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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > New Jersey Geology

Geologic units in Bergen county, New Jersey

Passaic Formation Mudstone facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Passaic Formation Mudstone facies - Sandy mudstone (JTrpms) is reddish-brown to brownish-red, massive, silty to sandy mudstone and siltstone, which are bioturbated, ripple cross-laminated and interbedded with lenticular sandstone. To southwest where similar lithologic units also occur, they have not been mapped separately, but have been included in undivided unit JTrp.

Lithology: fine-grained mixed clastic; siltstone; sandstone

Palisade Diabase (Early Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Palisade Diabase

Lithology: diabase

Orange Mountain Basalt (Lower Jurassic) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Orange Mountain Basalt - Basalt, fine-grained to aphanitic, dark-greenish-gray, composed mostly of calcic plagioclase and augite; crystals smaller than 1 mm (0.04 in). Unit consists of three major tholeiitic lava-flow sequences, each about 80 m (262 ft) thick. Lowest flow is generally massive with widely spaced curvilinear joints; middle flow is massive or has columnar joints; lower part of uppermost flow has pillow structures and upper part has pahoehoe flow structures. Thickness in map area is about 160 m (525 ft).

Lithology: basalt

Biotite-quartz-oligoclase gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Biotite-quartz-oligoclase gneiss - White- to light-gray-weathering, light- to medium-gray or greenish-gray, fine- to coarse-grained, massive to moderately well layered, foliated gneiss composed of oligoclase or andesine, quartz, biotite, and, locally, garnet. Commonly interlayered with amphibolite.

Lithology: gneiss; amphibolite

Lockatong Formation Arkosic Sandstone facies (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Lockatong Formation Arkosic Sandstone facies - Cycles in northern Newark basin are thinner and have arkosic sandstone in lower and upper parts. Upper part of formation in northern basin composed mostly of light-gray to light-pinkish-gray or light-brown, coarse- to fine-grained, thick- to massive-bedded arkosic sandstone (Trla). Thermally metamorphosed into hornfels where intruded by diabase (Jd).

Lithology: arkose; hornfels

Quartz-Oligoclase Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Quartz-Oligoclase Gneiss - White-weathering, light-greenish-gray, medium- to coarse-grained, moderately layered to indistinctly foliated gneiss and lesser amounts of granofels composed of quartz, oligoclase or andesine, and, locally, biotite, hornblende and (or) clinopyroxene. Contains thin amphibolite layers.

Lithology: gneiss; granofels; amphibolite

Microcline Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Microcline Gneiss - Light-gray- to pinkish-white-weathering, tan to pinkish-white, fine- to medium-grained, well-layered gneiss composed principally of quartz, microcline, and lesser amounts of oligoclase. Common accessory minerals include biotite, garnet, magnetite, and, locally, sillimanite.

Lithology: paragneiss

Potassic Feldspar Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Potassic Feldspar Gneiss - Light-gray- to pinkish-buff-weathering, pinkish-white to light-pinkish-gray, fine- to medium-grained, moderately foliated gneiss and lesser amounts of granofels composed of quartz, microcline, microcline microperthite and local accessory amounts of biotite, garnet, sillimanite, and opaque minerals.

Lithology: paragneiss; granofels

Brunswick Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Brunswick Formation - mudstone, sandstone and arkose.

Lithology: mudstone; sandstone; arkose

Passaic Formation Sandstone and Siltstone facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 32 % of this area

Passaic Formation Sandstone and Siltstone facies - Sandstone (JTrps) is interbedded grayish-red to brownish-red, medium- to fine-grained, medium- to thick-bedded sandstone and brownish-to-purplish-red coarse-grained siltstone; unit is planar to ripple cross-laminated, fissile, locally calcareous, containing desiccation cracks and root casts. Upward-fining cycles are 1.8 to 4.6 m (6-15 ft) thick. Sandstone beds are coarser and thicker near conglomerate units (JTrpcq, JTrpcl). Maximum thickness about 1,100 m (3,610 ft).

