Smyrna times., 1954-12-30
GEOLOGICAL
. REPORT MADE
CONTINUED from Page onel

water resources and presented
testimony in the U. S. Supreme
Court relative to this problem.
Meetings have been held with re-
presentatives of the Corps of En-
gineers, U. S. Army, in order to
safeguard ground-water supplies
in the vicinity of the Chesapeake
and Delaware Canal against possi-
ble future salt water encroaclf-
ment when the widening and
deepening of this Canal takes
place and pumpage of ground
water increases with further in
dustrialization of the area. The
geologists' latest report deals with
marine formations of tia Cretac-
eous period-an era in history
from so to 120 million years ago
when much of Delaware was un-
der water and dinosaurs inhabited
the land areas. These formations
may be distinguished by geolog-
lists because of the presence of
marine fossils and glauconite, a
dull green mineral substance. The
development of Delaware's most
valuable natural resource-ground
water-has taken place to great
extent without the aid of geologic
information. However, with the
growth of population and industry
and the corresponding increase in
ground water consumption, a
sound knowledge of the geology
of the State has become impera-
tive. -eI-A-rder to properly corre-
late wal1r-bearing strata from one
locality to another, to determine
their thickness and extent, and to
predict their depth, a detailed
study is necessary. In addition to
a practical application of geology,
scentific interest demands an ex-
planation of the differences in in
depreciation between the marine
Upper Cretaceous deposits of
Maryland and those of New Jer-
Sey. Delaware, located between
these two states, should be a tran
Sition zone where the changes in
formation can be properly studied.
Therefore, this investigation was
planned to determine what mar
ine Cretaceous formations are
present in northern Delaware and
to study their stratigraphic rela-
4ionships.
Canal Offers Excellent Formation
The Chesapeake and Delaware
Canal offers an excellent and
nearly continuous outcrop, about
16 miles long, of the Cretaceous
formations present in Delaware,
and dor this reason it was select
ed as the best site for this inves-
tigation. This canal, which con-
meets Chesapeake Bay with the
Delaware River, was originally
built between the years 1924 and
1929. At first it was privately
owned, and was operated with a
system of locks. In 1922, the
United States Government took
over ownership and deepened it to
I2 feet at mean low tide and
widened it to 90 feet at the bot
tom, making the canal a sea-level
waterway. The canal was enlarg-
ed again in 1887 by deepening it
to 27 feet at mean low tide and
widening it to $50 feet at the
bolton. The Corps of Engineers,
III. S. Army, reports its present
depth to be 27 feet and its width
as 25O feet. An average OF le
ships use this canal each day. A
proposal for again deepening and
widening the Chesapeake and Del
aware Canal is under considera'
tion by the United States Govern
ment. The topography of the area
cut by the canal is essentially
fiat. The highest altitude OF ap
proximateiy so feet above sea lev
ell occurs near the Maryland-Del
aware state line. This area marks
the divide between streams flow
ing westward into Chesapeake
bay and eastward into the Della
ware River. In the vicinity of st
Georges the surface descends t
about 80 feet above sea level ant
further gently slopes to an eleva
ton of about 10 feet near tn
eastern entrance.
Work Begun in 1852
The field work for this investi