sangamon stage, Gardiners clay of—————.————————————————— 233

Pensauken formation of.___.__.-...—————————————————— 233

Tertiary diatoms.__——.——————————————————————————— 234 

Triceratiumfavus...__._._.__...._..._...—.——-—-———. 233-234

Yarmouth stage, Gardiners clay of.-.—.........————.—.———.—— 232-233

Pensauken formation of....-...-- ————————————— —————— — 233

237

o