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone

Diabase (Jurassic) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Diabase - Concordant to discordant, predominantly sheet-like intrusions of medium- to fine-grained diabase and dikes of fine-grained diabase; dark-greenish-gray to black; subophitic texture. Dense, hard, sparsely fractured rock composed mostly of plagioclase (An50-70), clinopyroxene (mostly augite), and magnetite-ilmenite. Orthopyroxene (En75-80) is locally abundant in the lower part of the sheets. Accessory minerals include apatite, quartz, alkali feldspar, hornblende, sphene, zircon, and rare olivine. Diabase in the map area was derived primarily from high-titanium, quartz-tholeiite magma. Sedimentary rocks within about 300 m (984 ft) above and 200 m (656 ft) below major diabase sheets are thermally metamorphosed. Red mudstone is typically altered to indurated, bluish-gray hornfels with clots or crystals of tourmaline or cordierite. Gray argillitic siltstone is typically altered to brittle, black, very fine grained hornfels. Sills are 365 to 400 m (1,197-1,312 ft) thick. Dikes range in thickness from 3 to 10 m (10-33 ft) and are many kilometers long.

Lithology: diabase

Preakness Basalt (Lower Jurassic) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Preakness Basalt - Basalt, coarse-crystalline, very dark greenish gray to black. Texture is subophitic; plagioclase and augite crystals are nearly equal in size; no fine-grained groundmass. Plagioclase (An55-60) is subhedral, mostly 0.2 to 0.3 mm (0.008-0.012 in) long, with a few crystals up to 2 mm (0.08 in) long. Clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene grains are equant, mostly anhedral, 0.3 mm (0.012 in) average diameter. Iron-titanium oxides are mostly interstitial, 0.2 to 0.5 mm (0.008-0.02 in) in diameter. Thickness of unit is unknown in Sand Brook syncline.

Lithology: basalt

Biotite-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Biotite-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss - Gray-weathering, locally rusty, gray to tan or greenish-gray, fine- to medium-coarse-grained, moderately layered and foliated gneiss that is variable in texture and composition. Composed of oligoclase, microcline microperthite, quartz, and biotite. Locally contains garnet, graphite, sillimanite, and opaque minerals.

Lithology: paragneiss

Hornblende granite and granite gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Hornblende granite and granite gneiss - with subordinate leucogranite.

Lithology: granite; granitic gneiss

Stockton Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Stockton Formation - Predominantly medium- to coarse-grained, light-gray, light-grayish-brown, or yellowish- to pinkish-gray arkosic sandstone and medium- to fine-grained, violet-gray to reddish-brown arkosic sandstone; with lesser, reddish to purplish-brown, silty mudstone, argillaceous siltstone, and shale. Some coarse-grained sandstone in lower part contains thick beds of conglomerate (Trsc) which have been mapped in the vicinity of Stockton. Sandstone, deposited in high-gradient stream channels, is mostly planar bedded with scoured bases containing pebble lags and mudstone rip-up clasts. Upper part of channel beds are burrowed. Large-scale trough crossbeds occur in some very coarse grained sandstone beds; smaller scale trough and climbing-ripple cross lamination occur in the upper part of channel sequences and in finer grained sandstone beds. Typical floodplain mudstones are irregularly thin bedded and extensively burrowed. Floodplain beds are thicker and more numerous in the central Newark basin, near the Delaware River. Thickness of the unit (including Trsc) near Stockton is about 1,240 m (4,068 ft).

Lithology: arkose; fine-grained mixed clastic; siltstone; shale

Hornblende Granite (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Hornblende Granite - Pinkish-gray- to medium-buff-weathering, pinkish-white or light-pinkish-gray, medium- to coarse-grained, gneissoid to indistinctly foliated granite and sparse granite gneiss composed principally of microcline microperthite, quartz, oligoclase, and hornblende. Some phases are quartz syenite or quartz monzonite. Includes small bodies of pegmatite and amphibolite not shown on map. U-Pb age approximately 1,090 Ma (Drake and others, 1991b).

Lithology: granite; paragneiss; quartz syenite; quartz monzonite; pegmatite; amphibolite

Hornblende-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 0.8 % of this area

Hornblende-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss - Pinkish-gray- to buff-weathering, light- pinkish-white to pinkish-gray, fine- to medium-grained, massive to moderately well layered gneiss containing microcline, quartz, oligoclase, hornblende, and magnetite. Locally contains garnet and biotite.

Lithology: paragneiss

Garnet-biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Garnet-biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss - quartzite, quartz-feldspar gneiss, calcsilicate rock.

