Cretaceous -Tertiary 

'Boundary in New Jersey

i

Delaware, and 

Eastern Maryland

>

By JAMES P. MINARD, JAMES P. OWENS, NORMAN F. SOHL, 

HAROLD E. GILL, and JAMES F. MELLO

' CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

>

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 127 4-H

The basal Tertiary Hornerstown Sand 

unconformably overlaps progressively 

lower truncated beds in the underlying 

Cretaceous section southwestward through 

New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern 

Maryland

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1969
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

WALTER J. HICKEL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

William T. Pecora, Director

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 25 cents (paper cover)
CONTENTS

Page

Abstract H 1

Introduction ____ __ 1

Previous work ___ __ 6

History of the boundary discussion 7

Details of the boundary in outcrop northeast to southwest 11

Megafossils in the boundary interval 18

Details of the boundary in the subsurface 21

Evidence against a gradational boundary 27

Summary __________________ _ 30

References cited __________ - 31

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

FIGURE 1. Map of New Jersey showing locations of Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and cross sections_ H 2

2. Chart showing uppermost Cretaceous and lowermost Tertiary formations in New Jersey_ - 3

3. Index map of southern New Jersey showing quadrangles

mapped ______ 4

4. Diagrammatic section of Upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary formations from Sandy Hook, N.J., to Odessa, Del 5

5. Stratigraphic sections along the outcrop from Sandy Hook,

N.J., to Gregg Neck, Md _ 9

6. Stratigraphic sections in the Mount Holly and Woodbury

quadrangles, New Jersey 17

7. Chart showing time-stratigraphic position of the Hornerstown Sand_____________________ _ _ -- 20

8. Geologic cross section A-A'_________ 22

9. Geologic cross section B-B'_________ 23

10. Comparison of Stratigraphic sections in the Roosevelt and

Mount Holly quadrangles, New Jersey ___ ______ ___ 29

TABLES

Page

TABLE 1. Megafossils in the Cretaceous-Tertiary interval .H 13 

2. Foraminifera from the Allaire 1 test well, Monmouth County,

N.J____ _-___-__ _ . 25

in

CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY IN NEW JERSEY, 

DELAWARE, AND EASTERN MARYLAND

By JAMES P. MINARD, JAMES P. OWENS, NORMAN F. SOHL, 

HAROLD E. GILL, and JAMES F. MELLO

ABSTRACT

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in New Jersey has been described as 

both conformable and unconformable. The advocates of each interpretation 

have been about evenly divided for the past 75 years. Recent geologic quadrangle mapping of more than 600 square miles in the Coastal Plain of New 

Jersey and detailed reconnaissance in parts of Delaware and eastern Maryland have enabled the authors of this report to offer evidence of the unconformable nature of the contact for 120 miles along the strike. The thinning of the stratigraphic section, the pinchout of some units in outcrop, 

and the overlap of the basal Tertiary on progressively lower beds in the 

Cretaceous section from northeast to southwest are evident. Determination 

of the distinguishing lithologic characteristics, fixing the spatial distribution, 

and recognition of the cyclical nature of the Coastal Plain formations have 

aided in determining the unconformity, the changes along the strike, and 

the correlation of the formations from New Jersey through Delaware 

into eastern Maryland. In addition to structure and overlap, worn phosphatic 

and sideritic fossils and pieces of rock reworked from the underlying 

Cretaceous formations into the base of the overlying Tertiary formations 

suggest an unconformity similar to that recognized in the southeast part 

of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Because early 

workers considered the conspicuous angular unconformity between the lower 

Eocene and middle Miocene formations to be the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, they may have overlooked the more subtle unconformity at the presently 

accepted Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.

INTRODUCTION

There are two opposing interpretations for the CretaceousTertiary boundary in the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain, particularly in New Jersey. The first interpretation is that the 

boundary is gradational and that there was continuous deposition

Hi
H2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

FIGURE 1. Map of New Jersey showing locations of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (dotted line) and the cross sections shown in figures 8 and 9. 1, Colts Neck 1; 2, Allaire 1; 

3, Laurelton; 4, Island Beach 1; 5, Butler Place 1; 6, New 

Brooklyn 3; 7, Dover, Del.
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H3

across it; the second interpretation is that the boundary is unconformable and that there was a period of erosion between 

deposition of the formations of latest Cretaceous age and those 

of earliest Tertiary age. There is much clear evidence for the 

second interpretation but virtually none for the first. The authors 

of this report recognize a definite unconformity between the 

Cretaceous and Tertiary formations in New Jersey, Delaware, and 

eastern Maryland and offer what they consider conclusive evidence for the existence of this unconformity.

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in New Jersey is near the 

inner edge of the Coastal Plain physiographic province which 

constitutes somewhat more than half the total area of the State 

(fig. 1). The formations that crop out in this region are generally 

unconsolidated sediments of Late Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary ages; this report is primarily concerned with the uppermost Cretaceous and lowermost Tertiary units (fig. 2).

cc

o:

i 

-^

O

o

LU

o: 

o

 - 

 o

c

c

03

CD

TBcc

Vincentown Formation

Hornerstown Sand

 - . ^_- - **. ^ - s~~ ""

Tinton Sand

Quartz sand

Silty quartz sand -s^ Glauconite 

^-- sand

Navesink Formation

Mount Laurel Sand

FIGURE 2. Uppermost Cretaceous and 

lowermost Tertiary formations in 

New Jersey.
H4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Two of the authors (Minard and Owens) have completed detailed field mapping in nine 7y2-minute quadrangles in the Coastal 

Plain of New Jersey in which this boundary is present. These 

quadrangles extend from Sandy Hook in the northeast to Woodstown in the southwest (fig. 3). Local reconnaissance mapping was

40°

1. Keyport

2. Sandy Hook

3. Trenton West

4. Trenton East, GQ-341

5. Allentown, GQ-566

6. Roosevelt, GQ-340

7. Bristol, GQ-342

8. Columbus, GQ-160

9. New Egypt, GQ-161

10. Mount Holly, GQ-272

11. Pemberton, GQ-262

12. Browns Mills, GQ-264

13. Woodbury

14'. Runnemede

15. Woodstown, GO-404

PENNSYLVANIA

NEW JERSEY

i Odessa 

 

Bohemia 

Mills

FIGURE 3. Index map of southern New Jersey showing locations of ll/2 - 

minute quadrangles partly or completely mapped by Minard and Owens. 

Solid outlines of quadrangles indicate geologic mapping completed; dashed 

outlines indicate reconnaissance mapping. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is present in quadrangles 2, 5-11, and 13-15.
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H5

done and outcrops were examined in the intervening quadrangles. 

Although most of the detailed mapping was in New Jersey, the 

Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was examined in New Castle County 

in northern Delaware and in Cecil and Kent Counties in eastern 

Maryland. In all places, the boundary lies between the Hornerstown Sand of Paleocene age and the underlying formation of 

Cretaceous age. In this report, Minard and Owens are primarily 

responsible for the stratigraphy and mapping, Sohl for the 

macropaleontology, Gill for the subsurface correlation, and Mello 

for the micropaleontology.

As mapping progressed, it became evident that some units thin 

and others thicken in outcrop toward the southwest; several show 

minor lithologic changes in that direction, although their gross 

lithologic similarity is readily apparent. Several units in the 

northeast part of the Coastal Plain in New Jersey thin progressively toward the southwest until they are absent in outcrop 

(fig. 4). The thinning is generally from top to bottom and from 

northeast to southwest; as the section is examined in a southwest 

direction, more of the upper parts of the thinning units are absent

sw NE

SANDY HOOK 

QUADRANGLE. 

NEW JERSEY

-0

FIGURE 4. Upper Cretaceous formations (above the Englishtown) and 

lower Tertiary formations, from the Odessa, Del., and Gregg Neck, Md., 

vicinities in the southwest to Sandy Hook quadrangle, New Jersey, in 

the northeast. The diagram shows (1) thicknesses of units in outcrop, (2) 

overlapping and absence of units at least at the surface, and (3) facies 

change in the Red Bank Sand.

