Potomac Formation

Potomac Formation - Predominantly clay to clay-silt, thinly laminated to thick-bedded, mottled red, white, and orange-brown, less commonly dark-gray and woody; interbedded with thin beds and lenses of very fine to medium-grained, massive, white to orange-brown, micaceous sand. Lithologies are typical of the shallow subsurface. Down dip, these lithologies interfinger with thin to thick beds of marine clay-silt, commonly glauconitic and locally shelly. Marine beds are most prevalent in the southernmost part of the southern sheet. Unit 3 was cored in its entirety at Freehold where it is approximately 75 m (246 ft) thick. In the core, the basal 6 m (20 ft) consists of red or mottled red and white clay interbedded with gravel and fine- to coarse-grained sand. The clay is pervaded by reddish-brown siderite. Most of the overlying beds consist of interbedded dark-colored clay, locally weathered to pale yellow or white, and fine- to medium-grained, light-colored sand. Layers that contain fine black carbonaceous material to large lignitized wood pieces are common in unit 3 in this core. At Toms River, the unit is about 60 m (197 ft) thick and consists of dark- to pale-gray clay, locally weathering to white or yellowish gray, and light-colored, micaceous sand. In general, the darker colored clay is more common in the upper part of the section. Locally, the sand has very small amounts of glauconite which may indicate some local marine influence during sedimentation. The age of unit 3 was determined from pollen in the nonmarine deposits and foraminifera in the marine sections. Typical forms found in Zone III in New Jersey are Ajatipollis sp. A, Tricolpites nemejci, T. vulgaris, Tricolporoidites bohemicus, Tricolporoidites sp. A, T. sp. B, and Tricolporopollenites sp. B (Doyle and Robbins, 1977). In the marine facies, Petters (1976) reports a planktic foraminiferal suite containing Praeglobotruncana delrioensis and Rotalipora greenhornensis. Both the pollen and foraminiferal assemblages suggest an early Cenomanian age.