66 THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF ST. MARYS COUNTY 



it had during the previous depression. The appearance of St. Mary's 

 County at this time is roughly shown in Fig. o. The lower courses of 

 all the river valleys were once more transformed into estuaries and 

 along the eastern margin of the county the waves of Chesapeake Bay 

 cut a continuous scarp from Hermanville to Eidge similar in every 

 respect save elevation with the famous Calvert Cliffs which are now 

 being cut by the modern waves of Chesapeake Bay. At the base of this 

 scarp and around the entire margin of the county the Talbot sea was 

 depositing the youngest of the terrace systems which are now elevated 

 to form land. 



THE RECENT STAGE. 



Another elevation of the region brought the Talbot stage to a close, 

 and the surface was once more attacked vigorously by erosion and finally 

 was lowered somewhat beneath the waters of the Patuxent Eiver and 

 Chesapeake Bay. There is every reason to believe that this submergence 

 is still in progress and that the land is gradually sinking. It is impos- 

 sible to say how much the land was elevated at the close of the Talbot 

 stage, but it is probable that it stood much higher than it does to-day 

 for mud and silt which have been deposited since the close of the Talbot 

 stage are now found filling all the estuaries and creeks, not excepting 

 the Patuxent River. This filling amounts to about 50 feet. During this 

 uplift the Susquehanna River flowed the length of Chesapeake Bay, re- 

 ceiving as tributaries all the rivers which now drain the Coastal Plain of 

 Maryland and Virginia and reached the ocean some miles beyond the 

 present shore line at Cape Henry. At the present time the waves of 

 Chesapeake Bay and of the Patuxent River are engaged in cutting against 

 the Talbot terrace exactly as the waves during the Talbot stage did 

 against the Wicomico terrace, and the waves in the Wicomico stage did 

 against the Sunderland terrace. A new terrace is, therefore, being 

 formed under the waves below the Talbot and separated from it by a 

 well-defined scarp-line. 