326-938 O - 69 - 2
H6 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

until the entire unit thins to zero. The most complete stratigraphic section is in the vicinity of Raritan Bay, N.J.; progressively less complete sections are in the vicinities of Mount 

Holly and Woodstown, N.J., and the least complete sections are 

in the vicinities of Odessa, Del., and Gregg Neck, Md.

PREVIOUS WORK

Most of the work that established the Cretaceous-Tertiary 

stratigraphy of the Coastal Plain in New Jersey was done by 

W. B. Clark, G. N. Knapp, H. B. Kiimmel, and Stuart Weller 

from about 1891 to 1916. Although refinements have been made 

and time lines shifted, their original work remains largely valid 

and is still the basis for the present accepted stratigraphy. Mapping at a scale of 1:125,000 was completed during that period in 

parts of the Coastal Plain near Trenton and Camden, N.J. Mansfield (1923) delineated the glauconite-bearing formations along 

their entire outcrop in New Jersey at a scale of 1: 62,500. Since 

then, very little detailed mapping has been done until that begun 

by Owens and Minard in 1957.

Most of the paleontological studies undertaken after 1920 were 

based on the stratigraphy established by the early workers, particularly the lithologic studies and mapping by Knapp, mainly 

unpublished, and the accompanying paleontological studies of 

Weller (1907). Because such an emphasis was placed on refining 

the biostratigraphy, it seemed clear to the present authors that 

lithostratigraphy of equal refinement, based on detailed lithologic 

mapping, was needed to provide an adequate framework into 

which the paleontological work could be properly fitted. The detailed mapping of the early workers had covered only a small 

part of the Coastal Plain. The present mapping by Owens and 

Minard was started in the classic study area of Knapp and Weller 

in the vicinities of Blacks and Crosswicks Creeks south of Trenton, N.J., and was extended both northeast and southwest along 

the strike to include areas along the total outcrop distance in 

New Jersey. This mapping, at a scale of 1:24,000, is the most 

detailed systematic lithologic mapping of appreciable areal extent 

that has been done in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. Probably 

the most important contribution of this work has been the detailed lithologic descriptions of the formations which enable other 

workers to recognize the stratigraphic positions of the formations more exactly than was possible previously and to readily 

distinguish between the formations by lithologic criteria alone,
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H7

regardless of the degree of weathering, alteration, or lack of 

fossils.

HISTORY OF THE BOUNDARY DISCUSSION

Clark (1898, p. 182) was apparently the first to consider the 

possibility of an unconformity at the base of the Hornerstown. 

Later, however, Clark (in Bascom and others, 1909, p. 13-14) 

stated that the Hornerstown lies conformably on the Red Bank 

and Tinton Sands and merges downward into the Navesink 

Formation where the Red Bank and Tinton are absent.

Weller (1907, p. 137) did not recognize an unconformity at 

the base of the Hornerstown. He reasoned that the glauconite 

sand in the central part of the Coastal Plain, which occupies the 

same interval as the Red Bank Sand farther northeast, was deposited without interruption into the Hornerstown Sand. He considered the disappearance of the Red Bank Sand to the southwest 

not as a break in sedimentation or as an overlap unconformity, 

but as a change in the nature and thickness of the sediments along 

the strike.

Kumrnel (in Lewis and Kiimmel, 1915, p. 68) first stated that 

the Hornerstown seems to rest conformably on the Tinton in the 

north and on the Red Bank where the Tinton is absent and that 

deposition was continuous from the Navesink into the Hornerstown farther south where the Red Bank is absent. Later (Kiimmel, 1940, p. 126-127), he suggested that there was a considerable 

period of erosion prior to deposition of the Tertiary formations, 

during which at least 120 to 140 feet of Cretaceous section was 

removed southwest of Sykesville (west part of New Egypt quadrangle, fig. 3) and even more was eroded farther southwest where 

the Hornerstown rests on the Mount Laurel Sand.

Cooke and Stephenson (1928, p. 144) considered the Hornerstown unconformable and transgressive on the Upper Cretaceous 

formations. As evidence for this unconformity they cited the 

presence of reptilian bones reworked from the underlying Creaceous sediments in the base of the Hornerstown. They believed 

that the Midway Group was absent in Maryland and New Jersey 

and that the Cretaceous-Eocene contact there recorded a much 

greater time hiatus than in the Gulf of Mexico region. They also 

thought that the reality of the break between the Cretaceous and 

Eocene sediments in New Jersey was confirmed by diastrophic 

evidence; the Hornerstown rests on the Tinton in the northeast 

and completely transgresses and overlaps the Red Bank Sand 

and Navesink Formation at Mullica Hill, where it rests on the
H8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Mount Laurel Sand. In their paper, Cooke and Stephenson furnished faunal evidence suggesting that the three supposed Upper 

Cretaceous formations (Hornerstown, Vincentown, and Manasquan) actually were early Tertiary in age. The fact that earlier 

workers belived these formations to be of Late Cretaceous age 

may partly explain why they overlooked the unconformity at 

the base of the Hornerstown, especially because a more obvious 

unconformity could be seen at the base of the Kirkwood (the 

then supposed base of the Tertiary).

Jennings (1936) agreed with the new trend and favored an 

unconformity. He stated (p. 164) that "the unconformity between 

the underlying Cretaceous and Eocene Hornerstown is marked, 

as the Hornerstown rests on successively older beds as the outcrop is followed toward the southwest, cutting out successively 

the Tinton, Red Bank and the upper part of the Navesink."

Spangler and Peterson (1950) returned to the earlier views 

of Clark (1898), Weller (1907), and Kiimmel (1940) and stated 

(p. 52, 49, 56 respectively) that "the Hornerstown overlies the 

Tinton conformably * * *," that "toward the south, where the 

Tinton is missing, the Red Bank grades into the overlying 

Hornerstown," and that "the gradational character from the 

Cretaceous beds below indicates that deposition was continuous 

from Cretaceous to Eocene * * *." They explained the position 

of the Hornerstown directly on the Navesink by stating (p. 51) 

that "deposition of beds called Navesink on the southwest was 

contemporaneous with the Tinton and Red Bank deposition in 

Monmouth County and continued without interruption into the 

Hornerstown (Eocene)." They showed (p. 55) a questionable 

disconformity at one place where the Hornerstown lies on the 

Navesink, but did not elaborate. They concluded (p. 52) that the 

Hornerstown "evidently pinches out under the overlap unconformity of the overlying Vincentown, for in the cuts of the 

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal the Hornerstown Formation is 

missing and the Vincentown is found resting on the Navesink." 

The Hornerstown is not present in the canal but it is present 

a short distance to the south and it rests directly on the Mount 

Laurel Sand (figs. 4, 5). The units that Spangler and Peterson 

(1950) referred to as the Vincentown and Navesink in the canal 

and that Groot and others (1954, p. 7), called the Red Bank Sand 

and Mount Laurel and Navesink undifferentiated, had previously 

been correctly identified by Carter (1937, p. 245) as the Mount 

Laurel Sand and the Marshalltown Formation.
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H9

sw NE

ATLANTIC 

HIGHLANDS. 

SANDY HOOK 

QUADRANGLE. 

NEW JERSEY

WOODSTOWN 

QUADRANGLE 

AND SEWELL, 

NEW JERSEY

SOUTH PART 

COLUMBUS. 

PEMBERTON.

AND

MOUNT HOLLY NEW JERSEY 

QUADRANGLES. ' 

NEW JERSEY 0'

SW PART

NORTH ROOSEVELT 

CENTRAL QUADRANGLE. 

NEW EGYPT NEW JERSEY 

NEW EGYPT- QUADRANGLE. 

COLUMBUS NEW JERSEY 

QUADRANGLES. 1 "Q-.

