USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > Maryland Geology

Geologic units in Harford county, Maryland

Lowland Deposits (Quaternary) at surface, covers 14 % of this area

Lowland Deposits - Gravel, sand, silt, and clay. Medium- to coarse-grained sand and gravel; cobbles and boulders near base; commonly contains reworked Eocene glauconite; varicolored silts and clays; brown to dark gray lignitic silty clay; contains estuarine to marine fauna in some areas (includes in part Pamlico, Talbot, Wicomico and Sunderland Formations of earlier reports); thickness 0 to 150 feet.

Lithology: gravel; sand; silt; clay or mud

Cockeysville Marble (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Cockeysville Marble - Metadolomite, calc-schist, and calcite marble are predominant; calc-gneiss and calc-silicate marble widespread but minor; thickness about 750 feet.

Lithology: marble; calc-silicate schist; gneiss

Muscovite Quartz Monzonite Gneiss (Paleozoic) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Muscovite Quartz Monzonite Gneiss - Well foliated to nearly massive quartz monzonite gneiss, generally medium-grained and even textured but locally porphyritic and pegmatitic.

Lithology: granitic gneiss

Peters Creek Schist (Probably lower Paleozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Peters Creek Schist - Chlorite-sericite schist containing interbedded quartzite.

Lithology: schist; quartzite

Octoraro Formation (Probably lower Paleozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Octoraro Formation - Includes albite-chlorite schist, phyllite, some hornblende gneiss, and granitized members.

Lithology: schist; phyllite; gneiss; granitoid

Setters Formation (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Setters Formation - Upper member: Feldspathic mica schist and mica gneiss; total thickness 200 to 500 feet. Middle member: Impure quartzite interstratified with thin beds of mica schist; total thickness 200 to 500 feet. And Lower member: Medium-grained, feldspathic mica schist; locally granitized; total thickness 200 to 500 feet.

Lithology: mica schist; gneiss; quartzite

Baltimore Gneiss (Precambrian) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Baltimore Gneiss - Biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss and biotite-hornblende gneiss; amphibolite widespread but subordinate; texturally varied; granitic gneiss, veined gneiss, augen gneiss, banded gneiss, and migmatite, in places complexly intermingled; age 1,1000 m.y. * by radiogenic dating. Layered paragneiss in Baltimore City southeast of Relay Quartz Diorite.

Lithology: granitic gneiss; amphibolite; paragneiss

Port Deposit Gneiss (Paleozoic) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Port Deposit Gneiss - Moderately to strongly deformed intrusive complex composed of gneissic biotite quartz diorite, hornblende-biotite quartz diorite, and biotite granodiorite; all rocks foliated and some strongly sheared; age 550 +/- 50 m.y. * by radiogenic dating.

Lithology: granitic gneiss; quartz diorite; granodiorite

Ultramafic and Gabbroic Rocks (Early Paleozoic (?)) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Ultramafic and Gabbroic Rocks - Mixed metagabbro, serpentinite, metapyroxenite, and actinolite-, chlorite-, and epidote-bearing schists.

Lithology: gabbro; serpentinite; pyroxenite; schist

Baltimore Gabbro Complex (Late Precambrian (?) - Early Paleozoic ) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Baltimore Gabbro Complex - Hypersthene gabbro with subordinate amounts of olivine gabbro, norite, anorthositic gabbro, and pyroxenite; igneous minerals and textures well preserved in some rocks, other rocks exhibit varying degrees of alteration and recrystallization with a new metamorphic mineral assemblage.

Lithology: gabbro; norite; pyroxenite

Wissahickon Formation (Undivided) (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Wissahickon Formation (Undivided) - Muscovite-chlorite-albite schist, muscovite-chlorite schist, chloritoid schist, and quartzite; intensely folded and cleaved.

Lithology: schist; quartzite

Upland Deposits (Western Shore) (Quaternary) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Upland Deposits (Western Shore) - Gravel and sand, commonly orange-brown, locally limonite-cemented; minor silt and red, white, or gray clay; (includes Brandywine, Bryn Mawr, and Sunderland Formations of earlier reports); lower gravel member and upper loam member in Southern Maryland; thickness 0 to 50 feet.

Lithology: gravel; sand; silt; clay or mud

Ultramafic Rocks (Early Paleozoic - Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Ultramafic Rocks - Chiefly serpentinite with partly to completely altered dunite, peridotite, pyroxenite, and massive to schistose soapstone; talc-carbonate rock and altered gabbro are common in some bodies.

