THE GREENS A NDS OE NEIV JERSEY. 



163 



of tlic district toward the coast. Oscillation in the position of the 

 shore line, and later denudation have occasioned, in many- 

 instances, a marked divergence from these normal conditions, so 

 that detached areas are frequently found far removed from the 

 body of the main outcrop. 



The formations of the New Jersey coastal area and their 

 economic ecjuivalents are given in the following table : 



Age. 



Pleistocene 

 Neocene - 

 Eocene - 



Cretaceous 



Formation, 



Columbia Formation 



\ Lafayette " 



\ Chesapeake " 



Shark River " 



Manasquan " 



Rancocas " 



Redhank " 



Navesink " 



IMatawan " 



Raritan " 



Il^conomic Equivalent. 



Upper Marl Bed "| 



Middle Marl F>cd ', 

 Red Sand 

 Lower Marl Bed 

 Clay Marls 

 Plastic Clay 



Green- 

 sand 

 Series. 



The greensands characteri/x all the deposits from the Mata- 

 wan formation to and including the Shark River formation. The 

 glauconite appears in varying amounts and imder different con- 

 ditions in these several formations, so that the lithologic features 

 are often sufficiently distinctive and persistent to be of the 

 greatest service in the determination of the horizons. The 

 presence of greensand has not been observed in the Raritan for- 

 mation which underlies, nor in the Chesapeake formation which 

 overlies, this series of glauconitic de])osits. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMATIONS. 



Matawan formation (Clay Marls). — On account of the exten- 

 sive and typical development of the Clay Marls on the shore of 

 the Raritan Bay in the vicinity of Matawan Creek, and along the 

 banks of the latter stream, the name Matawan formation is pro- 

 ])osed for the deposits of this horizon. 



The greensand is a less pronounced feature than in the over- 

 lying formations. The deposits consist for the most part of dark 

 colored clays with interbedded layers of sand, the latter becom- 

 ing very pronounced in the u])[)cr portion of the formation. At 

 some points beds of greensand ai)[)ear, but they are generally 