EXPLANATION

Sand and pebbles

Clay

Glauconite

[O0l 

Mica

Fossils

Crossbedding

FEET

-60

-40

-20

-0

FIGURE 5. Stratigraphic sections along the outcrop from Odessa, Del., and 

Gregg Neck, Md., in the southwest to Sandy Hook quadrangle, New 

Jersey, in the northeast. Sections include formations of Late Cretaceous 

and early Tertiary age (fig. 2). The Kirkwood Formation (Miocene), 

undifferentiated from the Cohansey in Sandy Hook, is shown here partly 

in contact with the Hornerstown.

Johnson and Richards (1952) opposed Spangler and Peterson's 

(1950) facies change concept (later supported by Olsson, 1963, 

p. 656) and suggested (p. 2157) nondeposition or subsequent 

erosion to explain the absence of the Red Bank in the southern 

part of the State.

Fox and Olsson (1955, p. 736) stated the evidence for an unconformity clearly and concisely: "Stratigraphic evidence indicates an unconformity between the Cretaceous and Tertiary 

formations. The Hornerstown rests successively from northeast 

to southwest on the Tinton, the Red Bank, and the Navesink. In 

each case the Hornerstown lies on a weathered surface and the
H10 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

basal few feet contain fragments of the underlying formation." 

Miller (1956, p. 722, 728) considered that Fox and Olsson 

demonstrated and proved the existence of an unconformity in their 

1955 paper. He further stated (p. 725) that an unconformity 

occurs between the Hornerstown Sand and Navesink Formation 

along their western outcrop as is well shown at Mullica Hill.

Dorf and Fox (1957, p. 3, 10), along with Richards, Groot, and 

Germeroth (1957, p. 198), favored pre-Hornerstown erosion and 

an unconformity at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. After 

first definitely favoring an unconformity (1955), Fox and Olsson 

later (1960, p. 8) took a less definite stand and stated that an 

unconformity may be suggested by the spheroidal weathering of 

the top of the Tinton. In 1960, Olsson (p. 3) almost completely 

withdrew from his earlier advocacy of a Cretaceous-Tertiary 

unconformity by recognizing only probable small disconformity 

in some areas and no suggestion of a physical break elsewhere. 

In 1963 he stated (p. 646) that in most places the boundary 

appears gradational. At about the same time, Jordan (1963) had 

completed a study of cuttings from nine water wells in the Coastal 

Plain of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. He stated (p. 195) 

that "* * * the presence of an unconformity is not evident; on 

the contrary, deposition appears to have been continuous."

Evidence offered in support of a gradational Cretaceous-Tertiary 

boundary and continuous deposition was not conclusive, nor was 

it necessarily based on systematic lithological studies and accurate stratigraphic locations. Rather, it was often based on 

faunal content of samples obtained either from wells or from 

outcrops which were not always accurately identified as to formation. Many of the more recent workers in the Coastal Plain of 

New Jersey and Delaware have depended disproportionately on 

interpretation of literature rather than on detailed mapping and 

lithological studies to provide the adequate framework necessary 

for correct interpretations. It is understandable that mistakes in 

formational identification were made, particularly if the workers 

were not intimately familiar with the often subtle lithologic 

differences.

Although formation boundaries had been rather accurately 

delineated by some earlier workers, no one ever provided sufficiently detailed descriptions so that the formations could readily 

be differentiated, especially by those less familiar with the primary 

criteria than the original mappers. The formations in the Coastal 

Plain region discussed in this paper form a cyclical sequence,
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. Hll

and, on cursory examination, some formations seem fairly similar 

to others. Distinguishing characteristics include morphologies of 

glauconite grains, type and amount of mica and carbonaceous 

matter, ratio of glauconite to quartz, heavy mineral suites, types 

of clays, internal structures, and weathering characteristics.

Many of the formations are rather thin (thicknesses measured 

in tens of feet); and unless the detailed lithologic characteristics 

of each formation are well known, identification and determination of stratigraphic position are difficult. The similarity of formations, thinness, repetitious sequence, and appreciable differences 

in appearance of weathered and unweathered material from the 

same formation have been the main stumbling blocks for those 

employing only paleontology as a tool to designate and map 

formations.

Detailed mapping clearly shows that the basal Tertiary formation, the Hornerstown Sand, rests on successively older formations from northeast to southwest. This was recognized and noted 

by many workers, including some proponents of a conformable 

boundary. It has been argued that mere absence of formations 

in a stratigraphic section does not prove an unconformity, as 

the formations may never have been deposited. Proponents of 

such a thesis must, however, still explain the fact that a younger 

formation overlaps successively older formations along its strike. 

Detailed examination of the boundary in outcrop shows features 

widely considered by many workers, including conformity advocates, to be associated with unconformities. These features include: (1) weathering of the top surface of the uppermost Cretaceous formations, whether it is the Tinton, Red Bank, Navesink, 

or Mount Laurel, (2) the presence of reworked phosphatic and 

sideritic shells and concretions at the contact, and (3) the incorporation of these and other fossils and pieces of material from 

the underlying Cretaceous formations in the basal part of the 

Tertiary formation.

DETAILS OF THE BOUNDARY IN OUTCROP NORTHEAST TO

SOUTHWEST

The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is well exposed in the southeast part of Sandy Hook quadrangle (figs. 1, 3). It is also exposed 

at the well-known Beers Hill locality (actually in a roadcut at the 

west end of Crawford Hill) in the Keyport quadrangle to the west 

(fig. 3). Excellent exposures are present in pits on either side 

of Route 36 just east of Atlantic Highlands, in the bluff on Raritan 

Bay just west of Waterwitch, and in the bluffs along the north
H12 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

side of the Navesink River estuary just west of Sea Bright. These 

exposures are all in the Sandy Hook quadrangle and all have 

basically the same relationship 3 or 4 to 10 or 12 feet of Hornerstown glauconite sand lying on the weathered surface of the Tinton. 

The Hornerstown is mostly grayish green to dusky green, but is 

partly moderate to dusky red, particularly at the top. It is 

medium-grained glauconite sand with a little clay and quartz; 

glauconite grains are nearly all botryoidal.

The Tinton is about 20 feet thick and is mostly reddish-brown 

and yellowish-brown fossiliferous (table 1) glauconitic quartz sand 

cemented and encrusted by iron oxides. The glauconite content 

ranges from several percent near the base to about 90 percent 

of the sand fraction at the top. The quartz sand in the Tinton is 

medium to very coarse grained and contains quartz granules. The 

angularity of many of the coarse grains and granules is a distinctive feature. Part of the glauconite is well weathered; it ranges 

from dark green and greenish gray to olive gray and light 

yellowish brown and varies in morphology from botryoidal to 

accordion forms. Undoubtedly much of the iron present as cement 

in the ledges, encrustations, and concretions was derived from 

weathering of the glauconite, because there is more glauconite 

in the less weathered interiors of concretions than there is in 

cemented parts of the sand.

The Tinton grades down into about 120 feet of Red Bank Sand. 

The Red Bank is mostly weathered, reddish-brown to yellowishbrown, medium- to coarse-grained, slightly glauconitic quartz 

sand; it grades down into a medium- to fine-grained silty quartz 

sand at the base. The sand locally is indurated by iron oxide 

into resistant ledges and concretionary masses. Generally, the 

basal 15 to 20 feet of sand is not weathered and is the original 

medium to dark gray. The basal few feet of the Red Bank contains appreciable amounts (5-10 percent) of glauconite, mostly 

in medium-sized botryoidal grains similar to those in the underlying Navesink, but some have accordion forms. Abundant mica, 

considerable pyrite and carbonaceous matter, and abundant megaand microfossils are present in the basal unweathered part of 

the Red Bank. The megafossils include calcareous shells and, where 

weathered, molds coated with iron oxide. The microfossils include 

a large suite of Foraminifera. Olsson described nearly 70 species 

of Foraminifera from the basal Red Bank Sand in the bluff on 

Raritan Bay just west of Waterwitch (Olsson, 1960, p. 5, loc. 

NJK-103).
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H13

TABLE 1. Megafossils in the Cretaceous-Tertiary interval

[The fossils were found in the basil few feet of the Hornerstown Sand or in the upper 

few feet of the underlying Cretaceous unit]

Location

Beers Hill, 

Keyport quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

Formation

Tinton__.