Lithology: gneiss; quartzite; calc-silicate rock

Bushkill Member (Middle Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Bushkill Member (Drake and Epstein, 1967) - Interbedded medium- to dark gray, thinly laminated to thick-bedded shale and slate and less abundant medium-gray to brownish-gray, laminated to thin-bedded siltstone. To the southwest, fine-grained, thin dolomite lenses occur near base. Complete turbidite sequences (Bouma, 1962) occur locally, but basal cutout sequences (Tbcde, Tcde or Tde) dominate. Conformable lower contact is placed at top of highest shaly limestone; elsewhere, lower contact is commonly strain slipped. Correlates with graptolite Climacograptus bicornis to Corynoides americanus zones of Riva (1969, 1974) (Parris and Cruikshank, 1992). Thickness ranges from 1,250 m (4,100 ft) in Delaware River Valley to 457 m (1,500 ft) at New York State line.

Lithology: slate; shale; siltstone; dolostone (dolomite)

Passaic Formation Quatzite-clast Conglomerate facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 17 % of this area

Passaic Formation Quartzite-clast Conglomerate facies - Quartzite conglomerate unit (JTrpcq) is reddish-brown pebble conglomerate, pebbly sandstone, and sandstone, in upward-fining sequences 1 to 2 m (3-6 ft) thick. Clasts are subangular to subrounded, quartz and quartzite in sandstone matrix. Sandstone is medium to coarse grained, feldspathic (up to 20 percent feldspar), and locally contains pebble and cobble layers. Conglomerate thickness exceeds 850 m (2,790 ft).

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone

Pyroxene Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Pyroxene Gneiss - White- to tan-weathering, greenish-gray, fine- to medium-grained, well-layered gneiss containing oligoclase, clinopyroxene, variable amounts of quartz, and trace amounts of opaque minerals and titanite. Some phases contain scapolite and calcite. Commonly interlayered with pyroxene amphibolite or marble.

Lithology: paragneiss; amphibolite; marble

Feltville Formation Conglomerate and Sandstone facies (Lower Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Feltville Formation Conglomerate and Sandstone facies - Near Oakland, subrounded pebbles to cobbles of quartzite and quartz in a red siltstone and sandstone matrix (Jfc) interfinger with sandstone and siltstone of the Feltville Formation.

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone; siltstone

Amphibolite (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Amphibolite - Gray- to grayish-black, medium-grained amphibolite composed of hornblende and andesine. Some phases contain biotite and (or) clinopyroxene. Ubiquitous and associated with almost all other Middle Proterozoic units. Some amphibolite is clearly metavolcanic in origin, some is metasedimentary, and some appears to be metagabbro.

Lithology: amphibolite

Passaic Formation gray bed (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Passaic Formation gray bed - Upper Triassic gray lake deposits (Trpg) consist of gray to black silty mudstone, gray and greenish- to purplish-gray argillaceous siltstone, black shale, and medium- to dark-gray, argillaceous, fine-grained sandstone and are abundant in the lower half of the Passaic Formation. Gray lakebeds occur in groups of two to five cycles although they also occur as single cycles in some parts of the formation. Several lakebed sequences consisting of one or two thick groups of drab-colored beds as much as 30 m (98 ft) thick or more can be traced over tens of kilometers. Many gray-bed sequences are locally correlated within fault blocks; some can be correlated across major faults or intrusive rock units. Thickness of the (entire Passaic) formation between Sourland Mountain and Sand Brook syncline is about 3,500 m (11,483 ft).

Lithology: fine-grained mixed clastic; siltstone; black shale; sandstone

Lockatong Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Lockatong Formation - Predominantly cyclic lacustrine sequences of silty, dolomitic or analcime-bearing argillite; laminated mudstone; silty to calcareous, argillaceous very fine grained sandstone and pyritic siltstone; and minor silty limestone, mostly light- to dark-gray, greenishgray, and black. Grayish-red, grayish-purple, and dark-brownish-red sequences (Trlr) occur in some places, especially in upper half. Two types of cycles are recognized: freshwater-lake (detrital) and alkaline-lake (chemical) cycles. Freshwater-lake cycles average 5.2 m (17 ft) thick. They consist of basal, transgressive, fluvial to lake-margin deposits that are argillaceous, very fine grained sandstone to coarse siltstone with indistinct lamination, planar or cross lamination, or are disrupted by convolute bedding, desiccation cracks, root casts, soil-ped casts, and tubes. Medial lake-bottom deposits are laminated siltstones, silty mudstones, or silty limestones that are dark gray to black with calcite laminae and grains and lenses, or streaks of pyrite; fossils are common, including fish scales and articulated fish, conchostracans, plants, spores, and pollen. Upper regressive lake margin, playa lake, and mudflat deposits are light- to dark-gray silty mudstone to argillitic siltstone or very fine grained sandstone, mostly thick bedded to massive, with desiccation cracks, intraformational breccias, faint wavy laminations, burrows, euhedral pyrite grains, and dolomite or calcite specks. Alkaline-lake cycles are similar to freshwater-lake cycles, but are thinner, averaging 3 m (10 ft), have fewer fossils (mainly conchostracans), and commonly have red beds, extensive desiccation features, and abundant analcime and dolomite specks in the upper parts of cycles. Thickness near Byram is about 1,070 m (3,510 ft). The formation thins to the southeast and northeast; thickness near Princeton is less than 700 m (2,297 ft).

