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

Geologic units in Hudson county, New Jersey

Passaic Formation Mudstone facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 27 % 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

Lockatong Formation Arkosic Sandstone facies (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 8 % 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

Passaic Formation Sandstone and Siltstone facies (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 5 % 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

Serpentinite (Cambrian and Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Serpentinite - Light-yellowish-green to dark-green, fine-grained, massive serpentinite containing locally abundant magnetite where fresh. Contains a variety of serpentine minerals and alteration products where sheared or weathered. Exposed only along the Hudson waterfront in Hoboken but present elsewhere in boring logs.

Lithology: serpentinite

Diabase (Jurassic) at surface, covers 22 % 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

Stockton Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 16 % 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

Passaic Formation gray bed (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 0.4 % 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

Passaic Formation (Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Passaic Formation - Predominantly red beds consisting of argillaceous siltstone; silty mudstone; argillaceous, very fine grained sandstone; and shale; mostly reddish-brown to brownish-purple, and grayish-red. Red beds occur typically in 3- to 7-m (10- to 23-ft-)-thick, cyclic playa-lake-mudflat sequences and fining-upward fluvial sequences. Lamination is commonly indistinct due to burrowing, desiccation, and paleosol formation. Where layering is preserved, most bedforms are wavy parallel lamination and trough and climbing-ripple cross lamination. Calcite- or dolomite-filled vugs and flattened cavities, mostly 0.5 to 0.2 mm (0.02-0.08 in) across, occur mostly in the lower half. Sand-filled burrows, 2 to 5 mm (0.08-0.2 in) in diameter, are prevalent in the upper two-thirds of the unit. Desiccation cracks, intraformational breccias, and curled silt laminae are abundant in the lower half. Lake cycles, mostly 2 to 5 m (7-16 ft) thick, have a basal, greenish-gray, argillaceous siltstone; a medial, dark-gray to black, pyritic, carbonaceous, fossiliferous, and, in places, calcareous lake-bottom fissile mudstone or siltstone; and an upper thick-bedded, gray to reddish and purplish-gray argillaceous siltstone with desiccation cracks, intraformational breccias, burrows, and mineralized vugs. Thickness of the formation between Sourland Mountain and Sand Brook syncline is about 3,500 m (11,483 ft).

Lithology: siltstone; sandstone; shale

Lockatong Formation (Upper Triassic) at surface, covers 9 % 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

Manhattan Schist (Lower Cambrian and (or) Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Manhattan Schist (Hall, in press) - Medium-dark gray, medium- to coarse-grained schist and gneiss composed of biotite, muscovite, quartz, and plagioclase, and local accessory minerals sillimanite, kyanite, tourmaline, and garnet. Contains some interlayered amphibolite. Unit is not exposed in the map area, but is present in boring logs.

Lithology: schist; gneiss; amphibolite