Ivanhoe Brook, 

south-central part 

of the Roosevelt 

quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

South-flowing tributary 

to Lahaway Creek in the 

southwest part of the 

Roosevelt quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

Contact Creek 

\3A miles north of 

New Egypt in the 

New Egypt quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

Florentine pit 

two-thirds of a mile 

northwest of 

Kirbys Mill in the 

Mount Holly quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

Inversand pit 

near Sewell in the 

southeast part of the 

Woodbury quadrangle, 

New Jersey.

Roadbank opposite old 

pit in the Hornerstown 

on the east side of 

Great Bohemia Creek 

at Bohemia Mills,/Md. 

(west of Odessa, Del.).

Inlier of the 

upper part of 

the lower Red 

Bank (transitional beds).

Hiornerstown 

(just below 

siderite ledge).

Hornerstown 

(just below 

siderite ledge).

Basal

Hornerstown and 

upper part of 

Navesink.

Basal

Hornerstown and 

upper part of 

Navesink.

Mount Laurel____

Fossils

Sphenodiscus lobatus

(Tuomey).

Cardium (Pachycardium) sp. 

Cardium (Gramocardium)

kiimmeli (Weller). 

Trigonia cerulia Whitfield. 

Gastropod? indet. 

Worm? burrows. 

Neither sp.

Crenella serica Conrad. 

Syncylonema, simplicus

Conrad.

Gryphaeostrea vomer Morton. 

Bryozoa.

Cucullaea vulgaris Morton. 

Gryphaea sp. 

Fusid gastropod indet. 

Baculites columna Morton. 

Baculites sp.

Cucullaea vulgaris Morton. 

Gryphaeostrea vomer Morton. 

Pyropsis sp. 

Clione sp.

Sphenodiscus lobatus

(Tuomey). 

Cucullaea vulgaris Morton.

Cucullaea sp.

Gryphaeostrea vomer Morton. 

Pycnodonte sp. 

Indeterminate gastropod

molds. 

Coral.

Vertebral disc. 

Teeth.

Belemnitella americana

(Morton). 

Exogyra cancellata

Stephen son.

326-938 O - 69 - 3
H14 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

The next area toward the southwest where the boundary was 

mapped in detail is in the Roosevelt (Minard, 1964), New Egypt 

(Minard and Owens, 1962), Columbus (Owens and Minard, 1962), 

Pemberton (Owens and Minard, 1964a), and Mount Holly (Minard 

and others, 1964) quadrangles, and on Mount Holly in the southern 

part of the Bristol quadrangle (Owens and Minard, 1964b). The 

lower glauconite member of the Red Bank is present in outcrop 

in the Roosevelt, New Egypt, and Columbus quadrangles. This 

member was referred to as early as 1907 by Weller (p. 137), who 

considered it contemporaneous with typical Red Bank to the northeast and gradational into the overlying Hornerstown. Although 

mention subsequently was made of a dark sandy clay in the basal 

part of the Red Bank, no particular reference was made to its 

being primarily a glauconite sand in the New Egypt area until 

Olsson (1960, p. 1-4) attempted to establish it as a new and 

separate formation equivalent to and replacing the Hornerstown 

and Tinton and bridging the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Minard 

and Owens (1962) mapped this unit as the lower member of the 

Red Bank Sand in the New Egypt quadrangle.

The section of Red Bank in the northern part of the Roosevelt 

quadrangle is lithologically very similar to the section at Sandy 

Hook, except that it is only about 80 feet thick compared with 

about 120 feet at Sandy Hook (fig. 5). The Red Bank thins southward in the Roosevelt quadrangle to only about 30 feet thick in the 

southwest corner. There it is nearly all clayey glauconite sand, 

as it is in most of its outcrop in the New Egypt quadrangle. This 

southwestward thinning is probably partly a result of removal 

of the upper quartz sand by erosion and partly a result of depositional thinning of a wedge of sand away from the former shoreline, the coarse quartz sand representing the near-shore facies 

and the micaceous clayey glauconite sand representing the deeper 

water facies farther from shore.

Because of the southwestward thinning of the Red Bank, the 

Hornerstown lies on progressively lower parts of the section in 

that direction. In the north and west-central part of the Roosevelt 

quadrangle, the Hornerstown lies on 30 to 70 feet of the quartz 

sand in the upper part of the Red Bank in an area of about 10 

to 12 square miles. In the southern and southwestern part of the 

quadrangle, it lies on the basal glauconite sand of the Red Bank. 

The transgressive relation of the basal Tertiary Hornerstown Sand 

to the uppermost Cretaceous Red Bank Sand is evident in the 

northern part of the New Egypt quadrangle and is similar to the
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H15

relation in the Roosevelt quadrangle, except that less of the 

quartz sand of the Red Bank is present. Updip the Hornerstown 

lies on the upper quartz sand of the Red Bank, which is about 

20 feet thick and grades down into the basal glauconite sand, 

which is about 30 feet thick. In about 1 mile downdip the upper 

quartz sand wedges out, and the Hornerstown lies on the basal 

glauconite sand of the Red Bank. This relation is present in the 

remainder of the New Egypt quadrangle and in a small area in 

the east-central part of the Columbus quadrangle.

The basal glauconite sand of the Red Bank thins from 30 feet 

in the central part of the New Egypt quadrangle to only a few 

feet at the boundary of the Columbus and New Egypt quadrangles. 

It pinches out northwest of Tilghmans Corner, in the east-central 

part of the Columbus quadrangle, and glauconite sand of the 

Hornerstown lies directly on the next older formation of Cretaceous age, the glauconite sand of the Navesink. This relation 

continues southwestward into the Woodstown quadrangle, the 

Hornerstown lying on progressively lower parts of the Navesink 

section until only 3 or 4 feet of the basal part of Navesink remains in northern updip outcrops. In Delaware and eastern Maryland, the Navesink has been eroded or is completely overlapped, 

and the Hornerstown lies directly on the Mount Laurel Sand.

The thinning of the Red Bank Sand toward the southwest is 

shown diagrammatically in figures 4 and 5. The diagrams show 

that the thickness of the quartz sand decreases more than the 

increase in thickness of the lower glauconite sand unit, which 

constitutes the entire Red Bank in the central part of the New 

Egypt quadrangle. It is the superposition of one glauconite sand 

on another as in the New Egypt quadrangle and to the southwest, 

along with the difficulty in separating them lithologically, that 

has masked the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in this region. The 

break between the Hornerstown and the quartz sand of the Red 

Bank in the northern parts of the Roosevelt and New Egypt quadrangles is also obscure. The boundary there is on the sides of 

high wooded hills and is effectively hidden under slope wash from 

the overlying Kirkwood Formation, but it can be located readily 

by digging and augering in selected places.

Although both the Hornerstown and basal Red Bank are basically glauconite sands in the New Egypt area, differences are apparent where they are in contact. Where these units are largely 

unweathered, the color difference is marked. The Hornerstown is 

dusky green, and the Red Bank is grayish black to dark gray.
H16 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

The Hornerstown generally has a dusky-green clay matrix; the 

basal Red Bank has a dark-gray clay matrix. The Red Bank generally contains abundant mica and carbonaceous matter, whereas 

the Hornerstown commonly contains little of either. The grains 

of glauconite in the Hornerstown are nearly all botryoidal, whereas 

the Red Bank contains many accordion grains.

Where the Hornerstown lies on the Navesink, the difference is 

also apparent, mostly as a color contrast. Both are glauconite 

sands; and when washed, the glauconite grains are very similar, 

largely medium grain size and botryoidal. In outcrop or in cuttings 

from an auger hole, however, the color difference is distinct, 

largely because of difference in the clay content. The Hornerstown is dusky green, whereas the Navesink is a greenish black 

to brownish gray or grayish brown.

Where the Hornerstown lies on the quartz sand of the Red 

Bank, the upper part of the Red Bank is weathered and sand grains 

are coated by iron oxide; the basal part of the Hornerstown contains considerable quartz. Where the Hornerstown lies on the 

glauconite sand of the Red Bank, the basal beds contain sideritized 

slabs of sandstone and phosphatized reworked Cretaceous fossils. 