Lithology: argillite; mudstone; sandstone; siltstone; limestone

Brunswick Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Brunswick Formation - sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; mudstone

Towaco Formation (Lower Jurassic) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Towaco Formation (Olsen, 1980) - Reddish-brown to brownish-purple, fine- to medium-grained micaceous sandstone, siltstone, and silty mudstone in upward-fining sequences 1 to 3 m (3-10 ft) thick. Distributed throughout formation are eight or more sequences of gray to greenish- or brownish-gray, fine-grained sandstone, siltstone and calcareous siltstone and black, microlaminated calcareous siltstone and mudstone containing diagnostic pollen, fish and dinosaur tracks. Sandstone is commonly trough cross laminated; siltstone is commonly planar laminated or bioturbated, but can be indistinctly laminated to massive. Thermally metamorphosed into hornfels where in contact with Hook Mountain Basalt. Conglomerate and conglomeratic sandstone with subrounded quartzite and quartz clasts in matrix of light-red sand to brownish-red silt (Jtc) interfingers with rocks of the Towaco Formation north and west of New Vernon. Maximum thickness is about 380 m (1,250 ft).

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; fine-grained mixed clastic; conglomerate

Clinopyroxene-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clinopyroxene-Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss - Pinkish-gray- or pinkish-buff-weathering, white to pale-pinkish-white or light-gray, fine- to medium-grained, massive to moderately well-layered gneiss composed of microcline, quartz, oligoclase, clinopyroxene, and trace amounts of epidote, biotite, titanite, and opaque minerals. Commonly interlayered with amphibolite or pyroxene amphibolite.

Lithology: paragneiss; amphibolite

Feltville Formation (Lower Jurassic) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Feltville Formation - Mostly fine-grained, feldspathic sandstone, coarse siltstone, and silty mudstone, brownish-red to light-grayish-red. Fine-grained sandstone is moderately well sorted, cross laminated, and contains 15 percent or more feldspar; interbedded with mudstone, indistinctly laminated, bioturbated, and calcareous in places. A thin bed (0-2 m (0-7 ft) thick) of black, microlaminated carbonaceous limestone and gray calcareous mudstone occurs near the base and contains fish and plant fossils, and thermally mature hydrocarbons. Thickness of unit in the Sand Brook syncline is about 155 m (509 ft).

Lithology: siltstone; sandstone; fine-grained mixed clastic; mudstone; limestone

Passaic Formation Conglomerate and Sandstone facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 17 % of this area

Passaic Formation Conglomerate and Sandstone facies - Conglomeratic sandstone (JTrpsc) is brownish-red pebble conglomerate, medium- to coarse-grained, feldspathic sandstone and micaceous siltstone; unit is planar to low-angle trough cross laminated, burrowed, and contains local pebble layers. Unit forms upward-fining sequences 0.5 to 2.5 m (1.6-8 ft) thick. Conglomeratic sandstone thickness exceeds 800 m (2,625 ft).

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone; siltstone

Brunswick Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Brunswick Formation - sandstone and conglomerate.

Lithology: sandstone; conglomerate

Pyroxene-hornblende-quartz-plagioclase gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Pyroxene-hornblende-quartz-plagioclase gneiss.

Lithology: mafic gneiss

Interlayered amphibolite and granitic, charnockitic, mangeritic, or syenitic gneiss (Middle Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Interlayered amphibolite and granitic, charnockitic, mangeritic, or syenitic gneiss.

Lithology: amphibolite; gneiss

Hammer Creek Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Hammer Creek Formation - conglomerate.

Lithology: conglomerate