Lithology: serpentinite; dunite; peridotite; pyroxenite; gabbro

Wissahickon Formation; Metagraywacke (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Wissahickon Formation; Metagraywacke - (Formerly mapped as Peters Creek Formation.) Rhythmically interbedded chlorite-muscovite meta-graywacke and fine-grained chlorite-muscovite schist; graded bedding locally preserved; thickness probably 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

Lithology: metasedimentary rock; schist

Cardiff Metaconglomerate (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Cardiff Metaconglomerate - Silvery-gray, well foliated, micaceous quartz-pebble metaconglomerate and quartzite; apparent maximum thickness 700 feet.

Lithology: meta-conglomerate; quartzite

Quartz Gabbro and Quartz Diorite Gneiss (Paleozoic) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Quartz Gabbro and Quartz Diorite Gneiss - Mixed rock zone of greenish-black, uralitized, quartz-bearing gabbro to dark gray, weakly gneissic, pyroxene-hornblende-biotite quartz diorite.

Lithology: gabbro; quartz diorite

Wissahickon Formation; Boulder Gneiss (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Wissahickon Formation; Boulder Gneiss - (Formerly mapped as Sykesville and Laurel Formations.) Thick-bedded to massive, pebble- and boulder-bearing, arenaceous to pelitic metamorphic rock; typically a medium-grained, garnet-oligoclase-mica-quartz gneiss; locally an intensely foliated gneiss or schist; apparent thickness 15,000 feet.

Lithology: gneiss; schist

Volcanic Complex of Cecil County (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Volcanic Complex of Cecil County - Metamorphosed andesitic and dacitic volcanic rocks (greenstone, greenschist, quartz amphibolite, and schistose felsite); amygdules and volcano-clastic textures locally preserved; thickness unknown.

Lithology: greenstone; greenschist; amphibolite; felsic metavolcanic rock

James Run Gneiss (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

James Run Gneiss - Thick-bedded, light gray biotite-quartz-plagioclase gneiss with thin interbeds of quartz amphibolite; grades downward into sharply layered, thin- to thick-bedded paragneiss composed of subequal amounts of biotite-quartz-plagioclase gneiss and quartz amphibolite; thickness unknown.

Lithology: granitic gneiss; amphibolite; paragneiss

Wissahickon Formation; Lower Pelitic Schist (Late Precambrian (?)) at surface, covers 16 % of this area

Wissahickon Formation; Lower Pelitic Schist - (Formerly mapped as oligoclase facies of Wissahickon Formation.) Medium- to coarse-grained biotite-oligoclase-muscovite-quartz schist with garnet, staurolite, and kyanite; fine- to medium-grained semipelitic schist; and fine-grained granular to weakly schistose psammitic granulite; psammitic beds increase upward; apparent thickness 5,500 feet or more.

Lithology: quartz-feldspar schist; granulite

Potomac Group, including Raritan and Patapsco Formations, Arundel Clay, and Patuxent Formation (Cretaceous) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Potomac Group - Interbedded quartzose gravels; protoquartzitic to orthoquartzitic argillaceous sands; and white, dark gray, and multicolored silts and clays; thickness 0 to 800 feet. Includes Raritan and Patapsco Formations - Gray, brown, and red variegated silts and clays; lenticular, cross-bedded, argillaceous, subrounded sands; minor gravels; thickness 0 to 400 feet; Arundel Clay - Dark gray and maroon lignitic clays; abundant siderite concretions; present only in Baltimore-Washington area; thickness 0 to 100 feet; and Patuxent Formation - White or light gray to orange-brown, moderately sorted, cross-bedded, argillaceous, angular sands and subrounded quartz gravels; silts and clays subordinate, predominantly pale gray; thickness 0 to 250 feet.

Lithology: gravel; sand; silt; clay or mud

Metagabbro and Amphibolite (Early Paleozoic (?)) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Metagabbro and Amphibolite - Weakly to strongly lineated metagabbro and epidote amphibolite.

Lithology: gabbro; amphibolite

Peach Bottom Slate (Ordovician (?)) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Peach Bottom Slate - Hard, bluish-black graphitic slate; thin beds of fine-grained black quartzite near base; apparent maximum thickness 1,000 feet.

Lithology: slate; quartzite