Where it lies on the Navesink, the Hornerstown contains pieces of 

the Navesink and phosphatized Cretaceous fossils (Cucullaea, 

Sphenodiscus) reworked into the base (fig. 6A; table 1).

In the Woodstown quadrangle, the contact between the Hornerstown and Navesink is marked by a zone of borings filled by 

glauconite sand of the Hornerstown and extending down into the 

Navesink. Again the color difference is distinct. The same features 

also are clearly evident in the Inversand pit (fig. 65), in the 

southeast corner of the Woodbury quadrangle.

Just northwest of Odessa, Del., green glauconite sand of the 

Hornerstown Sand, containing considerable quartz sand in the 

base, is exposed in a borrow pit. The Hornerstown lies on the 

greenish-brown to yellowish-brown glauconite quartz sand of the 

Mount Laurel Sand. Borings filled by glauconite sand of the 

Hornerstown extend down into the upper few feet of the Mount 

Laurel. Johnson and Richards (1952, p. 2158) considered the 

strata near Odessa to be similar to the Hornerstown in New 

Jersey, but Groot, Jordan, and Richards (1961, p. 18, 24) recognized neither the Hornerstown nor the Mount Laurel there. They 

labeled the section beneath the Pleistocene sand and gravel "Lower 

Tertiary series(?)." Because only a few feet of Hornerstown is 

exposed near Odessa, trenching and augering were done a short
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H17

B

 ;<».;.o 'ai':io :'o

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Pleistocene.brown to greenish-gray, 

gravelly, glauconitic quartz sand.

< black, basal gfauconrte sand; iron

bed at base contains iron-oxidecoated molds and casts of 

Oleneothyris hor/oni and Gryphpeo 

 ^specimens.

Hornersto.wn (Tertiary ),dusky-green 

glauconite sand. Thin basal bed 

contains broken casts and molds 

of phosphatized shells from 

Sphenodiscus lobafus (Tourney), 

Cucullaea vulgaris (Morton), and 

gastropod specimens reworked 

from the underlying Navesink.

Navesink (Cretaceous), greenishtains pelecypod shells in the

upper few feet and quartz sand 

and granules in the basal few 

feet.

/

/Mount Laurel, dark-greenish-gray

coarse-grained glauconitic quartz 

sand. Auger cuttings from the 

upper several feet contain

Exogyra costata and 8e/emnife//o

omencona.

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Kirkwood.yellowish-gray to- grayishquartz sand. Quartz pebbles as 

much as % inch across are present at the base.

Vincentown, brownish- to greenishgray glauconitic medium- to 

coarse-grained quartz sand; contains very coarse quartz grains 

throughout.

Hornerstown, dusky-green glauconite sand with green glauconite 

clay. Thin layer in basal foot 

contains broken phosphatized 

casts and molds of Cucu/loeo 

vulgaris, the same as in the Florentine pit.

glauconite sand containing many 

borings in the top which are 

filled glauconite from the Hornerstown. Contains coarsegrained quartz sand and granules 

in the basal part.

Mount Laurel, dark-greenish-gray

coarse-grained glauconitic quartz 

sand.

FEET

r 10

- 5

-0

FIGURE 6. rStratigraphic sections of the formations (A) in the Florentine 

pit in the central part of the Mount Holly quadrangle and (B) in the 

Inversand pit near Sewell in the southeast part of the Woodbury quadrangle (fig. 3). The lower 23 feet of the Navesink and upper few feet 

of the Mount Laurel in the Florentine pit, and the lower 6 feet of the 

Navesink and upper part of the Mount Laurel in the Inversand pit were 

not exposed, but were penetrated by augering. See figure 5 for explanation 

of lithologic symbols.
HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

distance up the hill. The auger penetrated 18 to 20 feet of material 

of Hornerstown lithology, indicating that the Quaternary gravel 

and sand in the pit is a local channel deposit. The authors of this 

report augered holes at two other places, one 2 miles northeast 

of Odessa, and one 3% miles east-northeast of Odessa. In each 

hole they drilled through about 20 feet of green quartz-glauconite 

sand of Hornerstown lithology which was underlain by the 

greenish-gray coarse to granule-size quartz sand of the Mount 

Laurel.

About 5% miles west of Odessa, the Hornerstown is exposed in 

an old pit at Bohemia Mills, Md., where it overlies the Mount Laurel. 

The upper part of the Mount Laurel at this location contains 

abundant Exogyra cancellata and Belemnitella americana specimens (table 1). An excellent exposure can be seen at Gregg Neck, 

Md. (fig. 3), about 12*4 miles southwest of Odessa. The exposure 

is in a bank at the boatyard on the south side of the Sassafras 

River. About 10 feet of Mount Laurel is exposed and is overlain 

by 18 to 20 feet of Hornerstown, which in turn is overlain by 

5 to 6 feet of Vincentown (Aquia) capped by Quaternary gravel. 

The Hornerstown and the fossiliferous upper part of Mount 

Laurel are also exposed in the banks behind the boatyard and 

post office at Fredericktown, Md., about 1% miles west of Gregg 

Neck. The farthest west that both lithologies were seen was about 

10 miles southwest of Fredericktown, in the eastern part of the 

Betterton quadrangle. The units in all these places are basically 

the same as at Odessa, except for the abundance of fossils in the 

upper part of the Mount Laurel at Fredericktown and Bohemia 

Mills.

MEGAFOSSILS IN THE BOUNDARY INTERVAL

The macroinvertebrate fauna pertinent to the discussion of 

the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary problem of the northern part 

of the Atlantic Coastal Plain is not large, but it does support 

the thesis of unconformity. At most places where the boundary 

is exposed, fossils are neither abundant nor well preserved immediately above or below the contact. Table 1 lists collections 

from selected outcrops at or near the boundary from near 

the northern limit of outcrop in New Jersey (top) to the 

southern limit in Maryland (bottom). The fossils listed are those 

collected during the present survey; pertinent previous collections cited in the literature are discussed below.

Comparison between the fauna from Beers Hill, N.J., and that 

from Bohemia Mills, Md., supports the interpretation that there
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H19

is a progressive loss of Cretaceous section from north to south 

along the outcrop. The relationships of the fauna from the 

Tinton at Beers Hill are clear. (See Richards and others, 1958, 

1962, for listings of additional mollusks.) The presence of Sphenodiscus lobatus (Tuomey) is sufficient to indicate that the unit 

lies high in the Cretaceous. Elsewhere in the Atlantic and Gulf 

Coastal Plains this species occurs only in units that are stratigraphic equivalents of the upper part of the Navesink Formation 

and of the Tinton and Red Bank Sands. These include the Providence Sand, Ripley and Owl Creek Formations, and the Prairie 

Bluff Chalk of the Eastern gulf coast. Similarly Trigonia cerulia 

Whitfield is found in the Providence Sand of Georgia and the 

Monmouth Formation of Maryland (Gardner, 1916, p. 585), both 

at the top of the Cretaceous sequence. Cucullaea, littlei (Gabb) has 

been reported from Beers Hill by Weller (1907, pi. 33, figs. 1, 2) 

and is also common from Red Bank equivalents in the Georgia 

to Mississippi area. The remainder of the fauna is composed of 

species having longer or uncertain ranges.

The fauna from the Tinton Sand contrasts strongly with that 

from the uppermost part of the Cretaceous section at Bohemia 

Mills, Md. (Gardner, 1916). There, a few feet below the Hornerstown Sand, richly fossiliferous beds yield an assemblage typical 

of the Mount Laurel Sand of New Jersey. Of special note is 

the association of Belemnitella americana (Morton) and Exogyra 

cancellata Stephenson. These two fossils have been reported 

to range from the Mount Laurel through the Navesink in New 

Jersey, but the authors of this report believe this range is exaggerated because of misidentification of formations. At all localities that the authors examined, the association is restricted to 

the Mount Laurel Sand; and therefore the total Mount Laurel 

and Navesink fauna of the literature probably needs reevaluation in the light of present definition of the formations. The 

main concern here is that the Bohemia Mills fauna correlates 

with units near the base of the Exogyra costata zone elsewhere 

in the Coastal Plain. This is much lower stratigraphically than 

the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in northern New Jersey. In 

terms of time, the Paleocene Hornerstown Sand rests on beds 

of early Maestrichtian age in northern New Jersey, but on beds 

of late Campanian age in Maryland (fig. 7).

