MAEYLA^^D GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 123 



Paleonfologic Character. — ISTo good Wicomico fossil localities are 

 known in Prince George's County, but in Anne Arundel County, 

 about one mile southeast of Queen Anne (Ilardesty), there is a peat 

 bed within and just at the base of the formation. Here, at an eleva- 

 tion of 30 feet above the stream, there is a deposit of carbonaceous 

 material about 20 feet thick. About ll/> feet of this is composed 

 princij^ally of peat. The leaf impressions are mainly of grasses and 

 stems, but some insect remains and beetle-wing covers are also 

 present. Some years ago a tooth of Eleplias Americamis DeKay was 

 found in Wicomico materials in the pits of the Washington Brick 

 Company located in the northeastern portion of Washington, in the 

 area bounded by Florida and Trinidad avehues and the Bladensburg 

 turnpike. The tooth was obtained at a depth of 35 feet from the 

 surface. 



lliiclincss. — The thickness of the Wicomico formation is not at 

 all uniform, owing to the uneven surface upon which it was depos- 

 ited. It ranges from a few feet to 50 feet or more. The formation 

 dips into the valleys and rises on the divides, so that its thick- 

 ness is not so great as might be supposed from the fact that the 

 base is in many places as low as 40 feet while the surface rises locally 

 to 100 feet above sea level. ISTotwithstanding these irregularities 

 the formation as a whole occupies an approximately horizontal posi- 

 tion, with a slight southeasterly dip. The average thickness of the 

 formation in this county is about 20 feet. 



Stratigraphic Relations. — In this region the Wicomico overlies 

 unconformably the granite-gneiss and the various formations of 

 Cretaceous and Tertiary age. It is in many places in contact with 

 the Sunderland on the one hand and with the Talbot on the other. 

 It is probable that the Sunderland formation extends locally some- 

 ^vhat below the Sunderland-Wicomico scarp and may run out be- 

 neath and underlie the edge of the Wicomico formation where the 

 two are in contact. In such places this contact between the Wicomico 

 and Sunderland would be an unconformity. 



