MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



141 



gether with older Miocene strata as they AA-erc reached by stream cutting, 

 and terraces were Ijuilt near the mouths of the new streams, while 

 other deposits were made in the larger drainage systems like the 

 Patuxent Eiver. As the gradual elevation of the land proceeded the 

 erosion and deposition continued and the terraces of Wicomico age, 

 whose fragmentary remains are found still clinging along the Chesapeake 

 and Patuxent shores and recognized as Sassafras loam soils, were formed. 

 As the latest stage of this action the foreland areas of the county, the 

 Sassafras sandy loam and meadow soil, were formed during the Talbot 

 stage. These low-lying terraces were constructed along the Patuxent 

 and probably also along the Chesapeake, though subsequent wave action 

 has largely destroyed the latter. At this time the deeper waters were 

 receiving clayey materials and the shallower ones sand and silt. This 

 area is slowly sinking again with most of the Atlantic coast, though 

 the motion can be detected only by careful observations extending over 

 long periods of time. The usual processes of weathering, erosion, trans- 

 portation, and deposition are in progress, and strata are now being 

 formed which succeeding ages may sometime have an opportunity to 

 study and classify. 



The soils have about the following areas : 



Areas of the Different Soils. 



Soils. Acres. Ter cent. 



Norfolk sand .58.800 42 



AViudsor sand 24,500 18 



Meadow 15,800 11 



Sassafras sandy loam. .. 10,000 8 



Sassafras loam 8,850 6 



Soils. 



Leonardtown loam . 



Norfolk loam 5,220 



Susquehanna gravel . . . 3.900 



Swamp 3,600 



Acres. Per cent. 



7,950 6 



4 

 3 



The Soil Types. 



The Norfolk Loam. 



The Norfolk loam is found in irregularly-shaped areas on the 

 highest uplands near Port licpublic. Prince Frederick, and Mt. Har- 

 mony. These scattered tracts represent an area Avhich must have been 