Between these two areas, the biostratigraphic evidence is less 

positive but is certainly consistent with the progressive south-
H20

Beers Hill, Bohemia Mills, 

N.J. Md.

FIGURE 7. Time-stratigraphic position of the Hornerstown Sand in 

the northeast (Keyport quadrangle, New Jersey, fig. 3) and 120 

miles to the southwest at Bohemia Mills.

ward loss of the upper part of the Cretaceous section. The first 

locality south of Beers Hill is in the Red Bank Sand on Ivanhoe 

Brook in the south-central Roosevelt quadrangle. There the Red 

Bank contains only a small fauna that does not afford precise 

information. Most species are long ranging, but in New Jersey, 

Crenella serica Conrad is known only from the Red Bank Sand. 

A specimen of Baculites columna Morton has been found in 

the southwestern part of the Roosevelt quadrangle on a tributary 

of Lahaway Creek. This specimen and the phosphatic internal 

molds of other mollusks noted are reworked into the basal part
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H21

of the Hornerstown Sand. In the Gulf Coastal Plain, B. columna 

occurs in the Corsicana Marl of Texas and the Prairie Bluff Chalk 

of Mississippi and Alabama. Its presence suggests that the 

fossils were reworked from units higher than the Navesink, 

probably from the Red Bank. A similar but less diagnostic fauna 

occurs on Contact Creek. Farther south at the Florentine pit in 

the Mount Holly quadrangle, the basal Hornerstown has yielded 

Sphenodiscus lobatus (Tuomey) in addition to the ubiquitous 

Cucullaea vulgaris Morton. As presently interpreted, the Sphenodiscus could not have been reworked from beds older than the 

upper part of the Navesink Formation. Similar relationships of 

Hornerstown on Navesink can be seen in the pit at Sewell still 

farther to the south. There Miller (1956, p. 728) has found 

Terebratulina atlantica Morton in the Navesink Formation (the 

middle greensand of his usage). Numerous phosphatic internal 

molds of mollusks, especially Cucullaea and Pycnodonte, occur 

in the lower beds of the Hornerstown. The next fossiliferous beds 

close to the contact occur at Bohemia Mills, discussed above, 

and at Fredericktown, Md., where sands with a fauna like that 

of the Mount Laurel Sand of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal 

are overlain by the Hornerstown Sand.

In summary, the macroinvertebrate fauna suggests that the 

Hornerstown Sand lies on progressively older sediments from 

the north in New Jersey to the south in Maryland. The magnitude of the time gap involves at least the lower part of the 

Maestrichtian and the upper part of the Campanian.

DETAILS OF THE BOUNDARY IN THE SUBSURFACE

The position of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary can be determined by lithologic differences, geophysical patterns, and planktonic Foraminifera in the subsurface in seven deep wells in New 

Jersey and Delaware. These data confirm the interpretation 

that the contact is unconformable.

Figures 8 and 9 are cross sections showing correlations based 

on natural gamma-ray logs. Section A-A' (fig. 8) extends downdip from Colts Neck to Island Beach State Park, N.J. (fig. 1). 

Section E-B' (fig. 9) extends approximately along the strike from 

Laurelton, N.J., to Dover, Del. (fig. 1). The wells were selected 

as representative of those in the area from which detailed geologic 

and paleontologic data are available. Gamma-ray logs from all 

the available wells in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey have 

basically the same characteristic patterns for the individual 

formations at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.
H22 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

CO <u

s*

<* ^2

O a)

o £

S ** 

o

» CO

oo

w
FIGURE 9. Geologic cross section B-B' from Dover, Del., to Laurelton, N.J., 

location of line of section.
H24 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

The Allaire well in Monmouth County (figs. 1, 8) was drilled 

by cable-tool methods in December 1963 as part of the cooperative ground-water program between the U.S. Geological Survey 

and the State of New Jersey. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary 

is well defined in this well, and the stratigraphic section and 

faunal content are typical of the six other wells listed in this 

paper. Detailed lithologic descriptions are given, and Foraminifera 

listed are representative of all the wells.

The Hornerstown Sand is approximately 44 feet thick in the 

Allaire well and is between 340 and 384 feet below the surface. 

Sample 134 is from a depth of 340 feet. It is medium-dark-gray, 

clayey, and silty glauconitic sand. The clay is mixed-layer 

montmorillonite-chlorite and illite and imparts a mottled appearance to the sample. The washed residue remaining on the 230- 

mesh sieve is a fine- to medium-grained sand containing approximately 98 percent glauconite. Glauconite grains are nearly 

all botryoidal; about 1 percent are accordion and tabular forms. 

Pyrite crystals and shell material (foraminiferal) in about equal 

abundance constitute the remaining 2 percent.

Sample 135 at a depth of 350 feet, sample 136 at 360 feet, and 

sample 137 at 370 feet are all nearly the same as sample 134, 

except that they are dark greenish gray. Glauconite content of 

the washed residue ranges from about 92 percent to 95 percent. 

The remainder of the residue is composed of angular quartz 

grains, pyrite, shell material, and muscovite. Sample 138 is the 

same except for a grayish-black color.

Sample 139, at a depth of 390 feet, is from the top of the 

Navesink Formation. It is greenish-black, mottled, micaceous, 

pyritic, and clayey-glauconite sand. The clay is mostly illite and 

montmorillonite and includes minor amounts of chlorite. The 

washed residue is fine- to coarse-grained sand (95 percent glauconite). The glauconite grains are botryoidal and have frosted 

surfaces. Pyrite crystals, angular to subangular quartz grains, 

and muscovite and chloritized mica constitute the remainder of 

the washed residue. Sample 140 from the Navesink Formation, 

at a depth of 400 feet, is nearly identical to sample 139.

The well samples show that the Hornerstown in the subsurface 

is a dark-greenish-gray, mottled, silty and clayey-glauconite sand. 

The distinct change from dark-greenish-gray glauconite sand to 

dark-gray rather clayey finely micaceous quartz sand in the underlying Navesink Formation is readily discernible in well samples or auger cuttings. In Monmouth County the change from
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H25

the Hornerstown glauconite to the underlying quartz sand of 

the Red Bank is also very distinct.

The gamma-ray logs, which record the natural radioactivity of 

the sediments, furnish a detailed record of lithologic variation in 

the individual formations in the Coastal Plain. The Hornerstown 

Sand has a very distinctive three-pronged gamma-ray pattern. 

This three-pronged pattern distinguishes the Hornerstown in all 

the wells logged to date in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. The 

pattern of increased radiation is probably attributable to a concentration of phosphatic material near the unconformity.

Four core samples from the Allaire well were examined for 

Foraminifera to confirm the placement of the Cretaceous-Tertiary

TABLE 2. Foraminifera from the Allaire 1 test well, Monmouth County, N.J.

Depth below surface (feet)

 , ,_ . . 370 380 390 400 Planktonic species:

Globigerina triloculinoides Plnmmer - __________ x ___ ____ ___

Globorotalia compressa (Plummer) _ _ _ x _ __ ____

Globorotalia cf. inaequispira Subbotina x _ ______

Oloborotalia cf. perclara Loeblich and Tappan ______ x ___ ___ ______

Globorotalia pseudobulloides (Plummer) __ _____ x __ __ ____

Globorotalia pseudobulloides (Plummer) ? x ______

Globigerinoides daubj erg ensi/t (Bronnimann) _______ x x __ ____

Globorotalia imitata Subbotina __ _ __ x x _ ______

Globorotalia perclara Loeblich and Tappan x x ______

Chiloguembelina morsei (Kline) __ _________ x x ____ x

Globorotalia convexa Subbotina _ ___ __ x ______

Globorotalia reissi Loeblich and Tappan x ______

Hedbergella cf. planixpira (Tappan) _ __ __ _ _ _ _ x ______

Heterohelix globulom (Ehrenberg) x ______

Heterohelix cf. navarroensis Loeblich ___________ __ ___ x ______

?Rugoglobigerina jerseyensis Olsson __ _____ _ _ _ x

Rugoglobigerina reicheli pustulata Bronnimann x

Globigerinelloides mexxinae (Bronnimann) ______ _ _ _ x x

Rugoglobigerina rugona (Plummer) x x

Globigerinelloiden messinae subcarinata Bronnimann? _ ___ _ __ x

?Globorotalia strabocella Loeblich and Tappan x

Guembelitria cretacea Cushman _ _ ___ _ _ __ __ x

Heterohelix cf. pulchra (Brotzen) __ __________ __ ____ ____ x

Benthonic species:

Alabamina midwayensis Brotzen __ ___________ x _ __ ___ ______

Bulimina arkadelphiana Cushman and Parker _ _ x _ ______

Buliminella elegantissima (d'Orbigny) ____________ x ____ ___ ______

Eouvigerina cf. hispida Cushman ______ x __ __ ____

Vixxurina oslatus (Shifflett) ___________________ x ____ ____ ______

Gi/roidinoidea subangulata (Plummer) _ ___ _ x _ ______

Oolina n. sp _ x ______

Bulimina pueudocacuminatu Olsson ___ ______ x x x

Cibicides sp. 1 _ _ __ _ x x x x

Ellipsonodottaria plummerae Cushman? __ ______ x x x- x

Pulniphonina prima (Plummer) _ _ x x x x

Tappanina xelmenniy (Cushman) x x x x

Parrella convexa Olsson ______ ___________ x x ______

Globulina lacrima Reuss ___ _ x x

Bolivinoideg compressa Olsson __ x ______

Pseudouvigerina cf. seligi (Cushman) __ _ _ x ______

Cibicidett cf. harperi Sandidge ___ x x x

Gyroidina girardana Reuss x x x

Buliminella fusiforma Jennings _ -__ _ _ _ x ______

Loxostoma plaitum (Carsey) _ x x

Pxeudouvigerina seligi (Cushman) x x

Bolivina cretosa Cushman ____ _ ___ _ x

Bulimina referata Jennings? _ x

Bulimina reussi Morrow ____ _______ _ X

tO-yroidina, depressa (Alth) _ x

Hoeglundina supracretacea (ten Dam) ___ ______ x

Planularia difisona (Plummer) _______________ ___ _ _ __ x

Taginulina navarroana Cushman x
H26 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

boundary by geophysical and lithologic criteria. The samples were 

taken from depths of 370, 380, 390, and 400 feet. The samples 

were washed on a 230-mesh sieve, dried, and floated on carbon 

tetrachloride. Only the part of the sample that floated was 

examined for Foraminifera. The species identified are shown in 

table 2. Most of the identifications were checked against type 

or comparative material in the U.S. National Museum collections.

A distinct change in the planktonic foraminiferal faunas between the samples from 380 and 390 feet is obvious. The samples 

at 370 and 380 feet contain a number of planktonic species indicative of a Paleocene age. The presence of Globigerinoides 

daubjergensis (Bronnimann) in the samples from 370 and 380 

feet and the presence of Globorotalia compressa (Plummer) in 

the sample from 370 feet indicate that both samples are in the 

lower Paleocene (Danian) compressa-daubjergensis zone (Loeblich and Tappan, 1957, p. 176, fig. 28). Of the planktonic species 

identified from these two samples, only Globorotalia cf. inaequispira Subbotina, represented by one specimen, and Globorotalia 

convexa Subbotina, also represented by one specimen, occur 

higher than the compressa-daubjergensis zone, according to Loeblich and Tappan (1957). The presence of these two species in 

these samples may be due to minor contamination.

The presence of one specimen of Globorotalia reissi Loeblich 

and Tappan in the sample from 390 feet and one partial specimen 

of ?Globorotalia strabocella Loeblich and Tappan and five specimens of Chiloguembelina morsei (Kline) in the sample from 

400 feet may be due to similar contamination. Aside from the 

presence of these three species, the samples from 390 feet and 

400 feet contain a planktonic fauna characteristic of Late Cretaceous age, including abundant specimens of Heterohelix globulosa (Ehrenberg), Rugoglobigerina rugosa (Plummer), and 

Globigerinelloides messinae (Bronnimann) (table 2). The benthonic Foraminifera recovered from these samples also support 

the placement of the samples from 370 and 380 feet in the 

Paleocene and those from 390 and 400 feet in the Cretaceous.

In the other wells examined but not described here, the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is surprisingly similar, at least lithologically. The Hornerstown Sand is the most uniform. In the 

Navesink Formation, the percentage of clay matrix increases 

downdip.
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H27

EVIDENCE AGAINST A GRADATIONAL BOUNDARY

Olsson, one of the main proponents of a conformable and 

transitional Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, introduced a new formation, the New Egypt, which would partly bridge the boundary 

(Olsson, 1960, p. 1-4; 1963, p. 646). In 1960, he showed this 

new unit to lie between, or to be equivalent to, the Tinton Member of the Red Bank Sand and the Hornerstown Sand, but in 

1963, he showed it to be equivalent to the Navesink Formation, 

Red Bank Sand (two members), Tinton Sand, and Hornerstown 

Sand. Although he described this new unit as primarily a downdip facies, he also described it in outcrop. The correlations are 

based almost entirely on faunal content of well cuttings. At all 

places in outcrop or in the shallow subsurface of the areas mapped 

by Owens and Minard (fig. 3), there is no change in sequence 

in the part of the stratigraphic section (as established by Weller 

and Knapp in 1907) that is pertinent to this discussion. The 

sequence of Mount Laurel, Navesink, Red Bank, Tinton, and 

Hornerstown is everywhere complete. Only toward the southwest 

are units missing (figs. 4, 5). The New Egypt Formation of 

Olsson is equivalent only to the lower member of the Red Bank 

of Minard and Owens (1962). This lower member is overlain 

conformably by the upper quartz sand of the Red Bank, or overlain uncomformably by the glauconite sand of the Hornerstown 

where the upper quartz sand is absent. Olsson (1963, p. 658) 

pointed out that if an angular unconformity is present at the 

Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, the Hornerstown should rest in 

the north on the Tinton and farther southwest should rest on 

the quartz sand of the Red Bank for a considerable area. He 

stated that "A stratigraphic relation such as this is not present 

at the surface; in fact, wherever the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary 

is exposed, glauconite units lie above and below the boundary." 

However, as attested by Dorf and Fox (1957, p. 10, 11) and by 

Olsson (1963, p. 661), the Hornerstown does rest on the Tinton to 

the north; as stated earlier in this report, the Hornerstown also 

lies on the upper quartz sand of the Red Bank for a considerable 

area in the northern and west-central parts of the Roosevelt 

quadrangle and in the extreme northern part of the New Egypt 

quadrangle.

Olsson (1963, p. 659) concluded that "One of the great enigmas 

of the geologic column is the marked faunal change that takes 

place at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. This is especially 

true of the planktonic Foraminifera; and so far the present
H28 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

status of information indicates a complete change in genera and 

species." Olsson attempted to explain this faunal change as the 

result of a possible change in the chemistry of the sea, which 

disrupted a food chain on which the existence of many organisms depended. He also indicated (1963, p. 658) that because 

the basal Hornerstown contains Cretaceous fossils, accumulation of the greensand of the Hornerstown may have begun during 

Cretaceous time. The implication is that continuous deposition 

of glauconite took place across the boundary. The basal Hornerstown does contain Cretaceous fossils, but they are phosphatized, 

sideritized, and reworked, as, for example, the Cucullaea and 

gastropods at Contact Creek (table 1). Although in 1963 Olsson 

(p. 660) only listed fossils from his New Egypt Formation on 

Contact Creek, he previously (Fox and Olsson, 1955, p. 736) 

mentioned reworked fossils and rock fragments in the basal 

Hornerstown; immediately above these fossils and rock fragments 

were large slabs of sideritic sandstone. The presence of phosphate 

and siderite along the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in many 

places suggests an unconformity. Cretaceous fossils reworked 

into the base of the Tertiary are common elsewhere in the Coastal 

Plain (Cooke and Stephenson, 1928, p. 144; Sohl, 1960, p. 38-42; 

Smith, 1962, p. 164). Possibly Olsson (1963, p. 659) suggested 

continuous deposition because the boundary lies between two 

glauconite-rich units in much of the Coastal Plain in New Jersey 

and because it is difficult to make a lithological distinction between 

the units. (In the northeastern part of the Coastal Plain, the 

boundary lies between the Hornerstown and Tinton; toward the 

southwest, it lies between the Hornerstown and basal Red Bank; 

and farther southwest, it lies between the Hornerstown and 

the Navesink.) Sometimes there is also difficulty in distinguishing 

between quartz sand units at or near the boundary. Near Red 

Valley in the southwest part of the Roosevelt quadrangle, Fox 

and Olsson (1960, p. 9) placed the New Egypt Formation above 

the Red Bank Sand. As the authors of this report interpret the 

section at this locality, Olsson's New Egypt Formation is the 

lower member of the Red Bank (a clayey glauconite sand) which 

lies on the Navesink (also a clayey glauconite sand). Fox and 

Olsson undoubtedly included the lithologically similar Navesink in 

the New Egypt, because the quartz sand, which they call Red 

Bank (underlying Olsson's New Egypt Formation and including 

the Navesink), is actually the Mount Laurel (fig. 10). Olsson 

(1958) made this mistake previously in stating that the upper
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H29

RED VALLEY AREA

Minard (1964)

Fox and 

Olsson (1960)

New Egypt Formation 

Red Bank Sand

Upper part of Red Bank Sand

Transitional unit of Red Bank 

(Cucullaea, Bacu/ifes, gastropods)

Lower micaceous glauconite unit of the 

Red Bank Sand

Navesink Formation 

(GryphaeosJ

(Fxogyra, Be/emm'tes^ 

Mount Laurel Sand

SMITHVILLE AREA 

Minard, Owens, and Nichols (1964)

Red Bank Sand

^~^

; &$&:

 ::&.:/&;.

 ' '$ ':' ' :.&:'-

Navesink Formation

(Exogyro, Belemnites)

(Ostrea)

Wenonah Formation

FIGURE 10. Stratigraphic sections from Olsson (1958) and Fox and Olsson 

(1960) compared with those of Minard (1964) and Minard, Owens, and 

Nichols (1964) from the same areas. Red Valley is in the southwest part 

of Roosevelt quadrangle; Smithville is in the northeast part of the Mount 

Holly quadrangle (fig. 3). See figure 5 for explanation of lithologic 

symbols.

quartz sand of the Red Bank extended to Smithville (northeast 

corner Mount Holly quadrangle). There he mistook the Navesink 

for his New Egypt and assumed that the underlying Mount 

Laurel (including the Wenonah) was the Red Bank Sand (fig. 

10). This same misidentification and assignment to the incorrect 

stratigraphic position was made nearly a century ago by G. H. 

Cook, and again by W. B. Clark in the 1890's, at Mount Holly, 

a short distance to the west (Knapp, in Weller, 1907, p. 17-20). 

Miller (1956, p. 723-728) favored both an unconformity and 

a gradational contact at the boundary. He partly explained his 

view by suggesting that an unconformity would be expected 

nearer shore and that a conformable relationship would be expected farther out. This is reasonable, but he introduced other
H30 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

data which tend to confuse the picture. He stated that his middle 

greensand unit is probably a southwestward extension of the 

Red Bank. He extended it as far as Sewell, but there it demonstrably is the Navesink, whereas to the northeast at New Egypt 

the middle greensand undoubtedly is the basal Red Bank glauconite sand (Olsson's New Egypt). Miller partly justified his 

extension of the Red Bank to Sewell on the basis that Groot and 

others (1954, p. 28) recognized the Red Bank in Delaware, Groot's 

Red Bank in Delaware, however, is actually the Mount Laurel 

(Carter, 1937, p. 245); once again, Mount Laurel was misidentified as the Red Bank. Miller (1956, p. 723) stated that his 

middle greensand is "almost indistinguishable lithologically" from 

the overlying Hornerstown and that this suggests more of an 

affinity with the Hornerstown than with the Navesink, which he 

described as a glauconitic quartz sand. He showed (p. 727, fig. 2) 

the Navesink interfingering with the Red Bank at the Atlantic 

highlands.

Both the "units" in his photograph are basically quartz sands; 

one is dark, one is light. These are not two different units; they 

merely reflect a difference in weathering in the same basal fine 

clayey quartz sand of the Red Bank. Olsson (1958, p. 16) also 

disagreed with Miller's interpretation and correctly recognized 

this fact. The Navesink lies some feet below and does not interfinger with the Red Bank in such a manner. Other than coarse 

quartz sand and granules in the basal few feet, the sand fraction 

of the Navesink is nearly pure glauconite.

SUMMARY

The Hornerstown Sand of Paleocene age (the basal Tertiary 

formation on the Coastal Plain of New Jersey) successively overlaps older formations toward the southwest where erosion has 

progressively removed more of the upper part of the Cretaceous 

section. In a distance of 120 miles along the strike, the Hornerstown lies on four different formations: the Tinton Sand, the Red 

Bank Sand, the Navesink Formation, and the Mount Laurel Sand. 

Its base is stratigraphically about 170 feet lower at Odessa, Del., 

and Gregg Neck, Md., than in the Sandy Hook quadrangle, New 

Jersey. The upper part of the underlying Cretaceous units 

generally is weathered to some degree. Siderite-cemented sandstone is present in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary interval 

(table 1), and reworked phosphatized Cretaceous fossils and 

fragments of Cretaceous rocks occur in the basal few feet of
CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, N.J., DEL., MD. H31

the overlapping Hornerstown Sand. The Hornerstown is remarkably uniform in thickness and lithology along its outcrop 

for at least 120 miles, although its basal part locally may reflect 

the lithology of the underlying unit.

Detailed field mapping led the authors first to recognize the 

unconformity, then to extend it along the strike, and to predict 

and confirm stratigraphic relations in adjacent areas. Recognition of the unconformity in New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern 

Maryland (1) helps explain the considerable time gap at the 

boundary indicated by the faunas, (2) facilitates determination of stratigraphic position by demonstrating what units have 

been eroded, and (3) aids correlation between formations in 

New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Maryland. The unconformity 

at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is also compatible with 

the unconformity recognized in most of the Gulf Coastal Plain, 

largely on the same criteria as those we have found in New 

Jersey.

The unconformity in New Jersey may have been overlooked 

originally because earlier workers included the three basal Tertiary formations in the Cretaceous and assumed that the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary lay at the conspicious angular unconformity at the base of Kirkwood Formation of Miocene age. 

The unweathered basal Kirkwood lies directly on the unweathered 

upper part of the Manasquan, of Eocene age. The relation appears conformable when reviewed in single outcrop, despite 

the fact that a time gap exists. When the contact is accurately 

mapped over a broad area, the unconformity becomes apparent, 

because the Kirkwood overlaps three increasingly older formations beneath the Manasquan. This is also the procedure used to 

demonstrate the unconformable relation between the Hornerstown and the underlying Cretaceous formations. The lack of 

weathered material beneath the Hornerstown in many outcrops 

and the lack of a distinct break in these outcrops are thought 

by some workers to indicate a transitional boundary. It can also 

be explained, however, as the result of removal and reworking 

of any weathered material that was present during the transgression of the sea in which the Hornerstown was deposited.

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H32 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

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U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1969 O - 326 - 938